From Tank Driver to Mudtrooper: 5 Figures from the Partial Tooling of 1 Figure

We get to the Mudtrooper by doing two things. 1 - Leverage tooling, and 2 - Leverage even more tooling along the way that makes even MORE Troopers. Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line pumps out a lot of figures, and how do they do so? They do so by having tooling leveraged across many figures.

My wife often questions my motives (as she should) when she asks me to choose a destination for a day trip. She asks, “Wanna take the kids to the beach? Which beach should we go to?” And I say, “Ocean beach, the kids love that beach!...” And the whole time, the end game for me is not only Ocean Beach. On the way home I find myself saying, “Oh, you know what’s on the way home? The Toy Vault, let’s make a quick detour, don’t worry, I promise I’ll be quick!” We all know what happens now if I suggest Ocean Beach. “You just wanna to go to the Toy Vault!!” It was a win-win. We all had a blast at the beach and then I got to thumb through figures both loose and carded.

So how do we get to the end game figure of a Mudtrooper? (Fun Fact: They are referred to as Imperial Swamp Troopers on Wookiepedia). I think it’s fair to say Solo figures have not sold very well, but it’s also fair to say they didn’t have a chance to do so. The movie did not do well at the box office and this may have partially been due to the competition it was up against (Avenger’s Infinity War April 23rd, Solo Story May 10th, Deadpool May 18th), the fact that the movie had a change of directors & partial rewrite & reshoot, and it was coming off the heels of the fan dividing Sequel Trilogy movie, The Last Jedi.

The first place we go to is VC126 - Imperial Assault Tank Driver. The lower body, in my opinion, appears to be the same with the boots being the only questionable item that may be slightly different.

While we are visiting this figure, we might as well utilize the Head/Helmet and make a Juggernaut Pilot aka a Transport Trooper. The tooling that would be needed for a Transport Trooper would be an upper torso and arms. We can also leverage the SE-14r blaster that came with VC170 - K2SO.

From here, we can use all existing tooling from the Transport Trooper to make Din Djarin and Migs Mayfeld in Transport Trooper Disguise. Chapter 15 is in my Top 3 favorite episodes of The Mandalorian; the character development is top notch (insert chef’s kiss). The rhydonium transport scene is a thrill ride where we see our main hero have deep dialog, battle locals with no beskar, and eventually take his helmet off (insert Tommy Boy “sinner” impression).

After making these 3 Transport Troopers, we now have 95% of the tooling to make a Mudtrooper and I want 2 different versions please. The first is Han Solo (Mimban) and all we need is a cape, head, and helmet. Leverage the mask tooling from the 5 POA version and his E-10 blaster. From there, why not give us another Mudtrooper to add depth to our scenes with Han (Mimban) and the Stormtrooper (Mimban). Leverage the Han figure and make a new Head/Helmet and add an Ammo pouch accessory.

Tank Driver -> Transport Trooper -> Din Djarin Transport Trooper Disguise -> Migs Mayfeld Transport Trooper Disguise -> Han Solo (Mimban) -> Mudtrooper

5 figures from leveraging the tooling of 1 Figure. The end game is not only a Mudtrooper, it’s also adding 5 figures with prudent use of tooling dollars. These figures also don’t appear to have extensive paint deco and breaks in color which is another saving. This will hopefully allow budget for even more figures for the line.

I’d love all of these figures in super articulated form and in solid cases. Also repack the tank driver while you're at it. Please Hasbro, use my knowledge, I beg you...

John Miko

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