ARC Commander Colt - TVC - Basic (VC276)

Wow. The last time we saw ARC Commander Colt in the Hasbro Star Wars basic figure line was in 2011, and it was an animated interpretation of the character instead of a realistic one. Now, after over a decade, we have ARC Commander Colt in a realistic style and part of The Vintage Collection, thanks to Walmart picking it up as their retailer exclusive. But, collectors should prepare themselves that this is nothing more than a fancy repaint of the “now old” 501st Legion ARC Trooper tooling we received years ago. That’s alright because we don’t expect Hasbro to deviate from this tooling. It keeps all of the clone and ARC trooper commanders in perfect scale with each other and helps create uniformity in a figure line with many oddities and outliers. Not all Hasbro’s choices to celebrate 20 years of the Clone Wars were especially fantastic. Still, admittedly, we’re happy to see ARC Commander Colt back in the basic figure line, realistically rendered, and with a gorgeous portrait with stunning paint applications.

You’ve heard us whine many times now that the Hasbro Star Wars brand is dull and unengaging. We still feel the same way. We get thrown a bone periodically, which helps rejuvenate our passion. Still, those instances are so few and far between anymore that it’s easy to lose sight of the expected figures we need to add to the lineup, like ARC Commander Colt. Yes, it’s a repaint but necessary, and we’re happy to see it in The Vintage Collection. With so little to get excited about anymore and the character selection feeling misguided, we should have some faith restored with a character like ARC Commander Colt. The biggest sin here is the almost $18 tax price tag for a sculpt that was $5 cheaper five years ago. This practice of overcharging for figures will kill the basic figure line once and for all. And it feeds the aggravation and annoyance where collecting is a hobby so few of us still enjoy. We are living in tough collector times. But we’ve strayed more than we wanted here, so let’s return to the figure.

ARC Commander Colt is a great-looking action figure. The paint operations look fantastic, and Hasbro faithfully recaptured most of the details they did on 2011’s TCW [SOTDS] Clone Commander Colt (CW52) figure. Some details are missing, but we believe you will be happy with what Hasbro accomplished here. None of us should expect newness when it comes to clone characters anymore. It’s the nature of the beast. ARC Commander Colt is a rework of 2023’s TVC ARC Commander Havoc (VC274) figure. While Havoc had some new tooling, Colt is merely a repaint of the Havoc buck. There is no new ground or new parts here. And while we can’t necessarily pinpoint where the portrait came from, we know Hasbro reused it too. The figure has four weapons, a removable pauldron, and a removable helmet with an articulated (and removable) rangefinder. That’s a lot of accessories for a 3.75-inch action figure, but we don’t view that as a gift. Hasbro saved a lot of money by reusing the existing tooling. They SHOULD include that many accessories. Oh, and the figure’s card art is gorgeous. That’s all we got.