Stormtrooper (Death Star Attack) - OTC - Basic (’05 #11)

Stormtroopers are the army of the evil Empire. These highly skilled soldiers are sent into battle against anyone who tries to stop the Emperor and his plans to rule the galaxy. Stormtroopers are completely loyal to the Emperor. They all look alike and wear white armor that hides their faces. Even though they are tough and dangerous soldiers, the brave Rebels are not afraid to fight them in battle.

If you were fortunate enough to collect Star Wars action figures in 1999, you probably are very aware of the gifts Hasbro gave to us as they began wrapping up the long-running The Power Of The Force "2" line. The figures by today's standards are not close to perfection, but back then we saw them bettering the figure each and every year. In preparation for the Episode I line, Hasbro worked in the CommTech technology as a pack-in premium with the final figures of The Power Of The Force "2" line. But despite the hoopla over this pack-in premium, collectors were given unique characters never made before as well as tremendous updates to some of the most basic Star Wars characters ever released. One such update was the long-awaited Stormtrooper upgrade which was the most articulated Stormtrooper yet in the line. With a “whopping” thirteen points of articulation (some of which were premium ball-joints), the 1999 POTF2 [CT/FB] Stormtrooper figure with its corresponding CommTech chip was a figure that none of us could buy fast enough for our collections. It was one of the earliest and most noteworthy army builders in years. It was such an important figure that Hasbro developed a unique version of the figure and threw it into a very successful Troop Builder set in the Star Wars "Saga" line.

The 1999 version came with a blaster firing damage/carbon scoring deco feature. If you ran the figure under cold water, battle-damage would appear. It would quickly disappear if you warmed the area with your own hands. It was a simple but fun feature for the time. Hasbro removed this detail for the Star Wars "Saga" Troop Builder set where they included four figures in the set. They were exactly the same (save for their weapons). This quickly became the “go to” Stormtrooper until Hasbro developed the much-improved 2004 VOTC Stormtrooper figure. But it’s still difficult not to find affection for the figure that changed how we received Stormtroopers from Hasbro. Sure, its lack of articulation by today’s standards is a disappointment. But it was a great figure for the time and still holds up well, even today, despite not being completely perfect. The first Stormtrooper figure with ball-jointed shoulders, the range of motion they provide along with the swivel elbows allow this Stormtrooper to look really good when posed in your collection. The ball-jointed head is definitely an odd addition. Despite its infinite range of movement, the head doesn’t have the most natural look or movements because of the obtrusive ball-jointed point of articulation.

The figure was eventually repacked in the collector favorite The Original Trilogy Collection line. The exciting aspect of 2004’s OTC Stormtrooper (OTC #16) figure was obviously the packaging. Now the figure has been carried forward in the The [Post] Original Trilogy Collection line where the figure received significantly revised artwork. It's a redundant release and certainly not needed a couple months after the 2004 release. But Hasbro has a tendency to keep rehashing to same old figures until it's painful to collectors. The packaging backdrop is a scene from Episode IV of the detention cell block. This visual has become etched in our minds because it was one of the most memorable scenes from A New Hope. The packaging has changed and the figure is given a subtitle this time. It appears on the insert. The card back reverse side is also as intriguing. The colorful red background gives a brief description of the Stormtrooper and also shows some of the other figures in The [Post] Original Trilogy Collection line. This figure pales in comparison to the 2004 VOTC Stormtrooper figure because of scale and better articulation. But at half the price, and more nostalgia of how the modern line began, we expect that you’ll be content with adding a few of the Stormtrooper figures to your collection as well.