Speeder Bike/Scout Trooper & Grogu - TVC - Vehicles

One of the highlights of the Hasbro Star Wars brand was the multiple items produced for the 40th Anniversary of Return Of The Jedi. The Speeder Bike & Scout Trooper vehicle and figure set was a gem. And we all expected Hasbro to reuse the parts to produce something from The Mandalorian for us, too. Hasbro repainted both the Speeder Bike and the Scout Trooper in colors that match the on-screen content of The Mandalorian, and aside from a few minor setbacks, we’re sure that this item will be a treasured addition to those who collect The Vintage Collection. Now, the Speeder Bike/Scout Trooper & Grogu set is mostly a delight, especially when Star Wars is at its most insufferable. Calling out “Grogu” as an additional character here is a stretch and perhaps a misnomer. Grogu is a permanent fixture in the Scout Trooper’s satchel, and it functions like an accessory and not much else. While this iteration of the Speeder Bike and Scout Trooper combination brings no newness, it’s a noteworthy set. And we’re happy to see it added to the lineup. And while we were okay with the $44.99 MSRP on the set based on Return Of The Jedi, it’s a bitter pill here. If you do the math, subtract $15 from the total price for the carded Scout Trooper action figure. That will leave the balance at $30 for the Speeder Bike. We believe the ideal pairing of vehicle and rider in one fell swoop is the way to go, but we also hope Hasbro makes the pack-in figure more readily available.

Hasbro took the Speeder Bike from the Return Of The Jedi set and repainted it in the gray color seen in the series. Nearly all the tooling is new on this sculpt, and parts like the undercarriage show collectors the new approaches Hasbro took in making this toy. A new hole accommodates the ball of the included clear display stand. We no longer have “manufactured” vehicle parts suspending the Speeder Bike mid-air. The transparent display stand does that for us, and we have multiple positions for display purposes for varying heights. The handlebars accommodate the figure well, too. Like before, they can detach the vehicle’s body by removing the plugs from the side port and then articulate them to accompany the figure. If you articulate them, you’re left with a hole, but that’s unavoidable. The foot pedals do a fantastic job of interacting with the rider. The Scout Trooper’s boots rest on them and no longer have foot pegs to hold the bottoms of the boots in place. Lastly, the rear of the bike has a remarkably accurate design. You’ll see many new details there, and the updates look magnificent. Like the 2012 version, the exhaust panels flip up and down for additional display options. The paint operations on the Speeder Bike look excellent to us, but we’re not sure how you will view them. Collectors are often picky regarding deco, so you may have reservations about how Hasbro approached this.

The repainted Scout Trooper is another unequivocally definitive action figure. We’re sure there will be nitpickers who will want Hasbro to do more updating on the tooling, but we’re delighted with the final figure. They took the Scout Trooper (VC273) figure from the Return Of The Jedi set and gave it an all-new dirty paint job. The wash added to the armor is beautiful, bringing out the tooling excellently. As you know, Hasbro gave the figure all-new lower legs and feet with this particular tooling, including “rocker” ankles. The tops of the boots also have swivel articulation. We were astounded by how well the new Scout Trooper figure poses. We could achieve positions that weren’t attainable in the past, and we’re pretty happy that Hasbro chose to enhance the tooling one last time before giving us our definitive Scout Trooper action figure. The figure comes with a blaster pistol, and it fits well in the figure’s right hand. The new head sculpt is about as perfect as we ever imagined, and we’re happy they didn’t screw up this critical detail. As a nice change of pace here, we get a pouch with the nonremovable baby Yoda character inside it. Now you have a bag of Grogu to punch, too. We’re delighted with the Speeder Bike / Scout Trooper & Grogu multipack. It’s much too expensive, but this one is done quite well. You, too, will find things to criticize here, but there are MANY OTHER things you should save your breath complaining about regarding Hasbro and their dreadful treatment of Star Wars collectibles.