ODD BALL Clone PilotThe Vintage Collection Basic Figures
Item No.: Asst. 37499 No. 37514
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #VC97
Includes: Helmet, blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: May 2012
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith
Bio: Celebrate the legendary Star Wars saga that changed the universe forever! This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. Iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are captured with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Star Wars saga. May the Force be with you! (Taken from the figure's packaging. No specific character information.)
Image: Adam Pawlus' photo area.
Commentary: The complaining about Odd Ball was pretty much the same across the board. "Another Clone Pilot? But the ones we have are fine!" True! You're right, but here's the thing: Hasbro realized they could make it better, and did. The 2005 one was very good, and the Evolutions-class remake was also really nice. However, this one is better.
Eliminating cut joints from the elbows and adding ankles joints was a swell move on Hasbro's part, but completely unnecessary. We're getting a five-star sculpt on a figure which, for all intents and purposes, previously functioned well. Hasbro has done a good job making sure the Revenge of the Sith Clone Pilots had good hip joints which can sit down, and this one does too. He has 14 joints in total, but those hips are the ones which matter most so you can get him into a vehicle. Ankle joints are nice, but totally unnecessary as he won't need them once placed in a ship.
The sculpt is top-notch, the head under the helmet looks great and the helmet itself has been resized to look good on a toy. If you note the packaging in the video, the movie model has a bulbous helmet and Hasbro sized it down a smidgen so we wouldn't make our usual "wahhhhh it's too bulky!" complaints. There's very little wiggle room at this scale, so I'm glad it fits. The helmet glides over the head and the chest console plugs into the torso nicely. He even sports a blaster which looks a little different from previous clone blasters, but admittedly I don't have all 200ish clone troopers to check in front of me right now. The deco of Odd Ball's suit and helmet are great, save for one thing: the shoulders. Rather than a Republic symbol, he carries the sign of the Galactic Empire. Due to the overall rarity of the line these days I really hope Hasbro doesn't do a running change to drive us all nuts and sell more figures, but if they did a redeco of this mold in an exclusive gift set or as a vehicle pack-in I wouldn't complain.
This might be Hasbro's best pilot action figure in the entire modern Star Wars line in terms of sculpt and functionality, so I personally think it's worthy of the highest possible marks despite the deco issue. I can't wait to see if they can adapt the Rebel or Imperial pilots to a figure which has no problems sitting just like this one. Well done, guys!
Collector's Notes: I haven't seen this wave in stores yet, but you knew that. I got a case online from our sponsors, so click the link below or visit GalacticHunter.com today to shop online and support us by supporting our sponsors. (And be sure to let 'em know we sent you!) If you can, get one or more. I'm hoping they show up in lots on eBay so I can get a couple extras.
--Adam Pawlus
I actually just checked the Blu-ray - the symbol on Odd Ball's shoulder is correct. The six-pronged Republic symbol (identical to the Imperial symbol) is most obvious on Anakin and Obi-Wan's Jedi starfighters during the Battle of Coruscant, but you can briefly see it on Odd Ball's shoulder when his ARC-170 banks after the "set s-foils to attack position" line. I assume it was done to connect the trilogies and so forth.
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