Saga-065 Elite Corps Clone Trooper (aka BARC)

[ruiner]

Accuracy is always good (especially in a world of $7-$15 figures) but I'm not one to open my figures and then bust out the calipers and encyclopedias

The thing that pisses me off (while also making me happy) is the fact that we get the VTSC mold for $7 after paying $10 for it just this year.

KEEP YOUR CLAMSHELL AND SELL US VOTC/VTSC FOR $7.00

[Darth Broem]

Well anyway I am quite excited to get this figure.  It looks fine to me but will admit I don't know exactly what is inaccurate about it and all that.  Ignorance is bliss I suppose.  Yeah, the VTSC thing is supposed to be something "special" and they give you a clamshell and you buy into the nostaglia, etc.  At least they only do a few of those things a year it seems like. 

Anything is better than that BARC trooper they had on the shelves IMO. 

[speedermike]

Y'know, this whole accuracy thing is just getting funny.  I guess why it bothers me so much is that I just  notice it.  I don't need encyclopedias or anything. I'm 38, and was in 9th grade when Jedi came out.  I drooled over the Biker Scouts-we thought that they were the coolest things ever.

So when I see a BARC, I just see the differences.  Plain and simple.

[Fritzkrieg]

I'll pick up a couple but I won't By them for Kashyyk clones, I'll use them as Camo Imperial Scouts. If the Sculpt was accurate I'd have bought fifty and Mixed them in with my Wookie Army.

[CHEWIE]

Here's the real kick in the nuts - one per case!

Knowing Hasbro they might actually do that.  This sucker should be 3 per case and repacked in several waves.

Regarding accuracy, so much of the prequel trilogy to me isn't holy like the OT as far as details go, so if it's only the helmet that is really new, I'm fine with that.

I've decided I want to have at least 20 of these now.

 

[Jesse James]

Wow, this thread wasn't...  pretty.

Since I'm coming in late I'm just going to lay down somewhat of a reprimand.  Leave personal insults and jabbing out of your discussions.  That goes for ALL involved in this thread since I saw some borderline stuff going on...

Spectre, I'm going to have to also point out that coming down on people who have a complaint about toys around here isn't going to earn you much favor with the staff...  The fact is, this is a toy collecting forum and complaints are what drives the line forward in quality.  If there's accuracy issues, I think they're completely valid things to bring up as complaints same as I think lacking knee articulation is a valid complaint in 2006's modern line irregardless of what Hasbro's logistics issues are...

That's neither here nor there to me as I'm the consumer.  I didn't go to school for business to not understand that Hasbro's in it to make money and I don't think anyone else here is lacking that acceptance either...  But that also doesn't mean that as consumers you cannot cite what's right, wrong, or in between with the way Hasbro does the modern line.  To me, accuracy can be very important depending on the detail...  And as many others pointed out, Hasbro's set precedents that they strive for accuracy...  To slack "just because" does then become an issue.  To me standards are a hot issue with Hasbro ALL the time.

Case-in-point is the Commander Gree just acceptable to you because some "inaccuracies" are acceptable?  I'm guessing no...  And the "well fix it if you're a customizer" excuse you gave to Fritz I personally found to be a little condescending on your part.  A $7 action figure shouldn't HAVE to have an equal or higher cost to "fix" it. 

I will say, this figure is still too early IMO to say if it's gonna be accurate or not...  That said, that figure pictured had a new headsculpt, and I'm not going to expect it to change a whole lot because in MY EXPERIENCE with the Toy Industry, what you see is often a very close estimation to what you're going to get..  So I wholely do expect a repaint of the VOTC Biker Scout with minor changes to the head perhaps but not much else.  I'll be happy to be surprised if it is an all-new (Super Articulated) sculpt though and I'd welcome it.  I just don't expect it.

Now, my personal opinion...  I personally will be ok, more or less, with the figure if he has a proper helmet since it was the most notable difference to me.  The extra packs and things I'd really like...  If Hasbro were actually crafty about it we'd see the packs as add-on accessories that snap on.  I'd love that myself...

For me, I'm probably going to be picking this figure up in some bulk...  Just based on the CC shot is my meaning there.  If it's an even more accurate figure my purchases may increase, I'm not sure.  I kind of liked the prelim shots but then again I'm not a Kashyyyk Clone expert either to have cited all those little costume differences.  I knew the visor, some random extra packs...  That was about it though, so that custom a few pages back actually is shockingly different to me.  Goes to show how much I pay attention to the Clone details I guess.

[speedermike]

Jesse, thanks for approacching this in such a level headed way. Your comments are always weel thought out and diplomatic.

I agree about "complaining." I's needed in any business...if we didn't complain back in 1995, we'd still be getting He-Man sculpts!

