Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (28)

Specialist Stormtroopers stationed at the top secret Imperial military headquarters on Scarif, Shoretroopers patrol the beaches and bunkers of the planetary facility.

Wow, this one is as good as the Toys R Us exclusive Imperial Hovertank Pilot, but that's because most of it is the Imperial Hovertank Pilot! It’s amazing to us how Hasbro can be perfectly spot on with some characters in The Black Series [Phase III] 6” line, and then way off on others. But we’ll certainly focus on the positives here for this figure. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story already seems like a sensory overloaded film. We have already seen multiple terrains, multiple troopers and more characters than we probably ever expected. That’s all well and good, but it’s hard to develop a good story on so many different characters when there are other more central characters to focus on instead. But Hasbro has ensured to fill the line very early with some of the key troopers in the film. One group of Imperials include the Shoretroopers. They’re also being called Scarif Stormtroopers since this is the planet where we’ll apparently be seeing these characters. Like any battalion, there are multiple differently ranking Scarif Stormtroopers. Hasbro decided that the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader will be the basic The Black Series [Phase III] release. One other one is a Walmart exclusive and supposedly there is a third coming that will be released in another way.

For us, the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader looks the best (at the moment). He is colorful. He has amazingly sculpted armor. And the detail etched into the figure is mind-blowing. Utilizing much of the Toys R Us exclusive Imperial Hovertank Pilot, this figure truly delivers as a stellar action figure. Oh, and let us not forget about the subsequent and beautiful paint operations that make this figure look beyond impressive. Now, it’s a fact that the articulation systems of The Black Series 6” figures are quite cookie cutter.. Hasbro doesn’t deviate too far from the standard when it comes to this line. Sure, some figures have a couple extra or fewer points of articulation here and there, but on average these figures are nearly identical to each other in this fashion. In all honesty, the articulation is high in numbers, but not all that practical. The Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader can be posed in a generous variety of ways, but the lower skirt inhibits full movement of the legs (which is quite expected). The best part of the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader, however, is the upper body and arms. You get the most movement from these areas and the figure can hold the included blaster rifle with one o two hands remarkably well. The figure can kneel. And you can make the figure “run” all thanks to this great balance and functional articulation.

We really need to focus on the paint operations given to the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader figure. We just don’t understand how Hasbro can make a figure look as beautiful as the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader and then make other human characters look absolutely nightmarish. The Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader literally has the best paint job of any figure we have seen in the third phase of The Black Series 6” line to date. It may even go back further than that, but we’re not expending the time or energy to find a better example. Maybe it is indeed easier to make nonhuman faces looks better (you know, helmeted heads and stuff) when creating a toy, but if any of the human characters could be made to look half this good, there would be little to no criticism about The Black Series 6” line. The Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader is the picture perfect example of what a collector-focused Star Wars action figure should look like in 2016. We’re even letting the issue of a single accessory go because this figure looks so tremendous. In our opinion, this is a must-have figure. It’s the pinnacle of the line so far, and unless Hasbro really speeds up improving the quality issues, it may lead the pack for a while.