Clone Trooper - SW [S - P1] - 12 Inch Figures

Ten years after the fight to save Naboo from invasion, the galaxy is on the brink of civil war. Under the leadership of a renegade Jedi, thousands of solar systems threaten to secede from the Galactic Republic. A courageous Jedi Knight, his impulsive and headstrong apprentice, and a queen-turned-senator are drawn into the heart of the conflict... and the beginning of war.

Virtually indistinguishable from one another, clone troopers are identical in physical appearance, mental capability, and stamina. Grown and trained specifically for military combat, the clone army was mysteriously commissioned ten years earlier.

The Clone Trooper is the Stormtrooper of the Prequel Trilogy. And in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones, we’re introduced to them for the first time. Interestingly, instead of fighting alongside the Separatists, the Clone Troopers fight alongside the Jedi in the first Battle of Geonosis, which would be the marker to the beginning of the Clone Wars. The Star Wars “Saga” [Phase I] line is the first toy line during an active Star Wars film that doesn’t sport the title of that new film anywhere on the packaging. The line is all-encompassing and functions more like the next phase of the Power Of The Jedi line. With a strong focus on toys based on Attack Of The Clones, the line is also filled with items based on A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return Of The Jedi. There are also products based on The Phantom Menace, but the volume is much less for obvious reasons. Hasbro was certain to create a line of 12 Inch Figures to support the Star Wars “Saga” [Phase I] line, and they opened it up with three good characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a Clone Trooper. But not all of them are perfect, especially the Clone Trooper.

The Clone Trooper isn’t Hasbro’s greatest effort. Much like the Stormtrooper and Sandtrooper figures before it, Hasbro has a huge problem making armor that fits closely to the buck they utilize and fit in a streamlined manner. The armor looks big and bulky, slips out of position, and is produced from a very pliable plastic which doesn’t keep its shape at all. We strongly feel that Hasbro should have tooled a Clone Trooper 12 Inch Figure by casting it all in plastic, ignoring the buck-underneath-the-armor approach for a more athletic appearance. For the 2002 line, Hasbro produced three Clone Troopers for the 12 Inch Figures line. They produced a generic infantry Clone Trooper for the basic line. And then they produced two exclusives for KB Toys: a red Clone Captain and a yellow Clone Commander. The only problem is they misnamed the Clone Captain. They called it “Clone Trooper,” which technically isn’t incorrect, but it’s not specific enough either. The confusion stems from the basic figure in the 3.75” line. 2002’s SW [S - P1] Clone Trooper (’02 #17) was also a Clone Captain (with red color flashes). And a canceled running change of all-white never got released.

The Clone Trooper 12 Inch Figure looks great at some angles, and terrible at others. The best selling point if the figure’s head sculpt. Hasbro faithfully recreated the contour, shape, and size of the onscreen prop very well. It’s never answered how the Clone Troopers get this bucket over their heads. We don’t know how and if they open up in halves to sandwich in the head. All we know is that there is a hole for the neck, which is too small to accept the clone’s head into it. It’s physically implausible that these helmets are functional and can go over a Clone Trooper’s human head. We digress. The all-white Clone Trooper comes with a disappointing paint job. The armored parts are cast in different plastics (as evidenced by the different shades), as they all have varying degrees of white as an assembled figure. The head sculpt is cast in a duller, off-white plastic. The chest armor, arm armor, and thigh armor are cats in bright white plastic. And then the lower legs are painted with the red Geonosian dirt to show that they’ve been fighting in battle. Ultimately, it doesn’t work. This Clone Trooper looks odd at best. The figure also comes with a DC-15 blaster rifle. But unfortunately, none come with the DC-15 blaster (the smaller one).