Something to Ease the Pain

Recently, I have been selling some of my Hot Toys collections so as to ease the congestion in my display cabinet. I am very surprised at how well Hot Toys figures manage to hold their value, as I was able to sell them at the same prices I bought them for, even after displaying them in my cabinet for more than a year. The speed at which my items were snapped up is also testament to how popular Hot Toys figures are. Now, I seriously thought long and hard before selling them and to be honest, sometimes, I wished I didn't. So, in order to release some of the pain from this sincere collector's heart, I bought myself the following:

Sideshow's Star Wars 501st Legion: Vader's Fist Clone trooper

An elite unit of clone troopers, and later stormtroopers, that came to symbolize the might of the Galactic Empire, the 501st Legion were the soldiers under the command of Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. Also known as "Vader's Fist," they continued to enforce order and Imperial rule well after the death of Vader.

The 501st began just as any of the other initial clone units that blazed across the rocky deserts of Geonosis in the first historic battle of the Clone Wars. They seemed identical to the other clones that infiltrated the Separatist stronghold and pushed the Confederacy forces off-planet.

The 501st Legion was split into special mission groups, often to supplement other clone missions. In some cases, they operated independent of the command structure already in place. There were 501st troopers protecting the skies over Coruscant during General Grievous' bold strike against the capital. Other provided support to clone units on worlds such as Felucia, Mygeeto, Utapau and Kashyyyk.

(Above extracted from Sideshow)

This is my first clone trooper figure from sideshow and I must say I am pretty impressed with it. It comes with two weapons, a long rifle and a shorter blaster, which seems to the standard clone trooper weapon. Also included are extra hands (for additional poses) and a figure display base. The detailing of the armor is pretty realistic, with tinges of dirt and scratches all over, to illustrate that being a clone trooper ain't an easy ride. The blue colour on the shoulder pads as well as the helmet and chest plate stands out well, making it easy to identify which clone unit this trooper belongs to. All in all, I am very happy with the purchase, at less than half the price of a standard Hot Toys figure!