You have to hand it to the Empire – they have a specialized trooper for just about any situation. Imperial troopers have more wardrobe options than I do at this point, and it is not new to all of these Tank Drivers, and Shore Troopers we see showing up in the Rogue One trailers, the specialty troops have been going since the original Star Wars trilogy.
Since the Galactic Empire spans countless systems across an enormous galaxy, it only makes sense that the tyrannical army that keeps everyone in check is prepared for all kinds of climates and conditions, oh, and vehicular requirements. So, while we see a climate adaptation with the release of the Snow Trooper in this latest wave of Black Series figures, the AT-AT Driver also expands the rank and file, and now all of your giant walking transports have someone who actually knows how to pilot them. The assault on Hoth at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back was a multi-pronged effort on the part of the Empire, so Palpatine took advantage of the opportunity to show just how committed to diversity he was – at least when it came to crushing that accursed “rebel scum.”
Hasbro has not been shy about capitalizing on the troopers in the Black Series either, and if you are a hapless Star Wars army builder like I am, your shelves look fat, even while your wallet looks starved. I am a sucker for just about any trooper, and the AT-AT Driver, whether you pronounce it “At-At” or “Aytee-Aytee,” is one of the best builders we have seen yet via SWB. Heck, that assertion is true knowing full well that we will likely never see the massive transport this guy drivers released in the line, so it is a good thing he comes with a standard-issue blaster.
I find the troops to be Hasbro’s best efforts in terms of quality and playability in SWB, and at the risk of some of my fellow SHF-lovers coming out of the woodwork to kill me, I find these mass-market offerings to be better overall than the premiums. The AT-AT Driver is the culmination of everything we have seen before in the Imperial releases, and this figure combines a strong design with a great sculpt and functional articulation. Heck, even Hasbro’s constant weakness, the paint applications, comes through very nicely to make for a figure that fits the homogeneous nature of the Empire but also stands out with some nice, unique features.
I said before that the specialized troops adapt to both climate and function, but this guy is actually a combination of the two. I find this particular AT-AT design to be uniquely “Hoth” in its design because not only is it specialized for the walker, but the lined suit and moon boots make sure the poor dear doesn’t catch his death of cold on the frozen planet. I mean, I would think they would bake in a tropical climate with all of that padding and lining, but maybe Rogue One will shed some light on that. Either way, this guy (I will probably get one more just so I have the minimum required to drive those behemoths) will be hanging out with the Hoth Snow Trooper on my shelf.
Overall, the sculpt is very solid and there are more textures and details on this uniform compared to some of the other we have seen. The baggy suit has folds and wrinkles, and those counterbalance the armor plates well. The design is (seemingly) a mélange of function troops we have seen before: the mask is classic Storm Trooper; the helmet, panels and breathing tubes recall the TIE Fighter Pilot; the jumpsuit and heavy gloves align with the Snow Trooper, and even the straps borrow from those scummy X-Wing Pilots, so there is a lot going on here. Thankfully though, those moon boots are uniquely AT-AT driver though, so he has that going for him.
You would think that smashing all of those designs together would make for a mess of an aesthetic, but everything coalesces well to make one of the most visually interesting troops out there. The white of the plate armor actually coordinates quite well with the light grey of the jumpsuit, and the little red accents pull everything together. I am sure it is documented out there somewhere (canonical or not) why this guy gets some red accents when his other pals do not, but, as funny as it sounds, it makes all the difference in the world. The Imperial crests and other small accents on the helmet, tube connections, and front “control” all have small swaths of red that make the entire figure pop, even in the sea of white where he stands on the shelf. Also, the paints applications are squeaky clean just about everywhere, and I am most impressed with the front and back tech portions, they are all very nice, and this guy doesn’t have a human face to drag it all down.
Finally, this guy as the articulation scheme you have come to expect for SWB, and all of those points function very well. Sure, onscreen, this guy sits there, fiddles with some knobs, and turns his head side to side, so it wasn’t going to take a complex joint system to accomplish that, but he can do all of those things well. I am particularly impressed with the range of movement in the neck, even with the helmet/chest tubes; this range is a VAST improvement in the same functionality of TIE Pilot, so I applaud Hasbro for continuing to update their schemes and materials to accommodate the “little” things with these figures. This figure can accomplish good action poses as well, so that is good since he will have to hoof it on his own as his ride is likely not at all an option at this scale.
It might be the shiny newness of it all, but I think this is my favorite overall Black Series trooper yet. The AT-AT Driver design is strong with a lot of interesting details, and all of them have been accomplished well for this figure. Sure, we might never see the all-important AT-AT walker, but I am still a sucker for rounding out my trooper collections, and who knows, maybe I will get industrious at some point and attempt to build the cockpit of walker, so I might have some options. That notwithstanding, if you collect the Black Series, you will want grab one of these (or two, or ten) when you see them. You will not be sorry.