Jungle Camo ARF Trooper - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW24)

Advanced Recon Force (ARF) clone troopers conduct reconnaissance missions. They are trained in stealth techniques to gather information without being detected by the enemy. Wearing jungle camouflage armor, they are deployed to the planet Teth to scout the location where Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta is being held captive.

It is equally surprising as it is not surprising that Hasbro is still delving into The Clone Wars film to pick candidates for the action figure line over two years outside the theatrical release. But just as Jungle Camo ARF Trooper proves, there is clearly a heavy supply of characters still not made that are worthy of action figure consideration. And while the Jungle Camo ARF Trooper is “simply” a repaint, he is actually so much more. A super-articulated action figure from The Clone Wars line that has ball-jointed hips, this action figure becomes superior to his peers based on this fact alone. The Clone Wars line will inevitably gives us clone trooper after clone trooper, but it’s thrilling when we get a clone that typically looks like no others. Lines like this can become stagnant very easily, yet Hasbro seemingly keeps the line enticing with vigor surprisingly well. Jungle Camo ARF Trooper doesn’t bring anything new to the table as far as sculpts are concerned, but when it comes to deco, well, that’s a horse of a different color. Literally! Any action figure that can be contorted into any configuration receives strong praise from us, but when it is enhanced with a stupendous paint job, that is just gravy. While we still stick to our guns that the name “ARF Trooper” is as silly as they come, the action figure works extremely hard to show that not much is in a name when strength lies in the sculpt and execution of an action figure.

When the very first 2009 TCW [S2] ARF Trooper (CW10) entered our collections in the summer of 2009, many of us fell in love with him. He suffered from bright white armor, but thankfully Hasbro replicated the few colorful details in his helmet quite well. Jungle ARF Trooper immediately becomes the antithesis of that 2009 TCW [S2] ARF Trooper (CW10) figure because he is covered from head to toe in a gray camouflage pattern all over his lean armored body. Featured so far only in The Clone Wars film, we really haven’t seen any television episode in the series develop these characters any more. Seen fighting during the Battle of Teth, these clone troopers fought valiantly to assist the Republic locate the whereabouts of Jabba the Hutt’s son. As an action figure, the Jungle Camo ARF Trooper is really something special indeed. A close look at the deco pattern will show you just how intricate it is. A lot of attention to detail went into this paint operation and it is thrilling to see a figure with this much color successfully make it into the toy line as is without some cut to the paint job budget. It appears that no shortcuts were taken here and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the final results. Starting off life as a Galactic Heroes figure, it’s so cool that Hasbro has finally added him to their basic line repertoire. (That reminds us Hasbro! There are still a lot of figures you made as Galactic Heroes that have yet to be made in the 3.75” scale line. Snap to it already!)

We have uttered this 100s of times before, but repack and repaints are essential to the overall health of the line. And we don’t mind. And we would even mind less if Hasbro could find a way to use stiffer plastic for their action figures and weapons. We adore the Jungle Camo ARF Trooper, but he slightly suffers from having a body composed of pliable plastic. Over time this tends to affect the aesthetics of the figure and parts may be at risk for drooping. But we certainly won’t worry about that until if and when it happens. While we have been inundated with repacks in a huge first wave push when the “Shadow of The Dark Side” line debuted, we have also received some pretty solid new action figures. Jungle Camo ARF Trooper may not be an all-new sculpt but the totally cool paint job makes this a new figure for us. Looking especially awesome atop an AT-RT, this figure also looks fantastic when displayed with your 2009 TCW [S2] Clone Turbo Tank and/or 2008 TCW [F/S1] AT-TE (All Terrain Tactical Enforcer) vehicles. The clone troopers may remain the same throughout The Clone Wars line as far as shape and size are concerned, but Hasbro is ensuring us that they have a lot of ideas to keep them coming to without boring us in the least. We definitely have a great deal of excitement to look forward to in the coming year. Jungle Camo ARF Trooper may not be the action figure you have been waiting for to enter your collections, but you would be remiss to not acknowledge that he is one cool clone trooper. Just look at that camouflage pattern! He’s beautiful!