Combat Engineer Clone Trooper - TSC - Basic (SAGA 068)

We’ll get it out right away! We LOVE this figure. It’s quite possible that our exuberance towards this figure is a result of being previously dismayed when they first released this character in a DVD Walmart exclusive box set. The figures in that box were pre-posed action figure debacles and all of us couldn’t wait until Hasbro gave us a super-articulated quality figure. The beginning of 2007 was the year when our dreams came true and Hasbro released this cool clone trooper flavor in one of the three Repack & Repaint waves in The Saga Collection. We would have wished that Hasbro reused the 2005 ROTS Clone Trooper (III 41) mold, but it appears that one was tied up with two other clone troopers action figures released in a different but another Repack & Repaint wave before this one. Even still, the Combat Clone Trooper is a fairly simple action figure, but you’ll likely want to buy many of them as they are the perfect support soldier for your own Army Of The Republic. Combat Engineer Clone Trooper is a clone with a removable helmet, so he comes with a slightly oversized helmet. Still, when fully assembled he looks pretty fantastic. If you love Expanded Universe clone troopers, this one is definitely for you.

Combat Engineer Clone Trooper comes with the expected 14 points of articulation. He mostly utilizes the body of the Clone Trooper (Fall Of The Republic Figure) from from the 2005 ROTS Clone Trooper To Stormtrooper Evolutions set except this time he comes with the belt from the 2005 ROTS Clone Trooper (III 41) figure. As previously mentioned, the removable helmet looks a little bit bulky, but Hasbro has nicely painted it with a unique design and an aged wash which takes away most of the distraction of the too-large helmet. The chest pattern is a very simple designed, but it looks amazing. And it nicely complements the helmet pattern. As you may or may not know, this figure has been inspired from the early clone trooper designs that George Lucas approved for Revenge Of The Sith. It unfortunately didn’t make the final cut of the film, but lovers of concept art should find this figure especially exciting. Hasbro has faithfully captured the artist’s design and what we are left with is a very neat Expanded Universe clone trooper with an already established (albeit brief) back story and battalion designation (38th Armored Division).

Many of you are well aware of our feelings about The Saga Collection. It was the very first general action figure collection to encompass all six Star Wars films. Hasbro celebrated this with unprecedented organization while still trying to “play it safe” with a revitalized line look that was remotely familiar to the collector favorite Original Trilogy Collection from 2004. While we got a ton of main characters in the line, Hasbro took some risks and really dug deep to come up with some really unique action figure ideas. We think they succeeded. Combat Engineer Clone Trooper was certainly inevitable at some point in the basic figure line, but thankfully Hasbro only made us wait a little bit over a year to get a super-articulated version of him. He’s versatile as he comes with a removable helmet and he’s nicely painted. He also comes with a personalized action figure stand and a random red hologram figure. The 38th Armored Division is such a striking battalion of clone troopers that we hope they can find their way into a Special Edition version of Revenge Of The Sith at some point. But thankfully we can enjoy them now as well made action figures.