Review: Star Wars Black Series SDCC 2026 Exclusive ARF Trooper and AT-RT from The Clone Wars
- Mephitsu
- 20 minutes ago
- 9 min read
“Take it down! Take it down”
The Star Wars Black Series line has always focused on smaller vehicles and speeders, and one of the considerable gaps in its 10+ year history has been the Clone Wars era AT-RT walkers, as seen across the Clone Wars animated series and in Revenge of the Sith. The vehicle has also recently made a return to the Star Wars Universe as an Imperial Remnant weapon in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and it is perhaps that appearance that empowered Hasbro to develop a 6-inch scale AT-RT, knowing they could release it in multiple-decor options from its various saga appearances.
The first reveal of an AT-RT was the one seen in The Clone Wars, specifically the Season 4 episode 'Darkness on Umbara', and this would be the sole Black Series San Diego Comic-Con exclusive. The set was available at SDCC via the Hasbro Booth, with stock then made available afterwards via Hasbro Pulse. These post-SDCC sales went live in August 2026, with the item shipping straight away.
As a convention exclusive, the 501st ARF Trooper and AT-RT comes in unique packaging outside of the current Galaxy Collection. The box itself is quite compact as Hasbro has chosen not to pose the set as a diorama, which has led to larger and more complex packaging designs in recent years, particularly last year's Duel on Mustafar set with Anakin and Obi-Wan. The set does use an outer sleeve, so immediately in hand there is no visibility of the contents. Instead, we have what Hasbro intends to be a TV projection of the episode ‘Darkness on Umbara’ with the ARF Trooper on AT-RT advancing through the twilight of Umbara with more 501st troops visible in the shadowy background. The various fauna of Umbara are pictured all in hues of purple through to pink.
This front cover of the sleeve carries the US TV-PG-V age rating, as well as the bold yellow Clone Wars logo to lean into that Saturday Morning TV cartoons theme that was carried over to their various SDCC exclusives, including Marvel and G.I. Joe. The back of the sleeve is another view of Umbara, this time without any advancing Clone Troopers. The top of the sleeve features its own artwork, and arguably the nicest, with a green-hued panel designed to look like the scope of the Clone Trooper’s night vision macrobinculars, complete with range markings and measurements, looking out onto the shadowy world of Umbara. On prior sleeved releases, the sleeve was always taped into place, but here it has been left loose and can slide on and off without cutting any original packaging tape. It is noted that the cardboard used on the sleeve is particularly flimsy and prone to dings, dents, and shelf wear, with our purchased copy coming well packed and boxed from Hasbro Pulse, yet with damage already on the edges.
The box inside is a window box, similar in height and width to normal Black Series 2-packs, but much deeper to accommodate the AT-RT. The surrounding border is plain black, broken only by another callout of the set as including an ARF Trooper and AT-RT and a yellow coloured Hasbro logo.
The two side panels, visible either with or without the sleeve, feature a close-up shot of the ARF Trooper on one side, on Umbara with his blaster and with silhouetted AT-RTs in the backdrop. The other side is where we get the text details confirming the role of the Advanced Recon Trooper and the AT-RT Walkers. Oddly, this text confirms what the ARF acronym stands for, but does not explain that AT-RT stands for All Terrain Recon Transport. This text then positions the set on the assault on Umbara as we’ve seen in the included artwork. The back of the inner box has a repeat of the front sleeve artwork, with a yellow Star Wars Black Series logo top left, and Hasbro & Disney yellow logos to the bottom right.
Unpacking the box is done via either of the side panels. Inside, the figure and vehicle are set into a plastic tray that is then slotted and taped into an inner cardboard backing. Releasing all the contents takes a bit of patience to cut various ties around the AT-RT and then around the inner plastic tray itself to release it from the backing. This backing card, while possibly serviceable as a display with work, is inclusive of the cut-out slots, and its sides, top, and rear are plain brown cardboard. It features an exploding design.
Be mindful when removing the AT-RT that the front gun straddles the tray for the Trooper, and if you aren’t careful, the gun can be dislodged. This in itself is not an issue as the gun's bracket is robust, but there is a small connecting tube that runs from the AT-RT ‘chin’ down into the blaster, and once this is popped out it is an absolute nightmare to get back into place considering where it sits.
We start with the ARF Trooper, which is built onto the latest Clone Trooper body. As is the principle we’ve seen in multiple of these Clone Trooper releases, the armour parts are cast in gloss white while the joints are a ribbed black to mimic the undersuit. These all then connect together to construct the figure and negate the need across the bulk of the figure to overpaint any of the key sections. As a 501st Trooper, the blue markings are added over the armour. This includes solid blue shoulder pauldrons and markings on the wrists, chest, and legs. These are painted to look like they were applied by the Troopers by hand, with slightly rough-lined edges, particularly on the chest. The legs are a twin tramline effect, rather than the usual solid line on 501st Troopers, while we also get a blue panel on the back of the figure around the central plate.
The ARF helmet is new to the Black Series, opening up options for further ARF Trooper releases, of which the pairing of Waxer and Boil from Geonosis would be the most obvious choice. Like all Trooper helmets, it is cast in the same white as the armour, with the facial covering to either side a textured sandy finish. The visor and breathing vents are black, while the 501st blue stripe marking runs from the ‘nose’ up over the visor and across the dome of the head. There is an aerial to the side, a plugged-in grey piece that also rotates in its socket.
