Figure of the Day: Day 907: Clone Trooper Coruscant Security

CLONE TROOPER Senate Security
The Clone Wars ShopStarWars.com Exclusive
Item No.: No. 87952
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster Rifle
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $15.00
Availability: July 2008
Appearances: The Clone Wars TV

Bio: These elite and highly skilled clone troopers are under the comand of Commander Thire. They are assigned diplomatic escort duty for high-ranking officials in the Senate. During the Clone Wars, they also defend the capital city from Separatist Attacks. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' table.

Commentary: The Clone Trooper (Senate Security) shows just how some retailers do exclusives in a painful, unpleasant way. For $15, you got one figure and one gun. Wal-Mart's exclusive 501st Trooper came with a blaster rifle, blaster pistol, membership card, firing rocket launcher, and oh yeah-- was $7. Making an army builder an exclusive, especially early in the line, is a terrible idea and as such hopefully someone benefitted financially, as this is one of the first convention exclusives I figured I'd just buy one of and call it a day. This isn't to say it's a bad figure-- far from it, my scorn is largely from its high price and relatively poor distribution. Odds are this figure would have been a huge retail success.

So what is it? Well, it's the basic animated Clone Trooper with added dirt and some and red markings. That's it. There's nothing special about this piece beyond the red coloring and package (and clamshell if that floats your boat), but as toys go it's pretty unremarkable. It's one of those figures with extra wrist articulation, so if you get it, I'm sure you'd be pleased with it-- it doesn't disappoint, except for how it's sold. The detail is good, the paint apps are clean, and it seems pretty authentic to his appearance on the first episode of the TV show. If you like clones and the color red, odds are you'll basically enjoy this figure.

Collector's Notes: This figure debuted at Comic-Con 2008, and did not sell out. It eventually found its way to the official Star Wars shop, and is now on markdown for about 30% off, like almost all of their exclusives since 2006. Why they continue to do expensive single figure exclusives is somewhat beyond me, but if you want one, it's like ten bucks.

Day 907: December 4, 2008