Count Dooku - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 13)

Count Dooku, the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, talks via a holographic projector to Asajj Ventress. Dooku is crafting a plot that will destroy credibility of the Jedi and enhance the influence of the Separatists.

Admittedly, the first two waves of The Clone Wars line were pretty good, but they didn’t capture all of the magic that the vast Star Wars action figure line brings because very few collector-based characters were included. We are sympathetic to the fact that the line needed to introduce itself and Hasbro for the most part played it safe by releasing many lead characters and clone troopers with just a taste of the Separatist droid. The first couple waves of figures are still wonderful to The Clone Wars line, but we honestly started getting very excited when we received wave 3 in 2008. For it was the third wave that allowed us to realize for the first time just what Hasbro was capable of and foreshadowed what they were going to be able to further accomplish with the series in toy form (and for the most part has continued to do with the line thus far). The wave introduced us to very thin (and delicate...and tiny) features on the figures, "extra" awesome sculpts and beautiful paint jobs that were pretty much unexpected but a joy to own. Hasbro executed top notch attention to detail and somehow possessed the savvy to remain faithful to both the likenesses seen in the live action films as well as the animated series (that is, creating recognizable visages). Count Dooku is a fantastic example of the power that the animated The Clone Wars line can bring to kids and collectors and we hope it is only the start of a long and fruitful collection of action figures. Hasbro created a tiny masterpiece with Count Dooku and this feat excites us to the point of wanting more and more from them. And we are specifically talking about the collector based figure here and not necessarily every flavor of clone trooper. For us (and we think many other collectors) Count Dooku is a reason to purchase The Clone Wars line. He is not an action figure that should get lost on the pegs or even in your collection. Hasbro’s hard work on figures like him is a reason why The Clone Wars line is so strong. Keep reading to see what we mean.

Count Dooku is first and foremost a brilliant sculpt. He has exaggerated geometric features in his face and parts of his body are very triangular in many ways. He has a frown that looks so good that we almost want to ask him “What’s the matter with you?” and when an action figure gives off this attitude, it is obviously a success. His eyes have ominous dark circles around them solidifying his role as an agent of evil. His hair and facial hair are distinctly colored in white with lots of gray highlights and the shadowing created by the paint application or final gray wash is breathtaking. Count Dooku does not come with any soft-goods, but his molded cloak is beautiful. We are indeed fans of soft-goods and would like to see a basic animated figure of Dooku come with this, but there is no denying just how great the plastic cloak looks on him. The cloak chain hugs right underneath his elongated beard and throws back the cloak to a beautiful drape (or whatever drape can be attained by a plastic mold – but we think you know what we mean here) with stunning illusion. Dooku comes with his sleek curved lightsaber (lit) and can be held in his hands without issues. He also comes with an interchangeable right hand (one normal and one shooting out Force-lightning) and Hasbro has done a fine job of making this a very effective accessory for this figure. His costume is very brown and shiny and he has a cummerbund that is in a similar shade to his cloak, although is has a very rough brush-stroked look to it (it looks very cool). When you remove Dooku’s cloak, you will realize how lean and muscular his frame is. Hasbro decided to create him with a very conditioned and toned body frame and it works very well. (Yes Dooku is older, but it is very effective for an intended kid's toy.) Sporting a slightly limited amount of articulation, Count Dooku can be posed with his hands behind his back and really the only mobility he needs here is arm movement. The solid molded cape does inhibit this articulation however.

Seemingly in a passive-aggressive relationship with Asajj Ventress (although others sources clearly claim a love affair between them), Count Dooku also comes with a holograph projector that includes a miniature removable clear blue figure of Asajj Ventress. Symbolic of his manipulative nature, he clearly has Asajj Ventress in the palms of his hands. The holograph is extraordinarily tiny and we are so impressed with the detail it has. Hasbro has come so far with making tiny accessories and we honestly don’t really know how they do it so well. You can actually make out specific features of Asajj on the tiny blue accessory. And collectors for the most part love anything “holographic”. We have to voice our opinion that little holographic items like this are so much cooler than a figure cast in clear blue plastic. And if you assess everything as a whole here, we really do get a lot of bang for our buck here. Count Dooku is really refreshing in this light. The Clone Wars line seems to be utilizing the first concept much more often and it is the way to go for us! Hasbro has without a doubt hit a home run here and it still amazes us how awesome it looks. We really can’t take fine feats of art and sculpting like this too lightly. It must have been painstakingly difficult to get it just right – and they succeeded. This in and of itself is worthy of your praise. But obviously Count Dooku offers a lot more to you than this minuscule accessory. As one of the finest examples of action figure art so far in The Clone Wars line, Count Dooku will be an amazing addition to your collection. And, we expect him to be a lasting and important character in the continuing saga of The Clone Wars. (And we know he will be since we know what happens to him in Episode III.) He is worth your attention, trust us on this one!