Just got him on Saturday, I would have to say that this figure is definitely one of the highlights of the SWTF line. One thing to remember when looking at these figs is that they were not designed by Hasbro's Transformer design teams, they were designed by the Star Wars design team, thus the heavy Star Wars influence, and very little to do with Transformers as we know them. The ARC-170 starfighter http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/arc170fighter/ was above and beyond one of my favorite starship designs to come out of the new movies. It is an aggressive design, covered in weaponry, and looks damn cool to boot. The transformation is simple, not Throttlebot simple, but definitely not Masterpiece level either. The bot mode is well done, with just enough kibble to make it look like a robot. Which leads me to another point, the rest of the SWTF's have really made an attempt to make the mech look like the character that it represents, the ARC-170 Clone Trooper is a wonderful tool for this media, because they are covered in armor anyway. Whereas you never saw Luke running around with half an X-Wing strapped to his back. The bot mode has decent articulation, although because of the transformation scheme of the arms, they can be a little difficult to pose without some frustration. The arms do have shoulder, mid-bicep, elbow, and wrist articulation. The legs have very low knee joints and look kinda goofy, but do feature hip, mid-thigh, knee, and ankle articulation. He also has waist articulation due to his TF scheme. His head is on a swivel, but due to the helmet design, his head barely budges. Odd. His BFG's are awesome, and definitely add to the menacing appearance of this figure. One thing that bugged me was the lack of paint apps on his face. I wish it would have been a Clone trooper helmet design, as opposed to a clone pilot helmet, that would have alleviated the need for paint apps on the face. But as it stands, there is just a blob of silver where the face should be. Overall, I would give him a 5 out of 5 for SWTF's, and a 3 out of 5 when compared to other TF's.
I definitely like the ARC-fighter better than the Darth/TIE-fighter TF. I'll also agree that the Clone Trooper helmet would've been a little cooler than the pilot face IMO. Either way it makes a semi-decent "Generic TF" head, if the direct resemblances to Star Wars characters bug ya.
Got him last night at Walmart (finally found a non-flawed one) after using a lightsaber to bring him down from a top shelf that was beyond my reach in normal ways. I like him. Ship mode is decent, though the s-foils seem like an afterthought, even in the movies. Bot mode is okay, but the guns definitely make him a lot cooler. SWTF Rankings for me thus far: 1. Han & Chewbacca 2. Darth Maul 3. Clone Trooper 4. General Grievous 5. Emperor 6. Obi-Wan 7. Darth Vader 8. Boba Fett 9. Luke I'm not counting the repaints/remolds with Anakin or Jango Fett.
Impulse bought this and Boba Fett last night when I was drunk at walmart The clone trooper was actually a huge surprise. The vehicle mode, like all the other SWTFs looks really nice and the robot mode is surprisingly decent...not Transformers mainline good...but compared to the other SWTFs it's a freakin' work of art. The articulation is pretty good except for the head (rotating wrists! finally!), and I really like the firepower it's packing. As a transformer I'd probably give it a D, but as a SWTF it's a B.
I just got this guy. He would be perfect if his knee was moved up to the top of the "pull apart" section instead of the bottom where it is now. The real head-scratcher is that I can't see any reason why the knee isn't up there from both an engineering point of view and an asthetics point of veiw. Still a top-tier SWTF. Decent in the overall TF scheme of things. As always with SWTF, the alt mode delivers.
