Tag Archives: Clone Trooper

#3349: ARF Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ARF TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“These Advanced Reconnaissance Fighters often operate All-Terrain Recon Transport (AT-RT) walkers on scouting or combat operations. Riding atop these armed vehicles, ARF troopers can swiftly sweep through an area and cut down battle droids in their path.”

We’ve had environment and job specific troopers in Star Wars since the very beginning.  It’s on one hand very practical, and on the other a great way to justify more toys and other merch.  So, as the franchise has grown, so too have the variants on the troopers.  Within Clone Wars, there already some built-in armor variants going in, but a few more variants were quickly built-in.  Debuting in the theatrical film that launched the series were the ARF Troopers, a subset of clones with a unique helmet inspired by the Scout Troopers of the Original Trilogy.  The design cropped up a good number of times during the show, as well as a good number of times in the accompanying toyline.  I’m looking at the first of the toyline releases today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The ARF Trooper is figure CW10, released in the second assortment of the second generation of Hasbro’s Clone Wars line.  Since the first assortment was all re-packs moved to the new packaging style, the second assortment served as the first batch of real new figures for this adjusted version of the line, and the ARF Trooper was its first proper clone.  The figure stands a little over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  The ARF Trooper marked a notable step forward for the line, taking the already quite posable standard Clone Trooper body, and replacing the pelvis and upper legs to change the hip joints to universals, rather than the usual t-crotch.  This allowed the figure a great deal more mobility, and was just generally pretty awesome.  He also got a new head sculpt, based on the different helmet design.  Boy is it a sleek design, and boy does it look great in toy form.  Put the whole thing together, and you’ve got one of the slickest Clone sculpts the line ever produced.  The ARF Trooper’s paint work is fairly decent.  It’s largely pretty basic, but there’s some fun smaller detail work on the helmet, which has more going on than the usual Clone Trooper helmet.  The ARF Trooper is packed with a standard DC-15S blaster, a D-6 rotary blaster, and a firing missile.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember this figure first dropping.  It was right after I’d started my senior year of high school.  I remember finding him and his assortment-mate Commander Gree at retail fairly quickly.  And then I very vividly remember passing on them both because I had a date with a girl the next night and I thought it would be a wiser investment of my money to spend it on the date.  A week later, the girl had dumped me, and I had no new Clone Wars figures to console me.  Lesson learned.  Thankfully, by the end of the year, I’d gotten another chance, and I wound up with both of the figures I’d missed.  The ARF Trooper was at the time and remains to this day my very favorite mold from this line, and it all started with this guy.  He’s so much fun, and it’s a genuine goal of mine to own all of the variants of the mold.  Someday I’ll get there!

#3321: Clone Trooper – 41st Elite Corps

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

CLONE TROOPER — 41ST ELITE CORPS

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“The clone troopers in the 41st Elite Corps are led by Clone Commander Gree and Jedi General Yoda. The troopers are equipped with specialized gear for combat on jungle worlds such as Rodia, one of the planets to which this unit is assigned during the Clone Wars.”

People love Clone Troopers, and one of the things people particularly love about Clone Troopers are all the fancy colors you can get them in.  For their first appearance in Attack of the Clones, their colors corresponded to a rank structure, which was maintained in the 2D Clone Wars series.  By the time of Revenge of the Sith, the colors were modified into being unit markings, so when it came time to do to the 3D Clone Wars, they decided to retroactively make the the Phase I colors line up to units.  And that’s the way that Commander Gree inherited the 41st Elite Corps, whose design was previously that of the Clone Sergeant.  Which means that the figure I’m looking at today isn’t a Sergeant, but rather a member of the 41st Elite Corps.  How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The 41st Elite Corps Clone Trooper was initially released as figure 26 in the first run of the Clone Wars tie-in line, as part of the fifth and final assortment of the original run, and numerically the second-to-last of the figures in that set (Kit Fisto was the last figure in that first numbering, something he’d repeat when he also wrapped up the Phase III Black Series run).  The 41st was the re-released early into the next run, as figure 04, in an assortment entirely populated with repacks moving to the new packaging style.  He was the line’s third generic clone in the main run, following the all-white and the 212th.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  From a structural standpoint, this figure is identical to the 212th, complete with the newer style of helmet.  It solidified the plan to keep the adjusted helmet going forward, after the Space Gear Trooper threw some things into question.  Beyond that, it’s all really down to paint.  This guy swaps out the orange markings of the 212th for a somewhat subdued green.  He’s still got a much cleaner armor set-up, as became the norm for the Clones in the line.  Unlike the 212th, this guy’s shading also remained consistent with the Commander Gree figure later down the line, so they matched.  Yay!  The figure is packed with a small blaster rifle, as well as debuting the D-6 rotary blaster in this line, complete with a launching missile.  You know, for all those missiles that the rotary blaster launched.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though I definitely wanted one of these back in the day, the 41st was never one of those figures I was able to track down.  Thankfully, I got a second chance when All Time got a huge Clone Wars collection in a few years back, so my collection didn’t have to go 41st-less forever.  He’s a basic figure, but he does what I need him to, and I’m always game for more green!

