ARC Trooper [Captain] - CW - Basic (’03 #43)

Begun the Clone Wars has!" – Jedi Master Yoda
On the remote planet of Geonosis, the growing conflict between the Republic and its foes explodes into all-out war. The Republic's Jedi Knights lead a massive Clone Army into battle on hundreds of planets. The Separatists, led by the powerful Dark Lords of the Sith, fight back with their own formidable droid armies. As this terrible conflict rips across the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi are swept into the turmoil of war and the rising shadow of the dark side.

The ultimate supercommandos, the ARC (Advanced Recon Commando) troopers are clones who were personally trained by Jango Fett. Only a select number of ARC troopers were bred and trained before Jango's untimely demise at the Battle of Geonosis. Activated shortly after the start of the Clone Wars, ARC troopers are used for only the most dangerous missions in which a substantial amount of independent thought and initiative is required. They are equipped with highly advanced clone trooper armor and formidable heavy weaponry. Whether they are fighting on their own or at the side of the Jedi, the ARC troopers are a symbol of the Republic's military superiority over the droid armies of the Confederacy.

Hasbro basically stopped and dropped the Star Wars “Saga” line in mid production to focus on creating toys based on the Clone Wars multimedia event. With very little reference materials available, Hasbro produced a truly excellent array of action figures and vehicles that gave us new takes of familiar characters while introducing us to all new ones. The ARC Trooper was one of the first characters fans wanted to see Hasbro attack for the basic figure line, and thankfully they ensured that this particular clone was one of the figures in the very first wave of the Clone Wars basic line. But Hasbro also had a surprise that they held close to their vest as well. A running change of the ARC Trooper ('03 #43) figure was coming and it would be the ARC Trooper [Captain] as seen in the Clone Wars television show. Still well-sculpted and beautifully painted, the ARC Trooper [Captain] also still sadly comes without the necessary articulation to recreate most of his scenes from Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars micro-series, or other appearances in the comics and what not. This realistic take on the animated character is otherwise well done and you can expect him to maintain “highly sought after” status for a long time. ARC Trooper brings collectors a fresh new take on the clones seen in Attack Of The Clones, but there are still many familiar parts here that make him feel just slightly off-screen in Episode II.

As you know, ARC Trooper [Captain] comes with four removable parts. This is something we didn’t expect this action figure to have especially since Hasbro tends to keep their clone action figures rather simple. It's especially true since it’s not common for the basic figure line to have all of this interchangeability. ARC Trooper [Captain] looks so much more interesting in red than blue, and since it was the red captain that stole the show in the television micro-series, we're extremely thrilled to finally have him as an action figure. You can easily make the ARC Trooper [Captain] look like the clone leader he has been grown to be, but you can also make him look a lot like an infantry clone trooper when you remove all of his parts. He is still a leader however as evidenced by the red color flashes. Officially called Captain Fordo in the show, we couldn't be happier to see his release in the basic figure line. We still love the removable and swivel rangefinder. We would also remind you that it is very, very easy to lose this piece. We bet that it will be one of the first parts to get lost in carpets or even crevices in your floors at home. But with proper care and attention, it’s a very functional part of the ARC Trooper [Captain] action figure and posing it in various ways is a characteristic of this action figure that we truly love. A removable pauldron and kama are part of the deal here too. And what’s fantastic about these removable parts is that the figure looks good with or without them. ARC Trooper [Captain] also comes with a nicely sculpted blaster rifle. It fits into both hands and can be posed in a variety of ways too.

As you know, the articulation of the ARC Trooper [Captain] is a bit disappointing. With mostly swivel articulation, Hasbro did decide to upgrade the shoulder with ball-jointed movement. It’s nice to have, but without ball-jointed elbows, the gesture is essentially useless because he looks like he is just flailing his arms up and down with the movement the ball-jointed articulation provides. Another nice point with the ARC Trooper [Captain] is how well he has been painted/decorated. Aside from a few spotty chest dots, Hasbro really ensured that the paint operations were relatively clean. There are many “buttons” on this character that Hasbro meticulously painted to give them that electronic glow that is required for authenticity. But we should make it clear that we’re pleasantly surprised with the results. We think it's wonderful that Hasbro has the drive and energy to produce simple running changes like this for collectors. How awesome is it to have the ability to purchase two different versions of the blue ARC Trooper and now the red ARC Trooper [Captain]? We think it's rather fantastic. In case you've forgotten, one figure sports a gray right shoulder while the corrected version has been updated to be all blue, the same color as the rest of the color flashes. And now the ARC Trooper [Captain] is colored in red. And this action figure has been a priority for most collectors. It’s really nice to have this figure in the Clone Wars line, and we hope that this basic figure line continues to bring us really unique and interesting clones. Hopefully the ARC Trooper [Captain] is only the latest in a long line of new simple repainted figures!