CLONE TROOPERS Elite Forces of the Republic30th Anniversary Collection Entertainment Earth Exclusive Mandalorians & Clone Troopers Set
Item No.: Asst. 87467 No. 87454
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Antenna, rifle, 6 more figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $39.99
Availability: November 2007
Appearances: n/a
Bio: They are grown and engineered to be super soldiers: exceptionally obedient, reliable, and strong. After learning military skills through holographic flash training and live-fire exercises, they have become the perfect combat weapons. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)
Image: Adam's desk, hanging out with Iron Man.
Commentary: It's easy to forget because of their sheer abundance today, but before The Clone Wars started on TV fans couldn't get enough of Clone Troopers. Hasbro kept the market starved for these white-armored guys up until 2005, when regular, heavy releases continued to sell out. Expanded Universe figures, original designs, stuff Hasbro made up-- it didn't matter. People loved these guys. Heck, even today any Clone with a decent design on his armor sells, so it's no surprise that Hasbro would throw in a pair of identical Clone Troopers in the "Elite Forces of the Republic" set sold in late 2007 as an online exclusive.
The figure is essentially the same as the ever-popular III-41 mold sold in 2005, which was a white Clone Trooper figure with light brown damage and wear. This version removes the damage and adds some eyes on the helmet and a skull to the chest. Neat, eh? There's not much to it-- it uses the once-perfect body with 14 points of articulation, has a nice gun, and includes a removable antenna. As original Hasbro designs go it's a lot of fun, and I wish they threw in a little more color just to make it stand out more, but as the "shinies" go this more or less fits with the idea of a fresh trooper just earning his stripes, so to speak. I'd love to see some more original weird designs on the cartoon molds in the future, but I generally don't get sick of this kind of thing.
Collector's Notes: Courtesy of eBay sellers of loose troopers, these figures are pretty cheap now-- you should be able to get them for an average of $3 in a lot, while the sealed boxed set will be more expensive. Due to the Mandalorian-free training camps of the recent TV series, I doubt you'll see much of these figures down the road.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 1,542: May 12, 2011
Glad you mentioned that. Yes, the Clone Wars cartoon has made this figure and the packs he came with apocryphal, since it seems the only Mandalorians with any balls are villains.
ReplyDeleteThe Mando symbol on the troopers chest was already strangely conflicting with Durge's symbol, which made little sense since Durge hated the Mandalorians. So the clone made sense than Durge...and well, Durge has marginalized anyway.
Anyway, I've yet to get this one because I didn't like the horns/ears on he helmet.