The helmet is removable, with the base Clone Trooper Temura Morrison sculpt underneath. The head features the flat-top hairstyle in black, with photoreal printing used on the eyes and mouth, as well as some subtle scarring on the forehead.
Our Trooper comes with two blasters, the DC-15S blaster carbine and the longer DC-15A blaster rifle. These are the same as those released with most Clone Troopers, cast in black and fitting in either the right or left hand, with the other able to cradle the blaster in firing positions. These accessories are not particularly needed considering the ARF Trooper is going to be piloting the AT-RT in most displays, but it's good to see Hasbro didn’t scrimp a few pence by leaving them out.
Articulation is built around the armour components, absorbing the joints into the design so as not to lose any of the overall look, while still including 19 pinless points of articulation. These allow the ARF Trooper the full range of Clone Trooper movement, including firing positions and the ability to kneel, and of course sit. The latter of these is the key one considering we will be seating him on the AT-RT in a moment.
Moving to the AT-RT, this is an impressive piece of engineering considering the top-heavy design and spindly legs. The bulk of the machine is cast in an off-white plastic that runs from the three-pronged feet, up the multi-joint legs, and to the top plate and rear chassis of the pilot section. The front canopy and seat area is then picked out in 501st blue, with further 501st blue markings applied back down the legs and feet on the inset panels. The bottom of the legs and the feet are weathered with mud splashes that run and then fade up past the AT-RT’s ankles.
Detailing around the cockpit includes the applied 501 decal to the sides of the main nose. You then also get gunmetal silver engine components just under the seat, as well as on the foot plates for the pilot and the large, slim front cannon. A rear twin aerial - packed loose in the box and slotted into place - extends behind the driver, and to the side of this are two red indicator lights. The main console features two black-framed screens, with stickers that show the green technical display for the vehicle, the upper showing a scanner, the lower showing an outline of the AT-RT with some technical readouts to the side. Buttons under both screens are painted with crisp blue, white, and red switches visible.
Our ARF pilot sits snugly into position with sufficient leg articulation to swing the legs either side of the feet and to sit on the foot panels. There is no need for plugs or sockets; the leg joints and gravity keep the feet in a natural position on the footplates. The Trooper guides the AT-RT by two steering handlebars that protrude from the main console. The gripping hands slot into these neatly and are the only solid connection holding the ARF Trooper into place, but the ergonomics work really well to keep him solidly in the driver position.
The AT-RT is articulated with five joints on each leg that more or less matches the way the walker works on screen. The central toe of the three claws is jointed in two parts so it can be raised and lowered as well as bent. The legs can then be posed via the ankle, knee, and hip joints, allowing the legs to be folded fully into the crouched mounting position, or fully extended for running and attack modes. In standard neutral position, the vehicle stands 30cm tall to the extent of the rear aerial; this can extend up to around 34cm when the legs are extended, particularly at the hips, and as you do this, a working ‘piston’ extends out to allow the leg the extra range - take this too far, however will pop out that piston.
The top driver section has further joints underneath in terms of a ball joint that allows the canopy to lean into the direction the vehicle is taking. Further joints are found on the steering sticks, the foot pedals, and on that front gun, which pivots and rotates. The gun's attached pipe moves with the gun until you take it too far; as mentioned earlier, the pipe pops out of position.
The leg joints are really secure, ratcheted heavily, and solid when posed to keep the vehicle upright and stable in most neutral poses. You then get a small stand to help achieve some more dynamic poses. This includes two holes on top that line up with two holes on either of the AT-RT’s feet. Under the stand, there are three removable pegs, and you use two of these as needed to slot into the base and the AT-RT to add extra stability to one leg, allowing the vehicle some additional range for running or turning movements. The third peg is likely intended only as a spare.
Overall, the AT-RT with its ARF pilot is impressive both in terms of size and in terms of engineering. Its accuracy and proportions, considering this version is from an animated episode, is excellent and in line with the short scenes we see in Episode III and more recently in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and I suspect it is the latter of these that prompted the vehicle to be developed and most likely using assets and measurements from that movie, converted retrospectively into the Clone Wars version for SDCC.
At £89.99, the set is a bigger investment than most Black Series releases. If you take off the £25 standard price of a figure, the AT-RT becomes a £65 vehicle. There are no real comparisons available to anything else we’ve had so far in the Black Series, considering this Walker is much bigger and more complex than the recent vehicle releases such as the Bloodfin or the STAAP. I had expected some level of convention premium within the price, usually for the packaging, but as this AT-RT is the same price as the alternative Mando & Grogu version it seems that ‘convention’ premium has been skipped, or more likely that the same ‘premium’ price ticket has been held for the Imperial Remnant version, as Hasbro are holding that too as a Hasbro Pulse Exclusive.
It will come down to your own thoughts of value for money, and initially my head was that this should be about £75, or £50 for the AT-RT on its own. In hand, you can see the value in the design, engineering, and articulation, and while I will never be army-building these, it is a solid centrepiece for my Clone Wars 501st section of my collection.
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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...
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