Clone Pilot Hawk - TBS [L50] - Six Inch Figures

Commemorate the first 50 years of Lucasflm with figures inspired by Star Wars: The Clone Wars!

While we love the whole concept of The Black Series 6-inch taking on life as The Clone Wars line, a character like Clone Pilot Hawk works against the original intention of the lineup. We’ll explain. The Black Series [Lucasfilm 50] line celebrates poignant periods of the Star Wars toy line. Hasbro produced figures from the Kenner line, the Episode I line, and now branching into The Clone Wars line. These specific line looks left an indelible mark on the Hasbro Star Wars branding of the diverse toy lines. While characters like Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are perfect candidates for this commemorative line look, a character like Clone Pilot Hawk adds confusion and perplexity. Clone Pilot Hawk is a first-time offering in any Hasbro Star Wars toy line. They never produced an action figure of this character until now. So why is it in a line that celebrates some of Hasbro’s best offerings in The Clone Wars lineup? Perhaps a character like Clone Pilot Hawk might have been best represented by The Black Series [Phase IV] line instead. There are SO MANY characters from The Clone Wars line that Hasbro could have added instead, including the recently released Asajj Ventress, so why didn’t they do that instead?

What we have here is a character that makes you believe it was part of the original The Clone Wars 3.75-inch line, but it’s a misnomer and a deceitful one at that. Now, our discontentment isn’t a knock on Clone Pilot Hawk, but its presentation only. It’s our firm opinion that Hasbro should have released this character through another method. Again, Hasbro released 27 action figures in The Clone Wars [Blue] phase of the line, so they had many options. Adding Clone Pilot Hawk here was a wrong move, and we hope it doesn’t confuse collectors, especially those not familiar with the original The Clone Wars line. That said, Clone Pilot Hawk is a fun action figure, but it uses old tooling with some new parts, and we find that especially tiring and frustrating at this stage of the game. Clone Pilot Hawk is a retool and repaint of 2014’s TBS [P1] Clone Trooper (#14) figure and comes with a new head sculpt and revised torso to accommodate the chest box accessory permanently attached to the action figure. The old base figure comes with double hinge-jointed elbows and knees, which means that the articulation system is limited. And you’ll find you won’t attain all of the wonderful poses you can with newer clones that have updated parts.

However, the all-new portrait is stunning and helps prevent the figure from looking aged and tired. But everything else here is dull and boring, aside from the revitalized paint operations, complete with color flashes and insignia from the television show. Clone Pilot Hawk comes with a DC-15 blaster, and it fits nicely into the figure’s hands. Aside from the new tooling, Hasbro didn’t break any new ground here. The figure, honestly, looks better packaged than out and displayed. Part of the 501st Legion, Clone Pilot Hawk, has a more extended history in The Clone Wars than you may realize. Clone Pilot Hawk made his debut in The Clone Wars film, but his scenes were cut for time. Then the character made various appearances throughout The Clone Wars series, including episodes in the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons. Surprisingly, Hasbro never delivered this action figure to collectors of the 3.75-inch scale during The Clone Wars’ long-running toy line. And it’s more surprising that the current Hasbro team chose Clone Pilot Hawk to commemorate The Clone Wars’ original action figure line. It bothers us when things don’t make sense, and nothing makes sense here. A Target exclusive, all four 6-inch figures in The Clone Wars Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary line have been a pain to find. May you have luck in your search.