ARC Trooper - CW [A] - Basic

Through the creative vision of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the Cartoon Network, the Clone Wars are brought to life in an exciting new series of short animated chapters. A unique animation style captures the drama of this epic period in galactic history along with its outstanding heroes and adversaries. Noble Jedi warriors lead Clone Troopers into battle against the evil Separatist forces and their droid armies. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda and their comrades struggle against the rising power of the dark side and confront personal challenges against a backdrop of war-torn planets.

Who could forget how the ARC Trooper [captain] stole the show in the earliest chapters of Volume 1 of the Clone Wars micro-series. The character, who is officially known as Captain Fordo (ARC-77) is an Advanced Recon Commando in the Grand Army of the Republic. Under the leadership and direction of General Obi-Wan Kenobi, and along with a small battalion of clone troopers, formed The Muunilinst 10. Fordo and company were instrumental during the Battle of Muunilinst which ultimately led to the capture of San Hill. The Captain Fordo fought General Grievous who held many Jedi Knights captive. They were unable to kill General Grievous, but they managed to rescue Aayla Secura, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Shaak Ti in the skirmish, albeit wounded. Clearly a key character in the Clone Wars, Hasbro decided that an action figure should be created for the Clone Wars [Animated] basic figure line so that’s exactly what they did. Simply named ARC Trooper, the ARC Trooper action figure has a great appearance, but as far as an action figure, well, we imagine most collectors will not be entirely happy.

ARC Trooper comes with four points of articulation. The figure has a ball-socket head, two swivel shoulders and a swivel waist. He has also been positioned in an action pose which looks great, but collectors will quickly tire of the same state ARC Trooper stays in because you really can’t get too many unique positions out of him. The Clone Wars [Animated] figures really, really need lower body articulation, but sadly that’s not part of this line’s approach. To have a figure’s upper body in an exaggerated permanent pose is a bit frustrating. That being said, ARC Trooper does look relatively nice despite its limitations. The sculpt is otherwise very good. And the paint operations are bright and cleanly applied. Where so many figures before ARC Trooper have had permanently adhered blasters and guns to the holsters, ARC Trooper comes with two functioning holsters. The guns don’t fit perfectly inside them (they stick out a little bit), we still appreciate the effort to give this figure a little more play value, even though we truly believe this is a collectors’ line more than a kids’ line. He can hold both blasters at the same time (and he also has a finger pointing on his right hand), but when he is posed with the guns, the figure looks extra fantastic.

Included with ARC Trooper are the two aforementioned blasters and the action figure display stand. For $6.99 that’s about what an average figures comes with for the price nowadays. It’s a smaller line, so perhaps the tooling is a bit more expensive, although we’re not really sure if that’s possible with the minimum articulation these figures possessed. It’s still important to realize that this is a collectors’ line to pay homage to the animation of the television show. Hasbro would normally focus of realistically styled action figures as they did in the 2003 Clone Wars line (that was released in the middle of the Star Wars “Saga” line). So, at best, ARC Trooper and company should be viewed as novelty figures. We find it interesting that the Clone Wars micro-series was loaded with clones, yet the basic figure line only gave us a few. But then they’ve also released the captain commander and the lieutenant that weren’t in the Clone Wars, but Attack Of The Clones instead. Still, it’s nice to see them in animated form. Besides, ARC Trooper needs a battalion of clones behind him to fight the Separatists. ARC Trooper overall looks nice. We just wish this line had a little bit more versatility with how these figures could be posed.