Battle Of Endor, The - TAC - Ultimate Battle Pack (Exclusive)

The Rebel Alliance learns that the Empire is building a second Death Star and that the Emperor is on board overseeing its construction. The Rebels plan to destroy the station, but a deflector shield protects it from attack. Han, Chewie, Leia, Luke, C-3PO, and R2-D2 are sent to Endor to disable the shield. After being chased by scout troopers, they are befriended by the native Ewoks, who join their fight against the Empire. Han tricks the Stormtroopers into letting him into their bunker and shuts down the shield. Rebels and Ewoks battle the stormtroopers, with Chewie arriving ot help his friends in a captured AT-ST Walker. With the shield down, the Rebel fleet destroys the Death Star, ending Emperor Palpatine's rule.

Who says that Hasbro can’t make old product look “oh so good” for collectors? That’s exactly what they did in November of 2007 when they released both The Battle Of Endor and The Battle Of Hoth Ultimate Battle Pack sets as TARGET exclusives. And we’re not even claiming that these sets include the best figures or accessories we have seen. But as a whole these sets impress and do include some rather impressive things. Definitely some of the few multipacks that didn’t fully satisfy collector demand, it seems as if Hasbro was test marketing the ”large Battle Packs format” with these two gems and more should have been made. Interestingly, they dug deep into their archives and revisited some classic figures to compile them. For example, The Battle Of Endor has POTF2 parts as well as selections from the Star Wars “Saga” line. Thankfully, they also included some more recent figures from both The Saga Collection and the “vintage” The Saga Collection (although we’re not sure what happened to the paint jobs on those figures so more on that in a moment.) But Hasbro has managed to give us new action figures of characters not yet attempted and new takes on some of our most favorite. And to include multiple vehicles and new “log” accessories are just the icing on the cake. Technically a steal as far as the product to cost ratio is concerned, The Battle Of Endor Ultimate Battle Pack is something to cherish and hopefully it will set a precedent for more great sets to follow. Again, we’re not claiming that there aren’t some existing problems with the set, but as a whole this is sure to please. The set is really sensory overload, but the figures and vehicles interact so well and it’s the perfect snapshot to one of the most exciting scenes in the Star Wars Original Trilogy.

Hasbro repainted 2002’s POTJ Imperial AT-ST [& Speeder Bike] Toys R Us exclusive for this set. But they have given it a spectacular “Endor specific” paint job. To say that the level of detail in the paint operations is impressive would be an understatement. It’s quite possible that it is “over-painted” but we are thrilled with the results and consider it one of Hasbro’s best paint jobs on a vehicle in years. Yes, the AT-ST is not film accurate and too small. But this is what was available when making this set and they did a great job to make it current. The accompanying AT-ST Driver has a greenish hue to his uniform and is a kit-bashed figure of the 2004 SW Han Solo (Endor Strike) figure with the head of Rebel Fleet Trooper “B” from the 2007 TAC Capture Of Tantive IV Battle Packs set. Interestingly, the Speeder Bikes from the original 2002 TRU set are also included here. They do not come apart in pieces (or explode). This was the main difference with this version. But they have been repainted in cool movie-specific colors and are faithful to the film. (That’s really the most important thing.) When the bikes are “parked” the legs don’t hold them up which is unfortunate. But we suppose the thing to appreciate here is the awesome new paint job. The two Biker Scouts are technically unique from each other. One is a brilliant repaint of the 2006 VTSC Biker Scout figure while the other is a repaint of the 2007 TAC Shadow Scout [With Speeder Bike] (with the wider stance to straddle the biker better). Hasbro has really given both of the Biker Scouts awesome paint jobs with blaster marks and dirt. They look like they were ripped right out of the film! New to Star Wars collectors are the logs that the Ewoks used to both trip one AT-ST and bash-in the “head” of another. The logs are well made and quite large. The come complete with real twine so that they are more functional. And they make up some of the best parts of this set!

If we could describe the rest of the figures in one word we would probably use “orange”. Han’s hair isn’t right and Chewbacca’s fur is off by more than one shade. Han Solo is a [poor] repaint of 2006’s VTSC Han Solo (In Trench Coat). He comes without the trench coat this time around and with a bad complexion. Even his pants are way too light in color almost matching the holster. Chewbacca is also a [poor] repaint of 2002’s SW Chewbacca (Cloud City Capture) but comes with a bowcaster that looks like the one that came with 2004’s VOTC Chewbacca, but is really new because of the way it gets assembled. Not the greatest Chewbacca figure around, it sort of works OK in this set, but it would have been much nice to see a reuse of the 2004 VOTC figure. The Stormtrooper is interesting. It is a repaint of the 2005 TSC Sandtrooper but comes with the belt of the 2004 VOTC figure. So unfortunately we have another figure with an unnecessary slot in his back. The yellowing on his armor is placed oddly on his shoulders and thighs and it may have been better if Hasbro just put some carbon-scoring marks on the armor instead. The Ewoks are also interesting. Clearly meant to be the Ewoks that swung with Chewbacca like Tarzan to take over an AT-ST in Return Of The Jedi, Hasbro has named them Oochee and Wicket W. Warrick. But we all know that it is Widdle Warrick, Wicket’s brother. (And he is another figure that’s way too orange in this set also!) Oochee is a repaint of 1998’s POTF2 Logray (with Wicket’s cowl) and Wicket W. Warrick is of course a repaint of 1998’s POTF2 Wicket. While the included figures are certainly not the best versions of the figures we have seen before, there is something about the total sum of this package that completely enthralls us. We love it and we bet you will too.