Hot Toys 1/6 Clone Commander Appo + BARC Speeder The Clone Wars figure

[ObiGlennKenobi]

Insane set!!
Is Neyo a possibility soon now that this is shipping?

 

[SOU7567]

Insane set!!
Is Neyo a possibility soon now that this is shipping?

I think any Clone is on the table at this point, that ROTS anniversary is slowly creeping up on us too.

 

[Sabre-aN]

Hi guys, have lurked around here on occasion and having just received my Appo a couple of days ago from Sideshow and thought I'd have a look here if anyone else here had him, seems I might be one of the first despite being in the UK (though I did preorder him pretty early and he did ship straight from Hong Kong) so figured I'd make an account and post a few photos and my thoughts on him. I was highly motivated to get him as the pauldron and kama make him a perfect officer for all my 501st, and ever since he was announced I've been planning mild kitbashes to make him my own Captain

Anyway, here's the 1 decent photo I took of him unmodified straight out of the box:

The stand base is of course not the one he comes with, that's being kept in the box, instead it's one I previously bought separately (still waiting on my preorder for an actual AOTC Clone Trooper figure, had to order him from a UK seller after missing out at Sideshow. Had to do the same for the 501st Heavy with BARC and sidecar, but in theory he shouldn't have as much of a delay and the price was really good anyway)

One thing to note is unlike Rex and Jesse his kama is one single piece and there's only some small cuts for a damage effect, which means the stand he comes with can't really be used from the back properly, so I've just got it slightly supporting the kama & he's basically free standing. Could use the flight stand from the 501st but I don't think they look as good & I worry about damage from the clamp, I've just had the clamp loose around the thigh for my 501st in the past but that doesn't really work on Appo either due to the kama again.

Here he is now mostly modified into my 501st Captain (I'm calling him Apex currently, I might modify him a little more which is why I didn't really pose him, but I actually like the pose anyway so could end up keeping it), the Episode 3 style pauldron and kama really do make the figure look badass:

For anyone interested, this figure seems to have a slight wash applied over the armour just like Jesse, as the white of his armour matches Jesse but looks slightly off-white compared to the bright white of the original 501st, which can be more noticeable in certain conditions - with the natural daylight that bounces into my room it's not too bad but with him right next to an original 501st and under my room's LED lighting at night it becomes a bit more apparent:

My 501st Sergeant next to him on the right here has Jesse's bicep armour which I had to gently remove the wash from with a makeup sponge and 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol to get it to match the rest of the figure, whereas with Appo Jesse's bicep armour matches the rest of him without removing the wash (The Sergeant could do with his elbow straps and macros getting the same Isopropyl Alcohol treatment as the bicep armour at some point but the wash on them doesn't stand out as much)

Above is in natural light again. I need to redo my display at some point, and I'll probably either have him up front on his own with 2 501st behind so that he's not shoulder to shoulder with the brighter white 501st, or may just pair him side-by-side with the 501st Heavy on a shelf when I eventually get him as I presume he'll have the same wash and off-white armour as well. Which raises the question of what the ARF trooper will be like when he releases - in the prototype photos he seemed to use an original 501st body with no changes at all from what I could tell, but if I were to bet on it I'd guess he'll get the wash as well.

Back in LED room light again. The blue paint on Appo's helmet is based on the original 501st with the original missing paint weathering pattern present, just with some extra little weathering to the paint here and there in addition, contrary to some of the prototype pictures where he had more intact blue paint on his helmet (though in others he did have the more weathered helmet). In comparison the blue on his body does appear to have started with a pristine template and then applied unique weathering as per the prototype, and so appears less weathered compared to the standard 501st there. It doesn't bother me, he still looks fantastic, but I do think the more pristine prototype helmet would have stood out from the rest of the 501st better (I would also have preferred the figure to not have the wash, but it's not a deal breaker)

One slight issue with my figure here is that the kama isn't central to the belt, so the right strap between the belt and kama has a lot of slack and bulges out while the left one is pulled taut. I've tried adjusting it but it seems well stuck to the belt and I'm afraid of causing damage. Has anyone ever readjusted the position of the kama on a clone relative to the belt without cutting the belt off? I asked Sideshow if they knew of a method but they did not.

As for the BARC speeder, I'm keeping it in the box! It does look impressive though. I'll be using the BARC and sidecar from the Heavy when I eventually get it, I think it should fit in some of my other cabinets just about, but this single BARC was always surplus to my requirements.

All in all though this is a fantastic figure, the Episode 3 style Pauldron and Kama with Phase II armour is my favourite clone look and together with the blue 501st markings (favourite colour and Legion!) this is my personal ideal Clone Trooper figure. Really glad they made this. As I'm 501st focussed, together with the rest of the released & upcoming Clones I'll have basically everything I would want for my collection, besides maybe a 501st Jet Trooper, and perhaps ARC Trooper Fives in his Phase II gear as per Umbara. (Though maybe a plain Clone Commando would be nice as well. And I could probably do with some droids...)

