Count Dooku - CW [A] - Basic

Through the creative vision of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the Cartoon Network, the Clone Wars are brought to life in an exciting new series of short animated chapters. A unique animation style captures the drama of this epic period in galactic history along with its outstanding heroes and adversaries. Noble Jedi warriors lead Clone Troopers into battle against the evil Separatist forces and their droid armies. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda and their comrades struggle against the rising power of the dark side and confront personal challenges against a backdrop of war-torn planets.

After collectors incessantly asked Hasbro about bringing animated versions of the Clone Wars characters into the basic figure line, Hasbro finally caved and produced three special waves of them; one for each season of the Clone Wars micro-series on the Cartoon Network. This novelty line of action figures produced some awesome versions of the main characters of the show. And Hasbro was sure to faithfully reproduce them with similar affectations and mannerisms that were accurate in the show. The first two waves were released at TARGET exclusives, but didn’t sell with the briskness that we expected. In fact, many could be found on clearance by the time the line was canceled. Count Dooku was one of the nicest looking figures in the lineup and he was part of wave 2. Packed alongside some other very relevant characters from the Clone Wars, Count Dooku played a much bigger part in the Separatist movement than first expected, thanks to the development of his character in the Clone Wars. The action figure is everything you probably expected. It looks great but has very few points of articulation.

Count Dooku has a very distinctive appearance and attitude. And interestingly enough, Hasbro manages to capture both as good as we could imagine in action figure format. This transcends both realistic and animated sculpts. The Clone Wars [Animated] Count Dooku action figures possesses the same cocky attitude of the dark Sith Lord. He has that Count Dracula aura about him (from 1931’s Dracula film based on Bram Stoker’s book) and he possesses these traits more strongly in animated form. The action figure has been sculpted very well. The costume looks perfect and his cape hangs with a nice drape without appearing windblown. He has an articulated right shoulder and an articulated left bicep. This of course is not a lot of movement for an action figure, but it does give you some leeway to pose him with his lightsaber is a few cool poses. He has a long think head and our favorite part is the angry eyebrows. The paint job is extremely well done and it’s evident that Hasbro paid careful attention to the reference materials to create an screen accurate version of this animated character.

Count Dooku’s lightsaber accessory is great. The unique curved hilt has been expertly interpreted into animated form here and his right hand (which also comes with a swivel point of articulation) accepts it willingly. Count Dooku’s left hand has been sculpted in a way where it looks like he is planning to conjure up some Force lightning, but maybe he is juts panning to utilize the dark side of the Force in a defensive manner that is unknown. But the fact remains that it cannot hold the lightsaber. Also included with Count Dooku is an action figure display stand. While appreciated as an inclusion here, it really isn’t that functional. The peg is too small for the holes in the feet, so the figure doesn’t securely lock itself into place. Besides, the plug isn’t centered on the stand, so Count Dooku stands off to the right of it. That aside, Count Dooku is probably one of the nicest figures in the Clone Wars [Animated] basic figure line. Separatists tend to not be the most exciting characters, but Count Dooku breaks this pattern quite easily. We just wish Hasbro could have incorporated more articulation into these figures. If they did that this line would have been sublime.