The first thing an obsessive compulsive collector such as myself will notice about this figure is that the Imperial symbol is missing from the upper sleeves.  This begs an immediate question.  Was this an omission by Hasbro or is it accurate to the source?  Low and behold it’s accurate to the specific source of Rogue One.  Apparently the Death Star Gunner uniforms underwent a hasty upgrade between the missions on Scarif and Alderaan.  This can be seen in the screen grab comparison below:

(click for the full sized image)

So as with the recently reviewed VC140 - Stormtrooper figure, this figure is specifically sourced to Rogue One on a nit-picky technicality.  Whether or not you’re okay using this figure as an “OT” Death Star Gunner is up to you.  This also gives Hasbro an excuse to make a valid “repaint”, especially if an OT version were released on a reproduction Power of the Force card to mimic the only vintage Kenner release of the Death Star Gunner.  As a byproduct of this bit of research, I uncovered an Easter egg of which I was personally unaware.  The Death Star Gunner scenes during the firing on Scarif are a shot for shot recreation of the Death Star Gunner scenes from the destruction of Alderaan.  Pretty neat.   

Moving on from the picayune details of shoulder patch adornment, something about the figure has always struck me as a little off.  I thought it was perhaps too tall, but it’s not.  It stands a full head shorter than the VC93 - Darth Vader figure.  Next I thought maybe it’s a tad too long legged, but looking at the comparison pic above with the TSC 041 - Death Star Gunner, the two figures are reasonably close in proportions.  Then if finally dawned on me.  The hip assembly is a tad conspicuous on this figure and is reminiscent of a “t-crotch” G.I. Joe figure.  In fact, it reminds me of a Cobra Commander figure.  So what was bothering me was that I couldn’t place that sense of reminiscence.  Now that it’s identified, like an actor you cannot place, I no longer see the figure as “a little off”.

The helmet on this figure is much smaller than the previous Saga Collection release.  This smaller helmet is much more accurate to the on-screen helmet.  The profile looks like a dead ringer to what is seen in both Rogue One and A New Hope.  The articulation is superb as we’ve come to expect in the 2019 Vintage Collection, and I’m not just talking about the points and types of articulation.  I’m talking about the range of motion of those joints.  The knees can fully bend to ninety degrees and the elbows actually go beyond ninety.  I think image 5 above is the perfect representation of this.  The head features the now familiar “double barbell” assembly and allows nearly infinite unrestricted tilt angles.

According to the 501st Legion’s Costume Reference Library, there are six distinct options for the chest piece on the Death Star Gunner costume, one of which is no chest armor.  This figure appears to follow “version one”, which they describe as:

Black Pauldron (sandtrooper style) – draped over front chest.
Black Strap wrapped around back and fastened to front sides of pauldron).
May include straps on the back to connect the back of the pauldron to the waist strap.

That chest piece appears to be a separate piece.  Removing it would allow you to also display the “no chest armor” version, but I wasn’t positive that removing it wouldn’t result in irreparable damage to the figure, so I didn’t risk it.  I think the way Hasbro captured a different texture of the chest armor as well as slightly more matte finish is amazing.  It achieves something that would be seemingly impossible at this scale:  the different layers of an all black costume manage to stand out and give the appearance of depth. 

I think this is another home run in the 2019 Vintage Collection lineup and scores a perfect 10 out of 10.  This is the definitive Rogue One Death Star Gunner with room for an Episode IV release by adding the Imperial symbols to the shoulders.