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Unlike some folks, I only bought one white Medicom Stormtrooper. Yes, it would be very cool to have one on either side of the Medicom Vader, but I'm not that rich. At $130, it was a bit painful just to buy one, but the good news is that right now they have them on sale (and in stock) for $99! And yes, this figure was originally released a couple years ago, but with this sale price, I thought it was worthwhile to revisit him.
Packaging - ***
While I thought the packaging for the FMA line was interesting and well done, the Star Wars boxes are simply dull. Hey, I'm all for the beauty and elegance that can exist in simplicity - it's why I love the animated style so much. But simple doesn't have to mean 'plain'. And that's what these boxes are.
Fortunately, they make up for that by being collector friendly. This is a term I use a lot, originally coined by Flatt World Figures in respect to packaging. It means that the package can be opened without any substantial damage, and the figure can always be returned at a later date. This is a nice feature, and really should be the expectation for any high end sixth scale collectible.
Sculpting - ***1/2
The sculpted armor is a thing of beauty - Medicom has produced the finest
looking Stormtrooper to date in this approximate scale. The armor appears to
be designed very much like the actual, uncomfortable and restrictive armor
that the extras had to wear on screen. But I'm betting this figure
actually has a better range of movement than they did.
It might appear at first blush that the helmet is too large for the
body. But I say nay, nay! Is it big? Yes, but look at any
photo of an actual trooper and you'll see that the helmet IS large on the
body. To have an actual human head under there requires it to be out of
scale with the rest of the body. What you see here is an extremely close
approximation to reality.
If you're wondering what's under the helmet, I've included a shot. It's a standard mannequin style head, which allows the helmet to sit properly on the shoulders. And no, it doesn't look like Temuera Morrison.
Scale has always been an issue for the Medicom Star Wars figures. This trooper stands
11 1/2 inches tall, which is too short to be seen with any other true sixth scale figures.
At that height, he's about the same as the Sideshow Jedi Luke, and we all know
that even Luke was short for a Stormtrooper. That pretty much limits you to posing him with the RAH Vader or Luke, and the upcoming RAH
Fett. That's an unfortunate negative for a lot of folks with this
line. It's one thing to not be able to pose them with the Sideshow Star
Wars line - but it's a whole 'nother not to be able to pose them with almost
no other sixth scale licenses.
Along with scale, there is one other sculpt issue for me. This guy
has tiny hands. Tiny, tiny hands. They are clearly too small for
his body, even sculpted in the gloves and armor.
Paint - ***1/2
The armor is molded in the bright (and I mean snow blind bright) white armor,
but there is added paint operations to areas like the helmet and torso.
The small details that are here are fairly well done, although there is a bit
of slop between the black paint and the bright white in a few areas.
Articulation - ***1/2
The Medicom body is one of the best articulated AND flows and hangs in a very
natural and realistic way.
Getting this guy into poses that seemed lifelike was easy, unlike some
12" bodies currently on the market. Getting him to hold poses
without the benefit of the display stand was also easy, a big plus to me.
All the articulation you expect in a sixth scale figure is here, including
ball joints at the neck, hips, shoulders and ankles, and double joints at the
ankles and knees. Even wearing the restrictive armor, this guy can take and
hold more poses than most.
The armor is restrictive though, so don't expect any deep fighting stances
or wild round kicks. Still, the articulation is designed to not only
hold various poses, but do so in a natural manner, a huge plus.
Accessories - ***
The trooper comes with his trademark blaster, which fits nicely in the holster
permanently attached to the outfit. The sculpt is extremely detailed, but it does seem that the overall size is a smidge small. That just might be my perceptions though, and if it is a bit undersized, it's not enough to be a major problem.
The same can't be said for the extra set of hands, which, like the attached set, are way too tiny. With hands this small, it ain't surprising that this guy's 'blaster'
is a bit undersized. And his gun too.
The hands pop on and off easily enough, but don't have the annoying tendency to come off while posing. There's also the standard clear display stand, which is nice but not particularly necessary for this guy. You'll be able to get him into some good poses without it, and he'll stay there
indefinitely.
The right hand is posed to hold the blaster, while the left is giving a thumbs up signal. I can see this particular hand being used in many a comic photo.
While the accessories are good, at this price point they're definitely a bit light. Considering the number of cool items that could have been included, having just the blaster and a set of hands is a bit of a disappointment.
Outfit - ****
I've already mentioned the sculpt and paint on the armor, but let's not forget
that the outfit also has to fit the body well, and not be any more restrictive
than necessary.
Under the armor is a soft body suit, zippered up the back. Most of
the armor is not actually attached to the suit though, and stays in place with
a tight fit to the body. The one exception MIGHT be the bicep armor
pieces, because these are very tight on the arms. I wasn't going to go
tearing at them to double check.
The shoulder armor is actually attached to the chest armor with two small,
glued pieces of cloth at the very top. This allows the shoulder armor to
move completely up and out of the way for just about any arm pose.
The helmet has foam inside to ensure a tight fit on the head, and to ensure
that it won't tilt due to gravity. That way it holds tilted and twisted
poses nicely.
Capping things off is a terrific soft leather holster for the
blaster. The strap does not actually open, but the holster is designed
to the blaster can be pushed down far enough for the strap to be placed over
the stock.
Fun Factor - ***
Kids love Storm(and clone)troopers. But this guy is unlikely to end up in any backyard brawls, cool as he may be. That's probably for the best, since the armor is a bit easy to damage, and might tear free from the body suit with even basic play.
But for the older kid who can appreciate the nature of this figure (oh, I'm thinking 10 - 12, depending on the kid of course), this would actually make a really amazing present.
Value - **
I'm grading this at the $130 I paid, which tends to be the average price when these guys were first hitting. However, they have them on sale right now for about $100, which is much more in line with what I'd consider an average value. Pick him up at that price, and you can add another half star.
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