Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,384: Clone Commander (Kashyyyk)

CLONE COMMANDER Bogey Squad Comic Pack
The Legacy Collection Comic Packs Wave 7
Item No.: Asst. 87504 No. 92474
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #09
Includes: Blaster, helmet, Trooper figure, Republic #83 comic book
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $14.99
Availability: March 2010
Appearances: Republic Comic Books

Bio: After receiving Order 66, the clone troopers in Bogey Squad hunt down Jedi General Quinlan Vos. The squad searches the forests of Kashyyyk to find and eliminate their former commander, who is now considered a traitor to the Republic. The troopers are highly skilled, but they are up against a resourceful quarry. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's neighbor's yard in Los Angeles. (This is what happens when you don't lock the gate.)

Commentary: Hasbro once told me that whenever a line needed a shot in the arm, that's when it was time to release some more Clone Trooper figures. If you look at their release strategy since 2002, it works-- in 2002 we got roughly 3 Clone Troopers. In 2003, we got a few more. In 2005, we got a ton, and the avalanche continued until today-- these figures really do wonders to support the line. This comic 2-pack would probably have done wonders for sales of the Comic Pack SKU, which had been the same 5-digit number since the line's introduction in early 2007, meaning stores never "flushed" the old ones out of the system. Had they done this, the line might have stood a chance of being around today, but Wal-Mart and Kmart decided they don't want to keep stocking the line so choke on that, fan boy.

Anyway, this particular Clone Commander comes inspired from the comic books which followed the last-known appearances of Quinlan Vos. The figure is the exact same tooling as the late 2006 release Commander Appo, meaning it's a III-41 Revenge of the Sith Clone Trooper body with a Clone Commander pauldron and some new paint. Given there have been reasonably few camo Clones out there, this was nice to see, only not a lot of people really got to see them out in the wild. With the 14 standard points of Clone articulation, this figure can't really surprise you but it's certainly delightful enough to warrant tracking down.

Collector's Notes: This assortment ultimately did hit stores, but for a very short time. Since the new packs were 1 per box, a single collector could (and often would) buy up the entire stock leaving you no evidence it had ever been there. As such, this set may actually cost you a little bit now. Were Hasbro to rerelease this one, it would probably sell just fine.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,384: October 4, 2010