Phase I of the Black Series 6” line concludes with a Phase I Clone Trooper.  This is the first Episode II sourced figure in the line and if Hasbro heeds Lucasfilm’s moratorium on Prequel Trilogy product, it will be the last for a while which is a shame.  While I think the movie is detestable, it has some of the most visually compelling characters that traditionally translate into decent figures.  The Phase I helmet borrows cues form either the Rocketeer or a late 50’s automobile depending on your perspective.  In reality, both probably share a common inspirational taxonomy.

One complaint that could be raised about the figure is that the armor is fairly pristine.  Colonel Jessup might mock the lily-white uniform of this Clone Trooper.  Well, the edited for television version of Colonel Jessup anyway.  Hasbro has traditionally given us some sort of battle damage on our Clone Trooper figures.  The only imperfection on my sample’s armor is not intentional and comes in the form of some overspray on the calf.  As newly minted Clones in pristine armor were seen boarding the capital starhips on Kamino, the perfect armor is certainly correct to the source, so it’s really a stylistic choice, but one I think many fans would prefer.  Another gripe that certainly isn’t arbitrary is the shoulder armor.  It prevents the arm from rotating backwards.  We’ve certainly had many sculpts that limit the range of motion of the figure, and if that were the end of the story, I would just deal with it.  But unfortunately the shoulder armor is not part of the arm mold.  It’s a separately glued on piece that popped off when I was trying to actuate the shoulder joint.  So if you put the articulation of your figures through its paces like I do, be careful.

Those negatives in no way relegate this figure to “pass” status.  It is still very much in the “must have” category is you compelled to purchase by Phase I Clones.  Bucking a recent trend, the DC-15A long blaster rifle is made out of stiff plastic.  In a bit of a kumbaya moment, this is as close as I’ve ever gotten to having the stock of the rifle rest on the figure’s shoulder at either the 6” or 3.75” scales.  With a little fussing and compromising on the placement of the forward grip behind the tibanna gas canister instead of on it, I think it may be achieved.  During the Vintage Collection run, I decided to stop annotating the articulation because nearly all of the figures were super articulated.  Instead, I only made note when it failed to meet super articulation standards or when a rare 15th joint appeared.  Similarly, I feel it’s now becoming a waste of key strokes to comment on the lower body articulation of the 6” line.  It’s exceptional in almost all cases.  I will only note when it fails in some way such as on the Stormtrooper.  Like the Stormtrooper, this figure lacks the upper thigh swivel, but unlike the Stormtrooper, the pouches on the belt don’t hinder the movement of the hips allowing for them to compensate for the loss of that rotational articulation.  You’d be hard pressed to find a realistic pose that this figure can’t achieve.  The DC-15S short blaster rifle is a bit rubbery, but it doesn’t manifest as a problem due to the smaller size of the accessory.  Overall, this culminated in a 9 out of 10 figure.

This assortment is a rare perfect assortment from Hasbro.  Wave 4 comes with two new figures (this Clone Trooper and Anakin Skywalker) and two high demand re-issues (Stormtrooper and Boba Fett).  For that reason, it’s ideal for ordering by the case.  At the time of this review, It is in stock from site sponsor Big Bad Toy Store and can be ordered here.

9/10 Bantha Skulls