Monday 27 September 2021

Toybox REVIEW: Star Wars Black Series Arc Trooper Echo

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Release Date: May 2021
RRP: $24.99/£24.99

As part of the Lucasfilm 50th anniversary celebrations Hasbro announced a selection of special Star Wars: The Clone Wars releases - not only providing fans with many variant characters they've been asking for for years, but in special packaging based on the original Clone Wars toy line no less. It wouldn't be a Clone Wars range without some clone troopers, and what better choice than the long awaited release of Black Series Arc Trooper Echo. Originally designated CT-1409, Echo was a clone trooper that served bravely alongside the 501st Legion as part of the Advanced Recon Commandos. He was thought to have met his end during a mission to rescue Jedi Master Even Piell, however it was later revealed that he survived - transformed into a cyborg by the Techo Union and used as a pawn by the Separatist Forces. Echo was eventually rescued, and after turning the tide of victory with his cybernetic capabilities became the newest member of Clone Force 99 - the Bad Batch.

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Like the other figures in this special range of releases Arc Trooper Echo comes in some very nostalgic Star Wars: The Clone Wars packaging - a Black Series-sized throwback to the original 2008 toys. This consists of a backing card in the shape of a Phase 1 clone trooper helmet, with a rounded blister and inner card sporting the character name/artwork and Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary logo. Though I'm personally not a fan of packaging you can't open without having to destroy, it's certainly a good way of making these figures stand out and draw in fans nostalgic for those old figures. It's just a shame that otherwise the packaging is actually pretty plain - just a Lucasfilm 50th anniversary Star Wars timeline on the back and an image of Echo from the series on the inner card. The lack of bio really stands out since they're such a prominent piece on standard Black Series packaging, and Echo is a character there is plenty to say about.

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Arc Trooper Echo uses the new Black Series clone trooper body introduced at the end of last year, but sports a whole wealth of new Arc Trooper armour parts. These include an additional chest piece with shoulder pauldrons, new wrist gauntlets, a skirt piece with additional pouches, thicker boots and a highly detailed backpack piece. Like all clone troopers the body armour is moulded in white plastic with black undersuit pieces, although there is plenty of light grey, dark grey and blue paint added to make the Arc Trooper design really pop. All the paint apps have been applied nice and sharply, with Hasbro clearly doing their best to justify that $5 price increase these figures have even if the base bodies aren't new. Echo includes a removable helmet with articulated range finder, which like the body armour sports crisp paint markings. Under that helmet is a human head sculpt - one of the first we've seen on the new clone body despite them all having moulded heads under their helmets. Since the Temuera Morrison head is one that gets rolled out ford so many releases its one that Hasbro had to get right really, so it's pleasing to say that the likeness here is pretty spot on. All in all Arc Trooper Echo is an excellent looking release - a clone that packs a little more punch than your average trooper.

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While Clone Pilot Hawk was a curious figure that adopted elements of both the old and new trooper bodies, Arc Trooper Echo on the other hand is straight up new body. Altogether he features;
- Ball jointed head, neck, torso and hips
- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and ankles
- Butterfly joint shoulders
Though it's a shame to lose those double hinged elbows again, it is nice to see the butterfly joints back in their place - giving the shoulders some much needed additional motion which makes up for the smaller elbow bend. However the problem with Echo isn't so much the joints used on the figure but rather the Arc Trooper armour - or more specifically whoever at Hasbro thought it was a good idea to give Echo a soft plastic skirt piece with cross-binding at the front of it. Whether or not it looks better than soft goods is a matter of opinion, but the problem here is that the soft plastic pushes back against so much of the hip articulation that you're extremely limited on what Echo can do waist-down. You can still get some decent action poses out of him, but certainly less than you would any other clone trooper release. A shame, but obviously Hasbro didn't want to release a figure that was too perfect.

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Whereas Hawk was light on the accessories, Echo is positively armed to the teeth - coming with pretty much every weapon we've seen included with clone troopers in the past. This includes the standard issue DC-15S blaster rifle, DC-15A long range rifle and a pair of DC-17 hand blasters. If you've bought any of the Black Series clone trooper releases in the past all of these accessories will be more than familiar to you, but if Echo is your first then you've pretty much got the whole armoury in one comfortable release. Each of the weapons is moulded in black plastic with no paint apps to speak of, but plenty of moulded detailing to give them proper shape. As with all clone troopers, Echo's right hand has a moulded trigger finger which allows it to comfortably grip onto all three weapon types, whilst the left hand is designed to comfortable grip the barrel on both rifles. When not in use, the hand blasters can be stored in the holsters on either side of Echo's belt.

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Black Series Arc Trooper Echo is quite possibly the best clone trooper figure we've ever had in the Black Series. Between the fantastic body design, near-flawless head sculpt and armoury of accessories it's almost perfect. However Hasbro being Hasbro just had to fumble it at the final hurdle, and as brilliant as this figure is that soft plastic skirt spoils the hip (and overall leg) articulation in a way that's pretty hard to ignore. Arc Trooper Echo is also unlucky in that its release comes as one of the worst times possible - years Black Series collectors have waited for an Arc Trooper, and now when Echo finally comes rolling along The Bad Batch has aired and fans are waiting for a different version of Echo to complete the Clone Force 99 lineup. There's nothing to say that the release of Arc Trooper Echo is holding up the Bad Batch version, but nevertheless he also happens to be the only one that hasn't been announced yet. But enough about what's eventually coming, even with its flaws Arc Trooper is a great figure and an even greater addition to your 501st legion.

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