Clone Trooper - CW - Basic (’03 #50)

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.

At the time of their introduction, the Republic Clone Troopers represented the future of galactic warfare. Far superior to the battle droid armies of the era, the Clone Troopers formed the backbone of the Republic's new military initiative that battled against the forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Accelerated growth allows them to reach maturity quickly, and they are constantly trained in fighting techniques, vehicular skills and battlefield tactics, creating superb soldiers molded mentally and physically for battle.

The tables have been turned. A new era of collecting is here. And this is all due to a single action figure: 2003’s CW Clone Trooper (‘03 #50) figure. Shockingly, Hasbro didn’t release this figure for the Star Wars “Saga” line when it would have been ideal to get this brilliant action figure out there. But maybe it was a clever play to hold back a little while longer in an effort to promote the Clone Wars multimedia event that piqued the interest of so many Star Wars collectors, perhaps with more intensity than Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones drew. Either way, fourth quarter of the Clone Wars basic figure line brought the most sought after action figure at retail to date. The Clone Trooper (‘03 #50) figure was so rare that many people needed to buy full cases in order just to secure one. If you had the rare opportunity to army build him or even find him more than once on store pegs then you should consider yourself an extremely fortunate collector. Getting a figure of this caliber in the basic figure line was essentially nonexistent, but now that Hasbro set a precedent collectors were more excited than ever to see what Hasbro’s plans were going to be like going forward. Would this become the new staple for 3.75” action figures?

Even Hasbro knew they created something special with the Clone Wars’ Clone Trooper. On the front of the package they bragged about it as being “Super Poseable!” And then on the back they even went out of their way to count the figure’s 14 areas of articulation, although when you count every exact point of articulation that total is 23 points instead. What this means for collectors is that we now have a Clone Trooper that can attain a wide array of poses that just weren’t possible before now. The figure is loaded with ball-jointed movement which provides the widest range of motion possible. This first attempt at a super-articulated Clone Trooper isn’t perfect either. The figure doesn’t easily go down on one knee as Hasbro illustrates on the figure’s packaging. It IS possible, but the pose is not as fluid as they make it appear. Also, for those that like to secure their figures to foot pegs, sadly the Clone Trooper doesn’t come with any holes at the bottom of his feet. Hopefully this will be something Hasbro can correct for future releases of this figure. (Editor’s Note: Foot holes were added to the figures that were part of 2005’s [P] OTC Clone Trooper multipacks from Entertainment Earth.)

But despite it few faults, we are confident that the Clone Trooper is going to be a collector favorite release. It has a beautiful paint job, and again, that articulation is drool worthy. Let’s talk about the articulation system for a moment. Clone Trooper comes with a ball-socket head, ball-jointed shoulders, elbows, torso, knees and ankles, and swivel wrists, and hips. This figure would have been perfection had Hasbro added ball-jointed hips. It seems that this should have a been a minimum requirement feature for a super-articulated army builder figure. If we had any other complaints about the Clone Trooper, we would have to comment about how lightly accessorized he is. Maybe it sounds ungrateful when the figure comes loaded with articulation, but he only comes with a DC-15 blaster. But dang, he sure looks awesome holding it with both hands, again, something we could do for a long time. The Clone Wars line is excellent, and it has opened the door for Hasbro to take basic figures aggressively further than they have to date. We look forward to them continuing with this trend and making the best action figures the can possibly produce. The Clone Trooper is an absolute must-have action figure. If you pass on it then only you can be blamed.