When I started my 501st focus collecting, I thought it would be a nice little subset of a handful of nice products that would be inspired by the 20 seconds of screen time they got executing Order 66 at the Jedi Temple in Revenge of the The Sith.  No such luck.  Even before Disney came along, the 501st were featured prominently in novels, comics, and video games, and then got their starring role in The Clone Wars which ran for 63 seasons.  Then Disney stepped in, and they now seem to make more screen cameos than Darth Vader.  They’ve appeared in The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka.  Each of these occurrences have been in memories/dreams/Force-induced flashbacks, either regarding Grogu (TBOBF and TM), Reva (OWK), or Ahsoka herself (Ahsoka). 

If you’re a regular reader of Banthaskull, you may know that my color vision isn’t quite normal.  But I’m aware that the 501st clones that appeared in Reva’s flashback in OWK had a different blue coloring on their armor.  I’m not sure why this was.  It was either because it was supposed to go along with the foggy memory aspect where the the dreamer (Reva) didn’t have all the details exactly as they were.  Or maybe the designers/editors on the show simply got the color wrong.  Or, given my condition, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.  What I do know, is that Hot Toys released a 501st sixth scale figure inspired by OWK, and the blue is different than all the previous releases.  Not only that, but the armor is super glossy and new.  By the time the 501st executed Order 66 at the temple, they were already battle-hardened troops with plenty to show for their experiences as far as their armor is concerned.  Again, maybe Reva just remembered the clones as being shiny in the midst of all her terror of the moment.  Personally, I’m annoyed that Sideshow made a different blue, because this particular trooper sticks out a bit awkwardly from his fellow brothers-in-arms.  It’s just not necessary to highlight this difference.  It’s kind of like the bell bottoms on the Rogue One stormtroopers.  Just because that particular costume had that particular detail, doesn’t mean it’s correct for the sake of in-universe consistency.

Hot Toys tomfoolery with colors

Anyway, I was anticipating that this release would alter the ROTS/TCW blue coloring that was present on the first release from the Phase II Clone Trooper army builder 4-pack.  Fortunately, it did not.  At least side by side to my eye, the colors are close enough where I will say they are the same.  However, Hasbro did decide to take a page out of Hot Toys’ book and change the blue shoulder armor and make them both super shiny.  The rest of the figure is essentially identical to the first release, down to the weathering/damaged paint chip patterns throughout.  I’m not sure why this was.  Yes, if you look at the card image, the shoulders are shiny.  But is that really what should have been done to this figure?  I would have preferred not. 

Another paint issue is the “teeth”.  Chris took a Greyhound bus from New Hampshire to Phoenix so that he could tell me in person that the helmet has no painted teeth.  These were present in the PR shots of the figure when it was first revealed.  I argued with him for a while, because if you have an electron microscope handy (I have a couple in my house), I feel you can make out some variation in the paint consistency in the helmet’s “mouth”.  But seriously, there are no teeth.  Then I told him to get back on that bus, and 2 weeks later, he was home again.

And one other note about the paint:  This figure has date stamp printed on the left thigh.  This is absent from the 501st trooper that is included in the army builder pack.

As for the numbering, Steve Evans (I believe) had posted the “rules” by which Hasbro would abide going forward.  Under those rules, this figure should have gotten a new number, instead of repeating VC240.  This is because it’s a major overhaul to the “character”, being an entirely new sculpt when compared to the original VC240 that was based on the skinny VC45.  And the first VC240 is actually just a slight update to essentially the same figure that was VC60.  So we’re all over the place with this one.  But it seems this one was already on its way to retail, so it unfortunately has an old number.  Probably one of those things that drives the carded collectors nuts.  Not a big deal to me personally, but I do get it.  Also, some in the community have apparently taken to calling this figure “VC240 2025”, just to help differentiate it from the one from the original.

Other than the above, you already know the figure - it’s awesome.  It has the non-removable helmet, which looks better than the separate helmet, but might disappoint some collectors looking for the Temeura Morrison portrait.  If you are looking for more about the figure, you can check out our reviews of the VC Phase II Clone Trooper army builder pack.