Clone Trooper (Hawkbat Battalion) - TAC - Basic (30 50)

Fighting spreads from planet to planet as the war escalates. Clone troopers are sent wherever they are needed to oppose the Separatist armies. Oblivious to harsh climates and imminent danger, each trooper prepares for another battle in this galactic conflict.

One thing that will forever remain inevitable in the Star Wars action figure line is that Hasbro will find ways to bring us new and exciting clone troopers for our collections. We tend to get a lot of “weird’ clone troopers, especially in those Order 66 TARGET exclusive sets, but we also get some amazing ones, like the Clone Trooper (Hawkbat Battalion) in the 30 (77-07) line. It’s no secret that we are lovers of Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars, much more so than with Filoni’s The Clone Wars series. And how we wished that Lucasfilm, Ltd. chose to go with Tartakovsky’s vision for the television show instead, but such is life. But what makes overlooking Tartakovsky even more painful is that Hasbro (and many other licensees) has been less inclined to continue making amazing toys and collectibles based on this source. So we really need to treat each release as if it’s the last. Hasbro found a few spots to release quite a few in the 30 (77-07) line but perhaps the biggest surprise was the Clone Trooper (Hawkbat Battalion) because he wasn’t even in the original lineup in the collection. Thanks to a much delayed The Force Unleashed video game, he got a chance to be made in the repack and repaint wave of 2007 thanks to a need to fill seven spots in the 30 (77-07) very quickly. And while it was a very easy and quick repaint, there is something quite awesome about this figure and we couldn’t be happier that it got released in a special commemorative anniversary line. It couldn’t have been more perfect in our opinion.

Clone Trooper (Hawkbat Battalion) is a repaint of the Clone Trooper (The Clone Wars) figure from 2005’s ROTS Clone Trooper To Stormtrooper Evolutions sets. For this release however, a muddy dirt pattern can be found on his legs (with a heavier concentration at the knees and below) and also comes with a soft-goods shawl. There is a little known variation on the dirt pattern on the shawl. Its pattern varies significantly based on what sample you have as some are light with dirt while others are much heavier. (But this has nothing to do with the cut of the shawl. There are two distinct types of deco pattern on these soft-goods.) A nice touch to this figure is that Hasbro gave him the longer DC-15 blaster rifle and not the smaller blaster pistol. This is accurate to his extremely brief appearance in the opening sequence of Clone Wars Volume 1. Another variation is that this figure comes with either a coin or an action figure stand. We prefer to have both and since this is a great figure to army-build, buying two was really not a chore for us. In fact, we have more than two in our collections. Whether this was intentional or not, Hasbro decidedly chose to omit the black line going across the area above the visor. In the cartoon, there is some semblance of a line on the character but it is very faint, so maybe it was their intention to make it as faithful to the animated short as possible. But overall the Clone Trooper (Hawkbat Battalion) is one impressive action figure. And we are impressed that Hasbro managed to do it such justice in a short amount of time. And it helped make the 30 (77-07) line chock full of characters from the original Clone Wars micro-series.

One feature we could have lived without was the removable helmet. To be frank, we don’t see the need for every clone trooper to have a removable helmet. The Hawkbat Battalion in the Clone Wars weren’t seen without their helmets so we wish Hasbro would had used the 2003 Clone Wars (’03 #50) Clone Trooper figure mold instead. This isn’t a setback or even really a complaint. But it’s just our preference that Hasbro include more clone troopers into the line without removable helmets. We desire this mainly because the removable helmets tend to look too big on the figure or they are too snug and the figures facial features like the nose poke through. That is aesthetically displeasing to the eye. But we are still just as thrilled that this figure was included in the basic figure line. It would be nice if Hasbro could make it a mission to complete the last dozen or so characters from the Clone Wars and immortalize them in the basic figure line. We have gotten so many amazing figures so far and we hope that the fire doesn’t die. (Editor’s Note: Hasbro has confirmed through a Q&A session that Lucasfilm, Ltd. has asked them not to make any more figures based on the original Clone Wars. To say we are devastated would be an understatement.) The 30 (77-07) line was an awesome conglomeration of all the various Star Wars sources, but the focus of figures based on the Clone Wars were some of our absolute favorites. And the Clone Trooper (Hawkbat Battalion) is a nice refreshing take at another clone trooper and one that likely won’t lose luster through the years.