Assault Walker - TFA - Vehicles (Class I) (Desert) (Exclusive)

These mobile assault walkers operate as mechanized calvary units, storming enemy positions and running down fleeing troops.

Ugh. Remember all of the fabulous Entertainment Earth exclusives of years past? Remember the glorious Clone Trooper multipacks (with four unique versions) during The Original Trilogy Collection era? Remember the stunning Astromech Droid Pack Series I and Astromech Droid Pack Series II from The Saga Collection? Remember how they stepped up to save the last four Comic Packs from the Legacy Collection and bundled them together as an exclusive collectors’ set? After these wonderful exclusives, not too much else noteworthy was granted to Entertainment Earth, and in all honesty, we can't fault them for wanting an exclusive. But this Assault Walker isn't the answer either. We're not even sure if they're able to suggest their own exclusives anymore. But here we are in 2015 gearing up for the brand new The Force Awakens film. And Entertainment Earth gets a crappy repaint of a crappy Class I vehicle and figure set. Now, we’re not pointing fingers at anyone specifically. But exclusives are collector driven and this just isn’t the product we want to see. To make matters worse, the Assault Walker (Desert) retails for a whopping $29.99, which is a good $10 above what the regular mainline version will cost you. Now, cost is a huge issue these days, but it’s nearly impossible to reconcile how a simple Class I vehicle that would have cost $16.99 with a super-articulated pack-in figure back during The Clone Wars days has nearly doubled and now comes packaged with a figure that has five points of articulation. Something is indeed rotten in Denmark.

Inside of this package you’ll receive an Assault Walker vehicle in supposed “Desert” colors and a First Order Stormtrooper Officer (which looks like a "realistic" version of the Rebels Stormtrooper Commander figure). In all honesty, $29.99 is a deal breaker here – and we felt buyer’s remorse once we got our shipping notice. You must keep in mind here both the figure and vehicle are simple in articulation and sculpt and can do VERY little in a toy line. And if the excuse is these are designed for kids; well, kids and gift giving parents aren’t shopping at Entertainment Earth for toys. This item is supposed to be geared towards collectors, and it’s with heavy heart that we say it just doesn’t meet expectations in quality or value. Sure, for all intents and purposes, the Assault Walker looks pretty good. But look at our sample. The legs are bowed and our First Order Stormtrooper Officer can barely stand unassisted. And while he is mostly white, the black paint operations are sloppily applied. It’s all very disappointing and all these negatives make the $29.99 seem even more painful than originally felt. Like before, the legs on the vehicle are articulated at the hips (via swivel articulation) and the feet (via hinge-jointed articulation). In an interesting approach, instead of the figure straddling this like a bike, there is actually a cockpit box in which the figure stands. This might be something we see in The Force Awakens. But who knows?

The whole design of the vehicle is new, and to date, we have never seen any walker quite like this. Just the same, we could be way off in our thinking and this could be just a Hasbro concept altogether. Either way, this vehicle will fit in well with any Battle of Geonosis (The Clone Wars skirmishes we’re referring to here) themed display, as well as the various other desert worlds that have been introduced via the Expanded Universe. The pack-in First Order Stormtrooper Officer looks alright. Cast in a completely different off-white color than the basic Build A Weapon release, this figure actually has a better “lived in” look than the many other Stormtroopers already released under The Force Awakens banner. Sure, there aren’t any battle-damage markings or dents in the armor (like we used to get once upon a time) but the “not-so-bright white” color of the armor really does this sculpt justice. The Stormtrooper Sergeant also comes with a removable pauldron (thanks to the easily removable ball-socket head sculpt). And like most other First Order troopers, the First Order blaster can be secured to the right thigh armor when not in use. The figure interacts with the vehicle admirably and we have to admit the whole ensemble looks pretty cool in a display. It's just that it’s still hard to know these could have been super-articulated figures and vehicles had Episode VII arrived about five years earlier. It's not so easy to let that go you know. If you have the general market release, you probably have all the fill you need of this particular Class I vehicle.