CLONE TROOPER Sergeant
Original Trilogy Collection Clone Trooper Troop Builder Four-Pack Assortment, Entertainment Earth Exclusive (and others)
Item No.: Asst. 85688 No. 85775
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster Pistol, collectible poster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $34.99 (part of a four-pack)
Availability: Spring 2005
Appearances: Primarily Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars

Bio: Virtually indistinguishable from one another, clone troopers are identical in physical appearance, mental capability and stamina. Part of a clone army, they are grown in the cloning facilities of Tipoca City, a luminescent city of industry emerging from the raging seas of Kamino. (Taken from the figure's box.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Commentary: You know the drill-- this is one of those super-articulated Clone Trooper figures. With the rank of sergeant, this green repaint features 14 points of articulation and is totally clean. You can pose this figure pretty much any way you want and the body, originally used in 2003, has become the new standard of what fans expect from a Star Wars figure-- that is, ball-jointed neck, shoulders, elbows, ankles, and knees plus hip and wrist articulation. If you ask most fans, anything less is an insult. Me, I'm OK with a little less articulation if it makes sense for the costume's design. (Does Mon Mothma need any joints below the waist? Not really.) This green trooper is a worthy addition to your collection but it may not be entirely authentic. Gentle Giant's "green" bust was actually more of a brownish color, and to date no action figures have been made with this color. This means one of two things: all of Hasbro's green troopers are wrong, or Gentle Giant's bust is wrong. Take your pick.

Collector's Notes: There are multiple versions of a green super-poseable Clone Trooper based on this mold. First is this release, and at the same time, a battle-damaged version was shipped. There's also a 2006 The Saga Collection version (considered a variant for the sake of the column) that uses a whiter plastic and is missing the green stripe on the helmet's "forehead." In 2007, a Saga Legends version was produced that's basically identical to the 2005 release, except whiter plastic. We will be looking at the battle damage one in the future.

Note to Hasbro: If you're reading, how about giving us that green/brown Clone that Gentle Giant made? It would seem that the actual color is somewhere in between, but with all the conceptual figures, I think fans would be willing to snag another "different enough" Clone just to mix things up a bit. Well, I would.

Day 549: November 6, 2007