[En Sabah Nerd]

Got the new Black Series Stormtrooper from Amazon. Getting my gripes out of the way first: the paint apps on the helmet are pretty sloppy on close inspection with instances of coloring outside the lines and some minor blurring in places, and then for whatever reason the helmet isn't the figure's head but instead it has a blank mannequin head that plugs onto the neck and then the helmet is glued onto that which means you can get one that's not put together right and it affects its ability to look down. Other than those remarks though it's a pretty nice new figure.

All of the white plastic here is nice and sleek, and when I'm not scrutinizing it in front of my face the helmet details look good. The articulation build on this figure is a serious upgrade. The neck is actually sculpted appropriately now to have the ribbing and has ball joints into the head and body, which can help a lot if the head is put together off-center. The shoulders are what seems to be three pieces where it's a butterfly hinge, the typical ball-hinge from the shoulder, and then a ring piece between them which connects to the shoulder pad keeping it detached from the actual shoulder. It's kind of a lot in a small space but it works well after spending some time to get used to it all. The upper torso armor is also a floating piece now so it can be lifted to allow for a little more use of that ball joint. In general then the articulation is all done so that it isn't obviously seen which gives the figure a very clean look but also doesn't sacrifice functionality.

Comparing it to the previous figure though and I think the biggest difference is the upgraded helmet sculpt. It just better captures the shape and details of the helmet while also being slightly smaller which looks more accurate. The body is also not as wide-shouldered and scrawny looking in certain areas like the previous version. I still think the previous figure is pretty good though and can definitely be kept to bolster ranks. The other difference then is the blaster. It's still supposed to be an E-11 but since it's from the Mandalorian it's got a flashlight mounted on and then the magazine sticking out of the side is longer, the entire blaster is also just a little shorter in length than the previous mold.

Here's a side-by-side with the original Stormtrooper on the left and the new one on the right for anybody who wants to see the differences.