Captain Rex - TCW [R] - Basic (CW50)

Captain Rex battles Talz warriors on the icy planet Orto Plutonia. The clone captain is ordered to protect Pantoran diplomats from the native Talz, who demand to be left in peace. Rex fights his aggressive opponents with steely determination.

Captain Rex receives another turn again as a basic action figure, but this time we get him cold weather gear and we have to admit that this one is instantly the superior version. It supersedes the first by a landslide in fact. Hasbro goes back to their vintage Kenner roots in principle because Captain Rex doesn’t have a removable helmet! Thank the Maker! This allows for accurate head size, an element of mystery and an overall very cool action figure. And since Rex resembles and Original Trilogy character he likely will be a figure that will be difficult to find at retail. We suspect that there will be a mad dash to get this figure. And this figure warrants this reaction because it is one of the finer figures in The Clone Wars line. Hasbro always throws in a surprise or two in this line and this time Captain Rex steals the show. The figure is very well designed and comes with plenty of accessories for great displaying and playing. One part of this figure that is immediately noticeable right off the bat is his helmet insignias. They are strikingly similar (identical?) to the ones we saw on 2007’s TAC Concept Snowtrooper (Ralph McQuarrie Signature Series) (30 42) figure. And if we didn’t know any better, we would have guessed that this action figure was hiding in the background of The Empire Strikes Back or at least in Ralph McQuarrie’s vision. Looking so similar to a Snowtrooper in multiple ways, Captain Rex is guaranteed to please many collectors of both movie and Expanded Universe merchandise. Relatively simple is design, he does have enough detail to match his onscreen appearance in The Clone Wars TV show quite well. And he is a clone leader, so his popularity outweighs his worth in plastic.

Captain Rex can be disassembled in a few pieces. His helmet and warming pack are both removable which allows for even more extra play value. His body suit is colored in a very ashy gray and it looks absolutely fantastic against his pristine white armor. The figure has a great silhouette and looks completely proportional to the other figures in the line. Hit trademark blue color flashes are in place yet they come across so much more subtle on this version of him when compared to 2008’s TCW [B] Captain Rex (No. 4) figure. Another way that Hasbro has seemed to indirectly pay homage to the vintage line is the material used to design Rex’s kama. It is very thin and vinyl-like and is quite similar to the vintage Snowtrooper’s skirt. It isn’t identical, but there is enough similarity there to make the collector smile. Captain Rex has a bit of a standing issue. You may find that you need to pose him in awkward ways to balance him as perfectly as you can. We admit that this will almost be a bone of contention for collectors and it seems that more and more action figures are being plagued with this issue. Why is this still happening Hasbro? Shouldn’t updated technology alleviate these issues and not make the more chronic? Also, Captain Rex’s hands are freakishly too thin and small. They look like he has woman’s hands under those gloves or some other digit deformity that prevents him from holding his pistols snuggly. Captain Rex comes with 12 points of articulation, one of which we don’t see too often, a slide joint at the neck. This allows Captain Rex to look down to the ground and it is the perfect addition for this figure since there is no removable helmet.

Collectors will be interested to know that the Cad Bane figure that was originally intended to be part of this wave has been canceled for this phase of The Clone Wars line and will be released in the "Shadow Of The Dark Side" phase. In fact, there are stickers over the old numbers on both the card back and card insert for this figure. We had to do a double take because Hasbro did a pretty good job of covering them up. This is quite reminiscent of the last wave of the Revenge Of The Sith line when they reversed R4-P17’s and Wookiee Heavy Gunner’s numbers. So, Captain Rex was originally to be number CW51 but has been revised officially to CW50 because of a temporarily canceled Cad Bane figure. Fifty is certainly a nice round number for one year’s worth of basic figures, isn’t it? It has been a great run of figures and we love the diversity and variety of the line. Captain Rex in this gear should be quiet a popular figure and provides collectors with representation from the very popular The Clone Wars episode entitled Trespass. Fans and collectors love snow-based figures. And since we love them too, we hope that some of Rex’s battalion will also see release as action figures. We expect that this will come to pass. Hasbro knows what sells and what really sells, so it is likely that we will see additional characters from this episode. Captain Rex has its issues (like his hands) but Hasbro always seems to provide a fix or remedy. For example, the pistols can be stored in their holsters almost negating the need for him to hold them. This isn’t a revolutionary idea, but it shows that Hasbro isn’t just trying to throw garbage together since they know this is primarily a kids’ line. These are high quality figures, and Captain Rex is even a figure at a higher level of excellence.