Sculpt--4.5/5
Sculpting was a major part of the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection (VOTC) and it continues on in the Saga Collection. The biker scout looks incredible and the uniform has never looked better. The last biker scout figure was the Power of the Jedi version, which is still a great sculpt, but this figure tops that in many areas. One of the most noticeable areas is the mid-section. The VTSC version has increased detail and a nice ribbed texture that looks realistic and defined. The belt is molded separately this time, and that includes the little armor pads at the hips. This helps give a more realistic look than when the armor was molded onto the hip. The functional ankle holster makes a return and it is very similar to the one on the POTJ figure. The helmet sculpt looks ever so slightly better, with improved sharpness in the visor area and some nice little details at the mouth section. If there's one thing to complain about, it's the placement of the forearm armor. The armor that is usually seen at the forearms are now at the elbows on this figure. But is this really forearm armor? After watching the movie, there are scenes where this armor is in the elbow position, though it seems to be at the forearms most of the time. It can go either way I guess.

Articulation--4.5/5
The biker scout has 14 points of articulation: ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, wrists, ball-jointed mid-section, hips, ball-jointed knees, and ball-jointed ankles. The POTJ version of the biker scout missed out on tons of potential articulation points. This figure makes up for it with the same articulation as the VOTC Stormtrooper! Not all of the VTSC figures have this amount of articulation, and I'm glad they gave this army-building figure with the best. Unfortunately, not all is as good as it could be. My biggest gripe is the elbow articulation--there just isn't as much room for motion as I'd like, and you can't even bend his elbows to a ninety degree angle! They needed to cut away a bit at the elbow section, but since they didn't the motion of the joint is restricted. I'd usually make a plea for ball-jointed hips, but with this figure it's not as necessary as I first thought it would be. You see, I wanted to see ball-jointed hips so that the biker scout could ride the speeder bike without funky-posed legs. Thankfully, this figure can ride the speeder bike quite well without the use of ball-jointed hips.

Accessories--3/5
Let's face it--we're not going to get a lot of accessories with these vintage figures. With this figure, you get the scout trooper's standard blaster pistol. This is the same mold we've been getting for a while and it still does a good job. It fits into the ankle holster snugly.

Paint--4/5
I loved the POTJ scout trooper, but one thing I didn't like was the super dark blast marks that figure had. This figure has no such blast marks, and he looks great! There's a nice wash at the mid section which helps suggest that it's made of fabric or leather. There's also the requisite dirt effects at the feet. I also like how they painted the straps that attach the hip armor to the belt; it's a nice little touch of color. The paint on the helmet is nice, with a nicely painted black border around the mouth section. The one area that's pretty messy on my figure is at the elbow pads--black paint has been applied rather hastily, and it seems as if the painter didn't know where the the black jumpsuit ended and where elbow pads started.

Packaging--4/5
A big part of these vintage figures is the packaging. Like the VOTC series, you get recreated vintage cards with the small coffin-like blisters. The nostalgia factor alone is enough to get me to buy these figures. This is all then encased in a plastic case that is heat-sealed this time around, most likely to keep people from stealing the George Lucas Stormtrooper offer stickers found in each VTSC figure. There are reports of taped cases, so if you find those then I believe they are rarer than the heat-sealed variety. Unfortunately, the nature of heat-sealing means that you have to destroy the plastic case in order to open it, so there's no way to keep them to help protect figures. I guess it's sort of a moot point though, since if you're choosing to open the plastic case, then surely you're going all the way and opening up the figure too, and once you do that, there's not much point in keeping the leftover packaging except for maybe the cardback. Ah well, I'm glad they chose to heat-seal the cases; the tape was far too easy for thieves to open.

Overall--4.5/5
While I would have rather liked to see a super-articulated snowtrooper, the scout trooper is also a cool choice. This one has some minor articulaton issues, but overall you can create some wicked poses with this figure and he can do a decent job of riding a speeder bike to boot! While I can't say that the value is that great ($10-$12 a figure!), I can say that I'm glad that Hasbro is continuing the vintage line. The biker scout is one of the best figures in this year's bunch, and it's one that should not be missed. Recommended if you can afford it!

--Photos and review by Garett Yoshimura
garett@carrotnetwork.com