Army Of The Republic - TCW [SOTDS] - Battle Packs

Battle droids beware! The Grand Army of the Republic is on the attack! Clone troopers rise to the challenge when the Separatists unleash their battle droid army. Mighty soldiers by birth and instruction, clone troopers have the DNA of a Mandalorian warrior and undergo tough military training. From the infantry forces to the specialized units, clone troopers defend the Republic with their legendary strength and skill.

It’s kind of odd when Hasbro randomly throws in an army builder Battle Packs set based from The Clone Wars film so “late” into the line, isn’t it? We’re three season into The Clone Wars television show and now they decide to help us army build some of the basic clone troopers that made their debut in the film. If you sense an ungrateful tone, you may be right. The last time the all-white clone trooper was readily available was right before the blue phase ended. The 2008 TCW Clone Trooper (No. 5) figure didn’t make it into the red phase of the line and still has not been reissued as a basic figure in the “Shadow Of The Dark Side” line. As perplexing and puzzling as this is, we suppose we should be grateful to get a multipack that allows us to get many all at once. Instead, we think we waited so long that our immediate response is “whatever”. The Army Of The Republic Battle Packs set in all practicality is a great set. Our best guess is to source this set from the Battle Of Christophsis in the film as we saw all the different battalions of clone troopers fighting together. But in all honesty, it really doesn’t matter. The intent of this pack is not to be scene specific, but to provide troop building for the both the likes of kids an collectors and we think for the most part Hasbro has delivered.

Nothing is new in this set at all. And although we don’t get another stab at that 2008 TCW Clone Trooper (No. 5) figure exactly, we come close enough. Hasbro has revitalized the 2009 TCW Clone Trooper (212th Attack Battalion) (No. 19) figure (the one with the revised helmet) and changes it up twice for inclusion in this set. Clone Trooper [A] and Clone Trooper [B] are both “unpainted” (sans color flashes) reworks of the 212th Battalion Clone Trooper. And the Clone Trooper 501st Legion figure is a repack of the figure included with 2009’s TCW Clone Trooper And BARC Speeder Bike Deluxe figure. We wouldn’t go as far to say that this Battle Packs set is a value, but you are getting four premium articulated clone trooper figures inside and many have not been available in the basic figure line in quite some time. The two white clones are made unique by their accessories. Clone Trooper [A] comes with two DC-15A blasters. And Clone Trooper B comes with one gray DC-15 blaster rifle. The 501st Clone Trooper comes with one gray and one black DC-15A blaster rifle and finally the 212th Attack Battalion Clone Trooper comes with one heavy cannon and firing projectile.

It is interesting that Hasbro has decided to help us army build with the “older looking” clone troopers. There have been so many other clone trooper battalions throughout the life of the television show. Many of them have been brightly colored and we hope that Hasbro will focus on more of these. The Army Of The Republic Battle Packs set would have been much more appreciated three years ago, but that doesn’t mean it won’t benefit kids and collectors today. But with the complexity in the decoration of recent clone troopers’ armor, it’s kind of hard to get excited about two additional plain white clone troopers. We always will have a fondness for the 212th Attack Battalion and we suppose the dark blue 501st Legion will be more than welcomes by collectors since he has only shown up in a deluxe figure thus far, but even those two make this set feel a little bit lackluster. From an army building point of view however, this set is awesome. It would be nice if Battle Packs came with five figures like they used to instead of four, but it is what it is and there is no denying that armies will be growing exponentially thanks to this set. But if you have been collecting “forever” like us, than you may just be able to pass on this without thinking twice.