Release Date: June 2023
RRP: $27.99/£29.99
If there's one thing Hasbro will never run out of when it comes to Star Wars figures in both the Black Series and Vintage Collection, it's clone trooper variants. And while they've certainly been pumping them out over the last few years (particularly since they have an all-new body to work with), it's been nice to see some of the named troopers from Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as the different coloured battalions. One such example is clone trooper CT-5597 aka Jesse - an ARC Trooper lieutenant that served as part of 501st Legion. Fighting many battles alongside Anakin Skywalker, Captain Rex and Ahsoka Tano, sadly Jesse was one of the troopers that succumbed to Order 66's brainwashing - turning against Ahsoka before perishing when their ship crashed into a moon. Black Series Clone Commander Jesse was released as a Walmart exclusive in the US and via the Hasbro "fan channel" in other territories.
"Hard-fighting patrol Jesse proudly wears the cog-shaped symbol of the Galactic Republic on his helmet. But after the execution of Order 66, Jesse displays blind loyalty to the Emperor."
As part of their bid to become more environmentally friendly, these last few waves of Black Series figures (along with several other collector lines like Transformers Legacy and Power Rangers Lightning Collection) have seen Hasbro switch to a plastic-free variety of packaging. As far as the Black Series is concerned, the shape of the packaging remains the same - only now the clear window/tray part of the box has been replaced with a cardboard cover featuring a stock image of the figure in a basic action pose. The arrangement of all the logos and wording remains the same, as does the yellow colouring used to denote all Star Wars: The Clone Wars figures within the line. The sloped side of the box contains the usual connecting mural artwork, whilst the standard side (once simply featuring the side of the tray) now has another image of the figure denoting its height and accessories. The back of the box has also slightly changed, now featuring the same action figure image from the front of the box rather than the mural artwork. It's a bit of a shame as the mural artwork is of course considerably better, but at least the character bio hasn't been lost. Inside the box though marks the biggest change of all, with the figure (and accessories) now locked into a cardboard tray - wrapped in paper for additional protection. Collectors that open their figures might not mind the shift too much (especially if they also throw the packaging away), but it has become much harder to check for copies with the best QC if you buy in physical stores. Not to worry though - this change in packaging proved so unpopular with collectors that Hasbro have already dropped it and will eventually be going back to the more familiar design (albeit a little more environmentally-friendly...somehow) with forthcoming releases.
Clone Commander Jesse reuses the body originally seen with the ARC Trooper Echo figure, which was subsequently reused for both the Phase 1 ARC Trooper and Umbra Trooper figures. Despite hailing from the same legion the colour placement on Jesse's armour is very different to what was previously seen on Echo though - with grey gauntlets as opposed to blue and more blue on the lower legs. The skirt also has a grey trim as opposed to Echo's thick blue shapes. The chest pouch is also on the opposite side here as well. Overall it's a really good looking figure with lots of paint apps - a lot "cleaner" looking than some of the older clone trooper releases but that's the general aesthetic for these newer mould figures so it's not like Jesse looks out of place. The helmet also looks great with its Republic emblem adorning the dome, however keen-eyed Star Wars fans will be quick to note that the helmet isn't entirely accurate to how it appears in the series. Not only should the helmet not have a range finder to match how it appeared in Clone Wars' final season (though to be fair this can just be popped off), but the raised section along the top of the helmet shouldn't tail off into a raised section at the end, instead just running at the same height along the length of the helmet. These inaccuracies are a byproduct of simply reusing the existing helmet rather than remoulding a new one, and as such is sadly often to be expected with Hasbro a lot of time. That said, they managed to get the shape of the helmet right on the box artwork which is a little bit irksome. Under the helmet though is something much better, with the head sculpt sporting a fantastic likeness of Temuera Morrison as well as superb printing on his Republic emblem tattoo. There have been a lot of clone troopers with a lot of variants of Temuera's face, but this has to be one of the best ones.
Sharing the same body as the previous ARC trooper releases that means Jesse features both the good and the bad from those figures when it comes to articulation as well. Altogether he has;
- Ball jointed head, neck, torso and hips
- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and ankles
- Butterfly joint shoulders
Now there are a lot of things to like about this "new" clone trooper body. For a start the shoulders work like a dream - not just because of the much-needed addition of a butterfly joint. but also just for shoulder pauldrons that are soft enough to either bend with or move out of the way of the shoulder joints when moving the arms. Likewise the ball jointed head, neck and torso add plenty of movement to the top half of the figure. But all that good is immediately undone with just how badly the legs have been handled. As was the case with Echo, the soft plastic skirt combined with the cross-binding running across the front restricts the hip articulation almost entirely. You can alleviate it a bit with those swivel hinge knees and ankles, but certainly not to the level a clone trooper figure should have. Hasbro use soft goods on the Black Series all the time (even with the clones themselves), so why they didn't think it would be a good option here is just baffling.
Despite the rising price point of these figures, accessory counts still remain fairly low. Other than his helmet all Jesse comes with is a pair DC-17 Blaster pistols, which can be stored in the belt's twin holsters when not in use. These are a staple with a lot of clone trooper variants (and as always, despite having two guns only the right hand sports a moulded trigger finger), moulded in black plastic with no paint apps but some moulded detail. It's a somewhat comprehensive accessory count for Jesse in that as long as he has some weapons all is good, but given that the lower priced ARC Trooper Echo figure came with two DC-17s, DC-15S blaster rifle AND DC-15A long range rifle it's a little disheartening. Maybe Jesse just has a much bigger paint app count that ate into the budget for the figure more, or maybe it's just Hasbro being Hasbro and releasing figures with the bare minimum even though all the parts required have already been produced. Both feel like equally plausible scenarios.
As one of the more memorable named clones from The Clone Wars as well as having such a big part in its final episodes, Black Series Clone Commander Jesse should have been a fantastic release, but once again it's a case of a lot of little things adding up to make a somewhat disappointing package overall. Whether its the somewhat limited release of the figure (though this seems to be more of a problem in the US than anywhere else), the minor inaccuracies in the armour, the limited lower body articulation, the minimal accessories or just the higher price tag. These are all things that could bring down a figure on their own, and they're all present here. The sculpt and colours may be great (inaccuracies aside) and Jesse will make a fine addition to anyone's clone trooper collection, but there's little here to make Jesse stand out as anything other than "another" clone trooper.
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