(Photo Credits: Jedi Temple Archives, Google Images)General Thoughts: The Empire Strikes Back offers a lot of material as far as vehicles are concerned, but none of these is more iconic than the Rebel Snowspeeder. The ship that saves Han and Luke from Hoth’s freezing cold, takes down several walkers and ultimately buys the Rebels enough time to escape, can only be described as heroic. Even though it’s smaller and less versatile than the rest of the ships in the Alliance’s armada, it still commands attention as a powerful force in its own right. It has had several incarnations over the course of time, but this is the most accurate one to date.
Detail: 10/10
This wonderfully detailed ship has just about everything you could ask for out of a $25 vehicle. It has all the markings from the movie props, even down to the little dots and shapes that are so small you’d have to screenshot the movie to see them. Its size has been reduced slightly from the most recent release, effectively retiring the Vintage mold, and this is a great step in the right direction. No black marks here.
Accuracy: 10/10
There isn’t a thing about the ship that isn’t spot on to the movie appearance. The only way this could be better is if they were to have a set of decals that could turn this into the red striped version that is seen being flown by other members of Rogue Squadron, but that can wait for the inevitable repaint in the next few years. A work of art as far as toys go.
Playability: 10/10
The only thing that this ship does right that I don’t really like is the inclusion of three missile-firing cannons. Don’t get me wrong; the idea is a great one, as it gives kids something to play with as they don’t necessarily care about accuracy, but for someone like me who primarily displays my toys, I don’t view it as entirely necessary. There are two sets of laser cannons, the accurate non-firing ones that look great, and the missile-firing cannons, which are not accurate and are somewhat bulky in my opinion. The same goes for the harpoon gun, except in this case I’m a little more lenient, because the missile-firing one comes with a harpoon cable of reasonable length, which can attach to the back of the speeder and be used to recreate the Battle of Hoth scenes. The gun itself is rather bulky and makes the ship look back-heavy, but the play value helps this to be overlooked somewhat. I prefer the smaller, screen-accurate version.
Overall Design: 10/10
I don’t think that there is anything that they could really do to make this ship any better than they already have. I can’t wait for the eventual repaint in the other color scheme, just so I can buy another one of these, so that speaks more than anything I could ever say about it, in my opinion. With so many included features, it’s a wonder why more vehicles don’t follow in this one’s footsteps, as ships that could be just as cool, like the Swamp Speeder, suffer from lack of any real features and diminish their perceived value. This is a great ship to use in Vintage style packaging, and I hope that more follow in its path.
Final Thoughts: This is a great toy, plain and simple, and you’d be foolish to not pick one up. As is stated pretty much everywhere, there are no differences between this one and the Shadows of the Dark Side one, just the boxes they come in, so get whichever one you can find cheaper, unless you hang onto the boxes like me, then I would suggest this version as the packaging is simply ten times cooler. The extra play features make this an incredible purchase, and the attention to detail makes you wonder how Hasbro can keep the costs down. I was in need of a new version of this ship to fill out my armada, and I’m definitely glad that I chose this version to do so.
Grade: 40/40 A+
Verdict: Definitely Get This
SW Collector
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