The
first phase I clone pilot we ever received was
in 2002 as the Clone Trooper (Republic Gunship
Pilot) ('02 #49) figure. An immediately popular
figure, it didn't offer great articulation or
an accurately scaled bubble-turret (in fact,
it was only a fraction of the true size). Hasbro
attempted him again and improved the character
by leaps and bounds in the 2005 ROTS Evolutions
set. And after a few more subsequent releases
here and there, Hasbro released him in the 2008 The
Clone Wars line. But interestingly, he was
labeled with the character-specific name "Odd
Ball" and not as a generic pilot. Nothing
about this figure would allow you to identify
him as "Odd Ball" so it causes a little
bit of unnecessary confusion. There are no discerning
marks or insignias on his helmet, nor are there
any identifying characteristics to set him apart
from the rest. So we find this move by Hasbro
a little bizarre. While we understand that this
is what Odd Ball looks like, perhaps it would
have been wiser to give this figure a removable
helmet with a portrait that identifies him as
such. Otherwise we would just call him Clone
Pilot like any other figure. We can confidently
tell you that the figure is pretty cool and a
real treat to have in our collections. (But we
have this weird "thing" where we like
to get action figures based on characters seen
in the six films as animated action figures.
We just pretend they are animated forms of the
ones we saw in the films.)
Clone
Pilot Odd Ball has caused some debate on the
topic of what previous parts were used to make
him. Without causing too much controversy, we
believe he is essentially the 2008 TCW Clone
Trooper (No. 5) figure with repositioned legs
(for what we assume is for better seating capabilities)
and a new head. Super-articulated with 14 points,
the figure is loaded with ball-joints throughout
its very mobile body. The figure has a very bright
dark yellow stripe (almost looking like a Mohawk)
coming down from the top of his head and it lies
atop a lighter yellow and thicker stripe. The
Republic insignia is emblazoned on both sides
and he has the standard phase I visor that we
have seen 100 times already. If you have the
regular Clone Trooper figure, then you pretty
much already own Clone Pilot Odd Ball. But this
is also something you have learned to accept
in this facet of the hobby. Clones are clones
and there is an understanding that many of the
action figures will be almost identical from
each other. Since we know that Odd Ball is a
clone pilot, we are perplexed by his heavy artillery.
Clone Pilot Odd Ball comes outfitted with a DC-15
blaster, rocket launcher and a rocket projectile.
For someone who is steering a large Republic
Gunship, we find it strange that he would be
carrying around these big weapons. (We know,
it's for the kiddies). And of course this doesn't
detract from the action figure, but it makes
us wish that the big weapons were dropped in
favor of better paint applications.
Clone
Pilot Odd Ball has the distinction of being the
figure to start Hasbro down the new "clean" path
for their action figures. In fact, they even
went back to the first figures that were released
and cleaned them up too. In particular, Clone
Trooper (No. 5) and Captain
Rex (No. 4) were
re-shipped in the second wave of figures (that
included Odd Ball) all with new (or lack of)
paint jobs - and by new we mean that the armor
was basically spit-shined. The beautiful dirt
washes and battle-damage markings were stripped
clean from these clone trooper figures. And it
is a trend that has been carried forward ever
since. But if this is something that doesn't
bother you, then Clone Pilot Odd Ball is a great
candidate for your collection. Simple in design
and complicated in articulation, this action
figure won't be the best you will ever buy, but
it does the job well. Besides, who else will
you have piloting your Republic Gunships? Odd
Ball was first seen in this fashion in The
Clone Wars movie, but we would expect repaint
after repaint of this figure. There are a lot
of clone pilots in The Clone Wars television
series so it is inevitable that we will be getting
more later on down the road. And we will welcome
them with open arms. We truly can never get enough
clone troopers, can we? |
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