As a 501st focus collector, I was super excited when the 332nd was announced by Hasbro.  But that enthusiasm quickly devolved into something more like a robotic required purchase.  I realized that that this was simply a repaint of the very tired VC45 Clone Trooper.  I’ve had a like-hate relationship (it was never love-hate) with this figure ever since it debuted back in 2011-ish.  I definitely hated it when it first came out, because it was so ridiculously off from all the previous clones.  It seemingly was inspired by the impossibly proportioned CGI characters, who had to be stick figures inside that svelte armor.  But I felt that this was going to be the final “upgrade” to the trooper, and while I resisted army building the different variants over the years, I tried to enjoy what they offered in the way of superior articulation.  So I started to accept the sculpt, and even maybe like it, to a degree.  Well, I’ve been drifting back towards hate, especially recently with the improved sculpts and articulation in TVC.  Finally, after getting my hands on VC231 Stormtrooper, it’s full blown rage.  Strangely, Hasbro has been all in on this sculpt for the last couple of years, especially since re-releasing VC45 as part of the Fan Channel Photo Real repack series.  And all of a sudden, at the last livestream, Hasbro announced that the pipeline contained an all new Clone Trooper.  Yay/Sigh!

I explained in my review of the recent VC240 501st Clone Trooper release that after getting one in-hand, I promptly cancelled my additional pre-orders, foregoing 18 of these figures.  It wasn’t as hard a decision as I thought it would be.  I would love a definitive 501st, with the same awesomeness and articulation as VC231.  I would buy the heck out of that.  But I couldn’t bring my self to buy any more than just 2.

Well, I did decide to pick up an extra solid case of this 332nd Clone, on top of the 2 that came in the wave case I purchased.  The reason was because I already have an army of various 501st versions that I’ve acquired over the years, but this was the first and only 332nd, so I definitely needed enough to set up a diorama of some scene in which they are featured. So while I hate the sculpt, I caved and got a bunch of these guys.

No need to go into much detail about the figure, as we all know it well by know.  It looks too skinny.  The articulation is the best of any clone figure, but weak compared to today’s figures.  The hip articulation is terrible, and it lacks rocker ankles.  The rest of the joints have inferior range of motion as compared to modern counterparts.  The helmet is the only thing that differentiates this from a basic 501st.  As seen in The Clone Wars final story arc (some of the best Star Wars ever), the helmet is inspired by Ashoka’s facial coloring.  Rex told Ahsoka it was a little crude, but the troops thought it got the idea across.  That’s how I feel about this figure.  I’m glad Hasbro made it, but it’s barely able to meet passable standards at this point.  I’ll give it a reluctant 7/10, just because I’m a sucker for the 501st.