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3306: Clone Trooper – 212th Attack Battalion

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

CLONE TROOPER — 212TH ATTACK BATTALION

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“The clone troopers of the 212th Attack Battalion are distinguished by the orange markings on their white armor. Led by Clone Commander Cody and Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, this unit includes a number of elite infantrymen trained for special missions.”

In the first year of their tie-in line for Clone Wars, Hasbro was just starting to dip their toes into the world of clones.  They kept named clones to a minimum at first, instead focusing on diversifying the types of clones present.  Through a combination of exclusives and standard releases, they filled in a few of the core groups of clones.  Since we’d gotten Commander Cody in the second assortment of the line, it made sense to get a few of his crew, the 212th Attack Battalion, aka those guys in orange!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The 212th Attack Battalion Clone Trooper was figure 19 in Hasbro’s Clone Wars tie-in line.  He was the first figure in the fourth assortment of the line.  This marked the first main-line release for the 212th, but there was previously a Target-exclusive boxed set with four of them and an Obi-Wan.  This release was slightly different, of course, just to keep things interesting.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  The 212th is largely built on the standard clone base body, which makes sense, them being in the same armor and all.  However, the notable change on this figure was a brand-new head.  Hasbro was looking to make the helmet more accurate to the animation, as well as more easily adapted to a removable helmet, so this figure debuted what would become the standard Clone helmet for the line.  While it’s technically more accurate, I was always more partial to the original helmet sculpt.  But, I get the point on this one, and it’s still a decent sculpt in its own right.  The figure’s paint scheme is another cleaned up clone, without the heavy wash.  At this point, that was the direction Hasbro was taking all of the Clone Troopers, so he was consistent.  He’s got his proper Battalion markings.  The orange was notably different from the standard release of Cody, and would also be different from the later Waxer and Boil…so, he doesn’t really match with anything.  But, I guess he looks okay on his own.  The 212th is packed with a small blaster rifle and a rocket launcher with missile.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My favorite episode of Clone Wars’ early run was “Innocents of Ryloth,” which debuted Waxer and Boil, two members of the 212th.  Since they weren’t added to the line right a way, and we weren’t sure about getting any named Clones, I got this guy as a stand-in for one of them.  Sure, it’s not accurate, but it’s all I had.  He’s rather basic, but that’s all he needs to be.

#3271: Clone Pilot Odd Ball

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CLONE PILOT ODD BALL

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“Clone Pilot Odd Ball, who received his nickname during advanced training, has participated in many significant missions in the Clone Wars. Odd Ball is a starfighter pilot trained in flying V-19 Torrent starfighters, ARC-170 fighters and other standard Republic fighters.”

