There I am, minding my own business, when all of a sudden Chris sends me an urgent telegram informing me that he has decided to purchase the Snowtrooper 4-pack (tip courtesy of our friends at Yakface via THIS POST, which was reported by frequent Banthaskull commenter Darth Xander).  Unfortunately, he nearly emptied the Banthaskull war chest because he selected the “singing” telegram option when he rode his trusty mule to Western Union, and so some guy dressed as Fred Astaire did a tap dance to tell me the 4-pack was on its way to my house.  I assume this was because Chris is weak from his hunger strike because he wants an empty stomach when the Patriots take a punter with the 4th pick in The Draft, so he didn’t have the energy to photograph this himself. 

Usually we don’t discuss rumored products until officially announced, but the snowtrooper thing was right there in live plastic form, so all bets were off.  Chris and I both assumed that the box contained four repacked VC349 snowtroopers, but we were hoping for a surprise.  Meanwhile, Chris was also nervous that it could have been an eBay scam.  I told him not to worry, and that everything would be fine.  When the package arrived, I opened it and he was correct:

Zero POA Snowtroopers are not OK!

Fortunately, it was just a hilarious joke on my part, and there was indeed the Hasbro VC Snowtrooper 4-pack inside the carton.  It’s a rare occurrence of a retail sample making its way into the public domain before the product’s announcement.  I’m not a good judge of time, but I think this last happened 38 years ago when VC172 ARC Trooper Fives made its way onto store pegs without ever being announced.  While both Fives and these Snowtroopers were heavily rumored and assumed to be in the pipeline, it’s nevertheless fun to be even mildly surprised by a new product.

If you want a full review of the figure, you can check out Chris’s review of VC349 Imperial Snowtrooper (Hoth Battle Gear).  For the purposes of this review, I’m just going to quickly cover the contents.

So, was there anything new in the box?  A bit.  Chris predicted it would contain four under-deco’ed VC349’s, with some additional weaponry.  He was spot on about the figures and accessories, but I’m happy to report there seems to be no loss of paint apps on these guys.  One interesting detail is that of the 4 figures included, only one has a date stamp printed on the inside of the left thigh.  The other 3 figures don’t have stamps at all.  Not sure why that is, and I don’t think I noticed this being the case with previous releases of trooper 4-packs.  Frankly, I’m too lazy to check.  I’d have to get up from my chair and reach up to a shelf, and I’m not about to exert myself in that manner right now.

What is new is the inclusion of 2 additional rifles that the carded figure lacks.  Along with 4 backpacks and 4 E-11’s, the set comes with 2 DLT-20A’s.  These are a completely different sculpt from the DLT-20A that was included with the recent IG-12 (which itself was the same as the one with IG-11).  I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but this looks like a new sculpt?  Please let us know in the comments if this is not the case.  One thing to note, the trooper doesn’t hold the rifle’s grip well at all with his right trigger hand.  Fortunately, his left hand supports the barrel nicely, so you can still pose the figure convincingly.  Just be aware that if you choose to display him with the DLT-20A, it’s going to take a little patience to get it into a satisfactory position.

While part of me was initially disappointed that there is not a variant in the set, like an officer, it’s for the best that this pack is a straight army builder set - and this is indeed what the community has asked for.  Nevertheless, some weathering or battle damage paint variations would have raised the interest level here, so I feel that’s a bit of a miss.

Since the set hasn’t been officially announced, we don’t know what the MSRP is.  Tariffpalooza aside, I would guess $54.99 or $59.99.  That would make it a nice value at $15.00 per figure, including a couple of extra weapons.  When it does become widely available, it should be a pretty hot seller - unless we get an unpleasant price hike.

10/10, just like the basic figure.