Figure of the Day: Day 348: Galactic Marine

GALACTIC MARINE Order 66
30th Anniversary Collection Target Exclusive
Item No.: Asst. 87356 No. 87358
Number: 2 of 6
Includes: Backpack, helmet, blaster (and Mace Windu)
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: March 2007
Appearances: n/a

Bio: Mace Windu puts aside his diplomatic mantle to lend his skill as a powerful Jedi warrior during the Clone Wars. He leads a regiment of Galactic Marine clone troopers into battle to stop the Separatist invasions on several worlds. (Taken from the set's packaging.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' photo studio for 16bit.com. Seen photographed with R4-M6, Clone Trooper, Mace Windu, Clone Commander, and more Clones. To date, beyond Mace, Jedi Master Windu has also been granted one Droid and three unique styles of Clone Trooper.

Commentary: Hasbro has been extremely liberal about what is and isn't movie-related and how it's labeled. And when it comes to the Clone Wars, it's even harder to discern-- in the case of this Galactic Marine, though, it seems that this particular configuration of trooper has made zero appearances anywhere outside this product. Not that this is a bad thing-- one of the really fun things Hasbro has done with Star Wars since the saga has (more or less) ended on the big screen has been developing little threads into larger toy sub-lines. Take Mace Windu. In the movies, he had a purple lightsaber-- and this has been extrapolated to give the character a purple Starfighter in the Clone Wars cartoons with a matching astromech droid. Hasbro decided to make toys of these items and, as an added bonus, some Clone Troopers too. So if you like the idea of Hasbro saying "hey, this is a good character, let's give him a big fat squad of toys" it would seem you're in luck. And if not... well, too bad.

So what's the deal with this guy? Well, Hasbro had the mold for the 2007 Galactic Marine (the Mygeeto/Bacara/Ki-Adi-Mundi deco) and said "hey, we can repaint this." And a bunch of other people said "yeah, that's a good idea." The mold is basically brand new and most fans haven't even had the chance to get the first version of it yet, so to have two versions of the mold on the market within days is either really exciting or really annoying. I for one dig it-- although it is a bit of a shame that the figure wasn't sold individually or in some way to buy more than one easily. I'm not saying I want a dozen of them, but two or three would've been nice.

The articulation is good-- he's technically super-poseable but his kama/waistcoat prevents him from sitting or kneeling, really. He can stand and aim and not too much else-- which is a pity as Clone Troopers should be a bit more action-oriented toys that can pilot ships or lay down the smack on Separatists. This guy can just stand there, and look good, which means he should be a much beloved figure by the bulk of the adult fan base.

Collector's Notes: This figure is brand freaking new-- as of the day I wrote this, I've had mine for less than a week. I haven't exactly seen many of them in my travels yet, but it's not too hard to find. Since Hasbro and Target are pricing these exclusive repaint 2-packs at fairly... fair prices, we don't expect them to be particularly common-- so don't hesitate too much.

This is not a Snowtrooper. It's a Galactic Marine. It just looks a lot like a Snowtrooper. The Galactic Marine armor was colored pretty much entirely in white in the comics and served under Commander Keller, who was basically a redecorated Airborne trooper with some cloth robes and a hood for some reason. They served on the cold world of Toola under Kai Hudorra before Order 66 kicked in and gave us all a reason to buy action figures in Order 66 boxes which, as far as I can tell, had absolutely nothing to do with Order 66. Still, this new purple Galactic Marine is a worthy addition to any Clone Army and certainly makes your squad of purple Clones look a little bit awesomer.

Day 348: April 19, 2007