Kenner AT-ST

You know, I’m a young person, not a child of the seventies or the eighties, and when I was a kid Star Wars wasn’t a big deal (not to me anyways). But I think one part stood out to me, and it was everything to do with the scenes on Hoth from Empire Strikes Back. I was so young when I first saw it I don’t remember if it’s where my deep seated fascination with snow comes from or if I was more interested due to the climate in the first place. Either way, this one scene was everything that mattered from Star Wars to me, so of course I’ve always liked the walkers, including the AT-ST which made it's first appearance here, although brief..
 

The Kenner AT-ST itself is a wonderful toy, and holds up pretty well today like most of the other Kenner Star Wars vehicles. It has plenty of inaccuracies and what not, what matters though is that it’s a freaking boatload of fun. The toy has a pretty well done running gimmick which can be deactivated, it’s a lot more fun than a dinky missile launcher and doesn’t hamper the vehicle’s look any. Plus, it’s armed to the teeth with three ratcheted guns plus a fourth gun it never had in the movie (which mine’s missing in the photos, but I don’t really miss it ). The cockpit area of the vehicle is also nice and roomy, plus the opening hatch adds another element of interactivity with the figures.

 

 

I feel I might as well touch on the pilots in connection to the AT-ST. It has been shown being piloted by both AT-AT and it’s own AT-ST drivers, I suppose because it never had a unique driver until Return of the Jedi. Frankly, I prefer the AT-AT driver as I think the extra armor gives him a more spacey look I associate with the Empire, where as the AT-ST driver looks more like someone who would pilot this thing if it were real, in the way his outfit doesn’t have much going on. That’s cool in it’s own way, but Star Wars is something where realism isn’t the most important thing.

 
The vehicles Kenner made in the old days have held up better than probably any other toy from the same era, and to back up that claim Hasbro continued to use a lot of these vehicles until just recently. The AT-ST isn't perfectly movie accurate, but it's very close, and even nowadays toys for movies are never 100% accurate from the get go. For the price it's worth, this it suits my needs nicely, although I'll probably end up with a newer one some day.