We continue with a look at The Repaint Saga Collection, with the Elite Corps Clone Trooper. 

We’ve got good repaints like R5-J2, we got bad repaints like Holographic Ki-Adi Mundi, and nonsense repaints like the [Kashyyyk] Battle Droids.  But here we have a Next Level Repaint - where Hasbro took one existing figure, and repainted it completely to appear like a new figure, while hoping nobody would realize that the sculpt is terribly inaccurate.

Truth be told, I fell right into Hasbro’s trap back in 2006.  Yeah, I knew that the ROTJ-era Imperial Biker Scout was different from the ROTS-era Republic clone scout, but it was such a cool looking trooper that I just wanted whatever Hasbro could manage.  Somehow, they failed to get this guy out in the actual ROTS line, despite the high collector outrage demand.  So the mad scientists in Rhode Island went to work.  They took a look at the VTSC Biker Scout, and said, “Eh, close enough,” and repainted it with the Kashyyyk camouflage.  Good enough for 2006?  Apparently so.  Despite the realization, fans gobbled these up.

The differences in the uniform are many, but this was our only chance to get the trooper until a “more accurate” one was released at the tail end of TAC in early 2008.  I use that term loosely, because as you can tell from Chris’s review of the TAC 08-04 Kashyyyk Trooper it may actually have more problems than it resolves.  Technically it’s more screen accurate, but it was a far cry from definitive. 

This was a rush job by Hasbro.  They knew that fans wanted the Kashyyyk Trooper, but couldn’t get a new sculpt out fast enough, so they did the best they could at the time.  But it’s not really a screen accurate figure, so it’s hard to grade it.  A fair effort, but we’re left with something that ranges from “decent temporary stand-in” to outright “abomination” depending on how you’re feeling about it.  I’ll give it a 5.  Not a bad action figure (as far as the VTSC Biker Scout goes), but it’s really an imposter that deserves some level of scorn.