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Stormtroopers are the backbone of the Imperial
forces. So, I really don't mind picking up a new one when
they come out. But, I've managed to round up a pretty
good army of the Super Articulated 'trooper. So, I was going
to pass on this guy. One thing saved him however. He
has a removable helmet, and doesn't have a Luke or Han face
underneath. I'm sure that the camps are
divided on this guy. Some of the OT purists would probably
like to see a non-removable helmet instead of the Jango head
behind this guy's mask. I'm sure the newer fans see this as
a logical extension of the first film.
Where do I fall? Well, back after the
first film came out, I had a Star Wars magazine/special issue
thing that had an article about the life of a Stormtrooper. In that
article, they were clones. So, I've always seen them as
clones.
Appearance:
Overall, I have to say this guy is
alright. Appearance wise, he's nearly perfect.
If I didn't already have a bunch, an army of these guys would be
kinda sweet.
The thing I like about this guy more than his
predecessors, is the fact that his armor looks like pieces on a
black body suit. Most of the previous versions don't pull
that off as well as this guy.
His helmet looks a little big, but looking at
reference images, this what a helmet on a human head looks like.
The eyes on the helmet look a little off to me, but slightly.
The head underneath is a Jango, it's got some
scars to make it look unique. He's got a similar piece of
headgear to the Death Star Gunner. This leads me to two
questions. How did get scars if he's wearing a helmet all
the time? And, why didn't Luke and Han have the funky hood?
The other thing that I'm less than impressed
with is his holster. I appreciate the fact his gun can fit
it. But, it looks horrible.
Fun:
I love to see all the articulation on the new
figures. However, if you have articulation you cant use, why
put it in. The only thing I was able to pose those knees in
was a weird funky chicken pose. If he had some GI Joe hips
to go with those knees, he'd have been perfect.
I would have like to have seen some of the white in his armpits covered up. Also, the working of the chest joint isn't always covered up.
This version of the Stormtrooper comes with the requisite coin for the TAC figures. Along with that, he gets a blaster and his helmet. Other
than that, there are no other accessories. At least with the Luke
figure we got the vaporator. It would have been nice to have an updated mouse droid or binders or something to go with him. I mean if I'm going to buy a commodity figure such as this, throw me a bone to make me want it.
One thing that is cool about the new figures is the ball jointed head.
I wish they would standardize the ball size, however. In this case, I was able to do something cool. I took the head from the Vaporator Luke and popped it on the Stormie's neck. The helmet won't fit over it, but that's okay. WARNING! When I put Luke back together, his head was really loose. The stormtrooper must have a slightly larger ball. I actually don't mind that Luke head on the Stormtrooper body. The hair makes a little more sense, Luke's 'doo was pretty messed up when took his helmet off. (See picture below.)
Overall:
For a retread figure, this Stormtrooper isn't bad. He's not great, but not horrible. It's really amazing that there have been as many
Stormtroopers as there have been over the year. I'd like to say this
is the last trooper you'll ever want to buy, but I can't do that. I think there is some room for improvement. Of course, I thought the vintage figure was great for twenty years, too. I think the look of this one has gotten closer to a man in armor versus a droid, but could still be a tad better. Add in an improved holster and better hip joints, and you'd have pretty close to an ultimate Stormtrooper figure.
Engineernerd Score: 85/100
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