Clone Pilot Odd Ball - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 11)

Clone Pilot Odd Ball, who received his nickname during advanced training, has participated in many significant missions in the Clone Wars. Odd Ball is a starfighter pilot trained in flying V-19 Torrent starfighters, ARC-170 fighters and other standard Republic fighters.

The first phase I clone pilot we ever received was 2002's SW [S - P1] Clone Trooper (Republic Gunship Pilot) ('02 #49) figure. An immediately popular figure, it didn't offer great articulation or an accurately scaled bubble-turret (in fact, it was only a fraction of the true size). Hasbro attempted him again and improved the character by leaps and bounds in the 2005's ROTS Clone Trooper To Stormtrooper [Version 2] Evolutions set. And after a few more subsequent releases here and there, Hasbro released him in the 2008 The Clone Wars [Blue] line. But interestingly, he was labeled with the character-specific name "Odd Ball" and not as a generic pilot. Nothing about this figure would allow you to identify him as "Odd Ball" so it causes a little bit of unnecessary confusion. There are no discerning marks or insignias on his helmet, nor are there any identifying characteristics to set him apart from the rest. So we find this move by Hasbro a little bizarre. While we understand that this is what Odd Ball looks like, perhaps it would have been wiser to give this figure a removable helmet with a portrait that identifies him as such. Otherwise we would just call him Clone Pilot like any other figure. We can confidently tell you that the figure is pretty cool and a real treat to have in our collections. (But we have this weird "thing" where we like to get action figures based on characters seen in the six films as animated action figures. We just pretend they are animated forms of the ones we saw in the films.)

Clone Pilot Odd Ball has caused some debate on the topic of what previous parts were used to make him. Without causing too much controversy, we believe he is essentially the 2008 TCW [B] Clone Trooper (No. 5) figure with repositioned legs (for what we assume is for better seating capabilities) and a new head. Super-articulated with 14 areas of articulation exceeding two dozen points, the figure is loaded with ball-joints throughout its very mobile body. The figure has a very bright dark yellow stripe (almost looking like a Mohawk) coming down from the top of his head and it lies atop a lighter yellow and thicker stripe. The Republic insignia is emblazoned on both sides and he has the standard phase I visor that we have seen 100 times already. If you have the regular Clone Trooper figure, then you pretty much already own Clone Pilot Odd Ball. But this is also something you have learned to accept in this facet of the hobby. Clones are clones and there is an understanding that many of the action figures will be almost identical from each other. Since we know that Odd Ball is a clone pilot, we are perplexed by his heavy artillery. Clone Pilot Odd Ball comes outfitted with a DC-15 blaster, rocket launcher and a rocket projectile. For someone who is steering a large Republic Gunship, we find it strange that he would be carrying around these big weapons. (We know, it's for the kiddies). And of course this doesn't detract from the action figure, but it makes us wish that the big weapons were dropped in favor of better paint applications.

Clone Pilot Odd Ball has the distinction of being the figure to start Hasbro down the new "clean" path for their action figures. In fact, they even went back to the first figures that were released and cleaned them up too. In particular, Clone Trooper (No. 5) and Captain Rex (No. 4) were re-shipped in the second wave of figures (that included Odd Ball) all with new (or lack of) paint jobs – and by new we mean that the armor was basically spit-shined. The beautiful dirt washes and battle-damage markings were stripped clean from these clone trooper figures. And it is a trend that has been carried forward ever since. But if this is something that doesn't bother you, then Clone Pilot Odd Ball is a great candidate for your collection. After all, it makes sense that characters like Clone Pilot Odd Ball would have clean armor. They're inside vessels flying them. They're somewhat protected from battle. Simple in design and complicated in articulation, this action figure won't be the best you will ever buy, but it does the job well. Besides, who else will you have piloting your Republic Gunships? Odd Ball was first seen in this fashion in The Clone Wars movie, but we would expect repaint after repaint of this figure. There are a lot of clone pilots in The Clone Wars television series so it is inevitable that we will be getting more later on down the road. And we will welcome them with open arms. We truly can never get enough clone troopers, can we? The phase I looks of these clones are suprisingly simple, but they are looking more and more delightful.