The new wave of Hasbro’s 6-inch Star Wars Black has arrived, but those of you expecting all new characters will be disappointed. This new case only adds two new figures to the mix: The Phase I Clone Trooper and Anakin Skywalker with the other two slots in this case occupied by re-releases of the Stormtrooper and Boba Fett. Normally this is where I would get all up in Hasbro’s grill, but reissues of the hard to find Boba Fett and the hotly demanded Stormy were actually a cool move on Hasbro’s part to help get these figures into the hands of collectors. I know I was happy to get another Stormtrooper, even if it meant having to suck down an extra Boba Fett. He’s a great figure and I don’t mind having an extra one boxed. Anyway, today we’re going to check out the Clone Trooper, another army builder that should be in rather high demand.

Hasbro has revealed a redesign for the Black packaging, but it won’t come until the next wave so what we get here is the same old stuff. It’s a very simple window box that shows off the figure pretty well and offers very little else. I’ve complained about the lack of artistic flair in much of Hasbro’s current package design, but the 6-inch Black series is the one line that I think suits it pretty well. I’ve gone on record saying that I was going to be very choosey about what prequel figures I buy, but this figure was a no brainer. I like the clones and the Phase I helmet is my favorite of the designs. It was also a no-brainer on Hasbro’s part as they’re now free to unleash an unending tide of repaints onto us.

So before I get to the actual figure, let me say that there are some aspects of the QC here that is pretty disappointing. My Clone has black marks scattered on his left leg and some on his left shoulder. The shoulder marks eventually rubbed off, but the marks on his leg haven’t. I’ve yet to try a Magic Eraser, but these are $20 collector figures Hasbro, I shouldn’t have to be trying to clean them up when I take them new out of the package. I’ll also note here that the hinges on this guy feel pretty mushy and even the finish on the overall plastic feels like I could easily scar it with my thumbnail. Sigh… it looks like Hasbro has been dipping into the economy plastic again.

I think the sculpting here looks pretty good. While most of the armor is sculpted as part of the buck, the black paint in the joints gives some credibility that it is indeed a suit of armor. The effect may not be as good as we saw with the Stormtrooper, but it’s passable. Overall the black paint is pretty clean, although the pins for the lower pins for the elbow hinges are right in the middle of the black undersuit and they are left white, which is obviously not optimal, especially for a figure in this larger scale. The paint apps on the helmet are not as crisp and straight as I would prefer and it sure would have been nice if they could have gone with a glossy black for the visor.

The articulation is satisfying, at least on paper. The arms feature swivel hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels at the biceps. The legs have ball joints with swivels in the hips, double hinges in the knees, and hinges in the ankles along with lateral rockers. There’s a pretty generous ball joint in the lower torso and the neck is ball jointed.

For the most part the jointing works fairly well with the armor. The big exception to that is the shoulder armor, which severely restricts the lateral movement of the arms. There’s absolutely no clearance so once the tops of these plates butt up against the torso armor, that’s as far as they’ll go. So granted, the Stormtrooper had a similar problem and I gave him a pass. But, the first time I tested the range of movement on the Clone Trooper, his left shoulder piece popped off with very little pressure and almost no warning. And no, it’s not meant to do that, so I had to glue it back on. Hasbro has done a much better job getting shoulder plates to work with articulation on some of their recent Marvel Legends. It’s a shame they didn’t do it here as well.

The Clone Trooper comes with two accessories, both guns. You get a blaster pistol and a rifle. Both are decent sculpts and while the pistol is a tad soft and rubbery, the rifle is surprisingly firm and stiff. Both of his hands are designed to hold weapons, so you can get some nice action poses with him and his little arsenal. It may be a valid complaint that Hasbro didn’t pack a Phase II head into the mix, but I’ll not take issue with it here.

One point that I will always come back to when looking at these 6-inch Black figures is whether the new scale is justified. Sure, Hasbro’s goal here is to squeeze more money from collectors by introducing a new format. But from the collectors’ point of view, the larger scale should only be justified because it can produce more detailed sculpts, better articulation, better accessories, and better paint. In short, the figures should be better than the 3 ¾” figures, otherwise why bother? In this case, the Phase I Clone Trooper has been done at least as well, and probably better in the smaller format and with the smaller version, you don’t have to sacrifice his interactivity with ships and vehicles.

