This is probably one of those things from the films that most people never thought would ever be made into a toy.  Actually, most people probably didn’t even realize they wanted or needed it.  In A New Hope, two of them feature prominently in the scene in which the heroes are brought into the main hangar, and where Leia meets up with Vanden Willard.  Let us contemplate the mystery of Vanden Willard, who greeted Leia warmly and with familiarity, and then was never seen again.  The driver rides at the front with his back to the transport, casually touring the base like a boss.  Just like the Millennium Falcon, these transports carried all of the main heroes, and therefore deserve an important place in Star Wars lore.

Hasbro had first released the transport and driver along with R5-K6 and Red Leader in the awesome Scramble on Yavin Battle Pack from the Legacy Collection (Blue) in 2009.  That set proved so popular as to set off a near panic in the collecting community.  Hasbro then brought back the transport and crew member in the under-appreciated Shadows of the Dark Side line.  They were presented in the deluxe subline over 2 years after the TLC release.  And then those sets also proved to be incredibly popular.  Today, the TLC set can go for well above $200 on the secondary market, while this set with only the one figure and transport can go for around $100 or more.  It would seem Hasbro struck a collecting nerve with this set.

Both pieces are essentially straight repacks from the Scramble on Yavin set, although there are some minor paint differences between the transports, likely just due to the manufacturing process being over 2 years apart. On the newer set, the red lights are shiny and the cargo doors are a slightly different color.  I have 3 of these, and I can tell that 2 of the were from this set, with one from the Yavin battle pack.  Its a great little vehicle.  It’s simply constructed, but accomplishes everything you would want perfectly.  The driver’s spot fits the Rebel Ground Crew figure, the seating area can pretty much hold 4-6 figures depending on how you set them up.  The little cargo doors open up for some nifty storage space.  And best of all, it has working wheels so you can roll it around and make engine noises.

Ryan Stiles is one of the best deep background boring white guy human figures ever made.  It’s nicely sculpted, is super-articulated, has a nice face sculpt, and interacts well with the removable helmet (although it could fit a little higher) and blaster.  Most importantly, the ground crew figure stands perfectly in the driver’s spot on the transport, and he can grip the controller handle just like in the movie.  OR CAN HE?  Here’s my only gripe…and it’s super ridiculous.  Hasbro sculpted the hand controls on the wrong side of the vehicle.  Seriously.  Watch the scene.  The character holds the stick with his left hand, but Hasbro put it on the driver’s right side.  It’s a silly thing to do, but really, takes nothing away from this toy.

It’s a perfectly executed set, and it was a great move by Hasbro to re-release it.  Given the current prices of both releases, it would seem that the market could stand yet another release.  I would love to see it put out there with again with a ground crew (new head) and a Vanden Willard figure.  Until then, this is a simple yet almost perfect set, and I will give it a 9/10.  Every OT collector should have this.