Assault On Hoth - ROTS - Battle Packs (Exclusive)

The Star Wars battle rages on! The Rebels and light side of the Force clash against the Empire and the dark side of the Force in this awesome battlepack. Who will win? The fate of the galaxy is in your hands!

The Original Trilogy was dropped like a hot potato in an effort for Hasbro to focus all of their energies creating product for the final Star Wars film: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. Yet, it seemed that there existed so many wonderful concepts that they could incorporate into their newly founded Battle Packs line so they decided to add a few exceptions to the line. The Toys R Us exclusive Assault On Hoth Battle Packs set was released with mixed reviews. The concept was definitely cool, but did we really need to see another group of The Power Of The Force era action figures and accessories get repainted and boxed again? Admittedly, many of us were suckers for the set. Whether it was just the Battle of Hoth theme that grabbed us or the erroneous still of Kenner’s 1982 AT-AT Commander on the back of the box tickling our vintage fetishes, the Assault On Hoth Battle Packs set was an overall success. Trying to find a reason why this set was conclusively so popular is really like grasping for straws. Chalk it up to being a phenomenon, or just collectors being foolish, it showed Hasbro that we had the potential just about to buy anything.

The Assault On Hoth Battle Packs set was good for collectors for a number of small reasons. Let’s be honest. Is it even possible for us to accumulate too many Snowtrooper action figures into our collections? Probably not, but we’re not so sure if we want to continue the trend by way of buying up the molds from The Power Of The Force line, no matter how cool “any” Snowtrooper looks. The two 1997 era Snowtroopers each have unique paint jobs and both of the paint jobs differ from the original figure. Each also comes with a removable backpack and blaster. The third Snowtrooper in this set is a new repaint of 2003’s SW Snowtrooper (The Battle Of Hoth) (‘03 #19) figure. (It more closely resembles the paint job last seen on 2004’s OTC Snowtrooper (OTC #30) figure.) And this Snowtrooper also comes with the popular E-web heavy repeating blaster. It doesn’t come with a power box or cord, but it’s a cool accessory nonetheless. The disparity between the two different Snowtrooper sculpts is a little bit awkward, but at least the 2003 sculpt is technically a Snowtrooper Commander which helps to explain why he looks so differently from the rest.

Another “nice” surprise in this set is the inclusion of General Veers. It’s not because it’s the greatest figure ever produced by Hasbro, but previous to the Assault On Hoth Battle Packs set it was only available as a pack-in figure with 1997's POTF Imperial AT-AT Walker vehicle. So getting another stab at a pack-in figure for those who passed on the Imperial AT-AT Walker vehicle should be somewhat happy about this. We should point out however that this figure is a repaint of the original 1997 release. Hasbro has also thrown in a Probot. This figure is a repaint of 1997's POTF Probe Droid Deluxe figure. There is a little bit more dirt this time around but other than that it is almost a repack. Obviously the Assault On Hoth Battle Packs set is one-sided and only represents the Galactic Empire. This set doesn’t provide a scenario of “battle” to whomever buys it. There will be better figures that will replace these figures one day, so it’s more probable that this set will age rather quickly. Heck, it’s already aged as soon as it got released. Some collectors may overlook its transgression because it’s based on a pivotal and landmark battle in Episode V. But you can keep your distance from it, because it isn’t essential for your collection.