ARF (Advanced Reconnaissance Fighter) troopers are deployed to the ocean-covered planet Kamino, where they must defend the Republic's cloning facilities from a surprise Separatist attack. This ARF trooper makes use of a speederboard, which provides fast, easy transportation across a planet covered in water, while freeing the trooper's hands for combat while he's on the move.
It's rare for Hasbro to have figures available for a currently airing season at retail. But if a mistake is the cause, does it really matter to collectors? That's what happened with the [Kamino] ARF Trooper. Thinking they were making the ARF Troopers from Kamino, they actually made an ARF Trooper from an unaired (at the time) episode of The Clone Wars. From clone trainees to specialized ARC troopers, we were basically shown every level of clone in less than 60 minutes of screen time in the opening two episodes of season 3, so no wonder Hasbro got confused. All of the diversity, personality and all of the physical traits like varying colors of clone armor have show that a clone is anything but a…well, a clone. It awakened us to the fact that we were likely going to get a proverbial army of characters for our action figure collections with no end in sight. That happened and still happens and will indeed continue to happen as long as the line is alive. But in all honesty, does this really faze us? Aren’t we content with the latest flavor of clone trooper? Even if collectors get a little bored with one clone trooper after another, kids eat these types of figures up. And with the inclusion of extra play features, there is even more reason that basic figures from The Clone Wars line will continue to engage fans of all ages.
Hasbro will always find a way to release some of their greatest action figures and they've become smart enough to know that while straight repacks are sometimes necessary, new color palettes to create new styles of them are even more essential. You’ve seen the ARF Trooper sculpt since mid 2009 and it has remained an almost ageless sculpt since its inception thanks to up to the minute modern sculpting. Hasbro willingly saw the need to bring us ARF Trooper figures in the various style we see them in the television show. The paint jobs range from complicated to relatively simple. From the ARF Trooper Boil from the 2010 TCW [SOTDS] AT-RT With ARF Trooper Boil Deluxe/Class I set to the 2010 TCW [SOTDS] Jungle Camo ARF Trooper (CW24) from The Clone Wars film, Hasbro is slowly fulfilling the needs of collectors who want this sculpt in every style. And the candidate pool from which they select them will inevitably never run dry. With an astounding 27 points of ball-jointed articulation, this is the type of figure by which all others should be judged. From the rarely included ball-jointed hips to the even rarer ball-jointed wrists, the ARF Trooper is indeed one of the premier sculpted figures in The Clone Wars line and very few other figures can compare. (We’re talking strictly from the standpoint of articulation.)
The ARF Trooper is based on the one riding the AT-RT in the season 4 episode Mercy Mission which is part of the Rancor Battalion. But we are certain that Hasbro saw the ARF Troopers in the Clone Cadets episode of season 3 and thought they were making them instead. This episode of The Clone Wars television show is fiilled with new looking clone troopers and the ARF Troopers with the maroon color flashes on their arms through their shoulders appear to be some clone leaders on Kamino as they watch a Republic Gunship arrive at its docking bay. The regular white-bodied versions are shown elsewhere in the episode as well as on the figure's packaging (and game card). It’s actually one of our most favorite The Clone Wars figures from the “Shadow Of The Dark Side” phase. The ARF Trooper is loaded with accessories. He comes with the episode specific speeder board and then an awesome gun rack which firmly holds in place two DC-15 blaster rifles. We’re actually taken aback by how well these rifles snap into place. The rifle rack looks to be a straight repack of the one that came with 1999’s POTF Stormtrooper (With Blaster Damage) (Comm Tech) figure. But it works better than ever in The Clone Wars line. We’d say this style of ARF Trooper is necessary. You’ll have to decide that yourself like any other figure, but definitely don’t take this figure for granted as another boring repaint because it isn’t.
Collector Notes
ARF Trooper
Status: ARF Trooper is a rework of 2009's TCW [S2] ARF Trooper (CW10) figure.
Articulation Count: 27 points (14 areas of articulation)
Articulation Details: ball-socket head (1), ball-jointed left shoulder (2), ball-jointed right shoulder (2), ball-jointed left elbow (2), ball-jointed right elbow (2), ball-jointed left wrist (2), balll-jointed right wrist (2), ball-jointed torso (2), ball-jointed left hip (2), ball-jointed right hip (2), ball-jointed left knee (2), ball-jointed right knee (2), ball-jointed left ankle (2), ball-jointed right ankle (2)
Accessory Count: 5
Accessory Details: speederboard (2 parts), gun rack, 2 DC-15 blaster rifles
Date Stamp: 2009
Assortment Number: 30438/94736
UPC: 653569598244
Retail: $7.99 USD
Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on listings.