Hasbro is really doing their best to milk this ARC Trooper mold.  This is the 8th figure, by my count, with one more confirmed on the way.  I’m all for smart re-use of tooling, and while many collectors might have lost interest in these tertiary characters that are being added to the line, I think they make some sense.  As with any figure, I just wish they had a bit more context.

ARC Commander Colt first appeared in TCW episode “Clone Cadets”, in which he took center stage during evaluations of new clone troopers on Kamino.  He gave a motivational speech to a bunch of cadets, and also observed several squads go through training exercise.  While they exist in the cartoony cartoon toon figure style from last decade, these guys would really need a clone cadet figure, along with Bric and El-Les in TVC to round out the scene.  Later, Colt appeared in the episode, “ARC Troopers” in which he defended Kamino.  He was killed in a hallway when he was Force choked/grabbed by Asajj Ventress, and stabbed through the chest by her lightsaber.  Apparently cut from the original airing, Ventress kissed him as she killed him.  Which brings to mind that we could probably also use a TVC Ventress, along with some of the named Phase 1 Clones, like Rex, Echo, and Fives.  And also 99, who was the namesake of Clone Force 99, AKA “The Bad Batch.”

There’s not a whole lot to say about this sculpt that hasn’t already been covered over the multiple repaints that we’ve reviewed recently.  In a nutshell, it’s a pretty great figure, with an awesome sculpt, a bunch of accessories that interact well, and some top-notch articulation.  The downsides are the not-soft-enough plastic kama that limits the range of motion of the lower body, and the general looseness of the overall figure.  By that, I mean that the joints are a bit on the loose side, the plastic used for the body is a little on the bendy side, the pistols can fall out of the holsters pretty easily.  It just lacks a finished tightness that almost makes it seem like this is a factory reject.  This has been the case since the first releases of this mold.  It’s not a huge deal, just saying.  The thing this figure has going for it is the unique paint job, both on the armor and on the headsculpt.  In Colt’s dramatic death scene, his helmet flies off his head due to the violent nature of Ventress’s choke hold, and the figure’s headsculpt does a nice job of replicating the face/hair we see on screen.

I’ll give this a 9/10, just to stay in line with all the previous releases, but I think we’re growing a bit tired of the ARC Troopers.  One more to go, for now.