Hey, look, kids!  It’s another clone trooper figure!

I was torn on this one when it was first revealed.  As I’m sure most of you reading this will know, I’ve had a love/hate/love/hate/love/hate relationship with VC45 since it debuted about 12 years ago.  Not too long ago, I finally settled on “hate.”  The biggest gripe was the unnaturally thin proportions of the body, which seemingly were based on the CGI troopers that appeared in the films.  Eventually, I accepted these proportions in exchange for the superior articulation when compared to any and all previous clones.  However, with the recent advent of modern ball jointed hips and rocker ankles, VC45 suddenly became terrible again.  It was maddening when Hasbro re-released the figure in 2020 with Photoreal as the only update.  In that review, I lamented Hasbro wasting resources on re-releasing a figure that nobody was asking for, but even as recently as that was written, I gave it a 9/10.  Fast forward to early 2023, and I would definitely classify it as borderline garbage.  At around the same time that Hasbro pipelined the info that a new clone sculpt was on the way, they also announced that the VC45 mold would be used again in a trooper 4-pack.  That was a bit frustrating, as it was already long in the tooth. 

Hasbro certainly got their money’s worth.  Just in TVC 2.0 since 2018, we’ve gotten these VC45 repaints/retools:

VC45 - Clone Trooper (with Photoreal)
VC145 - 41st Elite Clone Trooper
VC195 - Electrostaff Purge Trooper
VC208 - Captain Rex (Bracca)
VC209 - Clone Captain Grey
VC210 - Clone Captain Ballast [Coming soon as a re-release with corrected “Captain Howzer” name]
VC211 - Elite Squad Trooper
VC212 - ARC Trooper
VC213 - ARC Trooper Commander
VC240 - 501st Clone Trooper
VC248 - 332nd Ahsoka’s Clone Trooper
VC259 - Purge Trooper (Phase II Armor)
VC Phase I Clone Trooper Troop Builder 4-pack

That’s a lot of recent clones to be based on VC45, when Hasbro must have already had this one on the table. 

So we know that there is a 212th Trooper Builder 4-pack coming based on VC269.  The question is, how much will collectors love this sculpt enough to drop $17 per figure on replacing their existing armies?  As a 501st focus collector, it grinds my gears that Hasbro just put out a 501st and 332nd clone based on VC45.  The good news for me is that I actually cancelled 2 cases of the 501st which I had on pre-order, because I just couldn’t justify the $13 (at the time) for more VC45 sculpts that I was completely done with.  So at least that was a good move on my part.  I have no idea if Hasbro plans on updating the 501st or 332nd with this sculpt, but I’d be in for a bunch.  As for the countless other units in the Star Wars universe, I’m not sure I have the stomach (or the wallet) for a redo of everything.

Okay, enough of that.  Let’s get to the figure.  It’s pretty great.  I love the proportions, as it’s way more realistic than the inhuman CGI version.  As we know, this release is based on the brief appearance of the white Phase II Clone Troopers from Andor, during a flashback to Cassian’s childhood on Ferix, when they apprehended and then hanged his adoptive father.  These were human actors in costume, and the look inspired this figure.  (Officially, we now have 4 figures from this source, including 2 Cassians and a Vel Sartha.)  Aside from the excellent sculpting, the figure has outstanding modern articulation, worthy of a buck that we’ll probably see released again and again.  The modern hips and rocker ankles go a long way in making this a worthy upgrade.  My only nitpick with the articulation is that the elbows and knees don’t go much past 90 degrees. 

One more significant issue is the helmet.  While many collectors may take issue with the choice to include a removable accessory, rather than a permanently attached helmet (or swappable heads), I don’t feel the figure suffers noticeably from this.  The helmet holds its own as an accessory, and is superior to previous versions that were soft and usually mis-shapen - at least with Phase II.  My concern is with the styling.  It’s not quite the look that I expected.  The horizontal visor is narrower than we see on screen, and the “face” proportions are just a bit off.  Some might say it has an animated look, although I’m not sure if this is totally accurate.  It’s almost a blend between the two.  The “animated” argument has some ammunition, though, as the announced 212th pack is painted in animated styling, with the specific named character in the set lifted straight from the cartoon series.  I’m not a fan of this approach, but it’s subtle enough in my eyes that it gets a pass.  It’s just a bit off from what I’d prefer to see.  Another sculpting aspect that appears odd in my eyes are the feet, which have an appearance of being wide slippers, rather than armored boots.  Also included are a standard blaster and rifle, with the trooper can grip well.  You can achieve some excellent poses out of this figure. 

Overall, this figure is excellent.  The gripes are just enough to prevent it from being a 10, so I’ll give it a 9/10.  I hope we are able to get some good ROTS-inspired repaints out of this, but not too much all at once, please.