Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,747: Clone Trooper Rys

CLONE TROOPER RYS and Lt. Thire
The Clone Wars Wal-Mart Exclusive Set
Item No.: Asst. 16721 No. 89205
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #1 of 2
Includes: Pistol, rocket, firing rocket launcher, helmet, backpack, Thire figure with accessories
Action Feature: Removable helmet, articulated binocular goggles, firing rocket
Retail: $12.96
Availability: August 2009
Appearances: The Clone Wars

Bio: Lieutenant Thire and clone troopers Rys and Jek accompany Yoda to Rugosa, where they are attacked by battle droids. Thire urges Yoda to leave them behind and go to the Rendezvous site alone, but the Jedi refuses to leave anyone behind. When Rys says their situation is dire, Yoda encourages him to find inspiration in his comrades and himself. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' desk.

Commentary: While Thire and Jek made the transition to the basic figure assortment, Clone Trooper Rys remains exclusive to this set-- which debuted at Wal-Mart as an exclusive, but later appeared at Toys R Us for reasons as of yet unknown. (Presumably related to closeouts.) Rys is basically nothing special-- it uses a basic Clone body from 2008, gives it new paint and new accessories, and turns him into one of the three characters from the increasingly folksy debut episode of The Clone Wars. Compared to what would follow, that episode feels incredibly low-stakes-- Asajj Ventress just hangs around and doesn't hide in the shadows and kill, kill, kill? It seems out of character. Anyway.

Rys didn't make a big splash on the series, but he did receive a brief lecture from Yoda showing us a little more of Yoda the Teacher, a character who hasn't been around much since the original trilogy. While he was basically Just Another Clone, he did bring some swell red deco and a nice backpack to the line. As he has the bend-and-swivel wrists plus ankle joints, he's arguably better than most current Clone Troopers... except the current ones have proportions closer to the animation models. So if you like slightly beefier clones, Rys is a good one to get-- these two-packs are good fun and to a good job fleshing out the bulk of the best figures from the beginning of the series. The deco is nice, but that's basically the main reason to buy him-- the mold was reused on other, cheaper figures.

Collector's Notes: These sets sold slowly in 2009 and into 2010, but now people want them. Sometimes it takes a while, but it seems that on the whole The Clone Wars actually has a legit collector following which is, my guess anyway, kids getting older and spending their allowances. Now, he's gonna cost you-- so with that in mind, maybe you ought to buy something else.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,747: February 23, 2012