Hasbro decided to get the most out of their awesome ARC Trooper base figure (first seen, of course, in the 501st Legion set) by releasing 3 repaints under the “Gaming Greats” banner. Specifically, this VC236 ARC Trooper (Lambent Seeker), VC237 ARC Trooper (Umbra Operative), and the soon-to-be-reviewed VC235 ARC Trooper (Star Wars: Battlefront II) were made available at around the same time.

Like all the ARC’s in this Gaming Greats wave, this character is based on his appearance in Battlefront II, which is not to be confused with Battlefront II.  Battlefront II was awesome, while Battlefront II wasn’t so great, but had it’s moments.  Do you follow?  I don’t.  But anyway, the Lambent Seeker was a “rare” skin of the game’s basic ARC Trooper, as was the Umbra Operative.  I guess that while the black and yellow ARC was busy operating on umbras, this guy was looking for some lambents.  To each his own, I say.

We know this sculpt well at this point.  It’s pretty great.  JLA articulation, excellent proportions, and a superior head sculpt and PhotoReal application.  The negatives are the plastic kama (which restricts movement of the thigh articulation), the rubbery weapons, and the lack of a certain tightness in the figure that makes it feel a little loose in the joints and accessories.  But it still scores high, and this version of the ARC comes with a cool color scheme and unit flashing. 

The details and precision of the paint apps all over the filter are pretty impressive.  But if you look closely at the kama, you’ll see that the yellow vertical stripes just below the ammo pouches have some slash lines that go in the opposite direction as the ones shown on the card art.  Also, it looks to me like the ammo pouch straps that cross in front of his crotch are black, not gray.  And finally, the image doesn’t have a yellow trim around the neckline, as has the figure.  These are incredibly minor things, and for a character that falls well outside the general consciousness of the collecting community, these are not a big deal.  But one of the little things that has bugged me over the years is when the figure doesn’t match the photo/artwork that is depicted right on the card.  Sometimes it might be the sculpt, the accessories, the coloring, or some other minor detail, but it’s just annoying when the reference image is right there, and the figure gets it wrong.  Or maybe the other way around.  Whatever.

So this figure gets a 9/10 like the others that use the base sculpt.  I just hope this guy finds a lambent or two someday.  He deserves it.