Throwback Review: Trendmasters INDEPENDECE DAY (ID4) Figures

The ultimate encounter when mysterious and powerful aliens launch an all-out invasion against the human race. The spectacle begins when massive spaceships appear in Earth's skies. But wonder turns to terror as the ships blast destructive beams of fire down on cities all over the planet. Now the world's only hope lies with a determined band of survivors, uniting for one last strike against the invaders - before it's the end of mankind.

—Official DVD cover

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday toy review, as we take a trip back to the age of pagers, walk-mans, and dial-up internet. I'm referring to 1996, as we take a look at the ID4 Independence Day figures by Trendmasters. Initially, Trendmasters only released 4 Alien figures, 3 human figures, an Alien attack ship, a fighter jet, and a Los Angeles invasion battle scene playset. For the human figures, we got Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith), President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman), and David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum). For the alien figures, we got Alien Supreme Commander, Alien Science Officer, Alien Attack Pilot, and last but not least Alien Shock Trooper. Thanks to the good people at eBay I will be reviewing The Alien Shock Trooper today. Let's go on and take a closer look at this figure.

Packaging - The Alien Shock Trooper is packaged in a traditional cardback and plastic blister bubble packaging. It's considerably a large cardback at about 15 inches in length and approximately 10 inches wide, displaying movie art in the front and the rest of the figures from the series in the back in bright resolution and color. The package has a TRY ME feature, which we assume to encourage potential buyers.

Accessories - This figure doesn't come with any accessories other than a carbon insert of the host alien, sort of a miniature cut-out that sits inside the alien's head. And of course the piece of resistance (for 1996), an interactive Mission floppy disk. Let me say that again, a floppy disk. Mind you in 1996 this was cutting-edge technology, but also it was a bit of an easter egg on the movie's climax, where the aliens get defeated by a computer virus, hints at the interactive gameplay that needed to be played on a PC.

Figure - The first thing that captured my attention about this figure, in particular, is the unique and interesting paint job they gave The Alien Shock Trooper. It has a dark purplish scheme, with an iridescent coat and reflective flakes (glitter). When looking at the figure, it sort of feels like you're looking into the cosmos, a very space-like design. Coupled with bright red eyes that almost look like they light up. Although we don't see this variant in the movie, this one makes a great addition to the collection. Fantastic sculpt for a figure that was released in 1996, movie-accurate to say the least. The sculpt lends itself to a realistic biomechanical battle armored exoskeleton. The backside has a "pinch" mechanism used to bring them together allowing them to open the front of the head revealing the cavity where the host alien sits. Figure stands at approximately 7 inches tall.

Articulation - Shock Trooper has a total of 8 tentacles, two of which are a hard plastic that peg in the back, used to hold the figure upright for action poses or display. The rest of the tentacles are fully articulated made of soft plastic and bendy wire. Both sides of the hip rotate but are limited, the waist has a swivel joint that can rotate 360, and both right and left arms articulate only at the top allowing full rotation.

Trendmasters - Throughout the 1990’s, Trendmasters produced and released several action figure lines from popular franchises. Godzilla , Tarzan, Mars Attacks, Independence Day, Lost In Space, and Gumby just to name a few of the licensed figures produced. The company was based out of St. Luis, Minnesota and founded in 1989. In 1998 the company hit a decline in popularity and profits. In 2002 Trendmasters closed and all assets were acquired by Jakks Pacific .

For those of you that weren't alive in 1996, I feel bad for you. You missed out on an amazing decade. And if you haven't seen Independence Day, what are you waiting for? You'll appreciate it, and don't hesitate on an amazing toy hunt for these 1990's gems to add to your sci-fi figure collection. If your familiar with these figures, share with us your favorites. We'd like to know.