When they first appeared in Attack of the Clones, the Clone Troopers were completely interchangeable and devoid of any distinct traits or personalities.  Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars expanded on them a little bit, but only a little.  Revenge of the Sith went further by giving a few of them names, but it was really just commanders, and, again, any personality or the like was largely absent.  When the second Clone Wars launched, its creators much more quickly went to work making the clones into actual characters.  In many cases, they were working with all-new characters, but they also went back and filled in a little more with the small handful of named clones we’d gotten in Sith as well.  Today’s focus, Clone Pilot Odd Ball began as little more than a cameo in RotS’s opening dogfight.  He didn’t get a *ton* to do in Clone Wars, but it was certainly more than he’d had previously.  And he also got a figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Pilot Odd Ball was figure 11 in Hasbro’s Clone Wars tie-in line.  He was one of the four new figures in the line’s second assortment.  While he sports the name “Odd Ball”, his design is also just a fairly basic Clone Pilot, which allowed Hasbro the opportunity to do one of those, while still providing another named character for the line.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  Odd Ball was largely a re-use of the standard Clone Trooper body.  It makes sense, since they would have the same build and armor, and Odd Ball has minimal unique pieces on the armor.  It’s still a really good base as well, so it’s hard to really go wrong with a figure on this set-up.  His head is a modified version of the standard helmet sculpt, now with the extra pilot gear.  It wasn’t quite as show accurate as later helmet sculpts, but I think it still made for a nice translation.  In contrast to the prior standard clone, Odd Ball’s armor is without the heavy wash, making it look far cleaner.  It makes a good degree of sense, since you wouldn’t imagine that the guy in the ship would get nearly as dirty as the trooper on the ground.  The rest of the paint is basic, but covers all the bases, and he looks pretty sharp.  Odd Ball was packed with the smaller blaster rifle, as well as a rocket launcher and missile.  They were the same ones from the standard Clone, but without the silver detailing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t remember anything special about Odd Ball’s acquisition.  I remember seeing him a few times before actually getting him, and finally breaking when there were a few other Clones to go along.  He’s never really been one of my favorites from the line or anything, but he’s a solid by the numbers release, and he had a lot of appeal being a pretty basic pilot and all.

#3236: Captain Rex

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

CAPTAIN REX

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“Captain Rex accompanies Anakin Skywalker to the planet Teth to rescue Jabba’s kidnapped son. Like all clone troopers, Captain Rex believes that the mission always comes first. When he and his fellow troopers are surrounded by battle droids, outnumbered and outgunned, he never wavers in his commitment to the mission, even if it means this battle could be his last.”

The Clone Wars begins with a focus on characters we’ve seen before in the main movie, but to allow for a little bit of visible growth, given its status as an inter-quel, there were a few new characters as well.  Over the course of the series, two of these new characters, Jedi padawan Ahsoka Tano and Clone Trooper Captain Rex, become the central focus of the series, as their unique views on the titular conflict allow for quite a journey for both characters.  Today, I’m looking at the first figure of one half of that pair, Captain Rex, today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Rex was figure 4 in the first series of Hasbro’s Clone Wars tie-in line, and was released with the main product launch before the pilot movie hit theaters.  Just before this figure’s main release, there was a special mail-away “Sneak Preview” version, which is more or less the same figure, albeit with an ever so slightly different paint scheme, and slightly different accessories.  The one seen here is the initial release, however.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  The Clones always had the best articulation in the line, and, apart from t-hips instead of universals, it really didn’t get any better than this.  Rex shares a number of parts with the standard Clone Trooper, namely the arms and legs.  The head, torso, and pelvis were unique when the figure first dropped, but pretty much everything on the figure would eventually be re-used elsewhere.  It was generally a pretty strong sculpt.  It’s not perfect, and it certainly doesn’t have the polish of the later Jet Pack Rex, but it was a good effort for the start.  The articulation on the hips is a bit stiff, but he’s otherwise quite posable, and it’s generally a good mix of function and aesthetics.  The helmet on this figure is removable, and it’s probably the weakest aspect of the figure.  Later removable helmets were more consistent with the non-removable ones, but this one’s oddly shaped to accommodate the design set-up.  The underlying head is a passable sculpt, but it suffers from the recurring issue of the early clones, where their faces made them look much older than they should have looked.  Rex’s paint work is fairly involved, and very much on par with the rest of the figures from the same time.  The base work is a little bit on the dark side, especially on the blues, so some of the contrast is lost a bit in some spots.  As a first release, he’s also got a lot of that black wash to add the grimy look to him.  It’s a little heavy handed in some spots, but he’s at least unique when compared to later clones.  Rex is packed with his long blaster rifle, two small blaster pistols, a grapple attachment for the front of the rifle, and two different missiles for it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back when the line launched, this was one of the first four figures I grabbed from Target, prior to seeing the movie or the show.  Obviously, I didn’t know who Rex was yet, but I had liked Fordo in the 2D series, as well as his corresponding figure, so I saw this one as at the very least an update to that.  Rex would wind up becoming one of my favorite Star Wars characters, so it was a figure purchase that certainly worked out for me in the end.

