I guess I think the shadow concept of troops is lame.
To be fair, a black Commando's been a pretty well received thing in EU lore though... But I agree, I could do without the "Shadow Scout", the "Shadow Clone" and the like. Even teh Shadow Stormtrooper was testing my patience despite being in actual EU materials... The "slap some black paint on it" concept works for a time, but on things like the SDCC scout, it's really just overpriced gimmicking (It isn't accurate to a Storm Commando, so for me that's as bad a figure attempt as Gree was, or the 41st Elite Trooper, neither of which was an accurate sculpt).
The Commando's presence in a novel (I believe that are its origins) though sort of eases that sour taste of the "black paint gimmick" as it were. I'm not in the camp though that is soured on the set with a few clone repaints mixed into it...
However, part of my easy-going-attitude on this set right now is A) the price, B) hope, and C) a general acceptance of some "made up" repainting on Clones, astromechs, and things of that ilk. I'm the kind of guy that doesn't mind getting a couple extra purple Mace Clones, or orange AT-RT Drivers for his shelves... I'm easy like that I guess.
At the same time I have my limits as well... If the set turned out to be nothing but made up clone repaints the rest of the way through, like an orange #33 Commander repaint, etc., etc. Then I think my patience on this set would wear out, and my business-sense would kick in where I would have to ask myself if buying the whole thing is worth it, or if I should just try to track down the Mandalorian figs separate and wash my hands of it...
I'm in a weird spot though where stuff like this set intrigues me if nothing else, and I'm kinda cool with it, but at the same time I see how slippery a slope sets like this could become. At the same time it could yield future greatness too.
Who, exactly, is writing the back story to this set and the characters (names, jobs, etc.) involved in it? I'm curious about that... Is it Hasbro? Is Lucasfilm feeding the "story"? I'm a little perplexed on all that jazz.