Figure of the Day: Day 384: Clone Trooper

CLONE TROOPER ARMY Army of the Republic
Clone Wars Deluxe Figures
Item No.: Asst. 84845 No. 84987
Number: n/a
Includes: Binoculars, 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' AOTC Clone Shelf.

Commentary: The Clone Trooper Army 3-packs were sort of awesome, sort of crappy, and sort of a pain all at once. It was nearly impossible to find all 5 variations on this set, which, between them, had only 8 different figures. So even if you bought the fewest possible packs, you'd still wind up with at least 12 figures when all you might want were those 8-- but thankfully, they're Clones, and extras are usually welcome. This particular Clone was the best of the four molds used in the set, as it had a set of binoculars to hold as well as a rifle molded to his hand. As such, there's more room for variety. With non-moving legs, you're basically stuck with one pose and limited arm articulation-- still, it's not a bad figure, and for those building a huge army, it's worth getting. There's just not a lot you can do with this Commander other than stick him on a shelf or a diorama.

Collector's Notes: For whatever reason, Hasbro has been reluctant to reissue these "army soldier" Clones of limited articulation, which is a real shame as they'd make nice bonus items in other sets as they can't cost too much to make. The prices on these once hard-to-get figures have dropped as other Clones came out and grabbed fan interest, so if you want them odds are you can find them without too much work these days. Back in the day, at least where I lived, the pack with this clone and the green one proved impossible to find locally.

Day 384: May 25, 2007