Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A Generic Rebel Soldier That Does Not Truly Stand Up: The Power Of The Force Hoth Rebel Soldier!


The Good: Decent sculpt, Fair detail, Fair collectible value
The Bad: Limited poseability, Accessory size, Poor balance
The Basics: The Hoth Rebel Soldier Power of the Force Star Wars action figure is an overly-buff, tippable figure that is not a bad support figure for the background of Hoth displays or play environments.


It is cold here. Sure, there is not the snow that one might expect for this time of year, but it is bitterly cold here. It is Hoth cold here. So, I stay warm by playing in the warmest room of the house with my wife, the AT-AT she picked up for me (reviewed here!) and all the Star Wars figures I can stock it with and shoot with its missiles! One of the popular pieces of cannon fodder around Casa de Swarts is the Power Of The Force Hoth Rebel Soldier.

For those unfamiliar with the Hoth Rebel Soldier, they were the standard Rebel troopers seen at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back (reviewed here!) on the ice planet of Hoth. Bundled up in their padded gear, the rebel soldiers on Hoth kept warm mostly by fleeing for their lives when the Empire arrived to lay waste to their base there.

The 4" Hoth Rebel Soldier figure is a generic Rebel soldier in his padded white outfit looking ready to get shot down or try to run!

Basics

The Hoth Rebel Soldier figure is a generic Rebel soldier as he appears in the opening sequences of The Empire Strikes Back. The white outfit he wears is padded and warm-looking, including a decent head wrap and what appear to be thick gloves! The figure stands 4" tall to the top of his head. The Hoth Rebel Soldier is a human, with only his face visible as far as skin goes. The figure is made entirely of hard plastic.

This toy is a decent sculpt, though this is very much a Rambo Hoth Rebel Soldier. This sculpt features very broad shoulders and pects that could take on the Empire themselves! The Hoth Rebel Soldier looks just like one of the Rebels seen in the trench awaiting the attack by the AT-ATs. He looks like one of the Rebels that ended up running for his life! This character is wearing padded pants, a textured white outfit with gray boots, gloves with some controls on them and a headwrap with a visor. The boots feature molded details like the straps and the face is molded to look human, down to his beard! The outfit features goggles molded onto the chest and things like grenades and a blaster molded onto other parts of the toy.

The goggles stand out quite a bit as blue-green on an otherwise cream-colored chest. Outside that, the only real coloring detail comes on the face. The skin tones are monotonal, but are set off well by the beard and mustache to be a little less bland. This figure features brown eyes with white pupils. Generally, the figure looks good, though it is buff and molded in a wide stance that seems to be ready for action!

Accessories

The Hoth Rebel Soldier, badass who can run away or get shot by a giant dog-like vehicle, comes with two accessories: his rifle and his backpack. The blaster rifle is a 2 3/8” long black gun that fits in either of the figure’s hands and looks right in terms of size. Because the Rebel soldiers on Hoth need to be able to run from certain death, the Hoth Rebel Soldier’s rifle includes a strap that allows the figure to throw the weapon over his shoulder before he starts to run. The blaster rifle is monotonally colored and fits the sense of molded detail that the rest of the figure has, though its monotonal color scheme is somewhat troubling next to the colored figure.

The Hoth Rebel Soldier also comes with his backpack. The 1” wide by 1 3/4” tall backpack is molded with a silver-gray antenna on the side. It features a peg that plugs into a hole on the figure’s back and because the backpack has molded tubes and devices, it holds up next to the rest of the figure as far as being molded to look appropriate on the back of this particular toy. The coloring details are also up to snuff with the “clean” look of the rest of the figure.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and Hoth Rebel Soldier is only fair on the playability front. The figure is poorly articulated, as all of the Power Of The Force figures at the time were. Flatfooted, Hoth Rebel Soldier has poor balance, probably because his legs are spread so far apart. The redeeming grace is that it has the additional benefit of holes in the soles of its feet that may be stuck in pegs on various playsets. With those, he may be posed to actually stand up.

Just as the Power Of The Force line was characterized by poor balance, the Hoth Rebel Soldier also lacks significant articulation to make him interesting. In addition to low articulation, Hoth Rebel Soldier is barely poseable. The figure comes with only six points of articulation, all of which are simple swivel joints. He has joints at the groin socket, shoulders, waist and neck. The elbows do not extend, and the arms are cast slightly bent.

Collectibility

The Hoth Rebel Soldier is part of the Power Of The Force four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was incredibly common. This version of the Hoth Rebel Soldier appeared at least three cards and was competing with the Deluxe Hoth Rebel Soldier (reviewed here!) that hit the market at the same time. That made it one of the figures that did not retain any sense of value and is a very poor investment.

Overview

The Hoth Rebel Soldier is a very generic soldier, so they may be stocked up on. The Power Of The Force Hoth Rebel Soldier might not be the most articulated and may tip over quite a bit, but at least he can be found cheaply to help build up a team worthy of taking on an AT-AT!

For other Power Of The Force figures from The Empire Strikes Back, please check out my reviews of:
Snowtrooper
2-1B Medic Droid
Bossk
Hoth Luke Skywalker
Yoda
Luke Skywalker In Dagobah Fatigues
4-LOM
Hoth Han Solo
Dengar

4.5/10

For other toy reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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