Sculpt--4.5/5
Details on this clone are on par with the Super Articulated Clone, sporting narrow-set hips and more accurate abdomen details over Clone Trooper #6. The clone commander also has added details that separate him from the normal clone trooper. Molded onto his right bicep are some small ammo pouches, and on the square of his back, the control-box type thing protrudes out much further and has different details. Also, the cylindrical canister found at the back of the belt is now part of the back armor, just below the control-box. Like the super-articulated clone, the clone commander has a separately molded belt, but here there is a so-called "command skirt" connected to it, not unlike the skirts seen on snowtroopers from The Empire Strikes Back. Functional holsters are also molded onto the skirt. The belt and skirt are removable via a peg and hole at the front of the belt and it is well made and does not fall off easily.

The clone commander does have a slightly narrower neck than other clone figures, but you really can't tell unless you take off the removable ARC pauldron. The ARC pauldron has spare blaster magazines attached to it which hang down off a molded belt. The helmet of the clone commander looks just as good as the helmet from clone trooper #6, except that this one has polarized macrobinoculars connected to them. The macrobinoculars seem a bit too large at the sides and the design doesn't seem quite right, but it still looks cool. They connect via pegs that stick out from the sides of the helmet, allowing it to be swiveled up or down. They can also be adjusted forward and back so that they can be flush with the helmet. All in all, this figure looks great, and has got to be one of the coolest looking Star Wars figures ever made.

Articulation--4.5/5
The clone commander has thirteen points of articulation: ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, wrists, hips, ball-jointed knees, and ball-jointed ankles. An excellent number of points; all it's missing is a waist joint. It would have been nice if they could have used the super articulated clone's body, but with the added details to back of the armor, I'm guessing they had no choice but to go with a new sculpt. Still, without the waist joint, you can make some good poses. Unfortunately, the hips are like the super articulated clone's and that means that the hip armor prohibits the hip motion a bit. It's not impossible to bend the legs into a sitting position, but in doing so you will probably damage the right-side hip armor. The sculpted skirt also prohibits the legs a bit so you might have to twist the skirt to the side in order to create more dynamic stances. The neck joint is good, but the helmet sits pretty high on the joint, and it's very easy to see the ball joint peeking out from under the helmet.

Features--NA/5
This is a collection 1 figure which should mean that there is some kind of action feature somewhere in this set...only there isn't! The feature appears to be the "battle gear" and if including a ton of accessories is a feature, then I'm all for it! There is no action feature in this figure nor in the accessories (unless you count the rope and hook), and that's good news to me.

Accessories--5/5
Battle Gear! Yup, this figure comes with a load of stuff. You get two blaster pistols, the large blaster rifle, a rope with two claw-things on either end, and a hook for some zipline action. You can also count the removable ARC pauldron and command skirt as accessories. The double pistols are great and it's very cool to have a trooper dealing out double pistol damage. The large blaster rifle is the same one we've been getting with most of the other clones, except this one is unpainted. For some play value, Hasbro included a short rope with two claw-like things attached to either end. You can connect either end to two bookshelves or something and have the commander use the hook to get from one side to the other. Or you can just connect one side and have a figure rappel down, ready to get the drop on some unsuspecting bad guys. It adds to the play value of this already very fun to play with figure, I just wish the rope were slightly longer.

The removable pauldron and skirt should be great for those who are into customizing, and you will be pleased to know that the clone commander's helmet and pauldron fits perfectly on the super articulated clone trooper's body. Since the SA clone trooper also has a separately sculpted belt, it may also be possible to fit the commander's skirt on him as well. Or, go the other way and use the SA clone's helmet on the commander's body to create a great ARC Trooper! Lots of good possibilities here.

Paint--4/5
The paint is pretty good, especially considering how many paint apps are needed for this complex figure. The dark red accents on the commander's armor has a nice consistent color and the edges are pretty clean for the most part. The ARC pauldron is also done well with tan and red paint, and there's even a very subtle grey on the black part of the pauldron. I think they could've added a little more color to the spare blaster magazines found on his arm and pauldron, as there is supposed to be some tan and black areas on them. I also think the black line on the macrobinoculars could have been a little thinner, but overall this figure looks good.

Packaging--4/5
I'm really digging the ROTS packaging. I love the color palettes that Lucasfilm's marketing department chose, and I think that the orange Star Wars logo is a nice change of pace from the silver and gold iterations of the past. The shape of the cards also takes a dramatic step away from the rectangular cards we've gotten in the past. A large Vader helmet looms at the top of the card, looking down at the raging lava below. In the dome of Vader's helmet you can see an image of Obi-Wan and Anakin dueling it out and crossing lightsabers. The bubble covers most of the card and goes right up to the bottom edges of the card. The sides of the bubble are taped to the back of the card which makes it slightly hard to get the figure out of the package in a hurry, but MOC'ers will have nothing to worry about. After opening a couple of figures, I was beginning to miss the old packages that I could just tear into without having to worry about sticky tape. There's also a nice layered effect with the use of two cardboard inserts within the bubble featuring the Star Wars logo and a photo of the character. The cardbacks are likewise well designed with perhaps the best cardback layout design I've seen in years. There a nice photo of the character from the movie, a short description of the character, a photo of the actual toy, and nice cross-sell imagery to get you excited for the other toys in the line. Considering how much less space there is on these cards makes the design all the more successful.

Overall--4.5/5
There's not much to dislike with a figure that looks great, comes with a ton of accessories and removable bits, and has articulation almost on par with the SA clone trooper. Minor annoyances like the absence of waist articulation and inaccurate macrobinoculars can't keep this from being one of my favorite Star Wars figures ever. You owe it to yourself to own at least one of these figures; it looks cool and is fun to play with, and that's what makes a great action figure. Highly recommended.

--Photos and review by Garett Yoshimura
garett@carrotnetwork.com