COMMANDER BACARA Quick-Draw Attack!
Revenge of the Sith Collection 1
Item No.: Asst. 85173 No. 85563
Number: III-49
Includes: Small rifle, large rifle
Action Feature: Squeeze legs together for quick-draw attack
Retail: $6.99
Availability: Spring 2006
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith

Bio: Commander Bacara is a clone commander who works alongside General Ki-Adi-Mundi against the Separatist droid armies on the planet Mygeeto. Though he fights beside the Jedi, his ultimate loyalty is to the Republic and its Supreme Chancellor. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Commentary: Fans were very excited to see Commander Bacara on the shelves in 2005. At the same time, it took about five minutes for the complaints to come in. "He's not super-articulated!" they'd say. "I don't like the coloring!" they'd say. As you may guess, there were lots of people ignoring these complaints, which is the road I took. The figure itself is far from perfect, but from a movie year where Hasbro tries to cram in action features which supposedly better sell the toy, well, can't say I blame them. One of the figure's arms is super-articulated, but the other has a more or less standard shoulder joint. He has ankles, but not knees. The one complaint I've heard-- and agree with to some extent-- is that you could put the waistcoat, head, and harness (all of which are removable) on any standard super-articulated clone body and it'd be pretty gosh darn awesome. Oh well-- for once, a shortcut may have resulted in a more exciting figure.

As it stands, it isn't bad. The figure's articulation allows it to hold his guns, and the action feature more or less works, it's just pretty useless. "Squeeze legs and figure can raise a gun" just isn't remotely exciting. As a younger toy junkie, I liked some action features on my toys, like firing weapons, exploding bodies (ALIENS anyone?), and enormous rocket packs with spring-out wings. I don't feel my enjoyment of this figure in my collection has been hurt by the action feature, but I do have to admit it went from "new and exciting" to shelf bait pretty quickly just because I can't have him do much other than stand and point his gun. The sculpt is pretty great, the figure is totally clean, and the deco seems to fit what the movie showed us. The problem is that two years after his release, Bacara's appeal comes solely from his appearance. As a toy, there's just not much to be said here and other than being your obligatory leader for your Galactic Marines. Still, that's reason enough for a clone collector to snag him unless a new, improved version pops up between now and the time the line becomes unprofitable.

Collector's Notes: If you squint in the movie, multiple troopers have Bacara's armor-- just a few, but still, more than just the commander. As such, for a fully decked-out squad of Mygeeto troopers, you might want to put 2 or 3 Bacaras in your display along with Ki-Adi-Mundi, who they shoot, and some Galactic Marines. The figure was first released in 2005, and was repackaged and rereleased in 2006. It's pretty easy to get, but if you would settle for a repaint, there are several to choose from. There's a blue marked version in the Clone Attack on Coruscant Battle Pack, there's a grey one in the Battlefront II gift sets, and there's a wacky green camo one in the Target exclusive AT-RT Battle Pack. So if you like having several versions of a single mold, there are quite a few to choose from when it comes to this guy. ( MORE IMAGES )

Day 587: December 14, 2007