#3231: Clone Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

CLONE TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“Clone troopers put up an unrelenting defense against the hordes of battle droids that are pouring into the B’omarr monk monastery. The intrepid troopers are keeping the enemy at bay so that Anakin and Ahsoka can rescue Jabba’s kidnapped son. The clone troopers use their blasters and thermal detonators with skill, focusing exclusively on ensuring that the mission is a success.”

You can’t really do a toyline based on something called “Clone Wars” without a decent focus on the actual clones, can you?  No, that would just be silly.  Thankfully, Hasbro agreed, so their Clone Wars tie-in line was just chock full of Clone Troopers.  They had plenty of focus on named clones as the line continued, but at the beginning, their primary focus was just on building the numbers as quickly as possible.  The best way to facilitate that was kicking things off with a standard, all-white Clone, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Clone Trooper was figure 5 in the first series of Clone Wars, as one of the 8 figures that dropped at launch for the line.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  This figure debuted the standard Clone Trooper body, which this line made a ton of use of….well, mostly.  As with all of the early Clones, he’s one of the best articulated figures in the line, making him awesome for all sorts of great poses.  The body holds up as a respectably offering.  It’s not as accurate as the later clone bodies would, but it’s also better on the articulation set-up, which feels like an okay trade-off.  This figure and a small handful of other Clones close to launch had a different head sculpt than those that followed.  It’s less accurate to the animation model, and not as conducive to matching up with the removable helmets, which is why they changed it pretty quickly.  That being said, I’ve always liked it a little bit more than the later helmet.  Just one of those things that got lost in translation, I suppose.  The paint work on this guy starts out rather basic, since he’s got no markings on his armor, and then gets the heavy wash that all of the early figures got.  The Clone Trooper is packed with a mid-sized blaster rifle, a larger rocket launcher, and a missile.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Clone Trooper was one of the first four figures I picked up from this line, back before the show and movie had hit.  While there was a degree of taking a chance on some of the others, I was already a sucker for a good clone, and even removed from the source material, that’s what this one was.  He was my favorite of the first batch I picked up, and set the standard for my love of all the clones in this line.

#3183: Imperial Clone Shock Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

IMPERIAL CLONE SHOCK TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Originally founded during the Clone Wars as security police and bodyguards, the group of clones known as Shock Troopers now operate as elite forces of the Empire.”

The Shock Troopers first showed up very near the end of Revenge of the Sith, as re-decoed Clones whose red coloring served as sort of a precursor to the Imperial Guards.  The similarities were taken a bit further when they were further used in Clone Wars, which established as the Coruscant-based police force, far more directly loyal to Palpatine and his cronies.  Their loyalty gave them more to do during Clone Wars’ direct follow-up, The Bad Batch.  Though effectively replaced within the show by the Elite Squad, they’re still present as the Empire’s initial enforcers.  We got a Shock Trooper on the old style Clone body, but now we’re also getting one on the new body.  Whooooo!  New body!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Imperial Clone Shock Trooper is figure 7 in the Bad Batch sub-line of The Black Series Phase IV.  He started as a Walmart-exclusive, but he’s set to get a slightly wider release later in the year.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  This Shock Trooper is, as noted in the intro, built on the newest of the Clone base bodies.  Like, actually the whole thing.  No weird combo of parts, or anything.  So, I guess there’s that.  It’s a good sculpt, it poses well, and it just makes for a good figure.  This guy in particular is based on one of the officers, meaning he’s got the shoulder pauldron.  It’s a nice piece with a lot of great texture work.  It’s fixed in place on the shoulders which, if I’m honest, seems a bit short-sited, since it means he can’t just be the standard Shock Trooper.  But, I suppose they might have done that on purpose, since this was an exclusive release, and it’s possible they might be saving the standard trooper as a main line release.  Whatever the case, it’s at least not loose and flopping about as such pieces tend to do in these figures.  The paint work on this guy is pretty straight forward, but it does what it needs to and the application is all pretty clean.  It’s a striking color set-up.  The Shock Trooper is packed with both long and short versions of the standard clone rifle, which makes for a decent selection of options.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Much as I like a good Clone variant, I wasn’t exactly looking to rush out to Walmart for specifically this figure.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to, since we got a small stack of them traded into All Time.  Boom, easy way to get one.  He’s fun.  Not breaking ground or anything, but fun.  And sometimes, that’s all you need.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3182: Jet Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

JET TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Star Wars: Battlefront II lets players call in reinforcements from the most skilled soldiers and units in the galaxy, including the aerial specialist Jet troopers.”

