Commander Appo - TBS [P4] - Six Inch Figures (OWK14)

A clone trooper in service to the Galactic Republic, Appo participated in several critical battles against the Separatists. He accompanied Anakin Skywalker to Coruscant's Jedi Temple as part of Order 66.

Before releasing The Black Series [Phase IV] Commander Appo (OWK14) figure, we only received one action figure of this character. It came as 2007's TSC Commander Appo (SAGA 064) figure. Many collectors bought multiples of this figure to army-build a generic 501st Legion Trooper. If you removed the pauldron, the figure was identical to the generic infantry trooper. But in typical Hasbro fashion, they couldn’t even perfect that option because the blue color flash didn’t go all the way up the figure’s chest. Now, we have Commander Appo in The Black Series 6-inch line, with a removable helmet with a clone portrait underneath. It’s an excellent release and a worthy addition to the line. It uses the Kamino Clone Trooper tooling, and collectors are on the fence about this tooling. But we feel the presentation of Commander Appo is excellent, and we’re happy to have it in our collection as an essential action figure in the line.

Distribution is at its worst, prices are at their peak, and thoughtful reuses of existing tooling are now more commonplace than all-new tooling, which is the exception instead of the rule. And Hasbro still doesn’t grasp what the modern Star Wars collectors want and how to satiate two different generations of Star Wars fans: the old man-babies and the newbies who get their feelings hurt when you bring up these criticisms about Hasbro. The Target-exclusive Commander Appo figure should interest several collectors, but why is it more expensive than a general release figure with all-new tooling? The exclusives should be cheaper, not more costly, in our opinion. Many love the buck on this clone, but others quickly point out that the figure’s odd knee and shoulder pads and animation-inspired “look” prevent this base figure from receiving an “upgraded” status. Still, many quickly praise the figure for the newly installed “butterfly” shoulder joints and the fluidity of the articulation points.

The removable bucket on Commander Appo is correctly scaled to fit the figure’s body. This newer helmet design showed us that Hasbro paid close attention to what they screwed up with the older models of the Phase II Clone Trooper action figures. There are other things to be happy about with this updated tooling. For instance, the omission of the double hinge-jointed knees and elbows, and instead, a complex ball-jointed point of articulation that allows for a wide range of impressive movement beyond measure. So, it would be unjust to criticize this figure as a whole when it does offer the collecting community some benefits. But the paint operations are lazy and lacking, and they could have given the figure a stunning battle-damaged paint job. Instead, they decided to take the “easy street” and save their pennies. Commander Appo has a DC-15 blaster, a DC-15 blaster rifle, and a removable bucket. We feel you should give this figure consideration. It turned out well.