Saleucami Trooper - TLC - Basic (BD 20)

During the final days of the Clone Wars, Stass Allie leads clone troopers on the desert world of Saleucami. While patrolling on a speeder bike, Allie is struck down by clone troopers who receive Order 66, which directs them to treat all Jedi as a threat to the Republic.

The release of the Saleucami Trooper action figure is certainly an interesting one. When we found out that we were getting a "repack & repaint" wave after the summer 2008 The Legacy Collection Clone Wars themed wave (wave 2) before the Revenge Of The Sith themed wave, it certainly surprised us. But we were further confused because we assumed that this figure would be the "other one" in the 2007 TAC Treachery On Saleucami Battle Packs set, meaning the one with the visor up and not Commander Neyo himself. We were wrong, and Saleucami Trooper ended up being coincidentally released as a clean version of 2008's TAC Commander Neyo Saga Legends figure in stead of the actual Saleucami Trooper from the Battle Packs set – are you confused yet?). Collectors were a bit annoyed and rightfully so because that 2007 TAC Treachery On Saleucami Battle Packs set was a bit cumbersome to locate at retail and many of us didn't really want another BARC Speeder. And this was especially true for collectors who want one of every figure. But as a result of Hasbro getting "lazy" and chronically releasing the Saleucami Trooper for subsequent releases, it gave us an opportunity to purchase a "unique" action figure because the battle-damage markings were dropped. And for many of us, "different enough" is "just enough" to make us open our wallets and purchase something “again”. While he doesn't offer anything new besides the lack of carbon-scoring marks, fans looking to army build got their chance. And to be honest, it is great to get this clone trooper (that was seen in the film) as a basic action figure release.

The Saleucami sequence was extremely quick but powerful scene in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith and many of us became fans of the 91st Recon Legion and Stass Allie immediately as a result. The repack and repaint wave of 2008 is quite a schizophrenic motley crew of figures. It culls characters from across multiple sources of the rich Star Wars universe including video games, the prequel trilogy and even the original Clone Wars micro-series (as well as other alternate sources). But despite their differences and heterogeneous relationship, it was nonetheless an intriguing wave that provided us with the parts to get a modern (and much improved) version of the Death Star Droid (last available as part of 1998's POTF freeze frame line - in fact, that figure was technically an exclusive) now known as 5D6-RA7. Hasbro really knew how to cleverly pad The Legacy Collection in 2008. We were served up a plethora of great army builders (especially from all of the clone trooper battalions) your eyes could feast on in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. The Kashyyyk Trooper, Clone Trooper (327th Star Corps) and Clone Trooper (Coruscant Landing Platform) are all examples of this and now the Saleucami Trooper gets his turn. And he is a great addition to this impressively extensive list. And if you include all of the troopers in the Saga Legends line, you can also pick up the Shock Trooper, 501st Legion Trooper and the regular white Clone Trooper. We certainly had plenty of opportunity to army-build in The Legacy Collection. And besides the lackluster packaging, it has given us some pretty exciting action figures. And we believe the rereleases have been successful for Hasbro and we do expect the trend to continue for quite some time.

Saleucami Trooper has 23 points of articulation (perfect - not that we would expect any less) and his joints have been tightened up a bit more so this is a very good improvement. This allows for optimal posing capabilities that will hold their position over time. It is a great mixture of science and art working together. He is a however retooled figure that uses a slightly modified version of the body from the original 2003 Clone Wars Clone Trooper ('03 #50) and sports a new head and shoulder pauldron/bandolier combo. While not completely faithful to the film character, Saleucami Trooper is a very fair representation of one in Neyo's troopers. We are however hopeful that Hasbro will revisit the figure from head to toe and ensure that they give him a much sharper and better detailed head sculpt. For some reason, the head sculpt is a bit wide and not sharp enough to match what was seen in the film. This rounded look makes him look a bit off and it seems that some additional tweaking will be required to make him perfect. Additionally, there are many aspects that were left out so we hope that this figure is somewhere on their radar or parking lot to revisit. Obviously, the Saleucami Trooper is nothing to write home about, but he is nonetheless a figure you may just want to add as multiples in your collection. He is indeed different from what we have received before so this may just make the decision for you. As a troop builder, he will likely find his way in remix cases. So he may just make a repeat appearance on the pegs. But if you hold out for an update, this figure will absolutely be outdated. It is a risk you will have to decide to take. Pick him up today or wait for a newly sculpted version. It’s your choice, but we recommend the latter!