This release was a surprise to be sure.  Along with Baby Yoda, it seems that The Mandalorian is full of top secret reveals.  With barely any leaks (save a rumor of something codenamed “duck boat”), online retailers posted the Imperal Troop Transport on February 4, 2020.  That same day, Hasbro made its official announcement and product reveal.  And just like that, pre-orders were being fulfilled and shipped.  I received my sample via Entertainment Earth (Sponsored Link) a mere 7 days later.  And on that 7th day, there was no rest for Banthaskull.  We quickly put this gallery together so that if you haven’t already made this purchase, you may decide to do so after perusing our photos and review.  Or, you could just be a terrible human being, and decide not to. 

Bottom line:  You must own the Imperial Troop Transport.  How could you not?  As Chris pointed out in a recent article, the original design for this vehicle was not from a Star Wars film, but was actually created by the team at Kenner.  It was never on screen.  But recently, Dave Filoni resurrected it and inserted it into Rebels.  That, in turn, inspired a toy, which was, uh, uninspiring.  Fast forward to a couple of months ago, and Jon Favreau (and FIloni) introduced it into actual live action.  Appearing in Episode 7 of the first season of The Mandalorian, it sped into view and caused long time fans to swoon.  And just a short time later, Hasbro has now offered it to us as a Vintage Collection vehicle.  The circle is now complete.  The toy inspired a live action appearance which inspired a toy.  What a time to be alive!

Seriously this thing is awesome.  It’s solidly built, and rather hefty.  The sculpt is tremendous, as is the weathering applied throughout.  Hasbro has really upped its game on the details in the past couple of years with its vehicle offerings.  The Rogue One Combat Assault Tank, The Khetanna, and others have been tremendous collector-grade offerings in the current iteration of TVC.  And the trend continues with the Imperial Troop Transport.

The vehicle has 3 rolling wheels, so you can glide it across the table, floor, or whatnot.  It has 6 exterior troop compartments.  Only the two that are closest to the front of the vehicle actually have a working door.  I think we’d all prefer that each compartment had a working door, but this isn’t a deal breaker by any stretch.  The cockpit interior is insanely detailed, and has a “ball jointed” controller, allowing you to move it for a more convenient way to insert your driver figure.  Both sides of the cockpit have large doors that open up for easy access.  The entire top of the vehicle is a removable piece.  Even this piece has a lot of detail, although much is probably unnecessary as you can’t see it when the top is attached.  But that’s obviously not a negative.  It just shows the love that went into the sculpt.  The interior has a lot to love.  There are 4 fold-up seats for your troopers to sit.  There’s even a weapons rack which holds 6 blasters perfectly.  There’s also a “window” to see into the cockpit from the troop carrier hold.  The top has a smaller hatch, which allows a trooper to stand and view out from the inside.  A swivel canon on top has a 360 degree range of motion, and sports twin guns that also move up about 30 degrees.  The back end of the vehicle is an upwardly opening hatch.  This is reminiscent of the original Kenner vehicle.  Instead of hiding the ol’ on/off switch, it opens to the roomy interior.

You can put 2 figures in the cockpit, 6 in the side compartments, and probably 4-10 inside the vehicle, depending on how you have them set up.  At least 12 figures fit comfortably in this transport.  So we say again, stock up on either the Rogue One (Sponsored) or Mandalorian (Sponsored) Stormtroopers.

And that leads us to probably the only real negative here, and it certainly isn’t the fault of this vehicle.  As of this moment, I don’t have any Mandalorian Remnant Stormtroopers.  Apparently they are just now starting to creep into some brick and mortar locations, which is great news.  That same wave will bring us the Mandalorian (Din Djarin) himself, as well as his pal Cara Dune.  And we also have Death Troopers (from Rogue One, of course), and biker scouts.  This at least gets us started, but Hasbro will have to pump out a few other characters in order for us to Scene It, when it comes to the showdown in Nevarro City.

There’s nothing to complain about as far as the Imperial Troop Transport.  You’ll love it.  10 out of 10.