Obviously, I’m not blown away or even impressed by this figure. Keep in mind, I’ve got about a dozen figures in this series that I’ve opened so by now I’ve set my expectations on what this line will offer and this Clone just falls short. The black marks on his leg armor are annoying, but not devastating. I may still be able to get them off and even if I can’t, well… Clones get dirty in action. I was, however, hoping for firmer joints and that I wouldn’t be reaching for the glue right after opening him. Is he terrible? No. But, in the end, he’s a decidedly average figure and doesn’t match the quality on display in either of my 6-inch Black Stormtroopers or my Sandtrooper. It’s possible I got a lemon, and yes, given the opportunity I will take a chance on a second one, but all in all I was hoping for better.

Today, I’m going back to before Christmas when Amazon was selling 3 ¾” Star Wars Black figures for about three bucks a pop. I picked up a bunch and I’ve still got some sitting unopened in my closet. Man, I kind of wish I hadn’t bought these. With the exception of that “Attack of the Clones” Padme, these figures have been pretty damn shitty. Nonetheless, I’m anxious to open the rest of them so I can toss them into my Star Wars figure bin and I’m starting today the Clone Sergeant from “Attack of the Clones.” I can’t show you a packaged shot because the bubbles fell off of the cards inside the shipping box and they were all just rattling around in there. Doesn’t matter. We’ve seen the SWB 3 ¾” packaging here before and I still think its rubbish. Those of you who visit here often may remember that I was not impressed with the Stormtrooper or the Biker Scout from this line, so let’s see if this guy can do any better.

The figure seems to reuse the body for the Clone Trooper from a couple years back. That’s a good thing, because I have a bunch of those and I think it’s an excellent figure. The key difference here is just a matter of the green painted stripes to denote his rank. The armor on this one looks just as good and you get the same level of super articulation. With the exception of the shoulder armor inhibiting the arm movement a little bit, the Sergeant here can do pretty much everything I want him to do including crouched firing poses. And thank god those shoulder pieces are there, because if they weren’t we’d probably have the same unpainted hinge problem that we saw on the Stormtrooper and Scout Trooper. On the downside, the plastic feels super rubbery and cheap like it’s a knock-off figure.

As with the previous Clone Trooper, this figure’s helmet is removable to reveal the stock clone head that Hasbro has been using on these guys for a while now. I know some collectors don’t fancy this feature, but I kind of dig it. I don’t think it compromises the look of the helmet too badly and I like being able to pose them with their helmet in the crook of their arm. Oh yeah, I’ll also take this opportunity to once again express my undying love for the “bucket head” style of clone helmet. I dig it so much I’m still considering picking up the Sideshow figure.

The quality of Paintwork has been a big issue with these figures and I’m sorry to say that’s still the case here. That’s pretty shameful when you consider that the figure required so little paint and they couldn’t even get that right. From the neck down everything looks good, even the little rank dots on his left breast. There are virtually no problems with the black and the green Sergeant striping all looks great too. Unfortunately, the green paintwork on the helmet is botched terribly on the right hand side.

The Sergeant comes with two weapons. You get the standard E-11 style Blaster and you get a rifle. Both of these guns are pretty standard fare, but they’re welcome nonetheless.

All in all, this Clone Sergeant is much better than the SWB Stormtrooper and Biker Scout, but the figure still feels like a rushed job. The rubbery plastic and piss-poor paintwork on the helmet tells me that Hasbro doesn’t give a crap about this line and they’re just using it to fill pegs. It also begs the question; why not just repack the older superior figures? Somehow I can’t imagine that they don’t have truckloads of those figures lying around somewhere. Still, considering I just spent a couple of dollars on this one, I think he was well worth it. In fact, had he just been a straight Clone Trooper, I probably would have picked up more and been happy. I also have the Clone Pilot in this assortment and I’ll try to swing back around to him next week.

