When this set was first announced, I was interested in it because it was an alternate way to get additional VC231 Stormtroopers - you know, the one with the rocker ankles.  VC231 is of course a Walmart exclusive, which means my life will get shorter over the stress of the experience of ordering and (hopefully) receiving it.  The main difference here is the lack of the holster, which so far is specific to that Walmart release.  Otherwise, Hasbro did well by giving us the opportunity to get the rocker-ankled masterpiece via this set, as well as VC253 Heavy Assault Stormtrooper.  The E-Web, to me, was a means to an end; and afterthought.

Well, now that it is in hand, I will suggest this:  do not sleep on the E-Web Heavy Repeating Blaster Cannon.  I mean, that would be uncomfortable.  Use a mattress, you animal!  No, seriously, this is an amazing sculpt, and a lot of care and detail went into it. 

The first thing you may notice is that the cannon seems small.  That’s because is it, at least when compared to previous releases.  For POTF2 and again in the Saga line, Hasbro’s original sculpt had a black spring-loaded projectile that was sculpted to look similar to the end of the barrel.  It also came with the energy generator that connected to the underside of the gun via a flexible hose.  For the ROTS line, and again in the SOTDS line, Hasbro updated the cannon’s sculpt (while the tripod remained untouched), but for some strange reason eliminated the generator and hose.  Also the projectile took on a look more like some kind of amorphous blast effect.

Fast Forward to 2022 and TVC’s version is completely redesigned from the ground up.  The tripod comes in 6 pieces.  There’s a 2-piece connector [not separated in the images above, sorry], 3 legs, and a rectangular frame of sorts.  The legs are actually 3 different sculpts, and each one fits into a specific notch in the central connector.  It takes a minute or two to get it right.  Then the all-new barrel connects to the tripod.  The generator box makes a return.  This time, the flexible hose connects to the rear of the gun rather then at the same central point where the barrel sits on the tripod.  To top it all off, you get a nice optional blast effect that connects to the muzzle.  The box says “Ages 4 and Up.”  I think some of these recent offerings by Hasbro are probably beyond the capabilities of a 4-year old to assemble.  But (fortunately) I don’t have one in my house on which to test my thesis.  So you parents out there will have to let me know if this is accurate.

The Stormtrooper is great.  We’ve already discussed (twice) in detail with VC231 and VC253.  I wish I could have 100 of these, and then Hasbro could upgrade them again soon and render my army obsolete. 

This set is a 10.  I thought the figure would be the star of the set.  But it definitely shares the spotlight with the included E-Web “accessory.’