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Imperial AT-ST
Sculpt--3.5/5
If you have the POTF2 AT-ST then you know what to expect from this one. Heck, if you have the vintage AT-ST, then you know what to expect as well. This is pretty much exactly the same as previous models, sculpt-wise, which is a good thing for the most part since it's a good sculpt with plenty of detail. The only way Hasbro could have improved it was by making the guns more accurate. In Return of the Jedi, the AT-ST had a different gun on its right "eye". Hasbro could have also added the railing around the top hatch or added opening front window hatches. But what I would have most liked to see is an accurately-scaled AT-ST that can hold two people. Oh well, it's still a cool vehicle and toy.
Features--3.5/5
The AT-ST has always been one of my favorite vehicles because it looks cool and it has the "stomping action"! When I was a kid it was called "walking action" but I guess it does look more like stomping. :P Besides the legs, the top hatch opens, as does the whole "roof" of the command cabin. All the guns also rotate. Yippie!
Accessories--NA/5
Hmm...I guess the Speeder Bike and Paploo are the true accessories here but since they've got their own section, I don't think I should give a rating here.
Paint--4/5
Good job on the paint. Hasbro has added scorch marks in the appropriate places and has "moss-ified" the feet and lower legs. That is, its feet and legs have a green and brown paint-op to give it that look that its been walking through the Endor woods for a while. Aside from paint, the AT-ST also has a number of stickers applied to it. There's quite a lot of stickers in the cockpit and the sticker on the inside-top hatch was a nice touch.
Speeder Bike
Sculpt--2.5/5
Ho-hum. The speeder bike toys have always been pretty cool, but I think it's about time we got one that was more accurate. I'm sick of the vertical handle bars and the T-bar on the seat. The foot pedals could also use some work. I'm not quite sure what Hasbro did when they were re-tweeking the speeder bike for this release, but the rear thrust flaps don't seem to fit as well as the older versions did. Once they flip up, they twist inward to a weird angle as if they are about to fall off. Some of the plastic used is also softer and a bit rubbery.
Features--1/5
You would think that the Speeder Bike would have the exploding feature, but strangely Hasbro has disabled it. At first I thought they just forgot to mention it on the back of the box, but after pressing the activation button for quite a while, I can only conclude that they disabled the feature to save money. Lame. The Speeder Bike still has the flip-up thrust flaps (that don't work as well as they used to), pivoting maneuver controls (wowee), positionable altitude controls (aka: foot pedals), and swiveling blaster cannon (hours of fun!). I don't know why Hasbro tries to pass those off as something special; it only amplifies the lack of real features.
Paint--3/5
The paint ops are exactly the same as the older POTF2 Speeder Bikes with the addition of some wear on the back end and two silver "dents" between the handlebars. It's really nothing special and is very subtle. Hasbro has also pre-applied the stickers and these are exactly the same as the older ones as well.
Paploo the Ewok
Sculpt--3/5
Paploo is one of the real reasons I wanted this set as I've got a vintage AT-ST and have three speeder bikes laying around somewhere, so I was a little disappointed when I freed him from his twisty-tie bindings and found out that his headwear was molded with the rest of his head and not removeable like it is on other ewok figures. Okay, so I guess it's not a big deal; I mean, it's not like I wanted to display him without his headwear on or anything. I think it's just that the option is nice and if you wanted to make a scene with a lot of ewoks, it would be an easy way to make a more diverse looking group of ewoks.
Paploo's head is sculpted well but is angled so he looks normal when riding the Speeder Bike. When he's not riding the Speeder Bike, he looks a bit odd because of that, but it's not too bad.
Articulation--3/5
Paploo has five points: neck, shoulders, and hips. Nothing special here, but then again, he doesn't need anything special.
Paint--3.5/5
Hasbro did a good job on painting all the details on Paploo's headwear. All the stitches are painted nicely, as are all the feathers and other things tied to his headwear. His face is painted adequately as are his hands and feet. It would have been nice if they had done something to his fur like dirty-ing it up a bit as he looks kind of plain.
Packaging--3/5
The packaging, while not anything special, does a good job at showing off everything you get in this set with a large, three-sided window and even a little window on the top of the box so you can see the top of the AT-ST. There are nice pictures on the sides of the box with images of the AT-ST and the Speeder Bike from Return of the Jedi that really show off what the toys should look like. The back of the package shows off all the so-called features, and the bottom of the box has the requisite file cards that is strangely on every vehicle package but have long been discontinued on figure cardbacks since the Flashback series of figures. All in all, this is a nice package, but it doesn't seem like it's very sturdy. Every single box I saw was heavily damaged, and I've heard a few other accounts of damaged boxes. As you can see from the pictures, my box is pretty beat up.
Update: Since buying mine, I've seen a lot of these at pretty much every TRU I go to and they all have nice boxes, so appearantly they are pretty sturdy boxes. The case I got mine from must have been crushed somehow.
Overall--3.5/5
Wow. What can I say? Sure this set is ninety- percent rehashed stuff, but at thirty bucks you get quite a lot of stuff in one nice little package. The AT-ST is a great toy, the Speeder Bike (while a bit crappy) compliments the AT-ST nicely, and the addition of the exclusive Paploo is the icing on the cake. If you missed out on the POTF2 version, now is the time to pick up an AT-ST!
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