Scramble On Yavin - TLC - Battle Packs

In their base on Yavin, the Rebel Alliance prepares to launch a direct assault upon the Empire. The busy ground crew checks the vehicles, makes repairs and adjustments, loads droids into the fighters' sockets, and shuttles equipment and people to different destinations. The air crackles with tension and anticipation. The Rebels know how much is at stake for them and the galaxy, and they focus their efforts on being ready for the battle ahead.

Prepare and brace yourselves for a syrupy rave review for a Battle Packs set that will likely rank as one of Hasbro's best of all time. In fact, we are willing to claim that there won't be another Battle Packs set that will rank above or beside it. We really doubt that they will be able to top themselves after this, but we of course will remain positive that they can. You have heard us state time and again that the Scramble On Yavin Battle Packs set is beyond what we had ever expected. It is such a powerful release by Hasbro for many reasons. First, it is based on a scene from the Original Trilogy (the first film to be exact which is the landmark movie and catalyst that ignited our collecting madness), and it is the Original Trilogy that makes fan boys and fan girls everywhere very, very happy. This excitement in return brings in the sales traffic for Hasbro and affirms to them to keep making great sets like this. Also, it is the first set in a very long time to offer so much value for the money. We have been getting short changed as of late with removed paint deco and less figures in the multipacks while prices continue to be driven upwards (at frighteningly exponential rates). Depending upon where you picked it up, the set ranged from $21.99 to $24.99 and let us tell you right off the bat what a deal this truly is! You aren't getting ripped off here folks. It is so much more than just a standard Battle Packs set of four or five figures. It engages the collector to hearken back to the earliest collecting years just by its very nature of being from the Episode IV source. But it is also very reminiscent of the days when we bought mini rigs with a few figures for great play times. It's almost as if Hasbro continues that very vintage "mindset" with new A New Hope (and Original Trilogy) releases. On the back of the product packaging, the list of characters includes "Rebel Ground Crew (With Transport)", "Red Leader" (Garven Dreis), and the astromech "R5-K6". All are brilliantly sculpted figures that have even better deco. Oh, and the Transport is itself an amazingly sculpted masterpiece too.

The Rebel Ground Crew figure comes with a removable helmet, Rebel blaster, and the above-mentioned Transport "miniature vehicle". The vehicle is colored very brightly in spots with the warning colors of black and yellow. The Rebel Ground Crew figure has an uncanny resemblance to actor Ryan Stiles (from The Drew Carey Show), It's fantastic to get another great figure to help fill out the ranks of the vast and diverse Rebel Alliance. There are so many various troopers outfitted in khaki that make up a grand army and it is wonderfully exciting to see them realized in action figure form after such a long time. His uniform is very clean looking (a bit incorrect if you looks at the film stills as the uniforms are quite filthy) and has a bright white helmet. The action figure is articulated so well that he has the ability to steer the transport just like in the film (what looks to be backwards to the layperson) as needed to carry good and important people to various places within the Massassi Temple Rebel base. He sports the expected 14 points of articulation and he can hold his blaster pistol and removable helmet very well in his hands. He fits so well in with the rest of the Rebel troopers we have received thus far and has helped to check off another character from our Battle of Yavin dioramas! Officially name Red Leader on the packaging, the description confirms that this is Garven Dreis, another X-wing pilot action figure that is also blessed with 14 points of articulation. He borrows many parts from his plastic blood cousin: 2006's VTSC Luke Skywalker (X-wing Pilot) figure. The helmet and head and some other very small changes were given to this figure and blended in very well to make this figure into a very acceptable Garven Dreis character. While not looking exactly like his onscreen visage, once his helmet is on, you really won't know the difference. Despite not being a perfect match to the actor, Garven has been given a very good head sculpt and it works very well for the purpose of this set. But in our opinion, the most exciting figure of the three included here is R5-K6. This brightly colored astromech droid would have been a welcomed addition to our collection even if he had come carded singly in the basic figure line. We love our R5 astromech repaints, don't we?! The R5 unit stands out beautifully from the set and it is the perfect add-on needed to complete this set. Hasbro has come so far with their ability to paint small lines and detailed patterns on these droids with so much success. And R5-K6 is a droid with a lot of color and patterns. The droid is painted beautifully and the final product delivered excellent quality and we are very happy with to add another Episode IV R5 unit into our collections! R5-K6 is undoubtedly a reason to buy this set itself!

And how can we leave out the magnificent Transport? While technically a [very big] accessory for the Rebel Ground Crew, it is such a stunning piece of plastic art and in perfect scale to the large scale X-wing fighters! We have heard mumbles about how 'cheesy' this "mini-rig" is and we are shocked that some have not loved every aspect of this vehicle. We can only rave about it and get more and more excited every time we look at it and think how we can create the neatest dioramas thanks to little things like this. It is refreshing to finally get some more "on screen" mini rig vehicles! The vintage ones were great, but we love getting ones that were actually in the films. The two doors on the back flip up for various helmets, gun, or droid parts storage (or anything else for that matter). Due to its wheel design, it really looks like it is hovering above ground a little bit (even though the movie version clearly had wheels). Although unlikely, we are hoping for a repaint set with different characters, but since Hasbro has confirmed that this format of Battle Packs has already ceased and they are going back to the old method of including mostly repacked figures, we don't expect to see another great set like this in a good while. It seems that once Hasbro got started making phenomenal sets like this, they change direction again, but in a backwards manner. But with Hasbro, anything is possible, so we will just hope the future changes their focus again. As we have already stated, this set possesses incredible value for the cost. If you itemize the parts at a cost per piece at current MSRP, we come up with: Rebel Ground Crew ($7.99); Red Leader ($7.99); R5-K6 ($7.99); Transport ($9.99). And if you were to add this up it would come to $33.96; about $10 or more than if they were to be purchased separately (if you could). And these are just rought estimates of what Hasbro could charge for them individually. So we are left without a doubt that this is a deal, especially since all the figures are "new". It's a win-win no matter how you look at it. And you know you want this since it is an original Star Wars themed product! Beautifully packaged and well engineered, the Scramble On Yavin Battle Packs is one that will be nearly impossible to outdo. We will wait and watch anxiously as Hasbro attempts to make a better one. We don't think they can.