Shock Trooper - SW [DV/ROTS] - Saga Legends (SL08)

Shock Troopers are elite members of the Clone Trooper army and led by Clone Commander Thire. Shock Troopers fight the Droid army when the Separatists invade Coruscant, then are assigned as Palpatine's escorts and bodyguards under the new regime.

One of Hasbro’s most favorite Saga Legends candidates from 2007 through 2011 was the Shock Trooper. But can you fault them? These bad boy bodyguards to Emperor Palpatine are indeed one batch of awesome phase II clone troopers, and it seems that Star Wars collectors could never get enough. 2007’s TAC Shock Trooper action figure at face value appeared to be a straight repack of the figure from 2006’s TSC Skirmish In The Senate Battle Packs multipack, but Hasbro revised the paint job and corrected some important issues that plagued the figure from the Battle Packs. This update was then used in 2007's TAC Saga Legends, 2008’s TLC Saga Legends, 2009’s LC Saga Legends and 2010's/2011's SW [SOTDS] Saga Legends lines. Collectors had more than enough opportunity to pick up this incredible action figure. in 2012, Hasbro took a step back and dusted off 2005’s ROTS Clone Trooper [Shock Trooper] (III 6) much to the chagrin of the collecting community. And then without skipping a beat, Hasbro released an almost perfect definitive update to this character as 2012’s TVC Shock Trooper (VC110) figure.

Obviously there is enough existing tooling out there. But guess what Hasbro did instead? They developed an all-new clone trooper body and painted it in the colors of the Coruscant Guard and released it in the new 2013 flavor of Saga Legends. Let’s be honest. Doesn’t any Shock Trooper action figure look awesome no matter how well it’s sculpted? Perhaps that’s what Hasbro is banking on to pull in collectors and have them open up their wallets for an all-new, albeit inferior, version of the Shock Trooper. Shock Trooper (SL08) is interesting, for lack of a better word. It honestly looks like a vintage Kenner version of the Shock Trooper. It has five points of articulation and one weapon. It doesn’t get much more simplified than this. The paint job is average, and the lines are a bit muddy and inaccurate. For some reason, the phase II clone helmets are properly sized, but the visors are much too thin and give the Shock Trooper a strange looking “face.” We don’t know what went so wrong here, but more tweaking was needed before Hasbro should have given this likeness a green light. Whether it is a kid's toy or not, it needed more attention.

If you’re a collector that needs one of every figure and you have noncommittally accepted the reduced articulation, you’re still going to be disappointed with how these action figures are decorated. Shock Trooper passes by the skin of his teeth, but you have to wonder why a few more pennies can’t be added to the deco budget to make these good sculpt shine a whole lot more. The sculpt of the Shock Trooper is borrowed from the Clone Trooper (SL02) in the same line, but this time has a phase II clone trooper head sculpt. And of course, the figure has been painted in red color flashes to give it its distinct appearance. The tooling isn’t half bad, but it’s ill-fitted for a character that performs so much action in the various Star Wars media we love. Of particular note, the clone sculpt (which has been used many times in the inaugural waves of Saga Legends and Mission Series action figures by the way) has a few faults that we cannot get past.The body cavity sits crookedly on the figure, and the feet are much too big. Perhaps the big feet are what gives it its excellent center of gravity.The future of this line will be interesting. We hope that whatever its purpose is, it gives Hasbro enough revenue to continue the brilliant collector focused line(s).