Chris pointed out the other day that during one of the livestreams, Hasbro used the term “firewalled” to describe a figure that was exclusive to a much more expensive item.  With the notable exception of General Antoc Merrick (Blue Leader), which Hasbro was clear (at the time) would only be available as a pack-in with his Starfighter, it seems that were likely to get just about every pack-in figure in the mainline at some point not too much later than the original release.  In this case, it took over 3 years for the figure included with the Best Buy exclusive AT-ST Raider (with Klatooinian Raider) to be released in the TVC mainline.  Behold, VC266 Klatooinian Raider.

The initial release was pretty neat, especially as a pack-in.  It was a kitbash, with some new parts, and included a blaster and a helmet.  It was most notable due the fact that it was such an obscure background alien, which had become a rarity in the modern line.  This type of figure is part of the heart and soul of world building, and is what makes the 3.75” line so great.  Some collectors probably picked this guy up on the secondary market, in order to avoid paying the cost of the entire set, which starred a repaint of the much maligned AT-ST - although to be fair, the repainting and additional doo-dads were pretty great.

The figure has decade-old articulation, but for a deep backgrounder, perfectly acceptable.  The removable helmet is a nice touch.  This time around, Hasbro tweaked the paint apps.  The face is a bit sharper, with brighter teeth.  Some of the clothing has different coloring, and the armor is a bit more metallic.  Beyond that, it’s essentially the same figure.  The biggest negative is the weird decision to sculpt a molded blaster to the chest holster, and not include a working holster for the actual blaster accessory, but whatever.  Oh, and this time the blaster is clearly positioned in the TVC bubble.  If you read through the AT-ST review and the comments, you’ll see that I was among many who missed the fact that the figure came with a blaster at all.

Not much newness here, but a great opportunity to pick up multiples of a nifty alien figure that was previously hard to get for a reasonable price.  I gave the complete set a 7/10, but the figure lifted the score above the AT-ST itself. I’ll give this carded a release a solid 8/10.