How the LEGO Star Wars Stormtrooper has changed over 25 years
The humble Stormtrooper minifigure has been around for over two decades, but it’s surprising how much the LEGO Star Wars character has changed in that time.
LEGO Star Wars is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024 and Brick Fanatics has been taking a look back at the theme’s quarter of a century with a number of deep dives into its history. This time around we’re turning the spotlight on Stormtrooper minifigures, with the black and white armoured minions of the Empire having gone through a number of revisions over the years.
The Stormtrooper minifigure design actually first appeared in the LEGO Star Wars logo in 1999. That was ahead of sets based on the original trilogy being produced and the look of the character differed quite a bit from the initial physical version of the character.
Since then we’ve had multiple iterations of the humble Imperial Stormtrooper, including Sandtroopers, Shadow Stormtroopers, First Order Stormtroopers and even a rare chrome silver promotional minifigure, but for this feature we’re focusing on the classic version of the character.
7146 TIE Fighter – 2001
The very first Stormtrooper minifigure was included with 7146 TIE Fighter, alongside a TIE Fighter pilot. This iteration of the character featured basic printing on the front and back of its torso, a yellow head beneath its helmet and a basic two-part loudhailer blaster, and would go on to appear in three additional LEGO Star Wars sets between 2001 and 2003.
Despite a minimal amount of detail, the Stormtrooper’s armour did manage to capture some of the overall look of its onscreen counterpart. The character’s appearance would continue to evolve over the next two decades, with subtle visual changes made to the minifigure as production and printing techniques improved.
7264 Imperial Inspection – 2005
This exclusive Stormtrooper variant debuted in 7264 Imperial Inspection in 2005 and was the first to feature leg printing. In addition, further enhancements were made to the character thanks to an extension to the utility belt that was printed directly onto the hips piece, instead of them being a simple black element.
6211 Imperial Star Destroyer – 2006
The next step in the Stormtrooper’s evolution came in 2006, with a flesh-coloured blank head lurking beneath the character’s helmet. The minifigure also reverted back to its original black hips and non-printed legs, and only ever appeared in 6211 Imperial Star Destroyer.
7659 Imperial Landing Craft – 2007
Produced between 2007 and 2008, this subsequent Stormtrooper minifigure was once again only available in a single LEGO Star Wars set. Fans who picked up 7659 Imperial Landing Craft were presented with five minifigures, two of which were Stormtroopers with black heads, plus the first dedicated SE-14 blaster pistol elements for the characters.
10188 Death Star – 2008
Another visual change came in 2007, with the Stormtrooper’s helmet replaced with a much-improved version. This part now featured a grey and black dotted mouth grille, which has since been included on every single Stormtrooper minifigure since then.
Two of those Stormtrooper variants first appeared in 10188 Death Star in 2008 and the new design would go on to appear in a further four LEGO Star Wars sets up to and including 2010.
9489 Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack – 2012
A major leap forward in Stormtrooper minifigure accuracy arrived in 2012 with the release of 9489 Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack. This time around the included character boasted much more detailed torso printing, as well as the first-ever printed head piece.
The latter element would then be utilised in six more LEGO Star Wars sets until 2013 and last appeared in 10236 Ewok Village in that year.
75055 Imperial Star Destroyer – 2014
The Stormtrooper design was revised yet again in 2014, with printed legs making a reappearance for the first time in nine years and updated front and back torso printing. More refined printing was also added to the minifigure’s helmet, specifically on the grille, breathing apparatus and dark blue side vents, plus the gap between the black brow line and eye sockets was finally removed.
Stormtroopers also gained a new-look printed head piece that was flesh-coloured and included a scowl expression. This version of the Imperial soldier first popped up in 75055 Imperial Star Destroyer and an additional six LEGO Star Wars sets up to 2018.
Star Wars Rebels – 2015
A slightly altered version of the Stormtrooper minifigure arrived in 2015, based on the stylised look of the character in the Star Wars Rebels animated series. The torso and leg printing was slightly tweaked to match the show, with an updated helmet that had dark azure vents and a more angular grille, plus both scowling and frowning head variants.
The revised Stormtrooper minifigure was then added to six LEGO Star Wars sets until 2016, including 75053 The Ghost, 75078 Imperial Troop Transport and 75157 Captain Rex’s AT-TE.
75229 Death Star Escape – 2019
The road to the most current iteration of the Stormtrooper minifigure arrived in 2019, when yet another updated version was introduced to the theme. This time around, fans were presented with the first-ever dual moulded helmet, one that featured black panels on the back, although bluish grey variants also exist.
Torso and leg printing remained the same as 2014’s version of the character, with both male and female heads lurking under the Stormtrooper’s helmet, plus scowling, frowning, grimacing and angry smiling expressions.
75370 Stormtrooper Mech – 2023
An unlikely 2023 set was the source of the most up-to-date Stormtrooper minifigure, in the shape of 75370 Stormtrooper Mech. The set featured one more tweaked design that further refined the look of the character’s torso and leg printing, as well as replacing the traditional black hip piece with a white version for the first time.
Male and female heads have also been utilised on the current Stormtrooper minifigure design, with the latest version of the character being included in the most recent LEGO Star Wars 25th anniversary set, 40755 Imperial Dropship vs. Rebel Scout Speeder.
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