Clone Trooper - ROTS - Basic (Exclusive)

The Clone Troopers have played an essential role in helping the Jedi fight the Separatists' droid armies. Armed with sharp-shooting blaster rifle and protected by hard white armor, this clone trooper is ready for battle!

When it came time for Revenge Of The Sith, George Lucas wanted to take the phase I clone and morph it into something bigger and better for his final Star Wars film, Revenge Of The Sith. So that’s exactly what he did. He called upon concept artists to design unique and very specific color flashes to help determine where a certain clone served in the Clone Wars. Many different and very neat takes of the clones were designed and Mr. Lucas made decisions which ones would appear in the final version on the film. Many of the abandoned clone concepts that didn’t make it into Revenge Of The Sith were however used in other Expanded Universe sources and other weren’t used at all. And then some were revised further while keeping faithful to most of the artist’s original design. That is where the TARGET exclusive Clone Trooper comes into play. It’s based on Revenge Of The Sith concept art and not much else. But a revised version of this particular clone was worked up and came to be known as Commander Neyo (and his battalion) who actually appeared in Episode III. Based on the color flashes of the 91st Reconnaissance Corps, it’s pretty cool to see a concept figure get released into the basic figure line, even if it has to be an exclusive.

The TARGET figure comes with a standard phase II clone trooper head. But Commander Neyo as well as the clone troopers who served under him had unique helmets. Interestingly, the concept version of this Clone Trooper comes with a left red-colored shoulder armor piece. This didn’t make it to this Hasbro figure, but it did make it to the final onscreen versions of Commander Neyo and company. (Editor’s Note: It also made it to future versions of all 91st Reconnaissance Corps clones as well.) In Revenge Of The Sith, they were also given a pauldron to complement their unique design and ultimately became very cool looking clones. So this TARGET exclusive figure is really an extrapolation of the concept art design since it doesn’t mirror it exactly. Of particular note, the very first version of this Clone Trooper figure was actually released on opening day in April 2005 in 12-inch scale. Obviously neither version is wholly based on a character in the film (and for that matter the concept art), but these Clone Troopers have a cool symbol throughout their armor and it’s a design that we appreciate having in our collections.

For those of you into packaging variations, the TARGET exclusive Clone Trooper has two distinct packages. This figure came in a clamshell case and the first version of it has “flames” inscribed into the plastic where the clamshell snapped shut. It was quickly revised to sport the 91st Reconnaissance Corps logo (and frankly looked all the better in our opinion.) Most collectors who open their stuff couldn't care less about this, but the variation does exist. Clone Trooper is based on 2003’s CW Clone Trooper (’03 #50) figure with an all-new helmet. This super-articulated figure has remained a collector favorite since its release and it serves this particular character very well. Sometimes when a new head sculpt is created for an existing body, sometimes proportions can be off somewhat. Thankfully this isn’t the case here at all. This figure is seemingly seamless from helmet to sole. The TARGET exclusive Clone Trooper is a very special release and collectors should count themselves fortunate that Hasbro used a great super-articulated base body sculpt. Not all of their 2005 exclusives are of this high quality caliber. It may not be easy to army build it due to the price, but if you can grab a few, you definitely should!