Okay, I picked up one of these out of curiosity of the new super-articulated "super soldier" body being packaged in the newer 21st Century Ultimate Soldier boxed figure sets. The figure I chose was the re-released WWII Eastern Front German since its head was the only one I didn't have loose (I'd traded away the Eastern Front I'd gotten last year months ago for a couple of Dragon zeltbahns). Plus I kind of like it, deformed mouth and all (I settled on "Helmut" for a name for the figure for some reason). This head is also available in the new German Infantry NCO, but the boxed sets I found at my local TRU didn't have the super soldier body. You can tell if a figure does or doesn't have the new body by 2 ways: the neckpost on the new SS is smaller than the neck of the head, leaving a fairly obvious seam visible, or in case the figure's neck is covered up, compare the figure to one that you know to be the older Sam; the SS is about a half-inch taller than its predecessor. Here are some full-body scans of the new SS:
First, some general impressions. The body seems made of the same heavy, solid plastic of the previous Sams and Hasbro CCs. Unlike a Dragon which is mostly hollow hard plastic shells, the SS's limbs seem to be solid, dense, soft plastic. This gives the figure a similar weight as the earlier Sams. Also, the figure is noticeably taller than the CC or Sam, rivaling a Dragon in height: about 6' in 1:6 scale. Of course, the neck post and forearms are compatible with the older Sams and CCs parts (including the new hand sets--I swapped out the left hand right away with a trigger finger--looks very good). One caveat, however, about using a CC head with the SS body: they are not completely compatible; see the "Appearance" section below for further details. A positive side effect of the taller height is that the hands, already smaller than the CC's huge mitts, are in better scale with the SS.
Joints. Unfortunately, the SS came out of the box already flopping a bit at the legs and ankles. As both these joints are friction joints, the problem is exacerbated by the dense, heavy, solid plastic. The limbs are just so heavy, the friction joints naturally will wear out more quickly than if they were light. The chest seems to have some kind of tension mechanism and in contrast springs back once bent. As noted earlier, the neck post is compatible with the CC or original Sam heads. The neck post actually pops out of a larger socket. You mount the head on the neck post first, then snap the head and neck assembly into the torso.
Articulation. As promised, the
articulation is as good as--and in some points, better than--a Dragon's.
From the scans below, you can see that the elbows and knees are double-jointed
like a Dragon's, allowing the figure to fold its elbows and knees (as shown in
the second full body scan above). The SS also has a waist/torso ball
joint, allowing the figure to curve its back like a Dragon's. However, it
also has a ball joint at the hip/pelvis, allowing an even more realistic curl
than a Dragon. Both ball joints in conjunction allow a limited
"C" curve of the torso that is very natural. The SS is also
better articulated than the Dragon at the shoulders and hip sockets, due to the
deeper hollows of the limb sockets. This allows the figure to pull its
legs up almost to its chest (as shown in the second photo above), and to fold
its arms across its body.
Appearance. The greater articulation does not come without a price, and that price is paid in the SS's aesthetics. This is one ugly critter, especially around the areas of greater articulation. As others have noted, the SS looks hyper-sexed with what appears to be large breasts and a prominent crotch. These are the result of hollowing the limb sockets to allow the deeper bends and folds (arms across chest, legs to chest). In my opinion, the prominent breasts and crotch aren't that big a deal. They can be if the figure is wearing clothing made of a thin material, as the material will get into the hollows and spoil the appearance. There are other problems with this figure aesthetically that are more serious. As you can see from the pictures below, the elbows and knees have a very rough and clunky appearance--one area where the Dragon clearly beats the SS, as the Dragon's joints are very well engineered with a minimum of negative space (very apparent in the SS). Another potential problem area is the neck. From the picture below, you can see that the discrepancy between the diameter of the head and the neck post is rather obvious. It is difficult to hide unless you use a uniform with a high or closed collar. Also with the neck, others have noted that the neck post is fairly short so it might look like the figure is shrugging slightly (see the first scan above). It really doesn't look that bad with my SS because, as you can see from the scan below, the "Helmut" head (like the other 21st Century heads) does have a little bit of a neck below its chin. However, the CCs have absolutely no neck below their chins. The difference is pretty apparent: using a CC head on a SS body produces a figure with a neck that is clearly too short and exaggerates the "shrugging" look.
Concluding thoughts. The SS is a step in the right direction toward that elusive ideal, an inexpensive, highly articulated, durable, good-looking 1:6 scale action figure. Its articulation is as good as if not better than a Dragon's. It certainly seems more durable than a Dragon against the blunt-edged traumas inflicted by rough play by little hands, though the use of heavy-duty materials should have been offset by over-engineering the joints which seem destined to loosen over time. The neck definitely needs rethinking, or in lieu of that, new heads with longer necks (I'd say about a quarter-inch from the top of the throat) need to be made. Cleaner elbow and knee joints would be nice, too. On the other hand, the breast and crotch comments when this figure was first released were, IMO, exaggerated--how many figures do you display without clothes? Finally, the price has to go down significantly to make the SS a competitor for my action figure money. $30 for a boxed set with the SS body (and cheap accessories/uniforms that I mostly swap out with Dragon pieces) is prohibitive in my book, and unfortunately only encourages cheap asshole collectors to become criminals--this has shown itself, unfortunately, by the number of returned Market Garden 101st's at TRU I've seen with their bodies swapped out for the older Sams. But I must say, I was surprised at how much I liked the SS since 21st has been getting less and less of my attention and money the past few months. I don't think I'll stop using CCs because they're cheap and easy to use with custom heads, and I'm very happy with my Dragons (I treat them as models, not toys), but I wouldn't mind picking up a few of these Super Soldiers if they ever show up on cards.