View Full Version : Deluxe Clone Trooper with Firing Jet Backpack

06-03-2005, 05:00 PM
From Hasbro's Revenge of the Sith line comes the flying Clone Trooper with "firing Jet Backpack" in the 2nd wave of deluxe figures. I must confess that I am a bit of a sucker for figures with jetpacks, so I bought this one even though I could see it wasn't worth the $10 pricepoint, it didn't matter to me that he wasn't in the movie. Speaking of which, both Hasbro and Lego made jetpack-wearing Clone figures, so I suspect this flying version of the standard clone was originally in the movie somewhere and simply edited out -- Commander Cody is seen in the film wearing the jetpack design here, but it was twice as small and had no missiles or wings. Unfortunately, this deluxe seems to fit with Hasbro's idea of deluxes in that they're sub-standard figures with poorer designs and paint, corny action-gimmicks and oversized accessories; the deluxe line is too often a sucker's bet and this dlx Clone is less product than most basic Saga figures.

Packaging: 3/5
The deluxe packaging's graphics aren't as dynamic or eye-catching as their basic counterparts, the ROTS deluxe lack almost any die-cutting shape and have no Vader logo anywhere, so the top is dark and the rest is background lava - the deluxe seem to be depending far more on the toy selling the product than usual. Unfortunately, the card has very few elements front or back so it seems pretty empty, and the product in the bubble tray isn't enough toy fill the void, so it seems "less than" all the way around. It does show off what you get though, good for carded collectors I suppose.

Inside the bubble the figure, jetpack, and missiles are all held in via through-tray design, which I think is better than endless clear-bands and twisties. The figure has his weapon clear-banded to his hand, but it's the tray and alignment that actually cause the weapon to warp. Also inside are simple but adequate instructions, the only thing they don't mention is the crucial orientation for loading each missile.

Sculpt-Design: 3/5
This is section is only about the figure, the jetpack will get reviewed with the accessories. This is yet another standard Clone Trooper figure in the ROTS line which has got to be a little frustrating for fans of the rainbow of colors and armor designs from the movie, but as such it'll fit with your basic Clone Trooper #6 and #41 figures. This deluxe Clone's sculpt is ok, but a tad light in the details, the belt and some of the armor lines are pretty soft work and some elements are non-existant; there's also a greater focus on the bodysuit without a fine level of sculpting to support it and leaves an odd gap at the hip area's armor. The helmet's "cheeks" aren't as sunken as other ROTS clone figures, and the helmet's sculpt in general is fairly soft.

The deluxe Clone's pose is a bit odd, the posture is almost unnoticeably leaning forward, so the "stomach" of the armor is smaller, and the design uses the rounded armor shape of the Super Articulated clone figures, which is wrong. The chest armor also seems smaller and not quite the right shape, and there's an odd gap between the "stomach" and the belt pieces, oh, and there's an unsightly hole in the back to accomodate the jetpack. Finally, the figure has perma-bent elbows just past 90 degrees which is a bummer, and non-rotating wrists which is downright awful. In the end, he's barely a passable standard clone, nothing "deluxe" here.

Articulation: 2.5/5
Hasbro is too often a miserable, stingy fool when it comes to articulation on deluxe figures, and considering how articulated the bulk of the basic ROTS line is, it's unreasonable of them to make a deluxe Clone this way. The figure has univeral-jointed knees and ankles, and a ball-jointed head, the hips are standard joints but have decent range of motion, good stuff there but the basic Clone #6 has all those; the figure also has an articulated waist which the Clone #6 doesn't. Unfortunately, the love stops there, Hasbro in their infinite cheapness totally copped out on the arm articulation, giving only standard joints to the shoulders and a simple swivel just above the right elbow -- the left elbow gets no articulation at all, neither do the wrists, which utterly destroys this category and the overall usefulness of the figure. The figure can stand by himself with or without the jetpack - good since there are no pegholes in the feet - and the leg articulation makes some nice flying poses, you can get a kneeling-with-rifle pose too, but the arms are so limiting, he can hold his weapon 2-handed across his chest or up almost by his face for sniping, or 1-handed ahead of him with his left arm looking rather lost, that's about it. The crummy articulation yet again begs the question, "why is this a deluxe?"

