Clone Trooper - TSC - The Episode III Heroes & Villains Collection (5 of 12)

Equipped for all terrains and environments, the genetically engineered clone troopers combat the relentless droid armies of the Separatists. They are led into battle by the Jedi, who serve as Generals during the Clone Wars.

Initially, we all double guessed which clones actually appeared in Revenge Of The Sith because Hasbro released action figures based on clones that appeared in concept art (or were just Hasbro’s concepts themselves) first. Interestingly there were a ton of clones that did appear in Episode III that they could have developed first. Figures like the Utapau Shadow Trooper and the Revenge Of The Sith Deluxe Clone Trooper three-packs included characters that never made in into Episode III, yet Hasbro designed them for the Revenge Of The Sith line because each would make great action figures in general. And nine times out of ten times they were pretty much on the mark. Clones in any flavor will always be surefire hits. Hasbro knows this by how much we supported those Entertainment Earth exclusive Clone Trooper 4-Pack sets released in early 2005. Hasbro decided to attack the plain white clone in phase II armor first for the Revenge Of The Sith line. We have plenty of white phase I clones and now it’s time for phase II. But unlike the phase I clones, the phase II “all white” Clone Troopers can barely be seen in Revenge Of The Sith which led to the generally accepted mistake that they didn’t appear in Episode III at all. Some collectors still believe this. Granted, this misconception stems from Hasbro using all “concept graphics” for the Clone Trooper’s packaging and Lucas’ lack of screen time. That is coupled with the fact that you never really see the white Clone Trooper in its entirety in any of the scenes it does appear and just portions instead. (You can actually “see” one in the Republic Gunship when it lands on Coruscant, but it is so far away and hard to see.) Hasbro made an incredible super-articulated version of this particular pure flavor of clone and it will undoubtedly become the template for all other clones part of and not part of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith.

Hasbro opened up the Revenge Of The Sith line with the action-feature laden 2005 ROTS Clone Trooper (III 6) figure. To be fair, it looked alright, but it didn’t have an articulated waist and some of its proportions made him out of scale and far from definitive. So later in the year Hasbro presented unto all collectors an absolutely most definitive Clone Trooper body. And it’s a figure that made all collectors very, very happy. Although it made its debut in the Revenge Of The Sith line, Hasbro wisely chose the figure to be part of The Saga Collection's The Episode III Heroes & Villains Collection. This super-articulated figure comes with a ball-socket head, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, swivel wrists, ball-jointed torso, swivel hips, ball-jointed knees and ball-jointed ankles. The Clone Trooper is as brilliant of a sculpt as it was at the time of its original release, and we will support it unconditionally. The biggest issue with this figure however is the swivel hips. The way the leg armor is constructed, it makes posing him on one knee possible, but difficult. What’s worse is that you have to force the legs to go over these said armor parts that stick out over the swivel joints and the leg actually pulls away from the body while in this pose. (Thankfully the legs return to their original shape over time and don’t look stretched out from forcing it into this pose.) Hasbro has also unfortunately installed his belt upside down. (Editors’ Note: This became a chronic trend throughout this figure’s life ever since.) Because Hasbro has dumped a great deal of dollars into this very satisfying sculpt, Clone Trooper comes lightly accessorized. All you get is a removable antenna (which we don’t believe is screen accurate on the all-white clones) and a DC-15 blaster which fits into both hands remarkably well. You’ll have to spend some time playing with this figure to find out just how much you’re able to do with it.

We’re also quite impressed with the figure’s paint job: simple but poignant. Keeping in mind that the paint operations are very simple, it’s evident that less is more in this case. You’ll find tan hash marks throughout his armor (especially the torso) and it looks great. For The Episode III Heroes & Villains Collection, the tan appears darker to us. Because they all have the same pattern, they are going to be too clone like. Maybe that’s a bit ironic to point out as a flaw, but we think Hasbro should find a way to alternate paint operations on figures that are intended to be, well, clones of each other. We’re nitpicking, but no two clones should have identical dirt in all the same places on their armor! Changing things up means variety for your collection. Hopefully you understand out concern. One of the best things about this figure is its customizing abilities. Even if you can’t bare the thought of permanently “damaging” your figures with razors, knives, scissors, paint, glue or anything of the sort, you can do plenty to get some versatility in your collection. We normally don’t extrapolate upon the figures we talk about in Research Droids Reviews in a customizing light, but we are making an exception here. You can “build” yourself an awesome super-articulated AT-TE Tank Gunner by taking the pauldron/bandolier, helmet cap and guns from 2005's ROTS AT-TE Tank Gunner (III 38) and the results are spectacular. There are more things you can do as well. This figure remains a wonderful choice for the basic figure line and it certainly blows 2005's ROTS Clone Trooper (III 6) figure out of the water. And you’ll probably ask yourself why you stockpiled the III 6 figure (we did). Get as many of these figures as you can because you’re going to need them to defeat those Separatists! What an incredible figure this is folks! It's definitely nice to see it again.