Plo Koon - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW53)

Plo Koon fights to free an ice-covered world from the Separatists. The Jedi general wears a special mask to protect him from Khorm's harsh environment. Traction spikes make it easy for him to move quickly over the snow and ice, as he fights a ruthless warlord and battles droids who are controlling an important source of fuel.

Hasbro got brave during the last few waves of The Clone Wars line during the "Shadow Of The Dark Side" phase of the line look. Not content to stay within the confines of the television show, they were itching to dig their hands into the Expanded Universe interpretation of the events in The Clone Wars. Along with Kit Fisto, Hasbro also developed a cold weathered version of Plo Koon. The figure is very interesting. That is the best one word description we can come up with because we honestly have never seen Plo Koon look this way. The sculpt is done very well and he comes with an impressive 12 points of articulation. As a bonus, he’s well centered and can stand up without any issues and well accessorized to make both the kids and collectors very, very happy. What’s more, Hasbro seamlessly blended him into the basic figure line and to be quite honest with you, Plo Koon wouldn’t fit more at home in the line than if he appeared in the Battle of Orto Plutonia during the season 1 Trespass episode. And so far all of the “cold weather” The Clone Wars figures look fabulous together.

This version of Plo Koon has the best The Clone Wars likeness of Plo Koon we have seen to date. Both the 2009 TCW [F/S1] Plo Koon (No. 14) figure and the Plo Koon from 2010’s TCW [SOTDS] Speeder Bike With Plo Koon Deluxe set had both their plusses and minuses. But one thing that bothered us about both of them was the way Hasbro decorated his skin color. Is was either too light, too dark or just plain too orange colored. And this same awkward color scheme plagued the Plo Koon that came in 2009’s TCW [S2] Ambush At Abregado TARGET exclusive Battle Packs set. That one may have included the worst version of Plo Koon yet. The final wash they gave the figure was a train wreck. But all that has been remedied here with this version of Plo Koon and we’re praying that the head sculpts are interchangeable because this is the one we want. His parka is excellently sculpted as well and in an unexpected move, Hasbro has made the hood a separate accessory, similar to what we saw with 2010’s TCW [SOTDS] Anakin Skywalker (CW42) figure. It’s a nice option to have with Plo Koon as well.

One portion of this figure we’re not too keen on is the removable face mask. We know reference material exist for it, but Plo Koon is already wearing a gas mask to protect him from oxygen, does he really need another mask encumbering him? It also doesn’t attach as neatly as we’d like to see, but at least it stays in place unlike the removable gas mask that Hasbro included with the 2009 LC Plo Koon (BD45) figure. That figure is a pain in the neck because of that stubborn tiny accessory. Just like the 2011 TCW [SOTDS] Kit Fisto (CW60) figure, Plo Koon comes with removable snow shoes that plug into the holes in his feet. The stay tightly in place and allow him to stand up without falling over. But we actually prefer to display this figure without them. The Clone Wars: In Service Of The Republic is a very popular Expanded Universe source that many collectors have embraced. And it’s really cool for The Clone Wars line to get peppered with them here and there. We’re interested to see how often Hasbro will carry this trend, but we hope it’s at the very least sporadic. These are some really interesting figures indeed in these sources. (There’s that word again!)