I hate the legs.  I hated them on the Sandtrooper.  I still hate them now.  The upper thigh armor comes to a point that obstructs the movement of the hip joint.  The only way to continue to move the legs upward is to also rotate them to move the armor out of the way.  This can also be an issue in the 3.75” line, but there’s a huge difference.  The 3.75” line uses ball jointed knees which act as a point of rotation.  So as you rotate the hips outward to move the armor out of the way, you can rotate the lower leg in at the knee to compensate and Bob’s your uncle.  The 6” line utilizes double jointed knees which do not rotate, so you cannot compensate for the outward rotation of the hips.  This means that a semi-crouched combat stance isn’t as easily achieved as in the smaller scale and the poses that can be achieved don’t look as natural as they should.  I don’t need double jointed knees.  I don’t care that the 6” Stormtrooper can slide into third or practice Yoga.  I’d rather be able to strike better combat stances.

Those legs ultimately terminate in the ever brilliant rocker ankle, so that does mitigate some of my disappointment.  By contrast, the arms work.  This is largely due to the bicep swivel that was added.  So while the hinged elbows also do not rotate, that loss of rotational articulation is made up for with the extra swivel just above the elbow.  All of this arm articulation which includes the helpful ball jointed wrists adds up to a figure that can interact very will with its accessories.  The 6” Black Series Stormtrooper can achieve some fairly natural shooting poses when using either the shorter E-11 blaster rifle of the longer DLT-20A,  In fact, aided by the double jointed neck, you can even position the figure’s head so that it’s looking through the scope of the DLT-20A.  That’s pretty neat.  Meesa likin’ dis.

The packing indicates that the Stormtrooper figure is sourced from A New Hope, but aside from the gray teeth in the helmet’s frown, I think the styling cues more closely represent an Episode V or VI helmet.  The holster functions perfectly.  The E-11 tucks in effortlessly and sinks to the exact depth that it should.  The dots of the ab plate are painted black.  This is a paint application that Hasbro skips about half the time in the 3.75” releases.  And fortunately for Hasbro, the figure is wearing the correct belt.  I don’t think they could have withstood the blistering criticism if they reissued this figure with the belt from the wave 1 Sandtrooper.  But unfortunately the upper torso was reused so this figure has a jarring hole in the back to accommodate a backpack it doesn’t wear. I’m getting sick and tired of Stormtroopers with holes in their backs.  Oddly Hasbro retooled the lower right leg to accommodate for a slight difference in the diamond pattern on the knee.  That knee plate difference is a lot less noticeable than a figure doing a Swiss cheese impersonation.

This is a very good figure, but the legs and the BLASTED hole in the back keep if from being a great figure.  8 out of 10.

8/10 Bantha Skulls