Star Wars 442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper

The 442nd Siege Battalion was a unit of clone troopers within the Grand Army of the Republic. As their name implied, the 442nd were skilled in besieging enemy fortifications. They were equipped with AT-RT walkers and ISP speeders with green markings. During the Clone Wars, they were sent to aid in the capture of Cato Neimoidia, a key Trade Federation stronghold.

It is possible that this unit takes its designation from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a highly-decorated unit of the US Army consisting mostly of Nisei volunteers. These Japanese-American soldiers earned many honors fighting in brutal close-quarters and mountain combat in Italy during World War II. (source: wookiepedia)

The 442nd was a self-sufficient force, and fought with uncommon distinction in Italy, southern France, and Germany. The unit became the most highly–decorated regiment in the history of the United States armed forces, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients. The motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was “Go for Broke.”

Here's another Sideshow Collectibles clone trooper from their Star Wars Militaries series - the 1/6 scale 442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper has the same armor as all the other earlier released clone troopers including the Phase II helmet but with a different color scheme.

You can pre-order this Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale 442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper 12-inch figure at TFH till it closes on 11-12-2011. Launch date is expected to be in the 2nd Quarter 2012.

Star Wars Republic Clone Captain

Sideshow is certainly keeping up with their clones. Having previewed the Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale 442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper 12-inch figure in the previous post, here's a first look at the Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars Republic Clone Captain 12-inch figure.

The Clone Wars, also known as the Clone War and the Great Clone War, was the name given to the major galactic conflict fought between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The war was named after the clone troopers utilized by the Republic against the battle droid forces of the CIS. These armies, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Separatist Droid Army, were two of the largest ever pitted against each other in galactic history, and the fighting between them rapidly spread to countless inhabited worlds.

During the Clone Wars, the clone trooper captain was a specialized clone trooper breed which was bred on Kamino as battlefield officers and special mission operatives.

At the start of the war, clone trooper captains were recognized by the red markings on their helmets and torso armor, but as the war progressed, clone trooper armor became more customized and red marking not longer signified the rank of captain.

This is Sideshow Collectibles offering of the 1/6 scale Republic Clone Captain 12-inch figure from their Star Wars Militaries line. It is a clone trooper captain of the Grand Army of the Republic in Phase I clone trooper armor. The most obvious difference between Phase I and Phase II armor is the helmet.

The clone troopers were an army of identical, genetically-modified clones, created to serve in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars.

The armor was loosely based on the design of Jango Fett's Mandalorian shock trooper armor. The most notable feature of Mandalorian influence in the armor's design was the helmet's distinctive T-shaped visor.

The full uniform consisted of twenty plastoid armor plates, attached to a black body glove. Other aspects of the armor included the helmet's breath filter, a utility belt and the boots' high-traction soles.

Click on the picture for a bigger and better view :)

At the beginning of the Clone Wars, Phase I battle armor used color to distinguish clone officers from each other and the rest of the rank-and-file stock. For instance, commanders were marked by yellow stripes; captains, lieutenants and sergeants were identified by red, blue and olive green respectively.

Here's a picture of all the various colored clone troopers Sideshow has released.

You can pre-order this Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale 4Republic Clone Captain 12-inch figure at TFH till it closes on 11-12-2011. Launch date is expected to be in the 2nd Quarter 2012. 

Hot Toys DX "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" 1/6 Bespin Luke Skywalker Figure

Hot Toys is proud to present the DX 1/6th scale Luke Skywalker (Bespin Outfit) Collectible Figure from the Star Wars movie, the American epic space opera film released in 1977 created by George Lucas.

The movie-accurate collectible is specially crafted based on the image of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Bespin outfit in the movie with two collectible figures in a set, highlighting the two newly developed head sculpts with movable eyes, two figure bodies, two styles of specially made costume, highly detailed weapons, accessories and light-up Weathervane figure base.

Hot Toys Star Wars Luke Skywalker (Bespin Outfit) DX series Sixth Scale features: Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, One (1) newly developed, hand painted head sculpt with Parallel Eyeball Rolling System (PERS), One (1) newly developed, hand painted battle damaged head sculpt with Parallel Eyeball Rolling System (PERS), Movie-accurate facial expressions with detailed wrinkles and skin texture, Approximately 30 cm tall, Two (2) TrueType bodies with over 30 points of articulation, Ten (10) pieces of interchangeable palms including: One (1) pair for gripping unlit lightsaber, One (1) pair of fists, Three (3) pieces of relaxed palms, One (1) magnetic severed right palm stump, One (1) right palm for holding blaster pistol, One (1) left palm for force push

Two (2) full costumes including: One (1) khaki jacket, One (1) tank-top undershirt, One (1) pair of khaki pants, One (1) leather-like brown belt with blaster pistol holster and pouches, One (1) pair of fabric camel-colored boots

One (1) battle damaged khaki jacket, One (1) tank-top undershirt, One (1) pair of battle damaged khaki pants, One (1) leather-like brown belt with blaster pistol holster and pouches, One (1) pair of fabric camel-colored boots

