Hasbro pleased a lot of collectors when they announced the Stormtroopers, the first “troop builder” multipack in this “expression,” as Hasbro likes to call it.  While people liked the opportunity to pick up bunches of the very good VC140, the interest level was heightened due to the possibilities of future army builder packs.  This was especially so since Hasbro tweaked one of the figures by including an orange pauldron.  Following close behind the Stormtroopers was the excellent Rebel Fleet Trooper pack, which not only included 4 newly sculpted heads, but repainted one to give the illusion of a completely new figure (meant to be Captain Antilles maybe probably definitely).  After that, we got the Shoretrooper pack, which also included some paint variations and some accessories that not only gave us two generic troopers, but also the much needed Squad Leader and Captain.  All 3 sets were big hits with collectors.  While the figures were older sculpts that didn’t quite meet modern standards, the variations were interesting and desirable.  The streak ended there, as we got 2 straight duds.  The Death Troopers were straight repacks with no variations, and while the characters were appearing in some new media besides Rogue One, the lack of variations - coupled with the recent multiple single carded releases made this a lackluster offering.  On the heels of this, Hasbro followed up with the frustrating Phase I Clone Trooper pack.  Not only was the included variant (the blue lieutenant) a lost opportunity to give us the red captain and/or the yellow commander, but Hasbro had concurrently announced that a new Clone buck was coming soon.  While I welcomed this bit of news because of my growing disdain for the VC45 Clone sculpt, it essentially rendered the Clone set more or less useless to collectors. 

Then we got this set.  It’s as excellent as it is frustrating.  First of all, we had made a Repack Request for the very hard to find VC68 trooper.  Recently, Hasbro did update the VC68 Rebel Soldier (Echo Base Battle Gear) with Photo Real, so many collectors stocked up on those.  That probably satisfied demand for the most part, but Hasbro decided to put that mold into production again for this troop builder pack.  As Chris wrote about recently, this figure was the wrong one to use.  It would have been far more preferable for hasbro to re-issue VC120 Rebel Soldier (Hoth), as that is the true army builder figure.  The “Deck Officer” is not nearly as common on screen, and the Rebels didn’t throw an army of Deck Officers at the AT-AT’s. 

That said, now that I have my set in hand, I think it’s a great update to this figure, more in line to the Rebel Fleet Trooper set.  Hasbro created 4 brand new head sculpts, each of which is far better than the original.  Included this time around is a removable hat and goggles for each.  The figures have diverse skin tones, hair, and facial hair.  Each figure includes a blaster, and the set has 2 rifles for good measure.  You can mix and match the hats, which have 2 different color scarves, if you like.  The figure are outstanding looking, and help bring Echo Base to life.  Even if you only had one or two sets, that’s PLENTY to add variation to your Hoth Rebel ranks.

While the articulation is so 2011, the headsculpts, accessories, and updated paint colors for the clothing make for an outstanding set.  If Hasbro had done this for the Hoth Rebel Trooper, it would have been a home run.  This is a triple.  I was dubious when first announced, but it’s pretty nice in hand.  8/10.