Review: Clone Wars Republic Commando Boss

"Alone against all these droids...heh, they don't stand a chance."

RC-1138, better known as Republic Commando Boss, is a character that I'm mostly unfamiliar with. However I know a cool looking Clone when I see one, and when I spotted the 2012 Clone Wars line in my local B&M for just £3.99 I snapped him up. What do I make of him? Find out below!

Clone Wars Commando Boss

Despite Captain Rex appearing on the banner for this blog, I've not really invested much in the Clone Wars line to date. I never liked the skinny legs or the stylised takes on the characters, but then I wasn't hugely into the show either. Around Series Three that started to change, but I felt that in terms of the toy line there was too much water under the bridge to start collecting. I saw Republic Commando Boss in Sainsburys last year and was immediately taken with the design, and went away to research the figure - but by the time I returned to buy him, he was gone.

Carded Front, Rear & Loose

The packaging follows the Darth Maul Movie Heroes template, which is alright. It's slightly evocative of the POTF2/Episode 1 packaging, and does a good job of displaying the figure. It's easy to flick through these on pegs/in boxes and see which character you're getting from the side, which is always handy.

According to the back of the box, "Republic Commando Boss is the sergeant in Delta Squad, an elite clone trooper unit". Now, for someone who hasn't seen the episode he's in, or played the Republic Commando game, that's a little bit vague, but I get the gist - this clone is the best of the best. Why Anakin and Obi-Wan hang out with Rex and Cody when this guy's going spare I have no idea. Maybe I had better brush up on my Clone Wars a little bit...

Loose with Pack-ins

Out of the box, you can see that Boss comes with a lot of kit. It's a refreshing change to get a figure so loaded with extras compared to some recent finds, and much like the Rebel Commando it adds massively to the value of the figure. In box you get the Boss figure, two pistols, a larger gun, an opening backpack and a grappling hook with real string line. On top of that there's the Maul-card standard game die, character card and stand. This is a toy that was made for playing with, and that in itself gives it plus points.

Republic Commando Boss comes with eight points of articulation: ball jointed head, shoulders and elbows, and swivel waist and hips. The legs are in a stance somewhere between standing and battle-ready, which makes for a good standard pose and works well with the backpack but also leads to the figure's biggest flaw - it has quite a bit of difficulty standing. When you hit the sweet spot with the balance he stands and looks very cool, but it takes quite a bit of fiddling to get there and could easily lead to toy shelf dominoes unless you use a stand.

Front, Open, Back

The backpack was one of the selling points of this figure for me, because it looks good and serves a practical purpose. As you can see from the above shots the grapple claw clips neatly inside, and there's also space for the pistols. The larger gun doesn't fit but I think Boss looks best holding that anyway, so for me it works. There's a lot to like about the design and sculpt of the backpack, and it really does conjure up memories of the Kenner Hoth backpacks from the ESB line. 

Backpack Off & On

It attaches by both a peg, and a clip on the back of the belt. This extra security keeps it in one place and makes the belt sit forward of the figure's torso slightly, which is a good effect. I know some people might not like the hole in Boss' back, but to be honest you'd be a fool to display him with the backpack off anyway...

Best of the Best

The paint apps on my version are pretty clean, apart from a few flecks of orange on the visor. The visor itself looks very cool, the shade of blue reflecting light and really setting the orange and white armour off. As a design Boss is very striking, and this figure really does that justice. The sculpt is fairly detailed with contours and lines cut into the armour, and the legs are just about thick enough for my tastes - if they'd been the skinnier pins of earlier CW figures, I probably wouldn't have bought him.

In conclusion, Republic Commando Boss is a figure that's flawed, but still fun. I think the good outweighs the bad with him, and he's a welcome addition to the collection, but there are still issues. If you like clones, the Clone Wars series, displaying your figures on stands or buying them at discount prices, then absolutely go for it. On the other hand, I think if I'd paid full price for him I would've been disappointed.

*****

Thanks for reading!