Once again, I'm working my way up through this case, and the 41st Elite Clone was getting some negative vibes from the online community so I figured I'd open him earlier rather than later.
That said... I was impressed with it.
PROS:
-Sculpt... At this point, collectors seem to have accepted this new Clone Mega Articulated sculpt as the pinnacle of Clone sculpts. I'm fine with that too. I find him too tall, and slightly lanky for my liking. I find the old "SA Clone" sculpt sufficient for a variety of reasons and will never shelve them. But this sculpt is solid.
There's a crispness to it you can't deny, and the hidden shoulder joints are a thing of beauty. Hasbro used that on many a figure since then, and it's really a nice way to hide joints on figures who are armored up.
The style of sculpting at all the joints gives them a greater range of motion too. You can't argue that as a major positive to the sculpt.
This Trooper rocks a basic Clone mug, and I appreciate that, and that they're trying to give us a couple age/hair styles for Clone sculpts as well, and all seem to swap nicely, so you can have a little mix/match thing going on. As much an oxymoron as it is, you can have diversity among your Clone Troopers.
Likewise, he rocks a bucket for over his mug, and the helmet is fine to me... Some will tell you children weep at seeing it in the toy aisles, and I'll tell you I don't believe them. No kid's caring because a helmet's slightly too big, or looks warped to a collector's eye.
Is it flawless? No. Is it sufficient for intended purpose? To me, yes. I have no problem displaying this figure with helmet on or off, and I like having that choice.
It's not perfect, but it's not the horror some say it is. Sorry. It's adequate.
-Paint Aps... Not to be confused with paint ap accuracy, the aps are pretty solid. Far superior to the Stormtrooper I just looked at from the same wave.
The eyes, the hair line, and the black body glove details are all crisp. The grey lines of the 41st Elite Trooper's armor appears pretty perfect and even too.
Some will say why aren't there any markings of battle damage? To them I say, it's because Hasbro's cheap and it's only going to happen on commanders if we're lucky I'd guess.
-Accessories... The Trooper rocks a removable bucket and a blaster rifle... I'm a little disappointed we only get one blaster with this trooper, but I'm happy we get a removable brain bucket and a gun. I have so many extras, I'm not even caring right now that I didn't get the big rifle most Clones come with. Slight cheap-out on Hasbro's part though, yes.
-Articulation... It's flawless. If you complain about this articulation, feel free to hang up your cool card at the door on the way out.
CONS:
-Paint Accuracy... Now, I'm not a 41st Elite Clone expert... I just noticed these douchebags in the background for the most part on a landing platform in the background. I don't know what is/isn't 100% accurate about the grey stripes on this Clone, but I do know that the paintjob isn't accurate.
So that makes this a negative... I can't say I care though. Actually, I can 100% say I don't care at this point because these Clones did nothing in this armor, and it was really unimportant. This figure was filler to flesh out a case. I'm happy with him. He'll stand next to other versions of the same guy I already have.
![Undecided :-\](https://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/Smileys/classic/undecided.gif)
If this were a 212th, or a Clone Commander, or a 501st, or some other much more important and prominent Clone, I think it's a far more important issue.
-Price... $9.99+ sucks.
OVERALL:
So again, I say if you're a kid wanting a Clone, this is ideal. It's superior to the $6 Clones out there in every way. It's a much more "fun" toy. As a child, I posed figures... GI Joe overtook Star Wars quickly in my life, and so as a child today I'm sure I'd rather have 2 of this Clone in my life than 4 or 5 of the unarticulated Clones.
Hasbro sold 3-packs of unposeable clones in dynamic poses... Visually appealing. They sold for a brief time but ultimately failed and were overtaken by articulated figures. To me, if I were a kid now, I'd just save up and get these nicer ones I guess.
That said, do you really care about THIS Clone? Like the Stormtrooper, if you don't have a Clone or this particular Clone's legion at all in your collection, you probably will want to pick one of these Troopers up... If not, look for one of the older and less expensive ones on the secondary market because they're about the same.
Is it worth $10? I'd say no, and if I hadn't bought a case, I'd likely not have bought this figure. Since he came in my case though, he's going into the collection. At least he's an army builder and will blend into the background nicely.