Clone Trooper - ROTS - 12 Inch Figures

These genetically engineered soldiers, cloned from bounty hunter Jango Fett, serve as the Grand Army of the Republic under the leadership of the noble Jedi Knights. They are sent throughout the galaxy to fight the droid armies of the Separatist forces.

Imagine, if you can, being in Hasbro’s position to prepare for the biggest chapter of the Prequel Trilogy, and being partially blinded while doing so. That’s not an unfair assessment for where Hasbro was as they developed the Revenge Of The Sith toyline full of 3.75” action figures, vehicle and 12 Inch Figures. Now, to be clear, Hasbro developed a fantastic line for Episode III. But some core characters changed before the film’s release, and the reference materials for many of the clone troopers and clone commanders featured in the film didn’t go beyond the preliminary statuses now found in “Making Of” books on the film. Not amounting to more than “concept art,” 2005’s ROTS Clone Trooper 12 Inch Figure is a case in point example of what can go “wrong’ in a toy line when secrets are held back, and designs change without licensees knowing about it or being given enough time to fix and revise things. Based on a preliminary concept that was to be one of Commander Neyo’s clone troopers, Lucasfilm changed the helmet design (and a few other details) of the 91st Reconnaissance Corps (as denoted by the red, circular symbol on various places of the armor) as the film went into postproduction.

George Lucas changed the original design of the 91st Reconnaissance Corps by changing the helmet style and making it different from the standard all-white Phase III Clone Trooper, or the one with red markings, George Lucas decided on a unique helmet design which gave them an appearance different than any other clone trooper featured in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. But Hasbro was working with the older designs while designing the toy line. The original 91st Reconnaissance Corps design may not have been George Lucas’ idea for the standard Clone Trooper, but Hasbro produced two toys based on the design. Both a TARGET exclusive Clone Trooper was released sporting this design, and the first was this 12 Inch Figure. What’s interesting is that Hasbro finally got the design of an armored figure down well. The only area that lacks on the Clone Trooper 12 Inch Figure is the helmet. It’s too oblong and doesn’t match the contour of the on-screen characters. But everything else about the Revenge Of The Sith Clone Trooper exceeds our expectations, but it’s not a perfect figure. The joints are quite loose. But it’s a dramatic improvement from the Phase I Clone Trooper figures released in the Star Wars “Saga” [Phase I] line. The armored piece hang closely to the body, and they utilized a more streamlined buck to keep the figure looking slim.

We would have preferred to see Hasbro attack a different type of Clone Trooper altogether for the Revenge Of The Sith 12 Inch Figures line. But this one will have to do. Essentially all-white with a few circular symbols throughout specific spots on the armor, the Clone Trooper is the most-articulated 12 Inch Figure of Hasbro’s nearly ten-year career making this scale of figures. It follows in the same footsteps at 2004’s OTC Stormtrooper Large Size Action Figure, but there is enough newness here to consider it a new figure. Plus, the armor looks better-fitted on this Clone Trooper than the Stormtrooper. Loaded with 30 points of articulation, the Clone Trooper achieves poses never thought possible for characters like this in the past. And the inclusion of articulated fingers, although introduced in 2002, are especially useful here for holding the included DC-15 blaster. Overall, we’re thrilled with how the Clone Trooper turned out. We only wish that they designed a head sculpt that didn’t look as wonky as this one does. Multiple pieces of armor are removable on the Clone Trooper. These pieces include belly armor, the codpiece, shoulder armor, and elbow and knee pads. The black body glove is a separate piece as well, but some armored parts are sewn to it.