Sculpt--4/5
As you can guess by looking at the pictures, this figure is simply a repaint of the AT-TE Tank Gunner figure. While many would have preferred the use of the Super Articulated Clone body, this is what Hasbro ended up using and that's what we've got to live with. I actually don't mind the use of this body for these clones. The tank gunner body is great for action poses since his arms are well-posed for holding guns with both hands. Detail wise, this sculpt isn't the best. As noted in the Tank Gunner review, the details are a bit on the softer side thanks to the softer plastic used for this figure. Yep, Hasbro is still using the soft plastic for the entire figure, and it just doesn't have the sharpness in detail that clone #41 or #6 have.

What this sculpt does have going for it is the removable helmet. Remove the helmet, and you'll find the same headsculpt as the tank gunner's. A positive affect of the removable helmet feature is that the neck doesn't look elongated since the helmet is actually sitting on a head instead of a ball-joint. Compared to the necks of clones #41 and #6, the Tactical Ops Trooper and the tank gunner look much more realistic.

Articulation--4/5
The Tactical Ops Trooper has 13 points of articulation: ball-jointed neck, standard shoulders, swivel elbows, wrists, ball-jointed hips, ball-jointed knees, and ball-jointed ankles. As before, the ball-jointed hips rock, and a wide array of stances are possible because of them. The lack of ball-joints in the arms are still a sore spot, but at least they've posed the arms well for action poses.

Accessories--3/5
You get two accessories with this figure...actually four if you count the removable helmet and left shoulder pad. The main accessories are the blaster pistol and base. The base is your basic Coruscant-type base; nothing new to see here. The blaster is also the usual blaster we've been getting. It would have been very cool if they could start using the super detailed blasters that come in the Clone Trooper Evolutions set, but I'm guessing they're saving that for later figures. The left shoulder pad is still removable, but there is no longer an Imperial insignia underneath.

Paint--4/5
This is pretty much the main reason you'll be buying this figure, as its paint job is the only thing new about it. I don't have the Jedi Temple Assault Battle Pack, so I can't really compare this figure to the other version of the Tactical Ops trooper, but from what I understand, this figure has the more accurate paint job since it has the leg stripes that were missing on the Battle Pack versions. This figure also sports nifty battle damage with black marks here and there. I would have liked to see some white scratches on the blue sections, but I'm satisfied with what we got. Hasbro also added some dirt on the trooper's feet which adds some extra color to the figure. All is not perfect though as Hasbro still neglected to paint the black body glove sections sculpted at the shoulder area on the torso and at the crotch. The blue trim on the trooper is also a bit fuzzy at the edges in certain places, and the black line on the helmet is painted a bit lower than it should be. Despite these nit-picks, I love the way this figure looks, and the paint job has a lot to do with that.

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
At first I was miffed that Hasbro didn't use the Super-Articulated clone trooper body for this figure, but now that I actually have it in my hands, I really don't care. In fact, I actually think you can make more cool poses with the tank gunner mold than you can with the SA clone mold. You may or may not agree with that, but I think that even if you are a major hater of the tank gunner mold, you'll end up liking this figure. It's become one of my favorite clone trooper figures, and I'm definitely gonna buy more if I see them. Recommended.

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