 

[Chamberlian]

This looks amazing! Thanks for the photos!

 

[DarkChocobi]

Hi guys, have lurked around here on occasion and having just received my Appo a couple of days ago from Sideshow and thought I'd have a look here if anyone else here had him, seems I might be one of the first despite being in the UK (though I did preorder him pretty early and he did ship straight from Hong Kong) so figured I'd make an account and post a few photos and my thoughts on him. I was highly motivated to get him as the pauldron and kama make him a perfect officer for all my 501st, and ever since he was announced I've been planning mild kitbashes to make him my own Captain

Anyway, here's the 1 decent photo I took of him unmodified straight out of the box:

The stand base is of course not the one he comes with, that's being kept in the box, instead it's one I previously bought separately (still waiting on my preorder for an actual AOTC Clone Trooper figure, had to order him from a UK seller after missing out at Sideshow. Had to do the same for the 501st Heavy with BARC and sidecar, but in theory he shouldn't have as much of a delay and the price was really good anyway)

One thing to note is unlike Rex and Jesse his kama is one single piece and there's only some small cuts for a damage effect, which means the stand he comes with can't really be used from the back properly, so I've just got it slightly supporting the kama & he's basically free standing. Could use the flight stand from the 501st but I don't think they look as good & I worry about damage from the clamp, I've just had the clamp loose around the thigh for my 501st in the past but that doesn't really work on Appo either due to the kama again.

Here he is now mostly modified into my 501st Captain (I'm calling him Apex currently, I might modify him a little more which is why I didn't really pose him, but I actually like the pose anyway so could end up keeping it), the Episode 3 style pauldron and kama really do make the figure look badass:


For anyone interested, this figure seems to have a slight wash applied over the armour just like Jesse, as the white of his armour matches Jesse but looks slightly off-white compared to the bright white of the original 501st, which can be more noticeable in certain conditions - with the natural daylight that bounces into my room it's not too bad but with him right next to an original 501st and under my room's LED lighting at night it becomes a bit more apparent:

My 501st Sergeant next to him on the right here has Jesse's bicep armour which I had to gently remove the wash from with a makeup sponge and 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol to get it to match the rest of the figure, whereas with Appo Jesse's bicep armour matches the rest of him without removing the wash (The Sergeant could do with his elbow straps and macros getting the same Isopropyl Alcohol treatment as the bicep armour at some point but the wash on them doesn't stand out as much)


Above is in natural light again. I need to redo my display at some point, and I'll probably either have him up front on his own with 2 501st behind so that he's not shoulder to shoulder with the brighter white 501st, or may just pair him side-by-side with the 501st Heavy on a shelf when I eventually get him as I presume he'll have the same wash and off-white armour as well. Which raises the question of what the ARF trooper will be like when he releases - in the prototype photos he seemed to use an original 501st body with no changes at all from what I could tell, but if I were to bet on it I'd guess he'll get the wash as well.


Back in LED room light again. The blue paint on Appo's helmet is based on the original 501st with the original missing paint weathering pattern present, just with some extra little weathering to the paint here and there in addition, contrary to some of the prototype pictures where he had more intact blue paint on his helmet (though in others he did have the more weathered helmet). In comparison the blue on his body does appear to have started with a pristine template and then applied unique weathering as per the prototype, and so appears less weathered compared to the standard 501st there. It doesn't bother me, he still looks fantastic, but I do think the more pristine prototype helmet would have stood out from the rest of the 501st better (I would also have preferred the figure to not have the wash, but it's not a deal breaker)

One slight issue with my figure here is that the kama isn't central to the belt, so the right strap between the belt and kama has a lot of slack and bulges out while the left one is pulled taut. I've tried adjusting it but it seems well stuck to the belt and I'm afraid of causing damage. Has anyone ever readjusted the position of the kama on a clone relative to the belt without cutting the belt off? I asked Sideshow if they knew of a method but they did not.

As for the BARC speeder, I'm keeping it in the box! It does look impressive though. I'll be using the BARC and sidecar from the Heavy when I eventually get it, I think it should fit in some of my other cabinets just about, but this single BARC was always surplus to my requirements.

All in all though this is a fantastic figure, the Episode 3 style Pauldron and Kama with Phase II armour is my favourite clone look and together with the blue 501st markings (favourite colour and Legion!) this is my personal ideal Clone Trooper figure. Really glad they made this. As I'm 501st focussed, together with the rest of the released & upcoming Clones I'll have basically everything I would want for my collection, besides maybe a 501st Jet Trooper, and perhaps ARC Trooper Fives in his Phase II gear as per Umbara. (Though maybe a plain Clone Commando would be nice as well. And I could probably do with some droids...)

