As we get back into the swing of things after the Month of Menace, we’ll throw in a clone.  I mean, there are a ton of Star Wars fans that have no interest in The Phantom Menace, so nothing will unite collectors more quickly than a clone action figure!

Here’s Commander Faie.  Who is that you ask?  Some clone from the comics.  At roughly the same time that this single carded figure was released, another one of Faie in a different set of clone armor was released as part of a comic two-pack.  As you may know, I wasn’t much for the EU, so I had to look this up.  Commander Faie, along with Commanders Neyo and Bly, were put in charge of specialized battalions under Jedi Generals Quinlan Vos and Oppo Rancicis.  This task force was sent to Saleucami for a special operation.  During that mission, Faie wore a helmet that was essentially that of a clone engineer, along with a poncho.  Later, he served on Kashyyyk with Vos and Luminara Unduli.  For this operation, he sported the camo colored gear of the 41st elite scouts.  During the ensuing battle, Faie directly received Order 66 from Palpatine, and he and his fellow clones immediately gunned down Unduli, but Vos escaped.  Faie led a team into the forests to locate Vos, who leapt from the foliage and beheaded Faie with his lightsaber, despite taking a non-fatal blaster shot to the chest.  Good riddance, because apparently Faie was a jerk that always dislike the Jedi.  And that’s all you need to know about Faie.

BD24 Clone Commander Faie is obviously based on his appearance on Saleucami with the special task force.  The body is basic SA for 2008.  The range of motion of the swivel hips is pretty poor, so the battle poses aren’t as awesome as you’d like out of a clone trooper.  But everything else works pretty well, especially since you can accomplish a solid two handed weapon grip (THWG) on the included blaster.  The figure comes with a soft goods poncho, which is held in place by his utility belt.  Unfortunately, the belt is glued shut for some reason, so this precludes you from removing the poncho and displaying the figure in his basic armor.  Nevertheless, the poncho works well, and fits nicely. 

There is a plastic hood that looks decent.  I know a lot of people don’t like the plastic/soft goods combo, but I think it’s better here than if with a full soft goods hood.  The helmet itself can be removed, and it reveals a typical clone face underneath, but with a flat top hair cut.  Random note:  The camouflage Faie has scars on his face.  I have no idea if Hasbro forgot them here, or if he acquired those scars in between missions. 

So it’s strange that Hasbro gave us two versions (in quick succession) of a fairly obscure (to me) EU clone character, but that’s what we got.  If you’re a fan of clones, a fan of the EU, or a fan of jerks, this is the figure for you.  If you’re not interested in any of those things, than perhaps this is a pass.  You probably know by now about my lack of enthusiasm for the new skinny clones, but if we assume those are improvements, than this one would probably be slightly substandard.  However, the unique poncho/hood/helmet combo makes this a fairly interesting figure.  It gets a 7.
Build-A-Droid 

Clone Commander Faie (First Release) contains the body for MB-RA-7.  The droid seems to have been inspired by the original Kenner Death Star droid (actually 3B6-RA-7), but the name indicates that it is a specific Expanded Universe droid that served as an instructor during the final days of the Republic.  Source:  Legends.

OR

Clone Commander Faie (carry forward) contains the left leg for the astromech R5-A2.  This droid can be spotted rolling through Mos Eisley around the time Luke and Obi-Wan are stopped by the sandtrooper checkpoint, but don’t find the droids they are looking for. Source:  A New Hope.