YPS Snowtrooper "Der Stormtrooper des Imperiums"

I didn't start off my collecting life playing the "variant game" but after completing a loose figure run, it's kind of inevitable that interest would increase in production variants like brown-haired Lukes, grey-haired Obi Wans, and turtlenecked Leia Bespins :-)

But one of the coolest variants around has to be the YPS Snowtrooper. This little fellow's story begins with "YPS", a German kid's magazine that included "gimmicks" (giveaways) poly-bagged with the book. Issue #510 from 1985 featured the "Stormtrooper des Imperiums" as the gimmick, with a comic story featuring him in the magazine itself.

Notice anything different? That's right... many of the SdIs came with a different weapon, from Palitoy's "Action Force", although the regular blue Snowtrooper rifle was packed with some instead.

Another difference was the cape. Note round holes as opposed to slits in the Kenner version.

Here's a clearer pic of the Action Force weapon.

COO on the YPS figure was scarred.

The Snowtrooper is already one of the awesomest Imperial figures in the range and the weapon found with the YPS variant makes it that much cooler. Very common in Germany but rarer elsewhere, they're still available on eBay but you can expect to pay a premium... but worth it!

Image credit: Comic Vine - Game Spot