The 41st Elite Clones are an odd bunch.  In Revenge of the Sith, they wear the white armor with gray trim (as represented on this figure) in a key scene when they are preparing to leave Coruscant for Kashyyyk.  That same unit is seen later on Kashyyyk, although we only see them wearing camouflage patterns on scout and ARF armor configurations.  Simultaneously, members of the 41st, wearing their grey trim, can be seen fighting alongside the 212th on Utapau.  This isn’t explained in the films, but in the US military, it is not uncommon for small detachments to be temporarily assigned to other larger units when it is deemed necessary.  One interesting note: there is a scene on board a gunship with Yoda, Mace, and Obi-Wan flying in one of the Coruscant sky lanes.  Behind Mace and Obi-Wan are a couple of clones wearing all white armor.  This is actually the only time we see all white Phase 2 clones.  It is believed that this was an editing error, and that the clones should have been wearing the gray patterned armor of the 41st.  It almost seems that Hasbro was so confused by this particular scene that they crapped out the previous TBS (orange) #12 - 41st Elite Corps Clone Trooper with its disastrous markings. 

As for figures, this is technically the 6th release (5 are shown above in the comparison shot) of the grey-patterned 41st (separate from any Kashyyyk camo’d troopers of the 41st).  The first one was part of a 5-figure battle pack, in which 4 of the figures were the same 41st clone.  As the first release of this type of clone, it was cool at the time, but it was a repaint of a frustratingly poor Clone sculpt as the base.  Later, Hasbro launched its Evolutions subline, which was a fan favorite, and was originally designed to contain 3 premium figures with loads of accessories.  The Clone Trooper to Stormtrooper Evolutions was a particular hit, and Hasbro actually made a running change from the first version, which featured a yellow/orange theme (including a 327th Star Corps Phase 2 Clone), to the second version, which featured a white/gray theme (including a 41st Phase 2 Clone).  That phase 2 clone could do double duty as a regular trooper as well as a pauldron and kama wearing commander.  The figure was a superior sculpt, and contained some nice battle damage scuff marks.  The third release was from the Legacy Collection, BD17, which utilized the venerable “ROTS 41” clone sculpt.  In 2013, Hasbro made an attempt to upgrade the 41st using their new “skinny” mold that was introduced into TVC.  I have problems with the sculpt, so I cringe at using the word “upgrade” to describe it.  But controversial sculpt aside, the paint operations on TBS (orange) #12 were some of the worst ever seen in the line.  Almost every major aspect of the grey coloring was missing from the final figure.  We got some oddly painted thin stripes on the chest, biceps, and thighs, and that was it.  Hasbro later made a running change (which I was too angry to purchase) that added the shoulder armor and shins, but lacked the abdomen and belt apps, along with stripes on the elbows and hashmarks on the forearms and chest.  Both paint jobs were a mess, and were an embarrassment to the line. 

Because of that error, Hasbro had to go back and “waste” a slot in TVC on correcting the egregious Black Series figure.  And as far as paint, they certainly accomplished that mission.  All the correct markings are present, along with a fair amount of scuffing and weathering.  It took the third try with this new sculpt, but Hasbro succeeded on the paint front.  As for the sculpt, I’ve spent enough time railing on it in previous reviews of the newest TVC clones.  In a nutshell, it’s too skinny, it’s hard to pose in a neutral position, and the Phase 2 helmet is too large (a problem that does not affect the much better Phase 1 helmet sculpt).  Now, some of you may say that the skinnier sculpt is more screen accurate.  And to that, I say, you may be right.  But Hasbro should not have carried forward the bad CGI clone model.  The characters are too thin to account for proper armor plating covering the human body.  The armor should be more bulky, and for me, it just doesn’t pass the eye test, no matter how screen accurate it may be.  It was an error, and it’s weird to look at.  Frankly, the helmet might not be too large if the body armor was more appropriate.  Helmets are big, but it just looks out of scale because of the scrawny body.  As for posing, you can put the figure into a lot of interesting and dynamic poses, however the simplest pose of a neutral upright stance is quite a trick to manage.  I have this same problem with all figures using this mold.  It was frustrating trying to take the first few basic shots in the gallery.

Besides the removable helmet, the figure comes with a blaster, which is solid black, and does not have the silver details which appeared on several blasters in TVC.  It’s not much, but those details do give the figures a more premium feel, and it is lacking here.  Finally, this figure gets treated to FACE! technology (or “Photoreal technology,” as Hasbro likes to call it).  My sample seems to have an issue with the left eye, making him look a bit like Commander Wolffe, which is actually kind of cool.  Otherwise, the face looks very good, even though the lips are little too lipsticky.

In the end, I wish Hasbro had just gotten this right when they did it (twice) in the Black Series.  I’d probably chose five hundred other figures for TVC before this one, but here we are.  Since I’m not a fan of the new clone sculpt, this figure was really a big sigh for me.  Because Chris is bigger than me, he’s forced me to give these clones high grades in the past, so for the sake of consistency, I’ll give this an 8.  It looses ground because of the weird neutral stance, the big bucket, and the plain blaster.  I prefer my older 41st clone sculpts, so I won’t army build this one.