Clone Trooper - TVC - Basic (VC45)

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars saga that changed the universe forever! This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. Iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are captured with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Star Wars saga. May the Force be with you!

Collectors weren’t prepared for the release of Clone Trooper (VC45) in The Vintage Collection Star Wars basic figure line. Getting action figures with all-new sculpts is always welcomed, but for years, Hasbro gave us what we believed the standard was for the phase I and phase II clone troopers from Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith, respectively. Our expectations shattered when Hasbro released Clone Trooper (VC45), not because it wasn’t a great action figure, but because it broke the mold for all past Clone Trooper action figures. A new, thinner version of the Clone Trooper became the template for all Clone Trooper action figures since, and they don’t blend well with Hasbro’s earlier efforts(of which we army built the heck out of). If you look at Clone Trooper (VC45) unto itself, it blows past versions out of the water. The thinner frame is screen-accurate, and this is a detail many collectors refuse to accept. The helmet is proportioned to the body of the figure, although, the pea-sized head looks off when the helmet if off of the action figure. For 2020, Hasbro reissued The Clone Trooper in support of the seventh and final season of The Clone Wars television show. It was the perfect action figure to choose to re-release because it is a realistic version of the character from Attack Of The Clones, while also satisfying the on-screen appearance in The Clone Wars animated series. It’s like killing two birds with one stone. The figure unwittingly plays both sides of the fence.

We’ve lauded The Vintage Collection Clone Trooper (VC45) figure from the beginning when Hasbro first released it in 2011. While imperfect, we strongly feel it’s the best Episode II (phase I) Clone Trooper action figure available on the market. We agree with this sentiment in 2020. Now, Hasbro updated the figure to include Photo Real paint operations, and aside from that single upgrade, not much else varies between this figure and its original 2011 version. There is a slightly noticeable flatter matte finish on the white armor this time around, but it’s challenging to notice despite being present. The packaging, however, has sustained a few more changes than the figure. The card art is lighter and brighter. And Hasbro updated the name pill with the correct Avant-Garde font, and they also changed the font color from black to white. In all honesty, Clone Trooper (45) pulls us in both directions, whether it’s a good or bad action figure sometimes. On paper, it’s excellent, but in practicality, it is a figure that should have smoother fluid movement, and the ball-jointed articulation should function better than it does. No one can deny that this figure has an excellent sculpt. But it lacks in things that are difficult to pinpoint. We all know the purpose of Hasbro revisiting figures is to make all-new versions that collectors classify as definitive. But the Clone Trooper is so distinct in appearance that it won’t fit in with the rest of your Episode II Clone Trooper action figures, ones that you likely have 100s of at this point.

Many collectors will see the benefits of premium ball-jointed hips outweighing the negativity of lack of uniformity, but that’s an individual perspective, and it will vary. Ball-jointed articulation didn’t work all that well on the 2010 TVC Clone Trooper (VC15) figure, and it works only marginally better here. Still, there are other places where Hasbro added premium ball-jointed articulation, and it’s a tremendous blessing to this action figure. Clone Trooper (VC45) should make a lot of collectors happy. The figure offers a wide range of positioning, and it comes with two weapons that give it versatility when displaying an army of them. Hasbro included both the DC-15 blaster and DC-15 blaster rifle here. When you consider the removable helmet, you get a multitude of ways to pose the Clone Trooper. While we anticipate that many collectors won’t be able to let go of the older sculpt, it may ultimately make them resistant to change, which is better. We feel confident that Hasbro was inspired by the Clone Troopers in The Clone Wars television show when making this figure primarily, and then by their appearance in Attack Of The Clones. Perhaps the best way of assessing the Clone Trooper (VC45) action figure is that it looks like a realistically styled version of the animated Clone Trooper. We can’t discount what advancements Hasbro made to this version of the Clone Trooper. If you feel the limbs are too thin and spindly, that’s fine. The figure still moves and articulates better than the 2003 tooling.

When the 2003 CW Clone Trooper (’03 #50) figure was released, it shattered records. And interestingly, it was one of only a handful of figures that we never found at retail. It was so popular that in The Original Trilogy Collection, Hasbro made four distinct Clone Trooper Troop Builder 4-Pack sets, based on the original tooling of this figure’s sculpt for Entertainment Earth in 2005. They also shattered all records. Collectors bought them up, and the sales exceeded expectations. Thankfully, these former exclusives became commonplace in the Saga Legends sub-line since. They’ve been available in every Star Wars Saga Legends action figure line since 2007. That is now likely to change with the release of this figure, and while we don’t expect to see this figure relegated to Saga Legends next week, this release likely retired the 2003 sculpt going forward. We still have affection for the 2003 Clone Wars Clone Trooper (’03 #50) figure. But when compared to the new The Vintage Collection Clone Trooper (VC45) version, we realize how chunky it looks. But this may be a direct result of how extraordinarily thin the 2011 figure appears. While the Clone Trooper is more lightweight, the helmet is not. The helmet is reminiscent of what we see in The Clone Wars television show. The armor is not as shiny as it could be, and the 2020 version appears to have less sheen than the original. And it still only has simple black paint to designate the bodysuit underneath the pristine white armor. The weapons have some silver detail, but not much else exists when it comes to color.

The removable helmet is a nice touch. The Clone Trooper has a smaller, very well-designed head that fits perfectly under it. And despite the slightly bizarre shape of the helmet, we are proud of Hasbro for not making the helmet look too large when the Clone Trooper is wearing it. As you know, the phase II Clone Trooper bucket is OVERSIZED. The 27 points of articulation should excite many, and Hasbro did a great job of hiding the ball-joints in the hips, which makes this gravy. But we struggled to position the hips in a natural state because the articulation isn’t fluid in this part of the action figure. Sure, they easily move and will allow your figure to attain any pose, but we don’t think it looks flawless. The inclusion of ball-jointed wrists is a dream come true and allows for more versatility than you may expect. Conversely, we find that the new ball-jointed shoulders are an encumbered mess. Hasbro tried to improve the aesthetics of the shoulder joints by putting a solid piece of armor over the joint to hide the lines it creates. The arms can move up, down and around, but not at all out or away from its body. It feels like you’re about to break the arms off if you try to go outside of this motion. Hasbro made many positive steps here, but it isn’t free of anything negative. On the original card art from 2011, Hasbro sources the first issue of the Clone Trooper to the 2002 SW [S - P1] Clone Trooper (’02 #17) figure (which made it out to retail as a Clone Trooper Captain). The curious thing here is that Hasbro used a mock-up to a proposed running change that never made it out to the public, the all-white version. Technically, the “first issue” of the phase I Clone Trooper is 2002’s POTJ Clone Trooper Sneak Preview figure. The 2020 updated release doesn’t concern itself with such trivia.

Editor's Note: Hasbro re-released The Vintage Collection Clone Trooper (VC45) figure in February 2020 with a significant number of changes. Updates include: (1) "photorealistic" deco, (2) darker complexion (3) new, brighter white armor with a matte finish, (4) refreshed 2020 packaging with different graphics, (5) different shade of blue for figure backer and name "pill," and (6) white font color instead of black

Review Status Update: The original publication date of this review is March 14, 2011. It was subsequently updated with a new Photo Gallery and revised General Analysis and republished on June 16, 2020 after Hasbro reissued the figure.