Stormtrooper - OTC - Basic (OTC #16)

Stormtroopers are the army of the evil Empire. These highly skilled soldiers are sent into battle against anyone who tries to stop the Emperor and his plans to rule the galaxy. Stormtroopers are completely loyal to the Emperor. They all look alike and wear white armor that hides their faces. Even though they are tough and dangerous soldiers, the brave Rebels are not afraid to fight them in battle.

If you were fortunate enough to be in the collector age range in 1999, you probably are very aware of the gifts Hasbro gave to us as they began wrapping up the long-running The Power Of The Force line. In preparation for the Episode I line, Hasbro worked in the Comm Tech technology as a pack-in premium in the final figures of The Power Of The Force line. But despite the hoopla over this pack-in premium, collectors were given unique characters never made before as well as tremendous updates to some of the most basic Star Wars characters ever released. One such update was the long-awaited Stormtrooper upgrade which was the most articulated Stormtrooper yet in the line. With a “whopping” ten points of articulation (some of which were premium ball-joints), the 1999 POTF2 Stormtrooper figure with its corresponding Comm Tech chip was a figure that none of us could by fast enough for our collections. It was one of the earliest and most noteworthy army builders in years. It was such an important figure that Hasbro developed a unique version of the figure and threw it into a very successful Troop Builder set in 2002.

The 1999 version came with a blaster firing damage/carbon scoring deco feature. If you ran the figure under cold water, battle-damage would appear. It would quickly disappear if you warmed the area with your own hands. It was a simple but fun feature for the time. Hasbro removed this detail for 2002’s SW Stormtrooper Troop Builder set in which they included four in the set. They were exactly the same (save for their weapons). This quickly became the “go to” Stormtrooper until Hasbro developed the wonderful 2004 VOTC Stormtrooper figure. But it’s still difficult not to find affection for this figure despite its lack of articulation by today’s standards. It was a great figure for the time and still holds up well even today despite not being completely perfect. The first Stormtrooper figure with ball-jointed shoulders, the range of motion they provide along with the swivel elbows allows this Stormtrooper to look really good when posed in your collection. The ball-jointed head is definitely an odd addition. Despite its infinite range of movement, the head doesn’t have the most natural look or movements because of the obtrusive ball-jointed point of articulation.

The really exciting aspect of 2004’s OTC Stormtrooper (OTC #16) figure is obviously the packaging. The figure was last released the same year in 2004’s SW Hall Of Fame assortment, so it’s not like we haven’t had plenty of time to add this figure multiple times into our collections. But the packaging backdrop is a scene from Episode IV of the detention cell block. This visual has become etched in our minds because it was one of the most memorable scenes from A New Hope. Now it’s been “freeze framed” as a collectible Star Wars action figure. The packaging is only made better by the silver Star Wars logo and the double parallel lines the run along the inner perimeter of the card front. The card back is also as intriguing. The colorful red background gives a brief description of the Stormtrooper and also shows some of the other figures in The Original Trilogy Collection. Let us be clear. The Stormtrooper (OTC #16) figure pales in comparison to the all-new 2004 VOTC Stormtrooper figure. But at half the price and more nostalgia of how the modern line began, we expect that you’ll be content with adding a few of these puppies to your collection too.