Clone Trooper Denal - TCW [R] - Basic (CW20)

Denal is part of a mission to destroy a Separatist listening post. He and the team use rocket packs to reach the post. The clone trooper battles deadly droids and, although injured, helps Captain Rex reach the reactors and plant thermal detonators.

Clone Trooper Denal is a member of the 501st Legion's Torrent Company. Other than noticing blue detail on his armor, there is not much more that would allude to the fact that he is part of this battalion. And while his "tear" marks on his helmet is unique and a nice design, it doesn't do that much to make him an impressively painted action figure. He looks a little plain and plain is never good for a clone trooper. Denal was part of a storyline where R3-S6 (Goldie) was a spy astromech and also the same storyline that birthed the release of the Ambush On The Vulture's Claw Battle Packs set. In The Clone Wars, Denal served under Captain Rex and was part of a mission to conquer Skytop Station and remove the Separatist control from it. There he also was part of a secondary mission to rescue Anakin Skywalker's astromech, R2-D2. Unfortunately, R2 was captured and detained by Gha Nachkt. Nachkt has plans to give R2 to General Grievous but those plans were thwarted when Denal and company stepped up to the plate to defend their mission. It was quite an exciting episode of The Clone Wars and Denal became a favorite clone trooper very quickly to both kids and fans. And for good cause, he was an immediately likeable clone.

Clone Trooper Denal is faithfully colored and decorated from his appearance in the television series, but his pure white and clean armor has a significant diminishable affect on the overall quality of the figure. We are tired of complaining about it just as much as you probably are reading about it, but we don't know why this sacrifice is made on all the militaries of Star Wars action figures. We have noticed that Hasbro can rectify this issue a bit if they were to include black lines in the crevices of the armor (sort of like all the cool lines on the 2007 TAC Concept Stormtrooper (30 09) figure). Little outlines and enhancements like these would surely add a whole new level of authenticity to these clone trooper figures. If you can get beyond his [very] simple deco, he is not that terrible of a figure. Once Denal's helmet is removed, he has a fairly common standard clone trooper head. There aren't any specific markings on his head or unique hairstyle to set him apart from the rest of the clones. He comes with a removable jetpack that has a spot where a projectile missile can be inserted and fired. A rather harmless action gimmick, we'll let all the spring-loaded guns and backpacks go in lieu of Hasbro not adding them to the figures themselves. There is certainly nothing worse than a terrible action feature on a great action figure.

Clone Trooper Denal is a culmination of multiple parts. For the most part he is 2008's TCW [B] Clone Trooper (No. 5) figure with a retooled torso (for the jetpack inclusion), as well as the head of 2008's TCW [B] Clone Commander Cody (No. 10) figure. Hasbro has re-colored the parts quite well and they look new all over again. Hasbro hasn't brought anything new to the table with Denal, but he is still a great figure nonetheless. To date, we haven't received that many 501st clone trooper figures in The Clone Wars line, and it appears as if Hasbro intends to change this. What we do hope for is that Clone Trooper Denal makes a return appearance in the television show. It seems he has a lot of character and personality to continuing bringing to the series and one episode just isn't enough. But since both the show and Hasbro are capable of delivering a new clone trooper every week, we likely will not see secondary clone troopers that frequently. Clones rarely get boring, and Denal has the potential of not being that boring, but of course the finished product that is this action figure has a way to go before it should be considered perfect. And Hasbro should start at the way this figure was painted. We are really beginning to wonder what it will take for Hasbro to give us a little bit more art on our figures, if anything at all.