IMPERIAL REMNANT AT-RT DRIVER Cold Character
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch vehicle pack-in
Item No.: No. G2536
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #396
Includes: Blaster, AT-RT, display stand, blast effect
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $67.99
Availability: March 2026
Appearances: The Mandalorian and Grogu
Bio: The Mandalorian and his young apprentice, Grogu, embark on a thrilling adventure as they travel the galaxy. (Taken from the cardback, in six languages, presumably because somebody refused to speak up and say "Hey boss, how about we just say AT-RT Drivers are part of the dwindling Empire's ground troops? No? OK boss, let's waste 15% of the cardback on nothing.")
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!
Click here to buy it at eBay now!
Click here to buy it at Amazon now!
Commentary: Let's get this out of the way - is it good? Yes, it's very good. This set is not one where you will use the term "value." The AT-RT is a small toy for the price. Your pilot is what appears to be a kitbashed
Imperial Remnant AT-RT Driver. $68 is a lot for a $20 figure and, if we're being generous, a $28-$35-ish vehicle with a truly exceptional-for-the-size paint job. Hasbro probably started with a price point and gave fans the most premium experience possible while not passing any saving along to you. To reiterate: it's
beautiful. The paint job on the walker is as good as most HasLab ships. But to pay for that level of subtle deco, Hasbro could probably drop about half of the paint and you'd never miss it. In the 1980s, you'd probably get an unpainted walker with a couple stickers and say "this is great!" That's where we're at now: the most expensive collectibles possible, without much of a push to grow the audience (assuming such a thing is still even a possibility.)
This is a premium purchase that will make your wallet wince. I know we're never going back to the good old days of appealing to people who aren't in their 40s, but Hasbro may be better served to drop some of the vehicle deco. Because let me tell you, this is some ridiculously fancy vehicle deco that you probably won't even notice. Subtle gray splatter on the gray plastic feet will likely go unnoticed by many fans. Each of the three jointed leg segments have painted silver pistons or other greeblies, real metal rivets, and no gaps to fill. (Ask your
Transformers collecting friends about the phenomenon of fan-made unlicensed gap fillers.) There are painted silver bits and Imperial cogs and multiple painted color switches on the controls. And a driver's screen. And another screen. You're probably getting double or triple the deco of a vehicle from 10-20 years ago.
But how is that figure? As far as I can tell, it's a mix of new and old sculpts. The arms and legs are nearly identical to
The Vintage Collection Snowtrooper, with different paint. Less paint, actually, there's not much dirt or anything... but they have the same great range of movement and provide a consistent look among the Imperial armed forces. They are put in what appears to be a new torso with a new belt and waist coat, and a helmet that matches your Shoretroopers. The arms don't feel like they're quite set properly in the torso, so I assume we're dealing with parts from two separate figures as the arms seem large and hang a little lower than all the other troopers on my desk. Given the idea of the Imperial Remnant as an increasingly slapdash bunch of goofs barely hanging on to their armor polish, I guess I can carve out a reason for these guys to look like something is wrong with their uniforms.
As a standing-around figure, he's not particularly striking - but he's a perfect pilot figure for the vehicle. It's rare to get a figure who can sit in his seat, with the hands on the handlebars and the feet on the pedals. But he can do it! His waist coat is split in the back so he can sit more easily in the driver's seat. I have got to wonder if the reason we got
this vehicle and figure was a partially reused figure combined with a vehicle that - for all I know - could have been tooled up for
The Clone Wars or
The Bad Batch and went unreleased until now, with its Imperial livery.
The set comes with a big clear stand with a jointed arm and a ball which can be jammed in the AT-RT's backside socket. It seems to do a good job supporting the vehicle, but my experience with other clear stands snapping have me wary. Be careful with this one. There's also a red blast effect that plugs in the barrels of the cannons, and also looks great. These have been a relative rarity since being introduced in the line since 2002, so it's nice to see here where Hasbro had some budget to play with.
From a purely play perspective, the toy once again takes a Republic-era ship and slaps the Imperial cog on it. If Hasbro were still playing with its old vehicle molds, we'd probably see more things like this. Back in the day, we got Imperial V-Wings and Darth Vader's Sith Starfighter. Sure, they were easy repaints, but they were clever and told little pieces of story about time passing in the
Star Wars galaxy.
If Ross gets it on clearance I'll buy another one. This is for old people with money, as future generations may recognize that it's about six or seven hours' pay from a minimum wage job (if your state has a high minimum wage.) I hesitate to call it an essential purchase given just how many versions of the AT-RT we've had since
Revenge of the Sith, but here it is, it's as good as these get, and one or two nuts out there are probably going to build a snow diorama packed with them too. I'd recommend this item with reservations around $50-$55. At $30, buy as many as you can find. At $68, I'll buy one and then look over at my Cantina or Barge or
Ghost and feel much, much better about those purchases.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth. As of my writing this, he's a Fan Channel / Amazon exclusive. I'm hoping they put him into wider release for the anniversary next year.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,332: March 31, 2026
