Clone Trooper (The Clone Wars) - Maquettes

Created to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic, the clone troopers are an army of genetically-modified soldiers. Identical in form, physical capability, stamina and mental aptitude, each of the first generations of clone troopers were grown in the cloning facilities of Tipoca City, on the storm-drenched world of Kamino.

There is no question that most collectors are uncontrollably obsessed with the latest offerings Hasbro makes with the basic figure line, but sadly great collectibles made by high-end dealers like Sideshow Collectibles and Gentle Giant Ltd. go often unnoticed which in our opinion is a terrible shame. Take for instance the Clone Trooper (The Clone Wars) Maquette. It’s done so incredibly well that it nearly leaves us speechless. Hasbro didn’t even get the armor correct on the 2008 TCW Clone Trooper (No. 5) figure, but that didn’t seem to faze that many collectors as they scooped them up to army build them like there was no tomorrow. But if you tale the time to review all of the minutia of accurate detail that has been etched into this Maquette, you may find that you’ll become a little aggravated at Hasbro that they made so many mistakes on the basic figure. We’ll go through the details here. Hopefully it will grab your interest enough to make you desire one.

The biggest issue with the 2008 Hasbro figure is the shoulder armor. They designed it similarly to the armor of the phase I clones seen in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. In these instances, the shoulder armor lays over the upper arm armor. But in The Clone Wars, it doesn’t. The armor portions do no overlap on the arms or the legs (save for a small portion of the jointed portions) and give the clone a very streamlined and extremely athletic presence. The 2008 TCW Clone Trooper (No. 5) figure looks a little to thick and clunky, and while actually a fun action figure and fantastically articulated, isn’t a true representation of the character in the television series. There are also some other differences that help make the action figure differ from the one seen in the TV series, but they’re much more insignificant by comparison. Overall, the Maquette is the most accurate replica of this character in any collectible format.

The Maquettes line is for a very select group of collectors. They’ve sadly gone up in price over time and have weeded out a big portion of collectors that adore the line. Price has been a deterrent in all collectible format, from Hasbro to Sideshow Collectibles, but it seems that in particular that the polystone collectibles are getting the most shunning. They unfortunately command a pricey MSRP and usually do not involve mixed media. They are all primarily one material: polystone. For almost $80, collectors expect interchangeability (which wouldn’t fit into the Maquette format at all) or some extra value to make the purchase worthwhile. Edition sizes are at an all time low and the sell through has in general come to a halt. It’s a grim time for collectors and licensees of the Star Wars brand. Perhaps the oversaturation of years past has led up to this point, but it’s a shame no matter how you slice it, because the Clone Trooper (The Clone Wars) Maquette is stunning.