Rebel Soldier (Hoth) - TVC - Basic (VC120)

Celebrate the legacy of Star Wars, the action-and-adventure-packed space saga from a galaxy far, far away, with this collection of premium, highly-detailed 3.75-inch scale figures and vehicles. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability.)

It feels like we’re experiencing a mirage in a Jakku or Tatooine desert. We will never forget April 15, 2017, and not because it was tax day. After Hasbro showed an emotional video before the announcement that The Vintage Collection was returning, Joe Ninivaggi asked the audience “Is Paul Harrison still conscious?” But he had reason to be “concerned” because there wasn’t a greater announcement Hasbro could have made at Star Wars Celebration that year. So can someone pinch us all and find out if this is all for real? Admittedly, the first wave of The Vintage Collection is not what any of us expected. The return of The Vintage Collection should have come in like a roaring lion instead of a meek lamb, but unpreventable factors, directives, and inconvenient timelines have put The Vintage Collection in the current “predicament” it is. There should be little to worry about, however. Once we get through 2018, the line will go full throttle, and if we can support it through the first three or four waves this year, great things are promised to come. Hasbro has to keep case assortments sensible and only pepper in Sequel trilogy characters. If they do, this line will remain a success. We debated on what figure to reopen The Vintage Collection with, and it proved more difficult than originally anticipated. Rey (Jakku) was our first impulse, but then we decided that she doesn’t represent the original tone or spirit of The Vintage Collection, as many others in the first wave do not either. That left us with the sole Original Trilogy character: the Rebel Soldier (Hoth). Similarly to how Kenner had difficulty matching the figure to the appropriate onscreen character, Hasbro seems to have experienced some difficulty of their own with this figure, although obvious steps were made to correct the original vintage Kenner error. And it may not be an error after all since there are different opinions about what character this action figure represents.

In 1980, Kenner released the Rebel Soldier (Hoth Battle Grear) figure. But the wrong graphic was chosen to match the figure in the packaging. The figure included looked more like a technician or a tauntaun handler than an infantry trooper. Thankfully, this particular figure was corrected in the first phase of The Vintage Collection as Rebel Soldier (Echo Base Battle Gear) (VC68) complete with all new reference character. Now Hasbro finally returns to the character reflected on the original 1980 packaging (of the Rebel Soldier (Hoth Battle Gear) figure) and places the long-awaited figure on the original 1980 packaging instead. By doing this, they officially gave us “both” original vintage Kenner figures updated in the modern line. In case you’re still confused, these characters are more commonly named Hoth Rebel Troopers. You’ll likely argue that we still don’t have the Rebel Commander reflected on the 1981 figure, and we wouldn’t fault you for feeling that way, but we feel strongly that the 1981 action figure doesn’t truly represent the character reflected in the figure’s packaging completely either. So, we’ll leave the door open for Hasbro to make him down the road. Regardless, Rebel Soldier (Hoth) is part of the reboot of The Vintage Collection, but overall this makes wave 17 in the line. It’s hard to believe that we’re this far into it already. But it’s an exciting time. Rebel Soldier (Hoth) is a repaint of the figure from 2010’s SW [SOTDS] Defense Of Hoth TARGET exclusive multipack. This time the colors are much lighter and brighter, but aside from deco changes, the figure has no updates in tooling. We’ve always preferred this version of the figure as compared to 2008’s TLC Hoth Rebel Trooper (BD 42) figure. We like the approach better, and overall it just looks like a much nicer figure. As the original 2008 figure had facial hair, we prefer the clean-shaven ones a little bit more.

But Rebel Soldier (Hoth) was also released in another TARGET exclusive multipack. 2011’s SW [SOTDS] The Search For Luke Skywalker also contain this figure, but we also received a key accessory with him too: the artillery remote. It’s with a heavy heart we tell you that Hasbro didn’t include that important accessory with this release. Whether the accessory is missing, or Hasbro just forgot about it, for us, it has been one of the most important items to pair with this figure. So if you want it, The Search For Luke Skywalker is your only option. Hoth Rebel Trooper has a remarkable sculpt and Hasbro "spoiled" us in 2008, 2010 and 2011 with their releases. But because they were tooled incredibly well a decade ago, they hold up just as well a decade later. Rebel Soldier (Hoth) is a quality figure and looks remarkable in the 2018 launch of The Vintage Collection. The figure comes with a nice 22 points of articulation, with many of those points ball-jointed articulation. You can pose the figure running, or at ease, and there is flexibility in his sculpt to crouch, sit and so all the other important things this character should do onscreen. The figure’s accessories include a removable survival backpack, a blaster pistol, and a blaster rifle. The accessories and the figure’s hands still interact beautifully, and you can have him hold the rifle with both hands, something that not all The Black Series 6” figures can achieve. The deco is enhanced in MANY areas on this figure. We were blown away by the clarity of the paint operation on the cap and scarf piece. The lines are ultra clean and in all honesty, beats out previous versions. This change and the different color scheme should be enough to warrant another purchase by you. The face deco could use work, but always remember that Hasbro cannot achieve on all (especially human) 3.75” figures that they can on 6” figures. We’re so thrilled The Vintage Collection is back. We hope you are as well.