Clone Trooper & Holiday Porg (Holiday Edition 2-Pack) — Star Wars The Black Series
The Black Series Clone Trooper & Holiday Porg Holiday Edition 2-Pack — November 2020 GameStop exclusive. Pack #5 of 5. Repaint of 2015 Clone Trooper. 22 joints. 1 accessory: sword-type weapon (Knight of Ren repaint, doubles as ice hockey stick). Helmet too small vs body. Shoulder bells limit upward arm movement. MSRP $24.99.
Overview
The Clone Trooper & Holiday Porg Holiday Edition 2-Pack is the fifth and final entry in the 2020 Holiday Edition series, released in November 2020 exclusively through GameStop and ThinkGeek stores. GameStop exclusive at $24.99. The Clone Trooper is a repaint of the 2015 Black Series Clone Trooper (figure id=3498) in a seasonal colour scheme. The Holiday Porg accompanies in festive styling. Pack #5 of 5 in the 2020 Holiday Edition series.
The Ice Hockey Stick Accessory
Hasbro included a sword-type weapon — a repaint of the 2019 Knight of Ren accessory — which could be used as an ice hockey stick. The trooper is able to hold the weapon in both hands. The ice hockey stick framing is one of the more imaginative accessory recontextualisations in the 2020 Holiday Edition series — it’s still a repurposed Knight of Ren weapon, but the seasonal sporting reframe is a better conceptual fit than a Praetorian Guard staff on a Stormtrooper. The weapon doubles as both a seasonal sporting prop and a standard melee weapon depending on the display configuration you prefer.
The figure stands well on display even in dynamic battle poses — the Clone Trooper source body’s balance engineering is reliable.
The Helmet Proportion Critique
Unfortunately the helmet is too small when compared to the rest of the body. This is the same helmet-proportion critique noted on the Imperial Stormtrooper (Archive) Wave 8 release — a source-body proportion mismatch that the Holiday Edition repaint inherits unchanged. At display viewing distance it’s noticeable, particularly in side-by-side comparison with other Clone Trooper releases. No weathering on the armour — the Holiday Edition paint keeps the Clone Trooper clean.
Articulation
22 joints. Ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, swivel biceps, swivel joints above and below both elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed waist, ball-jointed hips, swivel thighs, swivel joints above and below the knees, ball-jointed ankles. Above-baseline through swivel biceps and dual-axis elbow engineering — the same above-baseline arm configuration as the Stormtrooper Holiday Edition, though with slightly fewer total joints (22 vs 23). The shoulder bells limit the range of arm movement going up — standard hard-plastic-bell constraint.
No head underneath the helmet. The figure stands well on display without falling over.
Distribution Context
GameStop exclusive, November 2020. The final Pack #5 of 5 in the 2020 Holiday Edition five-retailer series. GameStop received the Clone Trooper while Target had the Range Trooper, Amazon the Stormtrooper, Walmart the Snowtrooper, and Best Buy the Sith Trooper.
Verdict
Clone Trooper & Holiday Porg Holiday Edition 2-Pack closes the 2020 Holiday Edition series with the most imaginative accessory reframing in the wave — the Knight of Ren sword-as-ice-hockey-stick concept is a creative seasonal repurpose — and above-baseline 22-joint articulation with swivel biceps. The helmet-too-small proportion mismatch is the meaningful structural note, and the shoulder bell arm-movement limitation is a standard hard-plastic-bell constraint. No weathering keeps the trooper seasonally clean.
Buy this if you collect the 2020 Holiday Edition series as a complete set, appreciate the ice hockey stick accessory concept, or want the Clone Trooper character in a seasonal novelty format. GameStop exclusive, November 2020, Pack #5 of 5.
Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Holiday Edition. Related: Range Trooper & D-0 (Holiday) P4-HOL-02 | Sith Trooper & Babu Frik (Holiday) P4-HOL-03 | Snowtrooper & Porg (Holiday) P4-HOL-04 | Stormtrooper & Snow Porg (Holiday) P4-HOL-05.