Saturday, November 9, 2024

Star Wars The Black Series Commanders Wolffe and Fox review

Having more Clone Commanders to expand the army is never a bad thing, though TCW really had a lot more to introduce as a means of expanding on what was already expanded upon. Fox and Wolffe were both made for the 2008 cartoon, and while Fox was killed in a comic that'll get retconned by a Filoni work, Wolffe would be one of the Clones to demonstrate his defection with Rex and hang out in Rebels, all as they don't have the dumbass inhibitor chips that contradict the movies. Anyways, let's see how the dated buck holds up for these two now that the Clones got an updated mold. 


Here we have Commander Fox in-hand. With a red and white color combo, he represents the Coruscant Guard along with the Shock Troopers. While he was somewhat grimier in the show, this could better fit a live-action version of the character (with some dirt added here and there). I always appreciate seeing the markings of specific clone armor, as they represent their overall function or distinction among other subgroups. Hell, I think it's almost unique to have Fox's armor look inverted from the usual design traits. The tooling is the previous iteration we've seen before, down to the cloth good skirt and the belt w/holsters. 


His helmet is a modified version of the Phase 2 design, with the specific visor and added details meant for higher-ranking troops. He has a bit of dirt on him, though it just comes off more like someone smeared shit on him. There are some scratches around the chin area, which is intentional on Hasbro's end to make the armor more damaged from war. With his pistols in his hand, Fox represents some of the issues older Clones has when it comes to their double-jointed elbows barely bending past 90, the hips barely having enough range to kick forwards, and the left hands always not being trigger finger hands that make holding the gun annoying to do.


He does have some extra weapons, mostly the rifle and standard-issue blaster Clones regularly use in the war. They're nothing too new here with Fox as they are on other figures. The bonus, however, is neat.


Here we have Commander Wolffe, whose get and white armor not only has the appropriate animal motif almost reminiscent of a Power Ranger, but this deco represents the 104th battalion's Wolfpack squad, which adds to the somewhat ruthless vibe that you'd expect. The core tooling isn't all that different for Wolffe, but his left shoulder is altered from that of Fox; it's the deco (and helmet) that are notably unique. The white and gray combo fits well for the wolfpack, but I hope that isn't wolf shart in him.


Helmet is distinct this time around, representing the look of Clone Commander Neyo, the same dude that killed Stass Allie on a speeder bike. I hope Neyo's helmet isn't as short-smeared as Wolffe's, but he has a rangefinder on the right. Same articulation, same pistols as Fox, but he has a removable helmet to reveal his scarred right eye...whose origins are as conflicting as Dave Filoni's comments on everything being canon since 2014.


Overall, both commanders look great for display, but they have limited articulation, left hands that can't hold the weapons well, and, exclusively to them, so-so attempts at looking dirty and war-torn. Fox moreso since his look less like shit. Also you get either more weapons or a removable helmet, so in this case, it's a draw.


Tied ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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