Battle Of Hoth, The - SW [S - P2] - Multipacks (Exclusive)

Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance continues the fight against the Imperial forces and suffers a defeat on the ice planet Hoth. Luke Skywalker journeys to the planet Dagobah to train with Jedi Master Yoda, who has lived in hiding since the fall of the Republic. In an attempt to convert Luke to the dark side, the evil Sith Lord, Darth Vader, lures Luke into a trap in the Cloud City of Bespin. In the midst of a fierce lightsaber duel with Vader, Luke faces the startling revelation that the Sith lord is in fact his father, Anakin Skywalker.

The Toys R Us exclusive multipacks received a strong reception from Star Wars collectors. We suppose you could consider them a sub-line, but each one was so unique from the next that they seemed to have their own presence in the Star Wars toy line. These sets in all honesty really brought very little new to the table, but it was their themes and interactivity of the included parts that won over so many collectors. Add to this the newness that these sets brought which included never before released characters in addition to “updates” to previously released action figures. No matter what, anyone could find validity with these sets and could buy them without a second glance. As a result, they continued to leave their mark on the Star Wars collecting hobby. Perhaps the most exciting set to date was The Battle Of Hoth. Based on a covey of scenes from fan the favorite Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back film, The Battle Of Hoth brings major and minor characters together in a truly unique and visually appealing boxed set. Utilizing some of their greatest sculpts of all time, Hasbro also retooled and repainted most of them which resulted in creating all-new characters, or simply making the older version feel refreshed in the toy line. The only stickler was that collectors would only be able to get this coveted set at Toys R Us. This alone made it a problem to secure for so many people within the collecting community. It sold briskly, was universally praised for its efforts to improve what we already had, and it even had a variation which made completists crazier than they already were. The Battle Of Hoth was a special release indeed, and it proved to collectors that Hasbro had a soft spot in its heart for the Original Trilogy despite the focus on Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones at the time it was released.

For us, R3-A2 is probably the star of the set. A rework of 2002’s POTJ R3-T7 Sneak Preview figure, it has now been painted in the colors of this obscure R3-series astromech droid from Echo Base during the Battle of Hoth. The figure is divine. The dome is crystal clear and underneath of it you can see all of the mechanics of the droid. The orange paint used to decorate the droid is vibrant and colorful and gives the droid its distinct personality. Many collectors feel that Hasbro doesn’t take advantage of their astromech droid sculpts and should be releasing as many as they can. Well, here is a start. Princess Leia is honestly a decent update to the versions we have seen from the past, but sadly she her complexion is way too dark and her outfit is screen inaccurate. Based on 2001’s POTJ Leia Organa (Bespin Escape) figure, Hasbro then took the head sculpt and vest from 1999’s POTF2 [FF/TKC] Princess Leia Organa (In Hoth Outfit) Freeze Frame figure and placed it on the existing Power Of The Jedi figure. Surprisingly, the vest fits like a glove on her and looks pretty great. But the skin tone is way off and it looks like Leia has baked WAY too long in the sun, which is odd for being on an ice planet. Also, she wore boots with her pants tucked into them on Hoth. This figure shows her wearing shoes instead (because of the base figure that was utilized), and the pant legs break at the top of her shoes. It’s definitely a bittersweet interpretation of Princess Leia, but many may find the more appropriate scale a redeeming factor for overlooking its faults. Chewbacca is based on the concept of 1998’s POTF [FB/CT] Hoth Chewbacca FlashBack figure, but this time a new sculpt has been used to update that figure idea. Based on 2002’s SW [S - P1] Chewbacca (Cloud City Capture) (’02 #38) figure, Hasbro has now speckled white paint for snow on his fur to show this version is based on his time on Hoth. He comes with a bowcaster to complete his look.

Most collectors are probably going to most excited about the inclusion of Luke Skywalker and his Tauntaun however. Sure, the Luke figure is an easy one to overlook and although he has been repainted, there isn’t anything that earth-shattering to report on this figure’s re-release. What’s important however is that he interacts with the included Tauntaun beautifully. And the Tauntaun is truly the reason to get excited about this set (as well as the new R3-A2 figure). At first glance, the Tauntaun may just look and feel like a repaint of the beast from 1998’s POTF2 [FF/TKC] Tauntaun And Luke Skywalker set, but it is mostly all-new. The head sculpt, the arms and the legs are carried forward from the 1998 release, but the body (which makes up most of the Tauntaun anyway) is all-new. It has been cast in a pliable plastic and now features an open belly feature so you can create the scene where Han Solo saves Luke Skywalker from the Hoth tundra by placing him within the bowels of the dead beast. And the action feature has been completely removed, thank the Maker. The only issue is that the Tauntaun in this multipack is Luke’s and not Han Solo’s. (You can tell by the broken horn.) The good news however is that a running change was made and the corrected the head sculpt of the Tauntaun to Han Solo’s instead. (However, it seems that the latter corrected version is a bit tougher to find out there.) What’s more, the innards of 2002’s SW [S - P1] Acklay (Arena Battle Beast) figure have been repurposed for the Tauntaun. No longer purple, they’ve been manufactured in a clear/off-white color to match what was seen in the film. The effect is pretty fantastic. We have thoroughly enjoyed The Battle On Hoth Toys R Us exclusive. We’re confident you will too.