Hoth Recon Patrol - TLC - Battle Packs

While on a routine patrol, Han and Chewie investigate the source of a strange signal, and discover an Imperial probe droid, which immediately fires upon the pair. When Han returns fire, the droid self-destructs – but not before it tells the Empire where the Rebel's base is located. As the Alliance begins an immediate evacuation of Echo Base, R2-M5 [sic] helps coordinate plans and K-3PO provides tactical support to hold back the Imperial forces.

The Battle Packs line has long given collectors an excellent medium to gain multiple figures at once with some of them being never before available. Hasbro quickly utilized this subset to enhance older versions of figures, add new ones, and even retool others by swapping parts from two completely different action figures. And it is a way for Hasbro to include some larger accessories and smaller scale vehicles into our collections with great ease too. case in point: the Hoth Recon Patrol Battle Packs set. It is one of the most impressive Battle Packs we have received to date. Hoth Recon Patrol was also one of the last Battle Packs to include five figures, a sad commentary for the future of the line. This popular sub-line has since been updated to only include four unfortunately, or packed with a bigger item and even less basic figures alongside of it. Let's not get too off track here. Not only is the Hoth Recon Patrol Battle Packs set impressive, but it is also very well-rounded. Hasbro gave us one never before available character and four enhanced and/or updated figures. Your opinions may vary out there, but we are thoroughly in awe with this set. It must take quite a bit of time for Hasbro to storyboard what figures will make up a Battle Packs set. And then once the decision is made, it must then be quite another task to map out what versions of the characters will be released and what will be basis for them. The Hoth Recon Patrol is an excellent example of a well thought out plan by Hasbro to give us a fantastic miniature collection of figures that incredibly complement each other in addition to be phenomenal individual action figures themselves. And maybe it is because they have included an R5 unit in this set that makes us all giddy inside (we love R5 units), but the overall package is stunning and we are so happy Hasbro created this set for us. Don’t get us wrong, some Battle Packs have been really bad stinkers, but there is no way this set could be called inferior in any way. It is an incredible value for your dollar in addition to giving us five excellent action figures (with no less than three of them being droids). What collector doesn't get excited for new astromech droids in the Star Wars line?

The obvious reason to buy this set is for R5-M2, which is interestingly misspelled in the Battle Packs' bio as R2-M5. This droid is certainly more than just a rework of 2006’s TSC R5-D4 (SAGA 032) figure. This astromech droid is excellently colored with a dark metallic head and has ‘just enough’ dirt on its lower legs which makes its appearance at Echo Base even more believable. Sadly, the character didn't make a big appearance in Episode V, so this was an obscure character for Hasbro to bring into the Star Wars toy line. (We're nonetheless happy about it.) The droid could have been painted even dirtier, but we will count our blessings that Hasbro even attempted to do “something” besides give us a pristinely clean droid. R5-M2 is the shining star of this Battle Packs set. There are other reasons to but this set as well. K-3PO is another great figure but this protocol droid is bittersweet as well however. Although it is great to get him with a lot more articulation, the dark rings around his eyes make him look more like Pris from Blade Runner than a Hoth protocol droid. K-3PO is simply a rework of 2006’s TSC C-3PO (With Ewok Throne) (SAGA 042) figure so don’t expect too much more from him than that. But you may want to note that a benefit to getting this set is that K-3PO now has a clean body without the battle-damage markings that the 2000 POTJ K-3PO (Echo Base Protocol Droid) version has. (By the way, are you seeing a pattern here?) Ultimately, we think fans and collectors may remain partial to the first version of him just because overall figure looks better and has a better paint job. Chewbacca is nothing too special, although he is a repaint of the figure from 2005's TSC Early Bird Figures mail-away set. Whenever Hasbro uses a Chewbacca figure that is originally based on 2004's VOTC Chewbacca, it is always a good thing. But we are not so sure why they used his Episode IV likeness in this particular set. Chewbacca’s hair on Hoth was certainly more “fly away” and not slicked back like in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. There is also not a lot of “snow” on his body. He could have benefitted from a stronger application of snow dots on him. Han Solo is a repaint of the figure from 2008 TAC Han Solo/R-3PO (3 of 6) Walmart Droid Factory set, this time with a "brown" coat, which to be honest doesn’t look all "that" brown in color to us.

Finally, the Imperial Probe Droid or Probot is a magnificent repaint of the POFT2 Deluxe figure. Looking nothing like its original, it has been painted in a beautiful silver paint and glistens and shine in all the right spots. Nothing has been tweaked on it and this is a little bit of a shame. Unfortunately, the sculpt is a little outdated so we hope a retool is in the works as this is really the only way this figure can be further improved. All of the figures are different enough to consider new, so this is certainly is quite a value for your money. And since it is based on the fan favorite Episode V film, well, that is in and of itself reason to purchase this set. Droids have clearly been at the forefront of Hasbro’s parking lot lately. And what a great way to release never before available droids than in a Battle Packs set. They are simple to do, cost effective for Hasbro and cost beneficial and are happy pills for collectors. And since it is one of the few character choices that has broad universal appeal, we feel that Hasbro can’t go wrong by continuing with this trend. This is also why we hope that the Build A Droid pack-in premium doesn’t go away. Droids are infinitely popular and the model to make seem to have an infinite pot from which to pull from. As stated earlier, after this Battle Packs set was released, Hasbro decided that ongoing ones were only going to include four figures. To add insult to injury, the packs shot up four dollars from $19.99 to $24.99 at most retail locations. So we quickly went from a value of $4 a figure to $6 a figure (and less or more since some Battle Packs only contain two or three figures if there are small vehicles contained inside.) So we need to up the volume of our critical voice and plead with Hasbro to give us more bang for our buck again. We would even be willing to accept a straight repack of a fifth figure just to help out the cost ratio. Released during tough financial times and a waning collector audience, this isn't a good path to take. Despite this unfortunate turn of events with Battle Packs, we have certainly received some remarkable ones throughout our collecting tenure. Hoth Recon Patrol is one of the best Battle Packs ever and we hope that Hasbro continues to throw in a couple of standout sets in the middle of the repacks, or even new ones that don’t include new or revisited figures.