Snowtrooper - LC - Basic (BD55)

Snowtroopers sweep across Hoth in an aggressive assault on the Rebel Alliance's base. Specially trained for combat that takes place in extreme climates, they wear overgarments to help contain heat and tractioned boots to grip slipping terrain.

Depending upon your point of view, you will find the "repacked" figures in the Legacy Collection a blessing or a curse and unlikely to find middle ground with them. You will find favor with one side of the spectrum or the other. We actually love them but they may irritate the casual collector or the collector who just wants ONE of every sculpt and not the repaints. You have heard us time and again iterate how we love to see enhanced rereleased figures in the basic line, as long as these said reissues have been tweaked in a way to make them different enough. Most (if not all) so far in the red phase of the Legacy Collection have differed from subtle to drastic from their original releases. While we love them, we also can empathize with those who may not see these as new figures and find them unnecessary in the line. (And since these figures are mixed in the line with the true new figures, it messes up the numbering which will obviously exhaust carded collectors.) We think these types of collectors are missing out because we think Hasbro has made them different enough to warrant (another) purchase. We are sure many will disagree with this sentiment, but we are passionate on how we feel about this. Snowtrooper is another figure that can be defined as new enough. Interestingly, Snowtrooper was originally thought to be a straight repack but ended up indeed being a repaint. And for that matter he is a retool also. Much more than simple factory differences (making the same figure during two different production years), the Snowtrooper is strikingly different that its original source and will add some diversity to your Imperial armies. In other words, they do look quite different. And what's up with that super wide stance all of a sudden?

Snowtrooper got his start in the 2007 VTSC line as Imperial Stormtrooper (Hoth Battle Gear). As a figure who has vintage style status, you know that he is pretty well made. Complete with 14 points of articulation (and a removable helmet), Snowtrooper is loaded with play value even though Original Trilogy fans will find his clone head a bit of an irritation. (Let it go, it is a great figure.) This action figure is the perfect candidate for rerelease. And Hasbro has already made good use of this sculpt. It was included in the 2007 TAC Battle Of Hoth Ultimate Battle Pack as well as the 2009 blue phase TLC Saga Legends line. The "new" Snowtrooper has a few differences from the 2007 VTSC and 2009 TLC Saga Legends figures (those two figures are nearly identical). The new Snowtrooper has a white capped helmet with a yellowed face guard whereas the original had an all-yellowed removable helmet. This is a significant change on this figure, trust us! Also, the dirty marks that simulate carbon-scoring and/or battle-damage are applied differently and are in different shapes and sizes. You will also notice that the yellowish dirt on the boots looks different as well. The bodysuit does not differ in color from the original release (from what we can tell) and the soft-goods look nearly identical as well, but the pouches on his side have been painted in a darker color. One very minuscule difference is the red color used to denote the switches on his chest plate which looks to have a brighter red paint applied, but you'll have to look a little bit harder for this detail. When you compare the 2007/2008 figure side by side to the 2009 Legacy Collection figure, you will definitely see these differences clearly. Many collectors will never find these differences important enough, but we feel obligated to let you know that such enhancements exist on the Snowtrooper.

This isn't going to be the definitive Snowtrooper by any means. Hasbro needs to update the tooling and fix the exaggerated stance. And then they have to work on getting the odd color pattern on the helmet right. It's a shame because the Snowtrooper is an excellently sculpted action figure and we feel that every release of it should be considered worthy of definitive status, but this version is not. As collectors, we have to give credit where credit is due. If we were to get very picky, we would wish for shinier details (as seen in the still image below) and maybe a smidgen of more height. But again, this is nitpicking. There are differences in the ranking badges that these Imperials wear. We do not have the immediate knowledge to itemize the exact differences here in the review, but we do know that there are unique traits to the Snowtrooper officers (but not nearly as obvious as we see in the clone troopers). As a result, it is easy to army build the Snowtroopers without worrying about who is going to outrank who. You just need them to find the Rebels to defeat! The Snowtrooper very nicely rounds out The Empire Strikes Back wave of figures which came just in time at the tail end of 2009. There are quite a few figures released in that wave that are based from the scenes on Hoth and traditionally, this is a fan favorite scene. If Hasbro can deliver such awesome Episode V products in 2009, we are ecstatic over the possibilities of what they will bring us in 2010 when it is the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. We will wait with eager excitement! And let's fix what is wrong with this figure.