Every once in while Hasbro would shoehorn a repaint wave into the line.  While some collectors find these waves boring, it was a nice way for Hasbro to pop out some variants of figure that would otherwise never be made.  Granted, they usually weren’t exactly at the top of too many people’s want lists, but such figures did usually help round out a display.  It’s all about depth and world building, but you know this by now.  Those Filthy Sixers™®© will probably never understand this concept.  They are too busy ignoring Bespin Leias at Target.

TLC was launched only 3 years after ROTS, and and also in conjunction with The Clone Wars animated line.  So it seems understandable that Hasbro would still be Clone happy at that time.  As such, we got 2 clones in this repaint wave.  We already reviewed Clone Trooper (Coruscant Landing Platform) and here we have the second clone in the wave, the Saleucami Trooper.  The “Coruscant” clone was very recently updated using the skinny clone mold, and renamed according to it’s proper unit, 41st Elite Clone.  This figure goes by “Saleucami”, but if it were to be “skinnified” in TVC, it would likely be named “91st Mobile Reconnaissance Clone Trooper. Oh, and while researching this trooper, I found out that apparently there was a joke made while filming ROTS that these were Australia Post Troopers, based on the similarities of the unit markings to the logo of the Australia Post.  Neat.

This figure, which has its roots in the epic 2003 Clone Wars clone trooper, is essentially a repack of one of the figures from the Treachery on Saleucami Battle Pack (TAC – Target exclusive).  One difference is that this figure is “clean” – he has no battle damage or weathering marks on his armor.  So it is good for a little variety to your 91st Recon Battalion for Commander Neyo to lead.  This clone sculpt has gotten a lot of mileage, and while it still looks great, it definitely has aged in the articulation department.  While I’m not the world’s biggest fan of the new skinny sculpt, the articulation of those figures annihilates the articulation on this sculpt.  Here, the hip swivel joints have their range of motion inhibited by the armor sculpt.  The swivel wrists don’t allow for that pose where the trooper effectively looks down the barrel of the blaster.

But it’s still a great looking figure that can be displayed in a variety of poses.  I will generally give the SA clones a 7 or 8, depending on the details.  Even after many years, this sculpt is still decent, and I personally prefer the proportions of the limbs on these older clones.  They look like a person with flesh and muscle is inside the armor, rather than just an endoskeleton.  Hasbro has already updated the sculpt with modern articulation, but I believe that there should be a blending of the proportions of this figure with the articulation of the newer figure, in order to get a definitive clone.  Oh…and add rocker ankles and FACE! in the process.

If you like this particular flavor of clone, this is a cool one to add to the ranks of your 91st Recon Corps display.  One last note:  This figure was later repacked in The Legacy Collection (Red) line as BD25 Saleucami Clone Trooper.

Fascinating.

Build-A-Droid 

Saleucami Clone Trooper contains the left leg for 5D6-RA-7, who could be seen walking by the disguised Luke and Han as they escorted their Wookiee prisoner to the detention level aboard the Death Star.  Source:  A New Hope.

OR

Saleucami Clone Trooper (carry forward) contains the right leg 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.