This is an odd figure to review.  I like it, but I don’t love it.  And the reasons I don’t love it aren’t clearly explainable.  But let’s give it a shot, shall we?

First of all, the big thing is that this is an Imperial Remnant AT-AT Driver, with the operative word being “remnant.”  As such, it’s probably not what most collectors really wanted.  Nevertheless, it makes perfect sense that Hasbro/Disney/LFL or whoever calls these shots, opted for the version that is directly sourced to the upcoming feature film, The Mandalorian & Grogu.  Nothing wrong with that, and it’s the right call.  They opted for a similar treatment of the Imperial Remnant Snowtrooper, but the key difference is that we had just gotten the ESB Snowtrooper, making the Remnant version a re-tool.  So we already scratched the itch for the OG trooper, which was available in basic and officer version, and each was released in two different formats.  In this case, we are waiting on a “retooled” Imperial version of the AT-AT driver.  Which, at least for me, makes this a kind of appetizer for the main course which is still to come.

Let’s look at the figure before we get into the differences between the M&G and ESB characters.  As an action figure, the Imperial Remnant AT-AT Driver is rather excellent, but comes with a series of minor gripes.  The overall sculpt is great, and has all the modern “JLA” articulation.  He can perform just about any pose, and is well balanced.  It’s pretty solid, and does most of what you might expect and ask for.  The paint applications, while simple, are effective and well executed, including the dual Imperial cog emblems on the helmet.  He comes with a single accessory: a blaster that tucks away tightly in a holster, and can be realistically and firmly held in his hand.

The gripes, while relatively minor, tend to add up.  Neither the elbow nor knee articulation points flex past 90 degrees.  This is a constant source of frustration for me, because I just don’t see how this would cost anything additional in the manufacturing or design process.  Even a modest additional 10-15 degree flex goes a very long way in improving realistic poses.  It just seems like something that should be automatic at this point, but is missed on a significant majority of new figures.  Another gripe I have is that it seems the knee joint isn’t placed at the proper spot in the leg.  I believe the thigh is too short, and the shin is too long.  You can see the effects of this when trying to coax a realistic kneeling pose out of the figure, as in image 15 from the gallery above.  In order to achieve the pose, you have to push the forward leg’s shin far out in front of the figure at about a 45 degree angle, instead of a more realistic 90 degree angle.  This annoys me on about the same level as the limited knee/elbow range mentioned above.  It doesn’t kill the figure, but attention to this detail would grant better posability and be much more satisfying from a collector perspective. 

Another gripe is more about all (male) figures these days, not specific to this one.  I think I’m tired of Hasbro telling me which on which plane I must flex a figure’s wrists.  It’s high time that we get true ball-jointed wrist technology, or maybe something akin to rocker ankles.  It seems arbitrary to me when Hasbro says which wrists may flex only in which direction, and it’s often not the one I’d prefer.  I’m not going to ding this figure for it, I’m just taking the opportunity to yell at clouds Hasbro.  And of course, I started with “male” figures because the lady figures don’t even have this articulation, as they are still stuck in the stone age of wrist technology.

Back to this figure, two more complaints are just my perception as I look at it on my desk, and I’m not sure how many other collectors would agree.  This figure, maybe more so than many others, has an overly accentuated “jock strap” sculpt.  Not one to avoid crotch talk, I’m nevertheless hesitant to mention this, because I love the current thigh articulation style and I don’t want it to go away.  But sometimes it leads to a bit of an unsightly sculpting necessity, which can negatively impact the aesthetics.  I hope there’s something better down the road that will improve this. 

Along the same lines, the helmet bothers me.  There’s something off about it.  It may be too small, or it may be that it’s intentionally styled differently than the “Hoth” version we are familiar with.  I don’t know if this is accurate to the Remnant helmets, but the design just seems a little off.  The size does seem to be too small, giving him a bit of that “pea head” syndrome. 

Taking all of the above into account, but giving the benefit of the doubt because I don’t really know much about the on screen Remanant version, I’m going to deduct a point for all of that combined.

As for the costumes, I see 3 main differences between ESB and M&G - not including the potential that the helmet is actually meant to be different.  First, the ESB outfit has the “pilot” leg harness, this one does not.  Second, the Remnant outfit has a belt and holster, which is absent in the earlier version.  And third, the gloves and moon boots for the Remnant outfit are gray like the rest of the jumpsuit.  For ESB, the gloves and boots are white.

The last “best” ESB AT-AT Driver that we have gotten was back in during the TVC1.0 days.  It was released twice in the Special Action Figure 3-pack format.  That figure dates back to the first release in 2009, as TLC[Red] BD49 AT-AT Driver.  Interestingly (or frustratingly) Hasbro opted to include repacks/repaints of the 2006 TSC 009 AT-AT Driver figure included with their various AT-AT vehicle releases during that time frame.  Just like they did with the TVC Gunship, Hasbro cheaped out and included inferior pack-in figures, even though superior figures were available.  Either way, the best AT-AT Driver sculpt we have dates back to 2009.  This one, which is again not sourced to ESB, is arriving 17 years later.  So let’s hope a Hoth AT-AT Driver is in the works.

Very nice figure, reasonable (if not most desired) source material, multiple nitpicks, and some “off” quality about the overall design amounts to a 9/10.