First appearing in a very bit appearance in the background of one shot of the fifth season Clone Wars episode “Sabotage,” the 501st Jet Trooper’s rather unique design was set to get a mass release figure as part of Hasbro’s main Clone Wars line in 2013, as part of the wider Star Wars line re-launch that was to go along with the 3D re-release of Attack of the Clones.  When Phantom Menace’s 3D re-release went over worse than Phantom Menace‘s original release, the AotC re-release was scrapped, and the domestic release of the toys to accompany was cancelled.  The nine Clone Wars figures included wound up with only an international release, which was kind of a shame.  The design wound up brushed off for a few other projects, including Battlefront II, which finally got the Jet Trooper another chance at a figure…albeit an exclusive one.  Eh, you win some, you lose some.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Jet Trooper is a Gamestop-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series release, as part of their larger “Gaming Greats” sub-line.  He’s #6 in the sub-line.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  In what is just a confusing sequence of parts creation and selection at this point, the Jet Trooper is largely *not* built from the updated Clone body we got at the start of Phase IV.  He gets the new head/helmet, but that’s it.  Below the neck, he’s using a variation on the Captain Rex tooling.  It’s not a bad selection of parts, and now it’s been almost completely reverse engineered into a standard Clone body.  The question just remains: why?  Why, after introducing the new body, are we still getting a combination of parts from three distinctly different Clone base bodies, interwoven with each other?  Like, maybe just pick one and stick with it?  Ultimately, it doesn’t impact this guy too badly, since, as I said, the Rex tooling is still pretty solid.  The leg movement is kind of stiff, but otherwise it works okay.  The torso’s been modified to add a port for the jetpack, so that works out well.  The Jet Trooper’s paint scheme is fun, bright, and fairly unique, and the application is nice and clean.  It’s definitely the best thing about the figure, and it really works out well.  The Jet Trooper is packed with his jetpack (borrowed from Jango Fett), and a small blaster pistol.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I quite like this design.  I quite like Clones in general, and this one just really works.  It’s a cool, nifty look, begging for good toy treatment.  It’s a shame that there are so many barriers to entry on the first figure, and I wasn’t thrilled about the Gamestop-exclusiveness on this one.  Fortunately for me, I was able to get one via a convenient trade-in at All Time.  That sure was easy.  He’s a really fun figure of a really fun design, and I’m glad to have added him to the collection.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3176: Clone Trooper Hardcase

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

CLONE TROOPER HARDCASE

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

 

“Clone Troopers train for combat on the planet Kamino. Kamino is not only the place where the clone troopers are engineered, it is also where they are trained in battle tactics, fighting techniques and explosives. Seasoned clone troopers push the cadets hard to turn them into the toughest and most skilled soldiers in the galaxy.”

The success of Star Wars: The Clone Wars comes from how well they humanized the clone forces of the Republic.  Previous, just a sea of identical cannon fodder, the show went out of its way to name them and give them each a unique personality.  It also gave them plenty of stock for all sorts of Clone Trooper figure variants of all those cool named Clones.  Today, I’m looking at one of those clones, who specifically has a penchant for blasting.  Without further ado, let’s look at Hardcase!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Trooper Hardcase was part of the 2012 “Republic Troopers” Movie Heroes boxed set, under the overall Star Wars: The Clone Wars banner.  The other two clones in the set, were Cutup and the Bomb Squad Trooper.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  Hardcase made use of the second major Clone Trooper base body for the line.  This one placed priority on capturing the animation style, rather than full articulation like the earlier base body.  Both bases have the pluses and minuses.  I do quite like how this one looks, but it’s certainly not going to be pulling off the same level of posing as the earlier mold.  Still, there’s plenty of posing to be had with it, more than the early non-Clone figures, even, and it definitely captures the look of the clones in the show very nicely.  Hardcase’s main change-up is the paint scheme.  He’s largely white, but he’s got some nifty blue detailing, matching up with his design in the show.  The application is nicely handled, and there’s even a little bit of simulated weathering to really make it look worn-in.  Hardase is packed with a large blaster rifle, which itself was on its second main sculpt by this time in the line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By the time this set was released, I was pretty much out of Clone Wars figures in their first run.  But, over the years, I’ve been keeping my eye out for cool Clones as I’ve been able to get ahold of them.  Hardcase wound up getting traded into All Time loose shortly after I started working their full-time, and he wound up being one of my earliest grabs as I was processing the collection.  He’s just the basic clone with some new painted details, but you know what, it’s a good formula, and it made for a lot of really cool figures.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3116: Echo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