Paint-Deco: 3/5
This deluxe Clone's paint is similar to the basic clones, white plastic with black for the bodysuit, yet even though you're shelling out twice as much as a basic, the paint work is only half as good. Most of the black has sloppy edges, each minor by itself but overall making it look pretty weak - hey, at least the soles of the boots are painted gray... oh wait, there's slop there too. The helmet and belt are a slightly different shade of white than the rest of the figure, but it's not too noticeable. The helmet has all the painted elements, but the breathers at the "mouth" are just flat gray rather than silver which just looks cheap. The whole paintjob feels substandard to the ROTS line, but unfortunately right in step with the low-rent attitude of Hasbro's deluxe lines.

One side-note, the ball joint for the head is left white like the Clone #41, so when the deluxe Clone looks up, you can see the white underneath.

Accessories: 3.5/5
Let's start with the rifle, it's horrible. This rifle is so simple that it isn't up to the POTF2 line's earliest standards, it's downright embarassing and doesn't look at all like a Star Wars weapon (don't blame the GI Joe line though, it's far worse than their accessories). It's not even that rubbery yet it's bent at the barrel and stock from the packaging, the bending of the small strap is a little more forgivable, but the end result is this thing flat-out sucks. I'm swapping it out for a rifle from the Clone #6 figure.

The jetpack is supposed to be the key reason one would buy this toy, and it is nifty, but it's definitely something they could have included with a basic figure. The pack is about the size of the figure's head and torso, the wings are not too big and go down to the figure's knees. It's very lightweight and pegs into a hole on the figure's back and has a tab to keep it properly oriented - the figure can easily stand with it on; if you want the figure to look as upwards as far as he can, you'll have to back the jetpack out of the hole slightly. The pack is mostly white with gray and black elements, the paint work is sloppy of course and there's even a black screw in the headrest, but the simple sculpted Republic logos on both sides of the wings stands out well and keeps them straight and fairly clean. The design fits with the look of the ROTS Clones, the wings snap open smartly, and the spring-loaded aspect for the missiles is fairly well disguised. The missiles are simple and light, both are a little bent a bit and fit in the launcher only one way, they use tab-flick designs instead of actual triggers which often leads to misfires; the missiles only add half an inch of height over the figure and don't hang down too far, but I sure won't be using them.

Perhaps if Hasbro had included a clear flight-stand to hold the figure in the air, it might have bumped the value level up enough to warrant the pricepoint, probably would have gotten multiple purchases if it worked well, but without an item like that in the package there's nothing to warrant the ten bucks, and that rifle is just adding insult to injury.

Overall: C-
If this had been a basic figure, I would have gladly given it a generous "B" grade, but as it's another disappointing deluxe, it has a high pricetag and doesn't live up to that in any way at all. Even compared to other crummy deluxe figures, this is a very light set, and I must take that into account. Without the price issue, the set is fun to whoosh around and play with, which is something, but it still isn't a great sculpt or good articulation so it's not the finest display piece. I like it, but I don't think I could recommend it.

06-04-2005, 12:12 AM
I agree with your review for the most part JT except for the fact that this Clone has a ball-jointed head. I have three of these open and they don't have any sort of head articulation whatsoever keeping the helmet in a permanently fixed position. That and the rubber rifle are my biggest complaints regarding this figure.

06-06-2005, 09:22 PM
Absolutely it has a ball joint, I even removed the head on mine while messing around with it (didn't think to swap it for any of the other ball-jointed heads though), if you have him look upwards too far the head comes right off the joint by itself (as most ball-jointed heads often do, though this one is easier than some - it's not loose by any means though). And it's not even a crappy cheater ball joint like that found on the horrid AT-RT Driver figure, it's the real deal. Yours are probably just stuck, I've heard several other collectors with this same issue.

06-06-2005, 09:32 PM
Wow, you're right, mine were all just extremely tight. So tight that I just assumed it was designed to stay in a fixed position. That definitely bumps this figure up a notch in my book. Thanks for the heads up. lol

06-07-2005, 05:32 PM
wow i just got the head to work too! :D
I dont know why you guys are complaining about the gun- i kinda like it because its different. :confused:

06-07-2005, 06:52 PM
The design of the gun is nice, my problem is the flimsy plastic it's made out of.

06-07-2005, 11:37 PM
It mustve been a ultra light weight rubber gun used especially by jet troopers... :crazed: :confused:

06-08-2005, 12:46 AM
Mine is still in it's package, and will stay that way.

06-08-2005, 04:30 PM
Glad you guys were able to get the heads moving. :)

As for the gun, it's really light in the design department, almost no details whatsoever, and it's not very Star Wars-like I feel. And it's not that rubbery, Hasbro has put out much worse in that regard, yet it's pretty bent already.