Tactical Ops Trooper - ROTS - Basic (III 65)

These clone troopers accompany Darth Vader on a mission to destroy the Jedi. Vader and his highly trained tactical ops troopers storm the Jedi Temple and show no mercy to whomever may cross their path.

Hasbro introduced collectors to a very unique set of a dozen figures that utilized previous sculpts throughout the current and previous lines that were to be the last two waves of 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith line. This was presented at 2005’s San Diego Comic Con. Unofficially dubbed the “Repack & Repaint” waves, little did we know then that it would be the catalyst for new protocol Hasbro would utilize in future basic figure lines to help pad them with placeholder product in case of unforeseeable delays and product shifts. Sometimes "Repack & Repaint" waves can include some of collectors’ most favorite Star Wars characters. Waves of figures like this often provide the opportunity to get that one rare or obscure background character, or in the case of the Revenge Of The Sith line give collectors long-awaited main characters that should have been released at the very beginning, but cannot due to limitations of attainable source material. Perhaps the most desired characters from Episode III were the members of the 501st Legion, also known as Vader’s Fist. Hasbro made us wait almost four full months after the Revenge Of The Sith line first hit retail before the 2005 ROTS Jedi Temple Assault Battle Packs set which included out very first 501st Legion Clone Trooper hit Kmart. Unfortunately, it sold out in record time barely met initial demand. (Thankfully more units were manufactured and released.) Hasbro picked up on this quickly and decided to include the 501st Legion Clone Trooper in the very final wave of the Revenge Of The Sith line. (Hey, better late than never, right?) The figure was renamed Tactical Ops Trooper, released, but became controversial almost immediately. (And controversial not because Hasbro didn't number it III 66 – how perfect would that have been?)

At 2005’s San Diego Comic Con, Hasbro showed off a prototype of the Tactical Ops Trooper (III 65) figure (in addition to the other figures that made up the last dozen for the Revenge Of The Sith line). The figure was a repaint of the earlier released 2005 ROTS Clone Trooper (III 41) in 501st Legion colors. And it was gorgeous. The blue color flashes had a worn and marbled look to them. It was quite an impressive “potential” figure and collectors couldn’t wait a second longer for it to become available. For your information, the image of the original prototype can be seen HERE. But what arrived in the package was a reworked version of 2005’s ROTS AT-TE Tank Gunner (III 38) figure and the super-articulated version was never released. (Editor’s Note: The 501st Legion Trooper made from the super-articulated sculpt did come to fruition finally as 2007’s TAC 501st Legion Trooper (Saga Legends) figure (but as a second running change) and then was carried forward every year in the Saga Legends line as it changed line looks. Sadly, the paint job wasn’t nearly as brilliant as the prototype seen at 2005’s SDCC and the shape of the pattern on the helmet was incorrect.) Needless to say, most collectors were disappointed by this. What made this harder to swallow was that the Jedi Temple Assault figure was a repaint of 2005’s ROTS Clone Trooper (III 6) figure as our only default option if we were to pass on this version. That figure’s sculpt, while almost super-articulated, contains an annoying action feature which actually skewed some of the natural proportions of clones. Collectors couldn’t win for losing. Interestingly, we still are fond of the Tactical Ops Trooper and we’re not sure if we can explain it.

Its upper body articulation is maddening, but should you decide to pose this figure in your collection holding his DC-15 blaster, it doesn’t look half bad. In fact, it looks pretty darn cool. Between the addition of the blue color flashes, the carbon scoring and the reduction of accessories, the character of the Tactical Ops Trooper utilizes the AT-TE Tank Gunner sculpt better than the AT-TE Tank Gunner character did. Does that even make sense? All we’re trying to say is this sculpt looks so much better as a Tactical Ops Troopers than an AT-TE Tank Gunner. Hasbro has managed to fix the crossed eyes that we saw on the AT-TE Tank Gunner and as a result the portrait looks significantly better than ever. You’d be surprised by how well this figure may fit into your collection. It’s easily better than the Jedi Temple Assault figure, but you’ll ultimately have to decide that for yourself. We’ll just wait until Hasbro gives us the definitive up[date. (Editor’s Note: To date there are many versions of the 501st Legion Trooper/Tactical Ops Trooper. Hasbro released the Jedi Temple Assault Kmart exclusive Battle Packs set which included a 501st Legion Trooper utilizing the 2005 ROTS III 6 sculpt, then 2007’s TSC Commander Appo (SAGA 064) which may be the most definitive version to date but the blue vertical chest “stripe” doesn’t go all the way up his body glove collar, 2007’s TAC, 2008’s TLC, 2009’s LC and 2010’s SW [SOTDS] Saga Legends figure. And then there’s the 2012 TVC Clone Trooper (501st Legion) figure that should become the new definitive version of this character. Clearly, you have options.)