Sandtrooper

A Sandtrooper is a Stormtrooper that specialized in desert environments. They have appeared in a total of five sets and two video games, with its latest appearance being in the 2018 set, 75202 Mos Eisley Cantina.
== Description ==
=== First variant (2004) ===
The Sandtrooper minifigure made its first appearance in 2004 in 4501 Mos Eisley Cantina. The minifigure at the time was nearly identical to the Stormtrooper but with an added orange pauldron on the right shoulder and a small backpack. This variant only made one appearance.
=== Second variant (2007) ===
Three years later, the Sandtrooper made its second appearance in physical form in 2007 in 7659 Imperial Landing Craft. In 2007 the Stormtrooper minifigure was redesigned and so was the Sandtrooper because of this. Just like the first variant, the Sandtrooper was nearly identical to the newly redesigned Stormtrooper apart from an added orange pauldron on the right shoulder. The minifigure featured a black head underneath the helmet. This variant only made one appearance.
=== Third variant (2010) ===
Once again, three years later, the Sandtrooper was redesigned and made its third appearance in 2010 in 8092 Luke's Landspeeder. This time only the minifigures accessories had been redesigned, featuring a black pauldron instead of an orange one, and a backpack. The minifigure featured a black head underneath the helmet. This variant only made one appearance.
=== Fourth variant (2012) ===
Two years later, the Sandtrooper was redesigned once again and made its fourth appearance in 2012 in 9490 Droid Escape. This time the minifigure had been redesigned substantially featuring new realistic printing on the torso and legs depicting dirty armour. The head pieces will be black, but have printed faces on the front of them. This variant features the same backpack accessory as the third variant released in 2010. These variants to date are only known to make one appearance each.
==== Squad Leader variant ====
The Squad Leader variant features the new orange pauldron and the backpack from the 2010 variation of the Sandtrooper but has a new designed face for the minifigure, like the 2010 Episode III Clone Pilot. The torso, legs and helmet of the Squad Leader look identical to that of the Sergeant. On the 9490 Droid Escape box art, the Squad Leader is depicted as piloting a speeder bike. This variant is armed with a blaster.
==== Sergeant variant ====
The Sergeant variant features a brand new white pauldron and the backpack from the 2010 variation of the Sandtrooper. The torso, legs and helmet of the Sergeant look identical to that of the Squad Leader as well with a new face. On the 9490 Droid Escape box art, the Sergeant is holding a stud piece. The Sergeant is armed with a blaster rifle.
=== Fifth variant ===
 In 2014, the Sandtrooper is once again redesigned in the set 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina. The Sandtrooper features very similar detailing to the fourth variant depicting the armour stained with dirt and sand. The most notable difference is the detailing on the helmet which has been redesigned to coincide with the redesign of the Stormtrooper.
=== In the Video Games ===
The Sandtrooper has appeared in two video games to date, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, then LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, and in both versions is identical to the second variation of the Sandtrooper released in 2007 but with a megaphone with a transparent orange stud on it for a blaster instead of the new blaster piece. In the games, the Sandtrooper has the ability to jump, grapple, fire his blaster, dodge lasers, and build objects.
== Background ==
Sandtroopers could be mounted on Dewbacks (like in 4501 Mos Eisley Cantina), or could be ground troops (such as in 7659 Imperial Landing Craft). They can be defined as sandtroopers due to the pauldron present on their right shoulder. They have cooling systems installed in their armour to keep them cool in hot conditions like on Tatooine.
== Notes ==
* All seven variants have only appeared in one set each.
== Appearances ==
* 4501 Mos Eisley Cantina
* 7659 Imperial Landing Craft
* 8092 Luke's Landspeeder
* 9490 Droid Escape 
* 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina
=== Video Game Appearances ===
* LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
* LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
== Gallery of Variants ==