CLONE SHARPSHOOTER Clone Pack
30th Anniversary Collection Previews Exclusive
Item No.: Asst. 87461 No. 87466
Number: n/a
Includes: Removable helmet, rifle, pistol, satchel
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $39.99
Availability: November 2007
Appearances: Star Wars: Battlefront II

Bio: Clone sharpshooters are highly trained marksmen whose primary purpose in battle is to target infantry forces with devastating long-range fire. (Taken from the figure's box.)

Image: The toy shelves of Adam Pawlus.

Commentary: While the world of Star Wars gaming has turned and left me here, I still appreciate figures from the games like this Clone Sharpshooter. While I can appreciate a blue-tinted deco of this mold that resembles the 5th Fleet Security troopers, a large part of me is sitting here wondering why we have to get so many clones in such a short window. It's not that the figure is bad or anything, it's just hard to muster a lot of enthusiasm after you realize you've bought the same figure four times over the course of a single year. The removable helmet is cool, the articulation is excellent (no waist but otherwise great), and the helmet fits about as well as you'd want. The figure is, unfortunately, not remarkable in that most of the things one can say about it have been said dozens of times already about figures you most likely own. The one thing that struck me about this figure was the fade from the dark blue to a lighter blue on the kama, which you can see on the figure's backside. You might be left going "wait, that's really the coolest thing about this figure?" Yup. It's not that it's bad, remember-- it's just that we're not treading much new ground here.

Collector's Notes: Hasbro sure loves to repaint molds in a hurry these days. Since debuting in November 2006, this "beehive" trooper has been used for 4 unique releases: the purple Target Exclusive "Clone Commander," the standard release Airborne Trooper, the Target exclusive Order 66 Airborne Trooper, and this release. The molds are identical, it's just the markings on the figure are changed to indicate it's part of another squad of troopers. For those looking to augment their 5th Fleet squads, this is a figure that's worth picking up. The Battlefront II Clone Pack as a whole is fairly strong for army building, so if you're a clone freak, get it.

It's good to see Hasbro getting the most out of its molds in a hurry, but it leaves one to wonder when will it end? Are green-tinted troopers for Cato Neimoidia, browinsh-yellow ones for Felucia, red Shocktrooper-themed Airborne troopers, and camo Kashyyyk variants in the works? While I loves me some Clone Troopers, it almost feels like every time a Clone mold is introduced, I should bust out a spreadsheet and predict all the repaints we're likely to get between now and when the line becomes unprofitable. It's preferred to no new figures at all, of course, but the deco of some of these figures (like this one) just isn't very thrilling or inspiring. How about bringing some of those crazy Urban Vinyl artists who repaint all the Kubricks and Qees to come in and do some designer Clones, hmmm? That might be a little bit more engaging than applying Squad Deco X to Mold Y.

Day 578: December 5, 2007