Months after the holidays and Star Wars Action figures are the only toy products currently not up to date in most toy aisles across the nation. Before most collectors have successfully landed the final Saga assortments, after months of having empty pegs, Toys 'R' Us inexplicably drops tons of these Army builders on starved collectors. We will examine these latest offerings that come complete with a new wrapper. Hasbro has been unloading Stormtroopers, Rebel Troopers, Sandtroopers and Endor Rebel Soldiers on us in white mailer boxes for months. They finally decided to cash in on what collectors have been asking for, more bang for your buck.


First up is the Clone Trooper Army. With the flooding of the bootleg Clone Troopers last winter, Hasbro shows up a day late, but not a dollar short for a change. You receive three semi-articulate Clone Troopers. Whether he’s crouching, standing or lying, any of these are a welcome addition to most people’s collection. Maybe not a big thrill for carded buffs, but loose collectors aren’t wondering how much they cost, rather how many they will find. I still prefer the marching style we reviewed on 1-23-03. These are a great idea and I like the idea of giving us something a little fancier than a white box. They will probably make both dirty and clean versions to appease collectors. I think maybe they do hear some of our cries. One can never have too many Clone Troopers, or any other Trooper for that matter. Unless of course it is the Tantive IV Rebel Trooper again, and I don’t care what color his hair is. This is an excellent collector-friendly move on the part of the Big 'H'. While this is all fine and dandy for the Republic Army, they offered even more to the Separatist Forces.

The Droid Army again unloads three semi-articulate figures on us. Only this time it is a Super Battle Droid, Battle Droid (Red), and Destroyer Droid. All seem to be a cheaper mold versus previous releases. With a possible exception to the Red Battle Droid. The head comes off perfect and snaps back on securely (Did they finally get that right?). The torso splits in half like many of the newer Battle Droid but this one actually can stand quite well by itself. Makes me wonder why they dropped those crappy white ones on us back on 4/23/03. The Super Battle Droid is new mold as well as the Battle Droid. Limited movement and substandard paint jobs cover these bad boys as well. You would think they had enough of all of these figures laying around still in Saga packages. Many stores still have stocks of the Destroyer Droid as well as many different Super Battle Droid. I still would rather see these army builders opposed to some of the 'Exclusive' 4-packs that soon will keep shelves warm across the country. It is nice they put out something to have a little fun with.

The Destroyer Droid Battle Droid launcher delivers just that. Fun, and another one of the sub-par Destroyer Droid, in addition to the rolled up version. In case you Troops missed the rolling one that came with the R2-D2 carry all back in the Episode 1 line. That is a heck of a thing about Hasbro; they use every mold at least three times. The launcher is so easy. Simply insert the rolled up version and pull the thumb tab and watch it rip threw your Clone Troopers! It is good to see that if there is that one in ten children that actually buys and opens these may actually get something that works and could be entertaining for about six and a half minutes. Overall these sets have more upside than anything I could think to say negative about them. You will get much more use out of these, at least you get two more figures in two of the sets. Would you rather have all of the worthless crap that they 'threw in' the Target Accessory packs? I didn’t think so.

- THUMBS UP

SANDWATCH FIGURE EMPHASIS:
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" The digits . . . "

Clone Wars Multi-packs Asst. No. 84845

Clone Trooper Army , Item No. 84987 , Backing Card P/N 6235500000 , Window Insert P/N 624463000 , Date code 31291 (1st shift on 129th day of 2003; can be unique for different samples of the same figure) ) , UPC 76930 84987

Droid Army , Item No. 84992 , Backing Card P/N 62355000200 , Window Insert P/N 6246700100 , Date code 31271 (1st shift on 127th day of 2003; can be unique for different samples of the same figure) ) , UPC 76930 84992

Destroyer Droid Battle Launcher , Item No. 84988 , Backing Card P/N 62355000100 , Window Insert P/N 6246700000 , Date code 31271 (1st shift on 127th day of 2003; can be unique for different samples of the same figure) ) , UPC 76930 84988

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