Star Wars Action Figure Reviews

If Dr. Frankenstein made his own Clone Trooper, this is what it would look like. An obvious mix-match of various "trooper" parts, the ARC trooper is either your dream trooper or a nightmare of character design. The Arc trooper apparently wears upgraded/reinforced clone trooper armor along with additions that are reminiscent of the various stormtroopers from the original trilogy. These additions include a shoulder pauldron that is almost exactly like those worn by Sandtroopers, right forearm and hand armor like those of a standard Stormtrooper, and a waistcoat like those worn by Snowtroopers. The ARC trooper also sports a left arm gauntlet and helmet rangefinder that is very Fett-inspired. Read on for the review and 12 photos!

ARC Trooper

Army of the Republic

"The ultimate supercommandos, the ARC (Advanced Recon Commando) troopers are clones who were personally trained by Jango Fett. Only a select number of ARC troopers were bred and trained before Jango's untimely demise at the Battle of Geonosis. Activated shortly after the start of the Clone Wars, ARC troopers are used for only the most dangerous missions in which a substantial amount of independent thought and initiative is required. They are equipped with highly advanced clone trooper armor and formidable heavy weaponry. Whether they are fighting on their own or at the side of the Jedi, the ARC troopers are a symbol of the Republic's military superiority over the droid armies of the Confederacy." --Excerpt from the package back

	Sculpt--3/5 The sculpting on this figure is adequate and decently done, and technically I can only find fault with some of the proportions of the figure. The torso is very scrawny-looking and isn't wide enough in my opinion. It really doesn't look like a human could fit inside the armor unless he was super skinny. Aside from that, the details are decent and since there isn't really an on-screen version we could compare it to, we can't really say something isn't as accurate as it could be. Although, we could compare the figure to its comic book counterpart, but the problem there is that different artists may draw certain details slightly different. For the most part, the details seem accurate as you can see HERE. Detailing aside, the biggest problem with this figure is its pose. The ARC trooper is in a very neutral pose and it's hard to make this guy look like he's doing something cool. You'd figure that an action-packed toy line aimed at kids would have figures that feature lots of action and some cool action poses. Unfortunately this figure has a boring pose which diminishes his supposed "ultimate supercommando" designation. Articulation--2.5/5 The ARC Trooper has eight points of articulation: neck, ball-jointed shoulders, bicep-cuts on both arms, waist, and hips. While that sounds like a good list of articulation points, the reality is that you can't put this figure in an awesome pose thanks mostly to the uninspired posing inherent in the sculpt. The ball-jointed shoulders are the most useful points and allow for some decent shooting poses. The bicep-cuts seem a bit useless; it would have been cool if this figure could hold his weapon with both hands but that isn't possible. Knee articulation would have been a welcome addition since his legs are in a very boring stance. Features--NA/5 There are no action features associated with this figure. Accessories--3/5 You get a removable waistcoat, a blaster rifle and removable shoulder armor. I like the fact that the waistcoat and the shoulder armor is removable but this figure doesn't really look good without them on. The gun is nicely sized with a huge barrel and looks pretty unique without looking too outrageous. Maybe I should also mention the rangefinder that is attached to the ARC trooper's helmet--it is so easily removed that one could argue that it's another accessory. I think it would have been cool if this figure came with a second blaster rifle since both his hands seem to be posed to hold a weapon. UPDATE: After watching the Clone Wars cartoon I've noticed the red ARC trooper does in fact use two weapons, one in each hand. With the recent release of the red ARC Trooper, perhaps Hasbro was thinking straight on this one after all. Paint--3/5 Paint is decent on this figure but there's a little bit of bleeding with the blue-gray trim. There's not much to else to complain about in this category. A red ARC Trooper is also showing up who is appearantly an ARC Trooper commander. Overall--3/5 It's always nice to get another Clone Trooper, even if it's Expanded Universe. Unfortunately this is just a so-so figure with an unexciting pose when it should have been capable of some cool action-poses. The coolness of the figure is dependent on how much you like the mix-matched armor of the ARC Trooper. In my personal opinion, I feel it's too contrived and the designers of this character simply made the connection to the original trilogy too obvious and in your face. UPDATE: Since writing the review, I've seen the ARC Troopers in action in the Clone Wars cartoons and they've become slightly cooler in my eyes. However I like the way they look in the cartoon better than how this figure looks.