Ah the 327th Star Corps.  This was the clone unit that got the short shrift from Hasbro during the Revenge of the Sith product launch onslaught.  Confusingly an anonymous “Clone Commander” figure with dark red markings was released as number 33 in the lineup.  There was also a running change of that figure to green markings.  Neither of these figures are based on characters that appeared in the film.  The commander with red markings was later named Commander Deviss and would actually be re-released in the red card Legacy Collection under that specific name.  That #33 figure was originally intended to be Commander Bly who commanded the mustard yellow accented 327th Star Corps on Felucia.  This was the unit that assassinated Jedi Master Aayla Secura.  What happened was that 327th Star Corps was originally rendered with the dark red accents, but it was decided that the yellow better complimented the Felucian landscape.  LFL changed the color so it would match better.  That somewhat flippant reason to make a last minute design change was a harsh reminder that the CGI-heavy Prequel Trilogy had more in common with video games than traditional movie-making.  When I first heard this bit of production trivia, all I could think of was this scene from Gramdma’s Boy:

That commentary about the film’s production aside, it left Hasbro in a chase position.  They had to scramble to release Commander Bly at the tail end of the line.  It was a difficult figure to find and features a truly rare variant, the “brown stripe” version.  The only rank and file member of the Star Corps released during the Revenge of the Sith line was part of the Clone Trooper to Stormtrooper Evolutions set.  This TLC figure is a re-release of that Evolutions Clone Trooper, but with one noticeable change.  The Evoltuions release had one more hold over from the initial Deviss rendering.  The raised ridge on the top of Deviss’ helmet was left white.  So as the central vertical red stripe on the helmet reached the raised portion, it parted and continued around the raised white portion.  That raised portion of the helmet appears to be a vestigial remnant from the radio antenna on the Phase I Clone Trooper helmet which resembles a ‘57 Chevy fin, and presumably serves the same purpose on the Phase II helmet.  Leaving it unpainted gives a “reverse mohawk” appearance.  You can see this demonstrated on the comparison pic above.  The figure from the TAC Betrayal on Felucia Battlepack is on the left and has the unpainted ridge.  I do not believe this is correct for the on-screen 327th Clone Troopers.  The mustard yellow stipe continues uninterrupted over the raised portion.  This figure corrects that issue, and is the only release to do so to the best of my knowledge.  That alone makes this figure worth tracking down.

Hasbro seems to have overcompensated for the lack of 327th representation in the initial product launch and released several versions following the film.  In addition to this figure and the aforementioned Betrayal on Felucia battle pack, a version with a soft goods kama and ball jointed hips was released in 2009’s Gelagrub Patrol Battle Pack.  Unfortunately, none of these releases is definitive.  While this figure has the correct helmet markings, the lack of ball jointed hips is conspicuous, and the hard plastic kama further exacerbates the lack of articulation.  The removable helmet on this release is too big, and has another common problem.  The chin of the figure is always exposed when the helmet is on.  This is because the shoulder pauldron prevents the helmet from fully seating on the clone head.  Finally, while the arm articulation was standard super articulation for the time, ball jointed wrists would greatly improve the shooting poses.  With either the included DC-15A long rifle or DC-15S, the figure more holds the weapon across it’s body rather than a natural aiming pose.  The DC-15S rifle is also somewhat unique.  It is not the DC-15S that is packed with most clone figures.  It is the “premium” version that was included in the original Evolutions set.  While the folding stock is not functional, it is sculpted away from the barrel so that there is a gap between the two.  The front site is also sculpted accurately as a loop with a gap in the interior.  It’s a nice elevation over the standard 3.75” where everything is sculpted in one contiguous hunk of plastic.

Unfortunately no matter which Star Corps figure you choose to go with, you’re going to have to make compromises.  My “go to” is the one from the Betrayal of Felucia BP because the non-removable helmet looks worlds better, but it has the inaccurate “reverse mohawk” and lacks ball jointed hips.  The Gelagrub figure has the soft goods kama and ball jointed hip to allow for a wider range of poses (to include seated in the Swamp Speeder above), but the figure has the unsightly removable helmet and that same “reverse mohawk”.  This figure has the correct helmet markings, but it has the chin-revealing removable helmet and limited lower body pose-ability.  None are perfect.  We could use an all new 327th Star Corps figures, but it’s hard to put a high priority on it.  This figure earns a 7 out of 10, which is the standard super articulated score, and it gets there via offsetting pluses and minuses.  The exposed chin and unforgiving kama take the figure down a point, but the impressive accessory loadout earns that point right back.