Obi-Wan Kenobi & Arc Trooper Alpha

June 25, 2009 | By More


Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

I’ve not picked up any of the comic two packs up to this point. I don’t really keep up with EU stuff, so those were out. The Marvel figures while cool, and accurate to the source material, were just too goofy looking for me. I couldn’t put a blue Stormtrooper in the middle of display and have it look right. Neat concept, just not for me.Now, this pack piqued my interest. There was a decent looking Obi-Wan and a clone trooper I didn’t have. Combine that with a comic book for less than the price of two individual figures, and it hooked me in.

Appearance:

It’s been awhile since I’ve thought about the AOTC version of the clone trooper. Most of the stuff I have on display is either regular Stormtroopers or ROTS stuff right now. So this Arc Trooper is welcome bit of nostalgia.

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

This Arc looks like he’s been in battle. He’s got mud allover. His skirt piece is torn and battered and sculpted to look slightly wind blown. The thing that impressed me about the weathering on this figure is that it’s complete. Not just on the front of the figure. The one thing that bothers me about the weathering, though, is the spot on his crotch piece. Long march and couldn’t hold it? (If you have this figure and can’t look at it now without thinking that, I apologize.)

The other odd thing is the shoulder pauldron piece. While it’s great to be connected to the com piece on his wrist, the piece including the com piece seem to be slightly over size. The piece just doesn’t want to sit down when Alpha has his helmet off. It needs some to lock it in place.

My largest problem with Alpha is with his helmet. The included comic shows this trooper clearly and through out it his range finder is shown in the down position. The helmet I got is in the up position, and I can’t get it to move.

The Obi-Wan is okay. No ground breaking here. I’m sure he’s at least a partial repaint. I haven’t picked up every Kenobi, so I’m not sure. As far as robed Obi-Wan’s go, he’s not bad, not great, but not bad.

Again the package shows a slight different version. The robe in the picture shows a bit of wear and battle damage. The figure appears like it was included in the sculpt, but not the paint ops. The other bit of battle damage was on the soft goods portion of his shirt. The one on the card is frayed and looks good. The figure’s looks like scissor cuts. The skirt piece looks a bit odd where it matches up with the sculpted version as well. If my figure had looked as good as the card, I’d have been impressed.

Fun:

I love the specialty clone troopers They remind me quite a bit of GI Joe figures with all the extra gear. (Hasbro, if you’re reading this, I’d love to see a line of clone troopers done in the Joe style with file cards and interchangeable gear.) This Arc is no different with the pauldron piece, a rifle and helmet. The rifle I believe is a re-issue but with some added paint aps. It looks pretty good. The helmet however is problematic. It’s so tight, that you can’t take it off, with out popping the Jango head off and then you can’t get the head out of the helmet.

Articulation is good on the Arc. However, his skirt limits the amount of poses. And again another two figures that can’t sit.

Obi suffers from similar pose limiting from his robe. It’s not only a problem with his legs, but his arms won’t move tight to the body. I would have liked to have seen an extra set of arms to make Kenobi robe less, but not on this version.

For accessories Obi-Wan has his usual lightsaber and an extra head. The extra head is mask that covers the entire head. Now, I have to ask, why? Mainly because the comic included doesn’t show it anywhere. I don’t mind the concept. I don’t mind the fact it’s there. Just include the comic where it’s shown.

Overall:

Comic includes aren’t a new idea. The mini ones that came with the original Masters of the Universe figures probably did a lot to help that lines success. I’d just prefer a self contained story. Or at least one that doesn’t have a cliffhanger ending.

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

The Obi-Wan in this set isn’t raising the Kenobi bar any. He’s good enough if you don’t have a robed ROTS Obi. The Arc Trooper stands well above his predecessor Looking like a battle hardened warrior instead of peanut headed recruit. I’d think this bad boy would have sold well as a single carded figure. But like I said, I’m a sucker for specialty clone troopers.

Engineernerd Score: Overall 85/100, Arc Trooper
90/100, Obi-Wan 80/100.

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Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

Star Wars®, Star Wars Action Figures®, Obi-Wan Kenobi®, Arc Trooper Alpha, Action Figure Review

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Category: Star Wars, Toy Reviews

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Comments (2)

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  1. liam says:

    the extra head for obi is from a later comic where he is held captive by ventress.

  2. Engineernerd says:

    Thanks for the explanation Liam!