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Marauder Stormtrooper Rifle

October 24, 2012 | By Engineernerd More

I normally expound about the virtues of Marauder’s GI Joe weapons. However, they produce a number of “Sci-Fi” guns, including a Stormtrooper rifle.

I want to say right up front the reason I picked a few of these up was vintage nostalgia for my 3-Position Laser Rifle. While I never had a role-play lightsaber as a kid, I did have the kid size version of this gun. It even was part of my Luke Skywalker and Jawa Halloween costumes. (Check out a pic of that great vintage toy at the Star Wars Collector Archive here.)

In the picture above, you get a sense of difference in the mass produced version on the left and the Marauder on on the right. Where the standard one was is fairly soft on detail, the Marauder one has lots of little details on it. Check out the checking on the grip for a great example of this.

Some of the other highlights are the trigger and trigger guard. These little details are what collectors and diorama builders crave. When you take a close up picture, these things show and just add tiny bits of realism.

One of my favorite parts though? The folding stock. This really gives it the look of the vintage role play toy. It also creates an action figure weapon that isn’t a single piece and gives the piece great depth and complexity. The one small thing that could be improved would be a stop to keep it from going past the unfolded spot.

Overall:

I really was geeked when I got these. I really like the idea of being able to get a weapon upgrade for Stormroopers and my other Imperial forces. I understand that these higher end accessories aren’t for everybody, but for some of us they are the weapons we dreamed about as kids.

(For more on Marauder, Marauder John and this particular gun, check out this episode of the What’s on Joe Mind? Podcast: http://whatsonjoemind.podbean.com/2012/10/10/episode-68-whats-on-joe-mind/ )