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Collecting => Toy Reviews => Topic started by: Muftak on May 28, 2003, 03:17 PM
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While travelling over the long weekend I happened upon a few of these four packs at a TRU in the middle of Indiana. It was the first new thing I've found in a store this year, and I bought a couple.
This morning I've had the opportunity to open one, and it passes the Muftak Test with room to spare.
These come with four figures (that's why it's a four pack) that are essentially new and unique, and yet rely on the cutting-edge of rehash technology. Some mini-reviews:
Darth Vader: He's the POTJ Emperor's Wrath Vader, minus the lightning effects and see-thru helmet. I wonder if the skull is still in there? Overall, a great "vanilla" ROTJ Vader with removable right hand and removable cape. Grade: A
Stormtrooper: The stormtrooper is a clean version of the POTJ Sandtrooper, including a slot in his back that you could stick a backpack into. The missing pauldron shows off the only real flaw: he's got a skinny white neck. Interestingly, they gave this figure Commtech Stormie legs, meaning he's a bit more posable than the Sandtrooper, and he looks great among your army builder stormies. Grade: A-
AT-ST Driver: A clever assembly of old parts cobbled together to make a new figure. This is what all rehashes should aspire to. He's simply a re-decoed POTJ Imperial Officer body, the POTJ Rebel Fleet Trooper head, and a (permanently attatched) AT-ST Driver helmet from last years Accessory Set. He looks really good, Hasbro deserves some real credit for finally making a decent rehash! If this figure has a negative, it's sloppy painting, a couple of the ones I saw had goofy faces, so choose carefully! Grade: A
R4-I9: An imperial droid his paintjob is his most striking feature, even my girlfriend in the store said, "Ooh--an evil R2-D2!" He's the same sculpt asl ast year's POTJ R4. The astromech sculpt has arguably been perfected, and it's always nice to get another deco. Grade: A
But the figures are really only half the set. Hasbro really took this set to the ultimate by including enough accessories to make a kid want to play with these guys. Vader's lightsaber, an E-Web Cannon, a Mouse Droid, an Interragator Droid, two (POTF2-era) Imperial blasters, two rifles, a rifle rack, four of their oval-shaped stands, and even a spare misslile for the cannon (c'mon, now you can fire it without worrying if you lose it!) This set was made with playing in mind. Everything clicks--both the troopers can man the cannon (even Vader can!) collector's have their stands, everything seems to have been thought of. The only thing I could suggest would be a backpack to fit in the Stormtrooper's obvious slot, but that's just from a "playing with" standpoint. It's priced at 19.99, very competitive considering all the stuff included. Overall Grade: A
I can't recommend this set enough, if you see one grab it!!
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I picked up one of these for myself and Dale (DSJ), and I absolutely love it. Obviously I didn't open it because I'm not an opener, but these figures look great! My favorite is that AT-ST Driver. My biggest want in any Imperial soldier is to be able to stand in the "attention" position, and this AT-ST Driver is perfect. Hopefully Hasbro will make more soldiers that look like that.
My grad for this... A
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Stormtrooper: The stormtrooper is a clean version of the POTJ Sandtrooper, including a slot in his back that you could stick a backpack into. The missing pauldron shows off the only real flaw: he's got a skinny white neck. Interestingly, they gave this figure Commtech Stormie legs, meaning he's a bit more posable than the Sandtrooper, and he looks great among your army builder stormies. Grade: A-
This one has bendable knees? Cool, I wasn't expecting that.
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Yeah these sets are hitting all the TRUs in Indy.
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I bought two of these sets last night. Pretty cool. I'm quite fond of the whole set, to be honest. While I know that every single thing in this set is a kit bash, for an Army builder like me, it's not bad.
The only thing approaching a gripe that I have is the finish of the figures. It just feels a little less smooth than normal. It was most noticeable on the Stormtrooper.
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For an army builder set I wish they hadn't put the Darth Vader in there. Do we really need another one of him? Why couldn't they have put a Death Star Gunner or TIE Fighter Pilot or something else in there instead of Darth Vader? I just don't get it.
Otherwise I like my set. Only could afford one of them, and of course it's staying unopened.