Thank you to Hasbro and Litzky PR for providing this free sample.

The following story is about Football.  I know some of you are not sports fans, but please bear with me.  I have a point.  I promise.  In 2001 Mo Lewis laid a vicious sideline hit on the New England Patriots’ Drew Bledsoe.  So injured was Bledsoe that he was eventually taken to the hospital during the game (he was replaced by a nobody Tom Brady who would go one to quarterback the team for twenty seasons).  Rumors swirled that Bledsoe suffered a collapsed lung.  Coach Belichick denied those rumors in the post game press conference.  Thinking the reporter pool was caught in a Belichickian word game, then beat reporter Michael Felger asked a famous question:

“Is it possible to have a collapsed lung, and then not have a collapsed lung?”

Mr. Felger, who now is a professional sports radio troll, has been mocked for that question ever since.  I would like to toss my hat into that mockery ring with the following question:

Is it possible that this AT-ST Driver is the least exciting figure from the current Walmart LFL 50th “wave”, and also the most exciting?

The reason why it’s the least exciting is that, aside form Photo Real paint applications to the head sculpt, there is nothing new about this figure at all.  Paploo uses a completely different sculpt from its previous release to go with a new headdress.  The Endor Leia features a new head and a much more accurate camouflage pattern on the poncho. This AT-ST Driver is the same figure from the Endor AT-ST Crew 2-pack. 

The reason why this is an exciting release is that fans would love to army build this version of the AT-ST Driver, but like Catherine Keener’s Ebay store, they’ve made it extremely difficult. The most accessible way to get this figure previously was via the aforementioned AT-ST Crew 2-pack, but that was a Kmart exclusive. A good portion of the human population did not live within driving distance of a Kmart store in 2012 when it was released, and even if you did, you had better odds of finding an empty Snickers wrapper and a half consumed Slushy on the shelf.  The other releases were included in expensive ultimate battle packs or as vehicle pack-ins.  Prior to this release, you couldn’t effectively army build AT-ST Drivers.  In fact, this is only the second individually carded AT-ST Driver in the history of the modern line (and third overall).  That’s crazy.

The figure itself is the standard super articulation circa 2012.  It’s not the “Jedi Level Articulation” we get today.  The lack of ball jointed hips prevents you from posing the figure in dynamic shooting poses, but that’s not the figure’s primary job.  It needs to sit in the AT-ST, or stand at attention for the Emperor’s arrival on the second Death Star.  It can do both of these things, which is why this can be considered a definitive AT-ST Driver.  It does what it needs to do, but not much more.  The figure famously includes what looks like a harness, but is actually the AT-ST safety restraints.  It’s kind of like having a belt that looks like your car’s seatbelt (there’s a million dollar idea for you).

When a figure is a repack, Hasbro seems to have a slavish devotion to the exact load out of the original release.  As such, the figure includes the old E-11 rifle sculpt instead of the much nicer new version that comes with the VC140 - Stormtrooper.  The E-11 accessory in this release is very rubbery and doesn’t easily snap into the figure’s hand, which is extremely rigid.  I’ve often said that I prefer the opposite.  It’s much easier to work with pliable hands and rigid accessories. The knee joints on my sample did NOT want to articulate.  The original release moves freely.  I had to gingerly work the joints free as I could see the pins turning white from the stress.  This is an unfortunate callback to a problem that plagued the 3.75” Black Series figures.  I have to wonder if either a factory mistake, or a cost cutting measure caused the wrong plastic to be used. 

The head sculpt is based on the late Return of the Jedi director, Richard Marquand. Unfortunately, the misapplication of the Photo Real on my sample betrays that likeness.  The eyes are not working in concert.

As this figure has standard super articulation, it gets the standard super articulation score of a 7 out of 10.