Modern Snow Troopers

From hot to cold and old to new, or newer at any rate. When I started back to collecting Star Wars figures this dude was one of the first I sought out, and I’m glad I did since it’s a rather righteous figure. As mentioned I’m a big fan of cold climates, so of course a modern update of the Empire’s infantry on Hoth holds some appeal with me.

There’s something cool about the bellowing look of this guy, I think the fabric coat/skirt they gave him really goes well with that. Under his helmet is a clone head which I’m not a big fan of, but I also don’t believe there’s any need for me to take his helmet off so no biggie. This mold is also the newest and most articulated version of this character, so he can do all he needs to kick some rebel butt.

POTF 2 Sandtrooper

I recently rediscovered this little gem while digging through an old tub of stuff from my childhood. After quickly finding his parts and studying him for a bit I believe he’s one of the nicer figures from Power of the Force 2, for a few reasons. I wouldn’t say I’m hard on this era of figures, but with a lot of the figures just being decent it’s real surprise when you come across one like this guy from early in the line, who still looks oddly pleasing.

A common feature during this time was Kenner’s speckle type weathering. Normally I have a bit of distaste for this, but on this figure it actually looks half decent. If you compare it to some of Hasbro’s newer Sandtroopers, it actually looks a tad more convincing.

 The sculpting is another nice aspect of this one, and his pose works very nicely as well. One of my bigger problems with POTF2 toys is the way they always have these dynamic stances, yet it’s always just dynamically standing there. This guy is actually designed to get a two-handed pose with his gun, and he looks far more natural than many of his bowlegged, bent-kneed contemporaries. They could’ve done him normally, but I think it helps him hold up better now.

 It's also pretty cool that he's the first figure of this design, it's almost worth having him for that alone.

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.