Captain Rex - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 4)

Captain Rex accompanies Anakin Skywalker to the planet Teth to rescue Jabba's kidnapped son. Like all clone troopers, Captain Rex believes that the mission always comes first. When he and his fellow troopers are surrounded by battle droids, outnumbered and outgunned, he never wavers in his commitment to the mission, even if it means this battle could be his last.

Captain Rex is the "official" first action figure from The Clone Wars line. The basic figure version in this review differs from the mail away exclusive in a few different ways, but we will go into more details about that in a moment. We should probably state upfront that Captain Rex has gone through multiple revisions and changes (beyond the two mentioned already). It is our opinion however that the basic carded release that was part of the July 2008 launch is probably the best. (While the blue is a little dark, the dirt and battle-damage is just beautiful and this is something left off of the “corrected” final version.) We are quite serious about this dirty version of Captain Rex! Just look at his beautiful paint job!!! It looks like he has served in numerous battles and has the "scars" and "marks" to prove it. He looks totally rugged and comes armed with enough arsenal to do quite a bit of damage to his Separatist enemies. And even better, he has a great back-story as well. Per Wookieepedia, "Rex was in command of Torrent Company of the famed 501st Legion, a unit in the Grand Army of the Republic. Rex served under Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, and was a freethinking, tough, and aggressive trooper. Yet his noteworthy individuality aside, Rex followed his orders without question like the rest of the soldiers. Rex was also good friends with Clone Commander Cody." This was all clearly documented in The Clone Wars film, which is the first Star Wars source to introduce this immediately likeable character. While the micro bio from Wookieepedia encapsulates only a snapshot's worth of his personality, he is indeed a force to be reckoned with on the television show and his scenes in the multiple episodes in which he has already appeared are action packed and thoroughly entertaining. Officially designated as CC-7567, Captain Rex is a tough and unswervingly loyal clone trooper who has served in many a battle to serve and protect the Galactic Republic. It is his brave personality that comes through loudly and clearly and you can see it in this brilliant action figure as well.

Captain Rex is a super-articulated action figure and we are actually unable to find any improvements Hasbro could do to make him better aside from ball-jointed hips (something that clones definitely need to have in the basic figure line). As mentioned earlier, Hasbro has made their own deco revisions to the figure, and quite honestly they’re bittersweet. Captain Rex has a completely authentic costume and we are amazed by how incredibly well Hasbro replicated all of his fine details especially in the pauldron and kama. Simply put, Captain Rex is one of the best action figures we have received period (realistic or animated), and most of you out there must feel similarly because he has been a strong seller since day one and rarely hangs out on the pegs. Always one of the first action figures to go from wave 1 of The Clone Wars basic figure line, it’s wise that he has been carried forward into future case assortments. Perhaps even more interesting than his flawless sculpt are all of his variations (four to be exact). The photos in this review show him as he was first released in stores on a basic card and then alongside the “final” and “corrected” variation: lighter blue color flashes and no dirt or battle-damage. The very first version of Captain Rex was released with clean armor (but dark blue accented color flashes) and was a mail-away exclusive. However, the changes definitely didn't stop there and the figure continued to evolve. These two versions were followed by two more including a 'clean' armored version with battle-damaged stripes (still dark blue color flashes) and then the final 'clean' armored version with 'clean' stripes and also in a distinctly lighter shade of blue. The very dark navy blue color is not being used anymore and the new blue is much more authentic, although the lack of battle-damage and dirt work adversely against the lighter blue. In a nutshell, we are trying to say that Hasbro went beyond the call of duty to make this figure just perfect from the start. We appreciate the updated colors, but we miss the battle-damage now.

All the small points have been addressed (and could have been ignored in our opinion) and we should count ourselves very fortunate that they did make the revisions. Maybe it’s not our exact cup of tea, but an action figure’s color is very important. We appreciate Hasbro rectifying that. Captain Rex is almost the symbol/icon of The Clone Wars television show, so it was very smart of Hasbro to address him as an action figure and release him in the first wave of basic figures. Likely to remain a main character in The Clone Wars, Captain Rex has battled alongside some of our favorite characters we saw in both Episodes II and III. So he fits is well with a canon storyline. Besides, The Clone Wars is new canon anyhow and trumps previously established stories. Captain Rex fits even better into the action figure line. He is loaded with accessories. These accessories include a DC-15 blaster rifle, two DC-17 blaster pistols, missile launcher, projectile, projectile with cable, shoulder pauldron and removable helmet. Underneath his helmet is a unique portrait. The likeness isn’t perfect, but it is good. And with the running changes to the color of the figure, we are seeing some tightening up of the paint operations on the head sculpt as well. Hasbro is improving this detail too. We are really beginning to love the look of these clones. Our personal opinion is that The Clone Wars is doing an “odd” service to fans by showing just how much individuality the clone troopers actually have. This makes for very interesting and exciting character developments and memorable storyline with certain clones and their Jedi leaders. It may also conflict with what was established in Episode II. We had to rely on the different clone trooper commander armor (varying colors) in the films to make this differentiation. And to be quite honest, we love the direction The Clone Wars is taking to make this differentiation much better. Different scarring, hair color and hair styles add an abundance of character to the interaction they have with their Jedi generals. Captain Rex is a prime example of this and a prime example of a flawless action figure! Well done Hasbro!