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'06 | #68 Combat Engineer  (Clone Trooper) - Episode III RotS (Reviewed 1-04-2006) 

Includes:
• Blaster Pistol
• Removable Helmet
• Base 

Click thumbnail for large image Spice: The tail end of this wave features some of the most sought after Clone Troopers from Revenge of the Sith. The Combat Engineer will be a hot property unless Hasbro had enough foresight to produce these in a mass quantity. While we are once again saddled with a Trooper that saw very minimal screen time, you can be assured that will not hold any water for die-hard Clone Trooper army builders. What is even more disturbing could be the time for change in packaging, combined with the infestation of the Greatest Battles collection, we could have a legitimate hard-to-find action figure!

Click thumbnail for large image For the most part you are looking at recycled parts that have been blended together wonderfully to create what might be one of the better Clones ever. The AT-TE Gunner helmet and head work quite well but I feel the biggest improvement made was the shoulder articulation, combined with swiveling and bending elbow joints. You can bet the ground forces will not lack any sort of positioning problems. Another noticeable change is the moveable ammo belt.  It doesn't come off so you do not have to worry about losing it, which in my book is a plus.

Click thumbnail for large image I couldn't find a flaw in any of the lower body or legs but I'm still wondering why this Trooper has the removable bucket. I'm confused that Troopers had intelligence enough to develop personalities (Commander Appo, Bacura) but Hasbro wasn't intelligent enough to know collectors would want that feature. For some reason they felt the grunts deserved this more and the Combat Engineer got lucky and to my surprise the helmet comes off! The biggest let down could be these Troopers are for heavy artillery units such as HAVw-class turbo tanks and SPHA-T mobile turbolasers but Hasbro has been very adamant in stating they won't be making larger scale vehicles and playsets. This is much to the intelligent Star Wars collectors dismay.

Spice - It's good to see them going back to give us many different Clones from perhaps the greatest of the prequels. I think there is no doubt many of you will want these in your collections.

(Figure '06 | #068, Asst. No. 87348, Item No. 85770, Backing Card P/N 6495806400, Window Insert P/N 6616350000) 

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