Before we get to the review, we gotta do a little admin housekeeping.  If you were reading Banthaskull over the weekend, you would have seen the July 4th post on Friday, and very likely saw the conversation devolve into some ugliness.  Chris and I, as well as the vast majority of the community here, strive to create an environment that gives us all a place to enjoy talking about the fun things that bring us together, such as Star Wars, pop culture, and the greatness of Mark Bavaro.  We all have pulled together to keep things light and fun, so that Banthaskull can be a respite from the real world, and be a place where we can hopefully forget the drama and divisiveness of today’s world.  Whatever your leanings may be, Banthaskull isn’t the place to discuss it.  I personally see the occasional political comment drop here and there, and that’s okay, because this tends to be a self-modding community.  Most everyone who participates in the daily commenting generally plays a part to help steer those conversations in the right direction, and the odd remark will typically be buried under the weight of more light-hearted toy discussion.  Friday’s commentary went off the rails.  Neither Chris nor I were available to read the comments in real time, and after discovering them Saturday, we removed them.  We usually leave the modding to the automated scripts, as well as to the community at large, so it was an unusual step for us.  We’d like to please ask that everyone respect what we have all cultivated here, and refrain from future participation in real-world unpleasantness.  We thank you all for being with us each day, and only by maintaining the preferred decorum, will we continue to have a great place to talk about nonsense.

Now back to our retrospective as we recognize the 20th Anniversary of Revenge of the Sith - here’s the AT-RT Driver.

This guy was barely in the film, getting a quick second or two of screentime.  Recognition is further hampered by the fact that scene in question occurred at night.  We see a few AT-RT walkers come upon some dead Wookiees.  Seeing that these Wookiees were dead, one of the drivers comments, “These Wookiees are dead.”  Facts!  Then they leave the dead Wookiees behind and move on with their lives, which is more than we could say for the dead Wookiees, because those Wookiees were dead.  Ki-Adi-Mundi probably would have been concerned about all the dead Wookiees, but he was also dead.  It’s all very sad.

But enough about the dead Wookiees.  We’re here to discuss the AT-RT driver.  Hasbro released this guy in the main line, and it’s not a bad figure, but it does have a few warts.  The good news is that they used the super-articulated clone trooper mold (or at least the idea of it) as a basis for the driver.  It looks nice, and while ancient by today’s standards, the articulation was quite excellent in 2005.  He can be posed well (for the day).  He’s got a nice sculpt, with several significant changes made to the regular clone body in the interest of accuracy.  The armor is painted several colors, and is quite striking, in particular the helmet design.

For articulation, the figure gets a ball jointed head, shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles, as well as swivel wrists, waist, and hips.  There is enough range of motion for the driver to do what he most needs to do, which is ride the AT-RT.  Interestingly, the AT-RT that was offered came with a different, pre-posed and less-articulated driver figure.  Not sure if it was more cost effective to create an all new sculpt, even with fewer POA, as a pack-in figure, or if Hasbro guessed that people would be more interested in buying the walker with a unique figure, or if that one was just designed first, and this one was upgraded for later in the line. 

There is an “action” feature with this figure, if you call it that.  It has an additional chest plate that snaps over the figure to simulate some battle damage.  It’s neither here nor there as far as I’m concerned, but the key is that you can ignore it if you prefer.  The figure may be a little on the slim side without it, and little on the bulky side with it, but either way doesn’t look to odd.  It gives you an opportunity to add variety to your ranks, if you were so inclined.

The AT-RT driver comes with a large blaster, which slings over his body.  He can be posed very convincingly has he performs a solid THWG to hold it.  He grips the trigger with his right hand (loosely),  and can grip the top handle with his left hand for support.  It’s a weird weapon, but it works.  While he’s driving, it slings over his back.  Also included is a nonsensical humongous hand cannon.  He can hold it (not well), and you can activate the spring loaded projectile by pressing a button on the top.  I recommend storing it away from the light of day, but don’t throw it away or else your collection won’t be complete, you schmuck!

Hasbro repainted this once or twice, until they gave it the TVC treatment with the release of VC46.  That figure is superior in many ways (but not all).  I’d say this version has been surpassed, but it isn’t really obsolete because it still does its job well and may have a few traits that are preferable to the TVC version, better range of motion of the shoulders and better weathering, while the TVC figure has hidden shoulder joints, ball jointed waist and hips, and better weapons.  There are 3 key differences that might just depend on your personal preference, such as removable vs. non-removable helmet, backpack, and chest plate.  I like VC46 better, but it’s not a slam dunk.

I give this figure - 5 STARS!
6/10 Banthaskulls.