Imperial Jumptrooper

This character is taken, if my information is correct from the upcoming "Force Unleashed" video game.  As the game hasn't been released, I cant tell you if he matches up to his in game appearance or not.  So we'll have to go on general ascetics.

This character is an obvious hybrid of ANH era Stormtrooper and biker scout.  According to the card back, these troops would use short bursts from their jetpack to fight in battle.  (See bottom picture.)

And so, my first issue with this figure is highlighted.  If he uses a jet pack in battle, where is it?  I could understand if it was integrated into the armor.  But, I would still expect it to be obvious this fellow had a jet pack.

That being said, I kind of dig the overall character design.  His armor does appear to be bulkier than a standard trooper, which would make sense for a flying character.

The shoulder pads and knee pads are a little funky, but not horrible.  The way the knee pads work reminds me of the vintage GI Joe figure Airborne.

He's got some sort of oxygen tank on the chest plate.  There's a a hose to connect it up with his face mask.  Mine tends to pop out of the chest plate when I turn his head. 

I'm not a huge fan of the groin pieces on this figure.  There's a joint that runs across from left to right on it.  Apparently, this is an access hatch if he has to go behind a bush in the middle of a battle.

The biggest letdown on this figure is the paint.  I'm guessing that all of the grey lines on the helmet are to get him to look more like the game version.  To me they just look too thick.  They are pretty sloppy as well.  The black on the rest of the figure is sloppy as well.

The grey rope thingee on his back just look like a blob.  This is one spot where the sculpt looks soft.  Maybe it was suppose to be covered with a jet pack?

My last paint question is:  Why does he only get dirty up to his ankles?  I would expect a flying character to have dirt everywhere.  Or no where, as if he just jetted through a speeder wash.

You would expect with a name like Imperial Jumptrooper this guy would be action packed.  With the missing jet pack, he's just another ground troop. 

That's not to say the articulation isn't good on this guy.  Actually, he not bad.  The balljointed shoulders seem a bit bulk compared to the rest of the arms, as if there was a trade off in sculpt versus play value. 

There are three things packed in with the jump trooper.  A stand, a gun, and a Force Unleashed code.  Since the game isn't out, the code will do me no good at the moment.  The stand is a generic EU one.  I was expecting with all the Force Unleashed press, it would be specific, but it's not.

Which brings us to his weapon.  The card back tells us Jumptroopers used "long-range rail detonators to eliminate all enemy targets from any vantage point."  This guy appears to have a standard issue E-11 Stormtrooper rifle.  The one card picture show the muzzle area all lit up with a red glow, obviously not present on this version.