Review: Star Wars TVC 113 Expanded Universe - Republic Trooper (The Old Republic)

Look what the mailman brought today... Being packed only one per case, the Old Republic Trooper is well sought after and commands hefty prices on Ebay. This one I bought from a fellow collector on Hisstank.com at a halfways decent price. The then nameless Trooper was first seen in the trailer "Hope" of the The Old Republic video game when he lead a Squad of troopers into battle against Darth Malgus' Sith army on Alderaan. Needless to say, he became an instant favorite with Star Wars fans. He has now been named Jace Malcom and provided with a background story. Everybody was excited when the figure was announced and well, here he is: The figure is nicely detailed with crisp paint applications, no doubt about it. It will look very cool on the shelf and many people will probably mistake him for a Clone Trooper or a Stormtrooper. Except for the hips and the wrists he is all ball-jointed, no articulation in the waist, though. Personally, I would have preferred him to come with ball-jointed hips, too, so he could be brought into the stance we see him firing his huge Blaster cannon. One thing is very nice: his shoulders have an amazing range of movement, something which most figures with sculpted-on shoulder armor do not have. His elbow range of movement sadly is somewhat limited. You won't be able to bring him to shoulder a rifle without modifying his arms. Compared to other Star Wars figures, his range of accessories is impressive: removeable helmet, removeable crossbelt with shoulder armor attached, a knife sheath with removeable knife and a removeable ammo pouch. The pistol we see him use in the game trailer fits nicely into the holster on his left hip and the gunbelt can be removed when you pop off his torso. There is a little hole on his crossbelt and on the right side of his gunbelt into which you can stick the knife sheath and the ammo pouch. On the stock figure, I would put the knife on his belt and the pouch on the crossbelt since the knife sheath is a little bulky. I'm sure, though, that those collectors with some GI JOE parts in their fodder box will be able to find a slimmer knife sheath which will work better on his crossbelt to attain the look the Trooper has in the game trailer. I'm not too sure about the dimensions and shape of the Blaster cannon, don't think it is game accurate. It is made of too soft a plastic as far as I am concerned and I think I will shorten it or replace it with another bulky weapon altogether. Altogether he's too much of a nice figure to pass on him, so despite the little flaws here and there, I won't hesitate to recommend him.

Star Wars - Clone Corporal Aitch

Another figure I like as a basic figure for customs is the Gelagrub Patrol Trooper. On this one I took the softgoods kama and gunbelt off and replaced it with the belt/harness/shoulder armor of a Commander Neyo figure. I gave him the rifle from a Marvel Universe Cable figure, but he looks sharp with a DC-15 rifle or carbine, too. Here's Clone Corporal Aitch:

Star Wars - Clone Commander Arrow

I went through my parts box today and found a TAC Clone Commander as well as a TVC AOTC Clone Trooper. Off came the pauldron and the belt/kama from the Commander and went onto the Trooper. I also added a spare rangefinder to the Trooper's Phase 1 helmet to create one of the Clone Commanders who received ARC Trooper training after the Battle of Geonosis. I like the combination of the Phase 1 armor which starts to show individual touches by adding coloured markings, pauldrons and kamas. Here's Clone Commander Arrow:

Knights of the Old Republic - Shadows of Corruption

When it comes to fan-made films, there are those filmed with the cam of a mobile phone to semi-professional productions that have the look and feel of Lucasfilms. This one is definitely awesome. I found it on youtube - no, I ccannot take any credit for this movie. Enjoy.

Star Wars - Alliance Special Forces Brigade Officer

Was it Spudafett whon said that GI JOE was the best thing that ever happened to Star Wars customizing? Guess he was right. This Rebel Alliance Special Forces Brigade Officer, Codename: ROCK, consists of the torso, crotch and upper arms of a 25th Clutch, lower arms of a POC Recondo, head from a RET Roadblock (likeness of actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), legs from a Resolute Flint, vest from a Marvel Captain America, helmet from a Rebel Endor Commando, gunbelt from a TVC Luke in Bespin uniform, demolitions kit from a ROC Firefly and the rifle from a 30th Law. Again, it is a no-paint kitbash. I wanted the Commando Officer to have the rugged look of a seasoned fighter and therefore went for the Bantha hide vest and the muscular lower arms with the gauntlet and the cloth wrap.

Star Wars - Sgt. Kane, 41st Long Range Reconnaissance Platoon

Sergeant Kane is an original character created for the non-canon 41st Long Range Reconnaissance Platoon. It would be safe to assume that the Grand Army of the Republic had other specialized units besides the ARC Troopers, Republic Commandos and ARF Troopers, so I came up with the 41st LRRP unit. Hooah! He has been spliced together from an TVC AT-RT Driver and a ROTS Commander Gree figure using the boil'n pop method. Helmet, head, torso, upper legs - TVC AT-RT Driver Arms, lower legs - ROTS Commander Gree Holster - Marvel Universe Black Widow Pistol - Marauder Gun Runners Carbine - custom made from the stock and breech of a DC-15 rifle and the barrel and optics of an ARC Trooper rifle Hatchet - GI JOE POC Recondo