AT-AT Driver - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (31)

The Empire's combat drivers are trained to handle everything in the Imperial ground arsenal, but AT-AT drivers see themselves as elite, controlling their massive four-footed assault vehicles in combat against Rebel targets.

Things are starting to heat up in The Black Series [Phase III] kitchen at Hasbro. After an unsteady first couple of years, the people responsible for making 6” figures are going back to basics and choosing characters that Star Wars collectors just purely enjoy. Obviously, characters from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back are hugely popular amongst those in the collecting community and now we have two of them in the ninth wave of The Black Series [Phase III] lineup. (Now if we could only get Hasbro to focus on cantina and Jabba’s palace aliens/skiff guards all would be more perfect in the Star Wars collecting world. We digress.) The AT-AT Driver is an exciting release. There’s no other way to state it. While this character’s vehicle is likely 100% off limits to make in the 6” scale, getting the pilot and just more Imperials from the Galactic Empire in general are warmly embraced and welcomed by fans of the line. JTA broke the news of the AT-AT Driver coming into the 6” line. That was a while ago. But the 6" figure has finally been released and we’re thrilled with the results. Like most other 6” figures, Hasbro doesn’t break too much ground. This isn’t meant to be interpreted as a criticism, it’s just stating a fact. The articulation systems don’t vary that much between the figures. Perhaps this creates a more cohesive line. We’d just encourage Hasbro to think outside of the box a little bit more and give some of the characters they make a few extra features specific to them or their role in their respective film. We say all that to say that the AT-AT Driver is a very basic, but very nice release.

If there is one blatant trend we see with Hasbro products today, it’s that any one single character looks VERY similar across its different scales. And there is a reason this is so. Hasbro utilizes digital files to make their action figures today. Everything starts in a computer now and once a mold is approved, it is then extrapolated across all of the different sizes and scales. Obviously, tweaks (sometimes aggressive) need to be made to work in the different types of articulation, but when you compare the silhouettes and the sculpting against two different scales, you’ll see just how much alike they are than different. The same is true for the AT-AT Driver. Think back to 2015’s R AT-AT Driver (SL18) Saga Legends figure. This was truly one of the most accurate sculpts of the AT-AT Driver costume the Star Wars line had ever received. Sure, it lacked terribly with its shoddy and missing paint operations, but there had never been a more accurate sculpt than this figure. You don’t have to spend much time at all comparing this 5POA figure to the new The Black Series [Phase III] 6” figure to see how they are nearly derived from the same digital blueprints. And this is a wonderful thing. As a result, the TBS6 AT-AT Driver is the AT-AT Driver figure we never received in 3.75” scale. And as much as that may not make much sense to you, this is the figure we should have received in 3.75” super-articulated scale, not the ones released in the Legacy Collection era. Some of its standout points include a non-removable helmet, a beautiful paint job, and articulation that would make any Star Wars collector who loves articulation weep with joy.

AT-AT Driver has a nice range of movement. Even with his helmet hoses, you’re still able to turn his head left and right, up and down and all around. But that’s not the only benefit of this figure. With 28 points of articulation, the AT-AT Driver can be posed in an amazing array of options. We have little to complain about with his movement. His accessories are light. He only comes with an E-11 blaster. We were so hoping to see him come with a strapped blaster rifle, even if it is an off-screen mock version, just to pay homage to the vintage Kenner figure. Other than that, we understand why this character wouldn’t come with a crap load of accessories. We are really happy with the silhouette of this figure. Some have felt that there is something off with this figure’s body, but we are quite pleased with the final outcome. The legs perhaps could be a little bit bulkier and not so lanky, but everything is in place as far as our opinion is concerned. From Hasbro paying attention very carefully and coloring his armor pieces light gray, to the expert paint applications added to his chest box, the AT-AT Driver has really turned out quite beautifully. This version of the AT-AT Driver comes without the red stripe on the back of his helmet (like the vintage Kenner release did), so we hope that Hasbro finds another opportunity to release this figure again, and be sure to add that red stripe to his helmet. Sometime when you don’t include a whole bunch of accessories to a figure you should make up for that with some extra paint operations. Overall, the AT-AT Driver is a highlight in the ninth wave of this phase of the line. He comes highly recommended by us!