Stormtrooper - TBS [P1] - Six Inch Figures (#09)

Stormtroopers board the Rebel blockade runner Tantive IV and send word to Darth Vader that they have captured Princess Leia.

"Inform Lord Vader we have a prisoner."

Well, we’re thoroughly impressed. We should have known from The Black Series 6” Sandtrooper (#03) that the inevitable Stormtrooper release would come out unbelievably well. And it has. After just moments outside of its packaging, we quickly fell in love with what is now our favorite Hasbro interpretation of a Stormtrooper in action figure format.... period. Sure, Hasbro hasn’t fared so well when it comes to a 3.75” scale Stormtrooper, but they’ve more than made up for it with The Black Series 6” Stormtrooper (#09). Had the line started up with this figures instead of the Sandtrooper, fans in general may have embraced the unprecedented larger scale perhaps a little more warmly. The Stormtrooper is action figure divinity. It’s stunning. It’s gorgeous. And you’re going to want an army of them for yourself and you wouldn’t be wrong for feeling this way. Well-proportioned, exquisitely detailed, nicely decorated and appropriately accessorized are just some of its accomplishments. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Stormtrooper proves that Hasbro possesses the ability to bring collectors a stunning Stormtrooper action figure in 3.75” scale, but once you see how much more can be sustained in the larger 6” scale, you may forget that the 3.75” line exists for a few moments and only concentrate on the 6” line. Our sorrow over the way the 3.75” figures has headed has made us melancholy, but the 6” Stormtrooper revitalized us and elated us with hope that there are destined to be great action figures to come out of this larger line.

It should be clear that the Stormtrooper is a retool and repaint of the 2013 TBS Sandtrooper (#03) figure with a new belt. Besides a newly tooled abdomen section, and a new lower left leg and foot, these are about the only details that separate them from each other. Well, there are differences in accessories too and we'll mention them shortly. You may already be concerned because we all should be well prepared with what happens in the 3.75” scaled line when Hasbro interchangeably uses the Stormtrooper and Sandtrooper sculpts. But Hasbro actually thought about that in advance. Instead of a big old nasty slot adulterating a rather excellent design. they “drilled” a hole in the “O” shape on the back of the armor. This is where the survival backpack gets attached via a plug, and it’s where “nothing” goes on the Stormtrooper without compromising the integrity of the sculpt. We do feel however that a tiny plug could have been included to “plug up the hole” but that wasn’t in the plans here. But it’s OK. It’s a tiny hole and the Stormtrooper still looks excellent nonetheless. Not only does the look of the 6” Stormtrooper remind us of a scaled version of Sideshow Collectibles’ Imperial Stormtrooper from their Militaries Of Star Wars line, the look and feel of the armor is almost cast from the same exact materials. This texture was compromised a bit on the 6” Sandtrooper because of the final wash (it gave it a much smoother feel), but on the 6” Stormtrooper there is nothing to change the original feeling of the plastic and that’s what it reminds us of exactly.

The Stormtrooper comes with the same 23 points of articulation as its close ancestor, the Sandtrooper. You can get a great range of motion from many of the joints and it can attain almost any pose you desire without any difficulty. We tried extra hard to come up with some pretty unique poses and gravity defying stances and we think we have accomplished that in our photo gallery. Lightly accessorized, the 6” Stormtrooper comes with an e-11 blaster and larger blaster rifle, the same one IG-88 used in The Empire Strikes Back. He can hold both guns excellently and the E-11 blaster can be placed in his functioning holster when not in use. As the premier army builder in the Star Wars saga, expect this figure to be more difficult to locate than Boba Fett from the same line. Or consider this the TVC Gamorrean Guard (VC21) of The Black Series 6” line. That’s how popular this figure is going to be until we’re all no longer on this Earth. Figures like the Stormtrooper reinvigorate our passion for The Black Series 6” line. We’re frankly unable to properly articulate how incredible this figure is and what it does inside of us to make us want more characters in this scale. If Hasbro is clever, they’ll quickly release Luke Skywalker in stormtrooper disguise and Han Solo in stormtrooper disguise. Heck, they could even tweak it a bit more and give us a Spacetrooper from A New Hope as well. Whatever they decide next, know that you should make it a mission to get this awesome 6” action figure. We can’t rave about it enough.