Figure of the Day: Day 317: Clone Trooper

CLONE TROOPER ARMY Army of the Republic
Clone Wars Deluxe Figures
Item No.: Asst. 84845 No. 84987
Number: n/a
Includes: 2 more figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: Fall 2003
Appearances: Attack of the Clones, Clone Wars

Bio: Virtually indistinguishable from one another, Clone Troopers are identical in physical appearance, mental capability, and stamina. Part of a clone army, they are grown in the cloning facilities of Tipoca City, a luminescent city of industry emerging from the raging seas of Kamino. Although clone troopers share the same modified genetic code, their genetic structure has been altered to make them less independent than their genetic host, and their growth has been accelerated to twice the normal rate of a human. Grown and trained specifically for military combat, the Clone Army was mysteriously commissioned ten years earlier. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' Clone shelf.

Commentary: Hasbro realized that fans loved Clone Trooper figures, and devised a way to give us a bunch of them quickly. This figure, along with a few others, were packaged in "Clone Army" three-packs, and each figure had limited articulation, limited deco, and in some cases, limited distribution. Between five unique configurations of these three-packs, Hasbro made a grand total of eight different Clone Trooper figures (kneeling, kneeling green, binoculars, binoculars yellow, sniper, sniper red, standing, standing blue) so to "collect them all" you'd have to spend at least $40, as the all-white set had figures that could be found in the other packs. Naturally, the white one was the most common.

This figure is the white kneeling variation, which was packaged in a few other sets and, sadly, doesn't move much. The head moves, the waist and writsts move, and aside from that you can't get a lot out of this figure. He's great for dioramas or certain places in a Gunship, but really, he's just a static trooper-- for the money, he's a good figure, but with only a little black paint and no articulation, it's not exactly a lot of fun to play with. Although it is durable and as the gun is molded to his hand, you're fairly unlikely to ever lose it. This is a figure you should get if you're a big Clone fan, otherwise you probably won't get a lot out of it.

Collector's Notes: Given the many configurations of this figure (and the fact it was retooled for Revenge of the Sith), fans weren't left very excited by it. There are lots more white Clones that do more than this one that are just as easy to find, so if you want this one, odds are it won't cost you very much. Also, for the super-complete collector, remember there are only five configurations of this set-- Hasbro didn't make the Clones in every pose with every color, they only come in white or one other color.

Day 317: March 19, 2007