"Reporting casualties! Tapal has taken out multiple squads. Shoot on sight."
The 13th Battalion Clone Troopers' sole appearance in the Star Wars saga was a flashback cut scene in the 2019 video game Jedi: Fallen Order. The troopers were shown under the command of Jedi Jaro Tapal, master of Cal Kestis who was a young padawan during Order 66. This new Clone Batallion, also called the Iron Battalion, allowed Hasbro to bring us a new Black Series figure in 2022 as part of their Gaming Greats line - exclusive to Gamestop in the US and sold via Zavvi in the UK. The figure is part of the Gaming Greats Galaxy collection with the black angled side box and blue accent colours and side artwork.
Stock Photos
The Trooper uses the newer Clone body which itself has been designed to be fully pinless and also broken down into individual white armoured parts, and black joints under neath recreating the Trooper's ribbed undersuit. These individually cast parts are then assembled giving a much cleaner look to the Trooper while removing the need for painting white over black or black over white as was done with the older Clone figure body. The armour is painted over with the mustard yellow markings of the 13th Battalion, applied to look uniform but also with rough edges and a handful of discrepancies, recreating the fact these were prominently applied by hand by the Clones.
The Trooper has the standard Phase II helmet which itself is a hollow piece glued over a sculpted Temura Morrison head (unpainted). The helmet features the same mustard yellow markings as well as gloss black across the visor and further blank - and then grey - edging the top section of the helmet. Black and silver are also used on the breathing apparatus and vents on either side.
The newer Clone body features 19 points of pinless articulation, with each joint operating under the fixed armour pieces but not particularly restricted by it. The elbow and knee joints are overlaid with white pads which are glued in place and do look a little odd when the joint is bent as the pad doesn’t move with it. Other highlights include butterfly shoulders, a fairly extensive torso ball joint and a two-part neck joint although most of the neck and head movement is done by the top part of this joint.
Our Clone only comes with a single accessory, the smaller DC-15S blaster rifle. This is a black cast piece with reasonable detail but no additional paint applications. The Clone can only hold the blaster in his right hand where the flexi trigger finger can slot into place. The left hand, supported by the arm articulation, can be brought across to grip the barrel for two-handed poses - including a number of dynamic shots with the blaster raised up and aimed for firing.
The Clone Trooper body is one of Hasbro’s most utilised elements of the Star Wars Black Series, but with such a wealth of source material from The Clone Wars era and numerous colours and Trooper combos these will always sell to fans who are invested in this Star Wars timeframe. The 13th Battalion Trooper ticks all the boxes we would expect, including good articulation, paintwork on his mustard yellow markings and a weapon - although throwing in a longer DC-15A would have provided options for display. The figure's key issue, as with most of the Clone Troopers to date, is its exclusivity which brings with it an increased base price and restricted availability which perhaps stifles Army Building options for many fans.
Keep Track of all the Star Wars Black Series figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...