Hoth Rebel Soldier - POTF2 [FF/TKC] - Basic

The Empire has located the Alliance's secret headquarters on the Ice planet Hoth. During the consequent invasion, Rebel Soldiers hold out bravely against an unbeatable ground assault until a retreat salvages their heroic effort.

While not one of Kenner/Hasbro’s best efforts, there has been consistent support from the collecting community army-building the Hoth Rebel Soldier action figure. As a result, they’ve added this action figure to The Power Of The Force “2” [Freeze Frame/The Kenner Collection] line for a dollar more and this time with a collectible pack-in premium, the Freeze Frame Action Slide. Based on the popular background character from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, the Hoth Rebel Soldier enters the basic figure line once again but with changes. This time the figure comes in refreshed packaging, with slight paint operation variances, and the same problems that plagued the original release are here again. Yes, the figure is still too large. Yes, the figure has a wonky, awkward pose that doesn’t work well for action scenes. Yes, the figure still has the same dang head sculpt, which makes your “cold weather” Rebel Alliance army look like clones. It’s all very disconcerting and frustrating. Regardless, the Hoth Rebel Soldier is part of the 1998 basic figure line. The new packaging is stellar, and the pack-in premium is reason enough to purchase this “old” figure once again. Yes, you probably won’t do much with the figure once you take it out of its packaging, but we promise you that the Freeze Frame Action Slide pack-in is a gift unlike no other. The figure remains a Collection 1 figure in this line.

This is all old hat. You know this figure well. The Hoth Rebel Soldier’s pose is not great by any means. Hasbro opted for an exaggerated action pose, which doesn’t work too well, in our opinion. With all of the excellent sculpting given to this figure, the wide stance of the legs ruins all of the progress Hasbro made with the sculpt. It’s not that we think the baby should be thrown out with the bathwater here, but it’s truly a shame how the legs are the sole detriment to this action figure. But that’s not all that is wrong here. The figure’s left arm hangs too far away from his body and looks awkward at best. Between to detailed holster hanging on his left leg to the gun being held in place, (not removable – it’s part of the sculpt), to the goggles hanging around his neck, there is plenty of evidence here that Hasbro went to town to ensure a accurate screen representation of these Rebel Alliance “cold weather” soldiers. If Hasbro was able to tune up a few of this figure’s issues, it could easily be the template for many more future Hoth Rebel Soldier action figures. A character like this needs a ton of articulation in its action figure counterpart. We don’t have much to work with here. This release still feels like a start, and Kenner/Hasbro hasn’t shown any progress yet updating it. And the figure is still too tall.

Hoth Rebel Soldier comes with two accessories. The highly-detailed survival backpack is beautiful. It too feels a little bit bulky and large, but we can’t deny how awesome it looks. It attaches to the figure via a plug and a hole on the figure’s back. So if you don’t want a hole in your action figure, you’re going to have to install the survival backpack ALL OF THE TIME. The problem with this is that the backpack is heavy and causes great distress in the figure’s balance. Without the backpack, the Hoth Rebel Soldier has no problem or issue standing at all. When wearing it, well, let’s say you have to be clever with how you pose him.... just a little bit. Hoth Rebel Soldier also comes with a strapped blaster rifle. It mirrors the weapon of the 1981 Rebel Commander figure, but has its own “personality” as well. It’s also enormous for the figure and, in our opinion, out of scale a little bit. Then again, most of the accessories in The Power Of The Force “2” line have scale issues. Until Kenner/Hasbro begins making “other” Hoth Rebel Soldier action figures with different head sculpts, it’s never going to feel like we’re getting an army we need to take on Imperial AT-ATs and Snowtroopers. Aside from the Deluxe Hoth Rebel Soldier with Anti-Vehicle Laser Cannon accessory, there isn’t much else to help recreate the Battle of Hoth in your collection.