Here we have a figure, that for all intents and purposes, is almost identically awesome to the VC140 Stormtrooper figure.  It’s got a great sculpt which is (probably) accurate to the film, it’s got amazing articulation, and it’s aesthetically pleasing.  Ultimately, however, it’s success or failure will depend on whether or not the character of the Sith Jet Trooper (assuming it has any significant screen time) captures the imagination of action figure collecting fans.  For most of you reading this, the VC140 Stormtrooper was a revelation of action figure greatness.  On top of the fact that it was objectively a great action figure (minus the bell-bottom shins and lack of rocker ankles), it was an OT (sort of) Stormtrooper!  If it didn’t cost $13 (if you could ever find it), it would have inspired most of us to horde by the truckload. 

That said, we have another offering here that is objectively a great action figure.  Other than a few minor nitpicks which I’ll get to, it seems more or less perfect.  But it’s just not the iconic OT stormtrooper.  It’s a fire engine red ST stormtrooper variant, and that might not inspire the same feelings of pure joy as did VC140.  In my opinion, that figure is subjectively better.  But it’s purely emotional.  I have no connection to this trooper yet, so I don’t love it in the sense that I am not prepared to hug it and squeeze it and name it George.  Maybe I’ll just hold it gently and name it Carl. 

The sculpt is great, although to be honest, the details in the armor are a bit “washed out” by the overwhelming bright red color.  There are plenty of details and textures sculpted into the armor.  Maybe it’s just my weird excuse for color vision that skews this part of the review, but in a strange way, it’s a bit off-putting.  I’d prefer a design that started with a base white color and included red markings, like the clone shock troopers.  But then people would complain that JJ Abrams had no imagination and was just ripping off previous designs.

The helmet harkens back to the Scarif trooper / tank driver / tank commander style.  I like it, because I enjoy the effort to tie up the aesthetics from across The Saga.  Again, some people probably hate it.  Anyway, this version of the Sith trooper has a jet pack.  It’s not removable (NOT MEANT TO BE REMOVED, YOU CUSTOMIZING ANIMALS!).  The jet pack and the helmet seem to be the main traits that differentiate this armor from that of the standard Sith Trooper.  I don’t have that figure in hand yet, so I can’t do a detailed comparison.

The articulation is excellent:  double-jointed neck, ball jointed everything else. It’s just missing the rocker ankles that a trooper figure like this deserves.  Hasbro really needs to find a way to re-introduce that feature into some of these trooper/hero/Jedi figures in TVC.  Like the VC140 stormtrooper, the lack of rocker ankles is what prevents it from scoring higher. 

One other nitpick is that one of the two included blasters doesn’t fit well in the right hip slot (“holster”), nor in the trooper’s hand.  The other weapon fits perfectly in both.  I feel like it would have been better if Hasbro had included a larger rifle instead of two blasters that are so similar, but this might just be what is on screen.

Overall, this is an amazing figure.  I’ve got a small complaint about the interactivity of one of the basters, and about the fact that this doesn’t have rocker ankles.  It would otherwise be a perfect 10.  But alas, it merely scores a 9.  That 9 is identical to the score we gave VC140, but my guess is, a lot of collectors would overwhelmingly prefer VC140.