Obi-Wan Kenobi/ARC Trooper - TAC - Comic Packs (No. 07)

Fans knew Hasbro was really stepping up to the plate by the time the second wave of Comic Packs from the 30 (77-07) line began hitting retail. The use of antiquated sculpts repainted seemed to have waned a bit and in their place are all-new or significantly updated action figures with lot of great articulation. One of the standout sets from wave 2 was the Obi-Wan Kenobi/ARC Trooper set. Let’s be honest. Do we ever really get tired of ARC Troopers? The set is a hit for multiple reasons. Besides the new approach taken with the ARC Trooper, Obi-Wan Kenobi has also been significantly refreshed in very positive ways. Likely a set that collectors will want to army-build, this two-pack is truly a reason to celebrate why Comic Packs are so necessary to complement the basic figure line. This two-pack is based on the story in Star Wars: Republic #55 where Obi-Wan Kenobi and ARC Trooper “Alpha” are fighting on the rain-soaked planet of Jabiim in an effort to bring the Republic to victory. And it is a world that the Republic forces are having difficulty conquering. The setting of the comic also reminds us of similar events we watched in Volume 2 of Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars micro-series.

Believe it or not, Obi-Wan Kenobi included in this set is the more exciting figure in our opinion. He’s a kit-bashed figure that includes the body, legs and upper arms of 2005’s ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi (III 55) figure and the rest of him is all-new. In our book, we’d easily consider this an all-new figure although clearly the word “all” is a big misnomer here. But when Hasbro enhances a figure this much, it’s got to count for something, right? The new cloak, belt, forearms, newly woven soft-goods skirt and head are wonderfully designed to flawless interacted with previously existing parts. And we have to take a moment to rave about the new head sculpt. Although it is ever so slightly sloppily painted, it’s absolutely one of the finest likenesses of Obi-Wan Kenobi we have ever seen and we hope that Hasbro will use it time and again for Episode III movie-accurate versions of him. As a bonus, Hasbro includes a very awkward (and literally "alternative") head sculpt covered in a Sith prisoner mask that was inspired from another story from the Star Wars: Republic comic series. It’s a great sculpt and you can tell Obi-Wan Kenobi is underneath of it thanks to some great sculpting.

ARC Trooper “Alpha” is the other kit-bashed figure in this two-pack. He has been designed utilizing the body of the Clone Trooper (Fall Of The Republic) figure(s) from 2005’s ROTS Clone Trooper To Stormtrooper Evolutions set and with a new head, calves (which now include some thick ribbing detail), pauldron and helmet. Hasbro took some missteps with the paint job on the helmet around the visor. The blue color flashes don’t follow the perimeter of the visor and instead are straight lines and cover up more surface area in blue than they should. In all honesty, this paint job looks fantastic and it’s neatly applied, but it just isn’t accurate to the comics. But despite this little mistake, Hasbro gave the figure a remarkable paint job from head to toe. The ARC Trooper has splotches of unbelievably realistic dirt all over its armor and the head sculpt looks pretty fantastic as well. The gauntlet is a wonderful new detail added to this ARC Trooper and its even attached to the cord that's attached to the pauldron. It looks fantastic! Again, the Obi-Wan Kenobi/ARC Trooper Comic Packs set is one of Hasbro’s finest moments. Expect to see these figure another day in some other fashion. (Editor's Note: Special thanks to Jayson Krebsbach from Yakface.com for reference photo editing help! All photos taken by Jedi Temple Archives.)