[DoctorPadawan]

This has probably already been mentioned (and I hope I'm not opening a just-closed can of worms), but I just dug out the VTSC Scout Trooper, the ROTS BARC Trooper pack-in, and the Chronicles: The Prequels book to do a quick rundown of the differences in the armor between the BARCs and the Scout Troopers.  I would like to say that as long as the head is changed (and it appears to be from the photos at SDCC), I won't have a problem with this figure at all.  Much like Gree, the only thing I really found objectionable was the helmet paint, so there you go.  This is for informational purposes only:

Helmet:  The BARC's helmet overall is slightly modified, with a larger visor and the angle of the chin portion is not as triangular as the ROTJ scout's chin (the BARC's is more trapezoidal in shape)

Chest Armor:  Slight differences, most akin to the differences between the Stormtroopers of the OT having the "blocky" layout and the prequel Clones having a more curved layout in the chest plates

Packs:  As mentioned before, the BARCs have more pockets on their midsections, but the overall composition of the waist seems to be very similar. 

Codpiece:  The BARCs have an actual codpiece along the lines of Jango or Boba Fett's (triangular) whereas the Scout Troopers have that "crotch diaper" looking thing.  Again, not a huge difference.

Gloves:  The BARCs have the little green "back of the hand" protectors whereas the Scouts just have black gloves.

Thighs:  The BARCs have some inner thigh armor that the Scouts don't have (an interesting note is that, at least on mine, the ROTS BARC's thigh armor isn't painted green as it is in the film).

Shins:  Where the Biker Scouts have the plain looking white boots, the BARC's boots are textured and seem to have actual armor on them.  Also, the BARC has no ankle holster.

Again, this is just what I saw, but like I said, the head seems to be fixed and that's good enough for me.   

[Nicklab]

This is probably my favorite Clone Trooper from ROTS.  Boy, was I surprised to see it show up in the Hasbro presentation last week.  More to the point, I was happy to see it.  Especially after the denials about it in Hasbro's Q&A sessions.

I can definitely see that there have only been some minor modifications to this Clone from the base figure of the VTSC Scout Trooper.   The helmet was definitely the biggest difference that I noticed, and I'm glad to see that they modified the visor for this.  I'm not the biggest supporter of repaints, but the VTSC Scout Trooper is quite a good figure to repaint.

Is this sculpt perfect?  No.  But I'm willing to live with this tradeoff until Hasbro can make a more movie accurate version.  The VTSC Scout Trooper is an excellent figure to begin with, so I'm not disappointed to get a slightly modified version of that to fill out the ranks of my Kashyyyk troops.

[speedermike]

" But I'm willing to live with this tradeoff until Hasbro can make a more movie accurate version. "

What makes everyone think that we'll actually get a "true" sculpt of this character?
If people go nuts and but 20 of a sculpt that they're not really satisfied with, why should Hasbro make a new sculpt?

It took Hasbro 10 years to re-make R5-D4!

[Nicklab]

You quoted me very selectively there.  And as I recall a staff member mentioning earlier in the thread, try talking critically about the figure and not other members who are voicing their opinions.

[Dressel Rebel]

This is probably my favorite Clone Trooper from ROTS.  Boy, was I surprised to see it show up in the Hasbro presentation last week.  More to the point, I was happy to see it.  Especially after the denials about it in Hasbro's Q&A sessions.

I can definitely see that there have only been some minor modifications to this Clone from the base figure of the VTSC Scout Trooper.   The helmet was definitely the biggest difference that I noticed, and I'm glad to see that they modified the visor for this.  I'm not the biggest supporter of repaints, but the VTSC Scout Trooper is quite a good figure to repaint.

Is this sculpt perfect?  No.  But I'm willing to live with this tradeoff until Hasbro can make a more movie accurate version.  The VTSC Scout Trooper is an excellent figure to begin with, so I'm not disappointed to get a slightly modified version of that to fill out the ranks of my Kashyyyk troops.

I mentioned earlier in this thread, I blew the BARC shown at Comic Con up to a huge size, and I don't see any differences with the VTSC scout at all, including the helmet.  I think it's a straight repaint of the VTSC.

[speedermike]

Nicklab, I was focusing on what you said about being happy with one product while waiting for a better one.  I don't think I skewed your statement at all.  I didn't mean any harm.

[Nicklab]

I mentioned earlier in this thread, I blew the BARC shown at Comic Con up to a huge size, and I don't see any differences with the VTSC scout at all, including the helmet.  I think it's a straight repaint of the VTSC.

Frankly I can't say that I know what your comments were or that I care about what you've posted.  I'm making my own critique based on what I've seen.  Your troll-like need to chime in other people's opinions is tiresome.  It's certainly had the effect of dragging this forum down like the otheR place.

[Artoo]

KEEP YOUR CLAMSHELL AND SELL US VOTC/VTSC FOR $7.00

Bad idea, there'd be pegs of card backs with no figures.