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Name: ARF
Trooper
Collection: The Clone Wars [Red]
Number: CW10
Source: The Clone Wars (Season 1 Episode 21: Liberty On
Ryloth)
Availability: July 2009
License: Hasbro
These Advanced Reconaissance Fighters often operate All-Terrain Recon Transport (AT-RT) walkers on scouting or combat operations. Riding atop these armed vehicles, ARF troopers can swiftly sweep through an area and cut down battle droids in their path.
The Clone Wars have taken acronyms to a whole new (and sometimes silly) level and we think it is getting a bit out of control. This may be a trivial thing to get irritated over, but when acronyms are becoming just as awkward to pronounce as some of those crazy Comic Packs names. (ARF Trooper isn’t hard to pronounce, but notice how silly you sound when you say it three times fast….) The ARF Trooper is a pretty cool action figure despite his clumsily enunciated name. A name that just doesn't match his very cool presence, you can quickly disregard the acronym here and realize just how easy it is to love this figure. ARF Trooper is clearly the result of what would happen if you successfully cross-pollinate a clone trooper and a scout trooper. He has a boxy helmet atop a very standard clone trooper body. His helmet is decorated simply but brilliantly as there are cool olive green, navy blue and dark red markings on the anterior side of it and a few more extra green markings on the posterior. These colors against a white backdrop really pop out and look awesome. This is the only spot on him where you will find any color and it makes quite a poignant statement. The ARF Trooper has some unique articulation too. Of special note are his ball jointed legs, which allow for a very wide stance and maximum posing options. Trust us when we say this figure needs it quite badly. He is super-articulated and this too is very necessary for what his character is required to do. On the packaging, it shows him on an AT-RT in the picture and his bio describes this type of trooper often rides them, so while we aren't really sure why he is taking over the AT-RT Driver's territory, we do know he needs flexibility to steer these vehicles. Perhaps he is the phase I AT-RT Driver? Who knows, we just know he is ultra cool!
Unfortunately, ARF Trooper is another pristinely white decorated action figure. We don't really know what it is going to take to get Hasbro to start marking up their figures (and we aren't hopeful for a return to the dirty washes), but it is starting to become quite a travesty. He is not an indoor clone trooper, so we wish Hasbro would have even given us a few carbon scoring marks or dirt splatters or something. Unfortunately he is clean as a whistle and it is really the only detracting feature on this action figure. This will remain a bone of contention with us. He comes with another huge gun (basically and unnecessarily large) and we think it is safe to say that a dirty wash over the figure in place of this huge gun would have been much more appreciated. Big guns are cool once in a while, but here it could have been omitted. After all, how can he steer an AT-RT while holding this massive gun? But there are collectors out there that favor accessories. And we know Hasbro is under tight budget constraints. But we will never stop wishing for a return to this beautiful finishing touch that has all but disappeared. It made all the clones "unique" and the final results just looked spectacular! It is such a disappointment to see pre-production photos with beautiful lighting and shadowing (and some signs of battle-damage) and then only to get a ghost-white figure in the package. It is evident what dirt on a clone trooper can indeed do. The art aspect of our action figures is sharply declining, with a focus on bells and whistles instead of an extra concentration on good paint operations. The figures are really getting short changed (and so are collectors). We are sympathetic to Hasbro's tooling cost woes but bright and clean clone troopers are a faux pas unless they are coming directly off of the “assembly” line. (We have yet to see this in the television series.) While we are quite zealous about the lack of dirty final paint washes, it would make sense that we are getting very weary of the solid white clone troopers as well. After all of our whining, we hope that you know that we still love this figure all the same.
Despite any negatives with the paint job, the real thing to get excited about here is the figure's ball-jointed legs. We hope that Hasbro applies this articulation to future clone troopers. Hasbro does give us something more important in place of what they took away (a great paint job) and we hope these bonuses keep coming. It really does make up for the lacking paint applications. So we will take better articulation over the dirt marks (for now at least). But we sort of want both. We don’t mean to be greedy. ARF Trooper is a sign that there are many unseen clone troopers yet to come from the popular The Clone Wars TV series. And it is especially cool to see elements of the prequel films mixed in with parts of the Original Trilogy films to create yet another flavor of the Grand Army of the Republic. Who would have ever expected the clones to have so much diversity not only in color flashes, but also in armor shape and size even beyond what we have seen already? We certainly didn't and we have to say that the ARF Trooper is one of the better brands of clones to come out of The Clone Wars. When all is said and done, ARF Trooper is definitely a "way cool" clone trooper, but we hope to learn more of his back story than what we have seen so far in the television series. It is only then that we will be able to welcome him unconditionally into our arms and collections. But he is certainly already making a good first impression! And he will most likely be a clone trooper that you will want to army build. Or, if you are a one-of-everything collector, then this figure will most likely be added to your collection by default - whether you truly like him or not! But we believe you that despite your collecting focus, that you will absolutely be very fond of the ARF Trooper. We think he is great and look forward to potential variations or derivations of him in the future most definitely! It is such an exciting time to be a Star Wars collector. We believe the ARF Trooper will add to this excitement!
Status: ARF Trooper is a retool of 2008's TCW Clone Trooper (No. 5) figure with all-new ball-jointed hips and a new head sculpt.
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: 3
Accessory Details: DC-15 blaster, chain gun, projectile
Date Stamp: 2008
Assortment Number: 89468/87638
UPC: 653569439981
Retail: $7.99 USD
Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on listings.
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