Clone Commander Jet - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW38)

Clone Commander Jet battles Separatist forces on Geonosis. The gunship carrying Jet, Ki-Adi-Mundi and clone troopers is hit by enemy fire and crashes on the planet. On the ground, Jet leads clone troopers into battle against the droid army and Geonosian warriors, fighting to reach the rest of the Republic invasion force.

Clone Commander Jet may become one of the most popular figures in the “Shadow Of The Dark Side” phase of The Clone Wars basic figure line. And it will likely have nothing to do with how cool of an action figure he is (despite the fact he is awesome). It will however be about his elusiveness in the basic figure line. You see, he never came when he was supposed to and ignited a sense of panic in many within the collecting community. Usually, collectors tend to want what they don’t have. And when Hasbro started skipping over numbers without any word of what was actually happening to these figures, collectors were almost pleading for answers and assurance that we would see him one day soon. Right before 2011’s San Diego Comic Con, Hasbro spilled the beans about Clone Commander Jet and his wave mate Hondo Ohnaka. Fans were relieved (and annoyed from the lack of response). Thankfully Jet wasn’t canceled or abandoned altogether and was delayed due to production issues. The good news is that he’s hit retail and is now a tangible addition to your The Clone Wars collection. Admittedly, Clone Commander Jet is a very exciting addition indeed. He rounds out the basic figure line perfectly and is a tremendous enhancement to the Landing At Point Rain band of clone troopers.

Someone at Hasbro is evidently a huge fan of the Landing At Point Rain episode of season 2, but then again so are most The Clone Wars fans. Since the debut of the “Shadow Of The Dark Side” line, we have received multiple characters from this episode. In fact, Hasbro has also introduced a Battle Packs set (Assault On Geonosis) and a Toys R Us exclusive Deluxe set (Separatist Speeder With Geonosian Warrior) on top of many basic figures too. Even considering his delay into the equation, surprisingly Clone Commander Jet came much later than expected. Hasbro seemed more interested in releasing the generic Flamethrower Clone Trooper (CW26) first, and then more and more generic figures kept coming after that. But clearly Hasbro’s mission or goal was to help us army-build this great platoon so we would have a strong army for when the “clone commander” became available. Clone Commander Jet is a kit-bashed figure that is based on parts from the Special Ops Clone Trooper from the 2011 TCW Special Ops Clone Trooper And Geonosian Drone TARGET exclusive set (the head and the arms) and then Jet utilizes the torso and legs of 2008’s TCW Captain Rex (No. 4) figure. Talk about a mix of old and new! He comes with plenty of accessories, the two headset attachments, 2 DC-17 blaster pistols and a large heavy assault blaster with projectile (yes, the one we have seen since 2008).

Jet arrives to collectors super-articulated and beautifully painted. The paint job is fairly simple, but perfectly applied. He could stand one or two very small tweaks, but overall Hasbro has ensured he delivers the goods. The action figure is nearly perfect as is, but as you know we prefer ball-jointed hips on the clones, and he does not come with this superior articulation unfortunately. Clone Commander Jet comes with two different headset attachments. Collectors have been calling these things earmuffs. It’s funny because that’s essentially what they are, earmuffs (or a large 1970s headset). Somehow they look modernized enough for The Clone Wars television show. One is the standard one that came with the Special Ops Trooper, but the second has antennas sticking up from it. And this is what makes us scratch our head a bit. Hasbro has to find an effective way to make antennas for their 3.75” action figures. When looking at Jet with this attachment on his helmet, you’re expecting him to say “take me to your leader” and looks more like your favorite Martian than a fearless leader in the Army of the Republic. We’re being unnecessarily harsh of course, but we hope we’re making our point clear that they need to find a new convention for making believable antennas. Regardless, be sure to add Jet to your collection. He’s really the last clone you need for your Landing At Point Rain army of clones.