Can you show the bike too ?

 

[SOU7567]

Just got around to opening him.

This is epic and I'm so glad I picked one up. I think 2 BARCs are a lot because these things are huge (I really want that Heavy Trooper) but 1 BARC really can enhance a display.

As @Sabre-aN said, Appo's got the original weathering based off our 501st clones, however has the white body paint of the recent Jesse. It is something we will notice, but a guest or non-collector won't even bat an eye at. I do wish they gave Appo his arrow from TCW though, however I love the realistic Pauldron and Kama, and something I wish they did with Jesse, but especially with Rex.

I'll post some pics over the weekend, but I am counting down the days until the AT-RT gets to us. If you can pick up this or the BARC+Sidecar for retail, I'd jump on it, this thing is just so damn cool.

 

[Sabre-aN]

Can you show the bike too ?

Hopefully @SOU7567 will include it out of the box in his photos, but if not I could get mine out later - I have nowhere to put it at the moment though & don't currently have a plan for displaying it so would like to preserve it as it is with all the protective plastic sheets in their proper places. This is the only photo I have of it for now which I took as I was unboxing Appo, probably not much help:

Just got around to opening him.

This is epic and I'm so glad I picked one up. I think 2 BARCs are a lot because these things are huge (I really want that Heavy Trooper) but 1 BARC really can enhance a display.

As @Sabre-aN said, Appo's got the original weathering based off our 501st clones, however has the white body paint of the recent Jesse. It is something we will notice, but a guest or non-collector won't even bat an eye at. I do wish they gave Appo his arrow from TCW though, however I love the realistic Pauldron and Kama, and something I wish they did with Jesse, but especially with Rex.

I'll post some pics over the weekend, but I am counting down the days until the AT-RT gets to us. If you can pick up this or the BARC+Sidecar for retail, I'd jump on it, this thing is just so damn cool.

Personally I'm glad he doesn't have the arrow as if he did then for my customisation I'd have been having to swap his helmet for a standard 501st which then wouldn't match due to the white colour difference. Honestly he probably should just have been named "501st Battalion Clone Commander" instead, I would have preferred that, but the Commander Appo name is better for branding I suppose and a proper accurate TCW Sergeant Appo with just the arrow and no pauldron or kama might not have sold as well (certainly I wouldn't have bought it as I specifically wanted the generic 501st with pauldron + kama look and so this figure was a dream come true).

Really looking forward to the AT-RT too (and eventually receiving my BARC with sidecar, that should be December in theory), I've got the ARF with AT-RT preordered with Sideshow like this was so I might get it pretty early as well. Surprised it hasn't sold out yet, I jumped on it when the standalone AT-RT went to waitlist but now I wish I'd waited so that I could have used all the rewards points from Appo on it.

 

[SOU7567]

Probably my favorite SW collectible I’ve gotten in awhile, such a beast.

 

[Sabre-aN]

Looking good, nice use of the Rex hologram

 

[ArtDamage]

Since his appearance is somewhat made up anyways I turned him into essentially 501st Bly.

 

[Chamberlian]

Since his appearance is somewhat made up anyways I turned him into essentially 501st Bly.
View attachment 659593

Looks awesome! Hope we do get a Bly!

 

[ArtDamage]

Looks awesome! Hope we do get a Bly!

Same. Got the sideshow version, but like most sideshows his body is a floppy mess.

 

[Joe Prince]

I got a question..who is the Trooper with the visor and when is he coming?

 

[ArtDamage]

I got a question..who is the Trooper with the visor and when is he coming?

That's the heavy weapons trooper. He comes with the Barc Speeder and sidecar. He is currently waitlisted at Sideshow, but may be available elsewhere.
https://www.collectorfreaks.com/thr...-sidecar-the-clone-wars-battlefront-2.245870/

 

[Joe Prince]

I have Barc Speeder and sidecar. I have to check it again thanks

 

[SOU7567]

I have Barc Speeder and sidecar. I have to check it again thanks

If you opened it, it should be that trooper lol

 

[Mike86]

Saw this in person at a local comic book shop today. The box is massive.

 

[BoosterGold06]

I keep seeing people on Facebook selling the speeders without the figures. They must have bought them mainly for the figures and didn’t realize how big the speeders were.

 

[Chamberlian]

Someone else mentioned that the front end looked like ROTS in the prototype but was changed last minute. It looks like the cover can come off and it can be more ROTS style.

 

[Joe Prince]

I got the right figure lol. I didn't really look at it when I opened it.