Two (2) blaster pistols, One (1) unlit lightsaber, One (1) unlit lightsaber handle, One (1) interchangeable severed right forearm stump, One (1) auto-tourniquet

One (1) light-up Weathervane stand which can be mounted onto the wall or ceiling and allows 90 degree movement, One (1) figure base and one (1) figure stage with Luke Skywalker nameplate and the movie logo

Sideshow Exclusive: Darth Vader Head accessory

Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1:6 Clone Commander Bacara

Commander Bacara, also known by the numerical designation 1138, was a clone commander who worked alongside General Ki-Adi-Mundi against Separatist droid armies on the Outer Rim planet Mygeeto. Though he fought alongside the Jedi in numerous battles, Bacara's ultimate loyalty was to the Republic and its Supreme Chancellor. When Palpatine contacted him personally and executed Order 66, Bacara carried out the command without question. He and his fellow Galactic Marines opened fire on Ki-Adi-Mundi, killing their general.

Sideshow Collectibles will be releasing this 1/6 scale Clone Commander Bacara 12-inch figure as part of their Militaries of Star Wars line. Sideshow Collectibles has been most successful in releasing the armored troopers from the Star Wars films. No other 1/6 manufacturer / company has been able to consistently put out these 1/6 scale Star Wars figures except Sideshow and kudos must be given to the company for being able to stay focused and keep collectors and fans happy with their constant release of these figures. Very soon, we'll be able to form a platoon out of all these Sideshow clone troopers which is more than what Hot Toys has done. Hot Toys has not been able to release the "Platoon" 12-inch figures even though they had teased collectors about it. It seems the platoon is MIA (Missing In Action) in Vietnam! Isn't that where Hot Toys fakes had been spotted? But that's for another post.

The Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1:6 scale Clone Commander Bacara 12 inch Figure features: Articulated Armored Body with over 30 points of articulation, Detailed Fabric Bodysuit, Highly Detailed Full Body Armor Set with Revised Shoulder Pauldron, Phase II Open Face Helmet Portrait, Fabric Kama Command Skirt, Fabric Chest Pauldron, One (1) pair flat palm hands, One (1) pair thumbs up hands, One (1) pair closed fists, One (1) pair trigger grip hands, One (1) pair C-grip hands, One (1) right hand with one finger point, One (1) left hand with two finger point, One (1) left hand with two finger spread, One (1) pair standing boot, One (1) pair action boot, BlasTech DC-15A Long Range Blaster Rifle, BlasTech DC-15S Blaster Carbine, Two (2) BlasTech DC-17 Pistols, Lower support extendable figure stand with Star Wars logo

Some nice poses of the Sideshow Collectibles Clone Commander Bacara 12-inch figure released

In the Star Wars film "Revenge of the Sith (2005)", which was the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology, it was nice to see some individuality among the clone troopers, especially with the commanders.

An unorthodox training regimen run by the Advanced Recon Commando known as Alpha-17 was designed to bring out the independence and tactical genius which was dormant within all clones; his regimen emphasized individuality and creativity, elements which had been modified in the original creation of the clone troopers. As a result, each clone commander took a name and added their own unique touch to their armor which was different from the troops under their command.

So besides different color markings for unit designations, clone commanders themselves adopted additional add-ons for individuality and to stand out from their troops, very much like how the Roman centurion stood out from the legionaries they commanded.

Poor General Ki-Adi-Mundi. The Jedi Knight never even knew what was coming. Shot down in cold blood by his own commander and troops :( A sad chapter in the Star Wars saga.

Sideshow Exclusive will be a 21st Nova Corp Galactic Marines base for alternate display

Not missing much if you can't get the exclusive, especially if you choose to display your figures without the display base like me :) Move along, nothing to see here.

Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale Holiday Yoda Preview

From Lucasfilm's 1981 greeting card design by Ralph McQuarrie, Holiday Yoda is a must-have for Yoda fans during this year's holiday season!

The Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale Holiday Yoda Figure features: Fully Articulated Body, Highly Detailed and Hand Painted Portrait, Sculpted Hat, Fabric Jacket, Fabric Pants, Belt, Cane, Ball, Sculpted Alphabet Block, Detailed Stack of Toys with Fabric Drawstring Sack

The last description for the items included: Detailed Stack of Toys with Fabric Drawstring Sack means that the toys you see inside the sack are just one molded piece and not individual miniature pieces that you can take apart.

The sculpted hat looks to be stuck to Yoda's head as it is always seen on Yoda's head and is never removed. What I would have liked to see would have been a 1/6 scale Santa Claus outfit set (including removable hat) which includes the sack of toys. In this way, those of us who already have the Sideshow 1/6 scale Yoda which was released earlier only need to purchase the outfit without having to pay for another Yoda figure. Those who didn't get the Yoda originally might be tempted to purchase one just because now there's an additional option of posing Yoda as Santa Claus, besides having Yoda as Jedi Master.

I already have a 1/6 scale Santa Claus outfit and my version of Santa has been dishing out his version of Christmas Greetings every year ;p

Of course Sideshow also tries to make their Holiday Yoda look more appealing by posing him with his hut but that residence alone will set you back by a few hundred bucks :( Not my cup of tea.