Anakin Skywalker/Airborne Trooper - TAC - Order 66 (5 of 6)

Well, here is a unique take on the assault of the Jedi Temple that Darth Vader (formerly Anakin Skywalker) brought upon the Jedi Order in Revenge Of The Sith. Based on this heart wrenching scene in Episode III, Hasbro takes some creative license and develops their own interpretation of what may have transpired just off screen with the Anakin Skywalker/Airborne Trooper (5 of 6) Order 66 TARGET exclusive. It totally makes sense why they’ve done what they’ve done here. Their Airborne Trooper is a figure they should be very proud of (and they are from what we hear) and Hasbro should find new an invigorating ways to get the excellent sculpt out into the line again and again. Obviously we didn’t see any 501st Legion Airborne Troopers during the raid on the Jedi Temple, but do you honestly care? It’s one more unique 501st soldier for your ever-growing clone ranks and you can treat him as a commander to lead the 501st Legion clone troopers in the absence of Darth Vader. But don’t let us decide for you how to play with your toys!

Airborne Trooper is a rework of 2007’s TAC Airborne Trooper (30 07) figure. Originally released in the 30 (77-07) as the screen accurate 212th Attack Battalion member, Hasbro now issues it as a member for the 501st Legion. And quite frankly he looks just as awesome. All of the same accessories are included for this release as well. The paint job is perfect and he looks fantastic next to the included Anakin Skywalker figure. You’ll probably want multiples of him because he is so cool, but at $9.99 a set it may not be feasible for most collector budgets. We absolutely adore this sculpt, but it isn’t without some issues. The helmet doesn’t seem to go over his head completely and his feet are positioned at the slightest angle which makes posing him a little bit annoying, but with some patience you can achieve a pose that lasts. Overall, the Airborne Trooper is the perfect figure to see get released again.... in a different color scheme!

Isn’t odd how Hasbro flip-flops with how and when they designate Anakin Skywalker and/or Darth Vader? They’re rather inconsistent, and they often mess things up when Anakin is actually Darth Vader and vice versa. For the Order 66 set, obviously this should be Darth Vader, but perhaps Hasbro intentionally used “Anakin Skywalker” here to keep it separate from the other Darth Vader/Commander Bow (3 of 6) set released alongside of it. Anyway, Anakin Skywalker is a repaint of 2005’s ROTS Anakin Skywalker (III 28) figure. The differences in the paint job are noticeable, but it seems as if “repainting” him was on Hasbro’s agenda, so don’t worry about this paint job being all that different. The figure comes with annoying action features sadly and with all of the great sculpts that Hasbro has under their belt now we just don’t understand why they can’t resort to the better tools they own in their parts catalogue. Still, get this set for the Airborne Trooper. You will want this figure for sure!