ECHO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Echo was a soldier in the Grand Army of the Republic, known for his strict adherence to orders and rules — hence, his nickname, which was sarcastically gifted by his clone brothers”

After a lengthy period of virtually no Black Series stuff to review at all, I’m suddenly finding myself with a bit of a surplus of them, which is certainly far from the worst thing.  So, how about a whole week of them?  I’m picking back up with yet another addition to the titular team of last year’s The Bad Batch.  While all four of the initial members were covered last year, over the course of their Clone Wars arc and their own show, they picked up a few auxiliary members as well.  The Batch’s first mission concerns locating Echo, a member of the Domino Squad who was presumed dead during the events of “The Citadel.”  The Clone Wars Season 7 revealed that Echo had survived, but in a heavily wounded state, which left him with extensive cybernetic replacements, and more than a little bit of trauma.  After being rescued, Echo joined up with Clone Force 99, and served as a full-fledged member for their own show.  He got a pretty kick-ass new design in the process, and that’s always fun for toys.  Let’s check out how that went.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Echo is figure 11 in the Bad Batch sub-set of Black Series‘ Phase IV incarnation.  He’s one of two Bad Batch figures in this specific assortment, and the whole bunch of them are technically the second assortment of the year, and are just starting to trickle out to retail now.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  His articulation is largely the same as the other Batch members, minus the wrist joint on the right arm for obvious reasons.  Additionally, the hip joints are a bit more restricted here, due to the rubber kama, though I did find them a bit more mobile than I’d expected at first glance.  As far as construction goes, Echo has a bit of re-use, with the legs being the same as the updated clone body, albeit with a new set of knee pads.  Beyond that, Echo is an all-new sculpt.  He’s closer to Tech in terms of how he adapts the show design, removing it a little bit more from the animation design, in order to keep it closer the the main line’s more realistic style.  He still retains all of the major design elements, just a little more realistic, which works out pretty well.  I really dig all of the texturing and small detail work, as well as the fact that they’ve actually kept him a little more svelte than the rest of the team, as he was always depicted post-rescue.  Like the rest of the team, Echo gets a removable helmet, though it’s a bit more of an accomplishment this time than the other team members.  On the show, Echo’s built-in headgear actually interfaces with his helmet, in a way that’s such a cheat that they never actually show him taking off the helmet on screen from any angle other than straight ahead (i.e. the angle that doesn’t actually show how the parts interface).  I was honestly expecting either just an alternate head, or some sort of a tweaked design for either the helmet or the head.  Hasbro actually did a pretty solid job of making it work, in almost exactly the way it should work, as seen on screen.  Echo’s paint work is pretty much on par with the rest of the team.  The paint on the face is convincingly lifelike, and there’s some respectable wear and tear on the upper armor.  Echo is packed with his helmet, back pack, a blaster pistol, and a grapple attachment for his right arm.  The pistol can be stowed on his left side, which is appropriate, but he’s unfortunately still without a trigger finger on the left hand, so he can’t quite hold it right.  The grapple is a fun piece overall, but there’s no actual line connecting the two pieces.  It still works as a cool power arm looking thing, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With the core Batch completed earlier this year, I was definitely very excited to get to the add-ons.  Echo is a character I liked from his first appearance way back in Clone Wars, and I loved seeing his character arc evolve through Bad Batch.  His updated design is one of my favorites from the team, and I think it made the jump to toy really, really well.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.