I know what you’re thinking. “What? More of those shitty little Star Wars Black figures? Why don’t you review the 6-inch figures, you sonofabitch?” Woah, there! I promise that this is the last of the 3 ¾” Black figures that I’m going to look at before moving on to cover Wave 2 of the 6-inchers. The name of the game this week has been doing quick features that I can squeeze in between my busy schedule. I’ve been intentionally putting the 6-inch Black figures off until January so that I could give them their proper due once things have calmed down for me. I’ve already featured two of these 3 ¾” figures and it’s safe to say that the line has not been kind to me, nor I to it. Let’s see if Natalie Portman can turn the tides!

There’s the SWB 3 ¾” card and I’m still not digging it. I will say that at least this figure’s bubble hasn’t prematurely separated from the card, so that’s something. Contained within the miraculously still attached bubble is Padme Amidala in her strategically torn clothing from Thor: The Dark World “Attack of the Clones.” Hey, Hasbro, if you’re going to do an update to an Amidala figure you certainly picked the right one. Although if you do another, you might want to release her in that little black outfit from that scene where she’s telling Anakin she’s a Senator with only business on her mind while wearing an S&M inspired negligee. Anyway, I tend to think of this release as “Arena Battle Padme” and I’m pretty sure the last time this version was done was way back as part of the original AotC series and that’s when Hasbro was incorporating a lot of pre-posed sculpts and action gimmicks, which meant that the figures often sucked.

No action gimmicks here! In fact… I’m almost shocked to say it, but… holy crap this is actually a really nice figure. No, strike that… this is an EXCELLENT figure! The detail in the outfit is fantastic, right down to the little sculpted piping in the top and the leggings. The boots are intricately detailed, her belt features some little pouches and a working holster and even her bicep rings are neatly painted. Now this is how to properly do a figure in 2013, Hasbro!

Flip her around and she has some rather gruesome scratches across her back as well as tears in her top from one of those arena creatures. The scars are not only part of the sculpt, but also painted in with laser precision. Honestly, I could have done without them, as they are rather gross and off-putting, but I can’t help but respect how beautifully they were executed. Hasbro also did a pretty nice job sculpting Ms. Portman’s derriere. I’ll confess, I’ve grown a new appreciation for her butt after seeing “Your Hignesss.”

The portrait is also quite good for a 3 ¾” sculpt. I’d definitely say this figure features a better likeness to Ms. Portman than Diamond’s recent Marvel Select version from their Thor 2 line (Woof!), and that’s a twenty dollar 6-inch scale collector piece. The likeness here is just superb and the paintwork on the face is crisp and clean!

The articulation here is pretty good, with the only thing holding it back being the T-crotch for the hips. Proper ball jointed hips would have really made this figure perfect and the old style jointing feels dated alongside the rest of the figure’s articulation. The legs feature ball joints in the knees and ankles. The arms have ball joints in the shoulders and elbows and swivels in the wrists. Padme has a ball joint in the torso, which is cleverly hidden under her torn shirt, and her head is ball jointed. Not bad!

Padme comes with two weapons. You get her Naboo-style blaster, which fits comfortably in her hip holster. You also get a larger blaster rifle, which I believe is one she salvaged from a downed Battle Droid, but I could be wrong about that. “AotC” is not exactly one of my “go-to” movies and it’s been ages since I’ve seen it. Her right hand is sculpted to hold the pistol and her left to hold the larger blaster, but I’ve been able to make it work the other way around as well.

After doing two Star Wars Black features with two shitty re-hashes of figures that have been done so much better, it’s refreshing to finally hit a payoff here. Padme is a superb figure and an updated version of the character that was long overdue.  I’d go so far as to say she’s one of the best Star Wars figures I’ve picked up in a while. I got her for $5 during Amazon’s sale, but I would have been perfectly happy laying down ten bucks for this kind of quality. This is a figure that would have been right at home released alongside the other Vintage Collection figures. I believe she was planned for another line that was to coincide with the aborted theatrical re-release of “Attack of the Clones” in 3D and if that’s the case I’m very happy that Hasbro eventually got her to the pegs because she’s a must-have for any collection.