Clone Commander Wolffe - SW [TPM 3D] - The Clone Wars (CW17)

Clone Commander Wolffe fires his rocket launcher at battle droids. Wolffe is the leader of the Wolfpack squad that serves under Jedi General Plo Koon. A tough warrior, the clone commander has a natural gift for strategy and a tireless dedication that always makes him the first to stride into the thick of battle.

Here we go again! Another figure that looks absolutely fantastic yet is made to suffer due to its lack of articulation. The Wolfpack Battalion in general has been very popular amongst fans of The Clone Wars and we have waited especially long to see a phase II interpretation of Clone Commander Wolffe. He has finally received the fan requested update to him in his phase II armor and he looks fantastic, but now collectors want to send him back to Hasbro so they can do him right (articulation wise). The only problem with that however is that just like Ahsoka (SCUBA Gear) (CW15), Clone Commander Wolffe looks pretty darn amazing despite his severe lack of articulation. Let’s face it, sometimes we are way too hypersensitive about articulation. It consumes us and it may even make some us head down a very dark path. We’re talking tongue-in-cheek here, but sometimes we miss the forest for the trees when articulation count isn’t up to our standards on an action figure. Clone Commander Wolffe is a spectacular looking action figure. He honestly looks amazing. Hasbro went to town with his paint job. His white armor isn’t white at all and instead an eggshell color (actually even darker than that). The grayish blue color flashes are neatly applied the lines are crisp and sharp. Aesthetically Clone Commander Wolffe is just about as perfect as he can be. But we can’t ignore the big white elephant in the room if we didn’t talk about its major flaw.

Clone Commander Wolffe only has eight points of articulation. A ball-socket head is jointed by ball-jointed shoulders and elbows. His only remaining articulation aside from these are swivel waist and hips points. That’s it. Yes, it’s very disheartening when Hasbro made and incredible phase I version and released it as 2011’s TCW [SOTDS] Clone Commander Wolffe (CW48). It’s a figure that has a standard 14 points of articulation and good sculpt, yet lacks a tiny bit by not having a spectacular paint job. Now the phase II version of him is the opposite. He comes with an exquisite paint job yet lacks terribly in articulation. Is one a trade off for the other? Apparently so, but we find it very aggravating. Why can’t Hasbro just treat each and every figure with premium articulation and a stunning paint job? It seems like this should be a difficult concept. So phase II Clone Commander Wolffe comes with eight points of articulation. He comes with two DC-17 blaster pistols and a rocker launcher with missile projectile. The blaster pistols fit into his hands but not all that well. And since he comes with very limited articulation, it’s difficult to pose the rocket launcher (which is taller than him) in any meaningful way. The evolution of the Wolfpack Battalion has certainly been interesting. If you recall seeing the 104th Battalion in a dark red or maroon, you're not wrong. They changed the color flashes to a dark gray melancholy color to honor their fallen brothers from the Battle of Abregado. They both add uniqueness and even texture to his very attractive color scheme. Just compare Clone Commander Wolffe against the characters that came in 2009's TCW [S2] Ambush At Abregado TARGET exclusive Battle Packs set to see the differences!

Clone Commander Wolffe is a kit-bashed figure. He utilizes the legs and kama of 2012's SW [TPM 3D] Captain Rex (CW13) figure and the torso and cod section of 2012's SW [TPM 3D] Clone Trooper (Phase II Armor) (CW2) figure. It’s an interesting mix of parts and even those have roots to earlier figures released in The Clone Wars line. Obviously, Clone Commander Wolffe also comes with an all-new head sculpt and arms. His head sculpt is so unique that Hasbro had to design something from scratch to make it authentic. They did a really great job! Hasbro made multiple paint operations on the new helmet design and they’ve successfully brought it to life. Clone Commander Wolffe has a “wolf” (for lack of a better term) on his right shoulder armor and a design similar to what has often been seen on the Coruscant Guard on their left shoulders. Are there "wolves" in space like there are on Earth? We don't know, but it's reminiscent of that. And the name of the battalion speaks for itself. There are other nice features to Clone Commander Wolffe as well. His kama, just like Captain Rex, is made from a pliable (almost vinyl like) plastic which help with posing the figure, although with his lack of leg articulation it may not be that beneficial. Again, we love the look of Clone Commander Wolffe. he definitely looks really sharp and the paint job is gorgeous. But we think that with clones Hasbro needs to step up to the plate and just continue to utilize super-articulated sculpts. They can make shortcuts elsewhere.