Hasbro sometimes gives collectors exactly what we want, sometimes exactly what we don’t want, and occasionally something we didn’t know we wanted, but will take anyway.  I personally put this figure in the third category. 

Battlefront, the first game in the series’ reboot, was a colossal waste of my time and money.  I found it shallow and pedantic.  I almost completely passed on Battlefront II, but I was intrigued by the single-player campaign mode.  It turned out okay, but I had zero interest in the multiplayer aspect.  Ultimately the “reboot” never lived up to the enjoyment I got out of the original versions.  But at least there was a decent story with a few interesting characters.  TVC collectors wanted some figures based on the game, and the first figure should have been Iden Versio.  Naturally, Hasbro heard the fan interest in Battlefront II, and their response was to give us a figure nobody wanted, the most wet noodle-rific battle droid to date in VC193 (despite the admittedly striking color scheme).  Next up, Hasbro announced 3 ARC troopers based on some downloadable content, which were straight repaints of the 501st Legion ARC Trooper molds.  No Iden Versio, Admiral Garrick Versio, weird hologram head Emperor, or anyone from Inferno Squad.  instead, we get a bunch of random troopers with little or no context.

The ARC Trooper (Umbra Operative) is an odd character.  I don’t know much of anything about the multiplayer aspect of BFII, and it follows that I have no interest or knowledge about the downloadable content.  So I had to look this guy up.  Apparently, the ARC Trooper is a trooper class in the game that has a standard color scheme which is available to any player at some point in the game.  The standard ARC Trooper was also simultaneously released by Hasbro.  (Review coming soon.)  However, you could cash in some points or “crystals” and acquire 3 different “rare” skins.  Hasbro made 2 of those variants into figures.  One is the ARC Trooper (Lambent Seeker), (review also coming soon…), and this - the ARC Trooper (Umbra Operative).

I have no idea what “Lambent Seeker” means, nor could I find any explanation on line, despite at least 12 seconds of Google research.  Nor could I find out any info about what the heck an “Umbra Operative” is.  I would assume Umbra was some location or campaign, and this guy was sent there to, uh, operate, and stuff. Of course, lots of folks, myself included, assume this is “Umbara”, which is the planet that was central to one of the best story arcs in the entirety of The Clone Wars series, which featured the 501st’s campaign to defeat the Umbarans, a planet which is home to Sly Moore, as well as the crime boss Sorc Tormo, from Jedi: Fallen Order.  But anyway, it’s not Umbara, you idiot.  It’s Umbra.  Whatever that is.

A weird choice for a character from a marketing standpoint, it nevertheless makes sense that Hasbro was looking for opportunities to maximize their pretty awesome new ARC trooper mold, and BFII was apparently the best source for this.  While I never asked for this figure, because I didn’t even know the character existed, I will say that as soon as I saw it, I thought it was awesome.  I certainly can’t complain about the figure sculpt, as I already gave it a 9/10 for the 501st guys.  The plastic kama, rubbery weapons, and loose build keep it from being perfect.  But the reason I love this figure is the paint scheme.  I assume a Pittsburgh fan designed this guy.  Nevertheless, the colors, and the Punisher-like skull emblem on the helmet had me from the get go.  I got myself 4 of these dudes, just because I love the look.  I really have no idea how to display them.  I completely made up the scene in the diorama shot for the gallery.  This figure has no context in my collection, but I like it anyway.  Nevertheless, I wish we had the main characters from the BFII campaign mode instead of this guy.