This Hoth Rebel Trooper was released in the Defense Of Hoth battlepack during The Shadow Of The Dark Side Collection in October 2010 as a Target exclusive. The set contained this Hoth Rebel Trooper, plus another Hoth Rebel Trooper, K-3PO, a laser tower and an anti-vehicle cannon. Hoth Rebel Troopers can be seen on the ice planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back.
The figure is a re-release and repaint of the previously released Hoth Rebel Trooper from 2009's Legacy Collection. The rebel is super articulated with 14 joints, including ball-joints in the neck, shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles. The forearms, the waist and both legs were given swivel joints. The figure stands quite nicely by itself, despite the additional weight of the backpack. The accessories (removable rebel hat, blaster rifle, blaster and backpack) fit overall pretty well. The backpack plugs nicely into the back of the figure, and both weapons fit OK into each of the Rebel Trooper's hands. The small blaster is also a good fit for the holster on the right side of the belt. The 2-piece cannon looks great and will complement any Hoth diorama wonderfully!
The paint job on the Hoth Rebel Trooper is cleanly applied and looks good. In comparison to the previously released Hoth Rebel Trooper, Hasbro decided to lighten up the facial hair quite a bit, which makes for a somewhat different looking trooper, despite the same head sculpt. Besides the head though, the figure is identical with the previous Hoth Trooper, including the 2-colored gloves, the brown color tones on the clothing and the rebel insignia on the right shoulder and chest. Darker browns, weathering, or a different rank compared to the first release would have been nice, but that's not the case here. The figure's super articulated sculpt is very well done with nicely hidden joints, which are stiff enough to keep the figure steady in even more dynamic poses. Overall, this Hoth Rebel Trooper is a fine figure and a fantastic addition to any Hoth inspired display, and a nice pack-in to an overall brilliant battlepack.
The Rebels defend their base on Hoth with every available weapon in their arsenal. They know they can't defeat the Imperial forces attacking them, but they need to delay them long enough to evacuate the base. Rebel troopers blast the enemy from laser towers that ring the base, and fire anti-vehicle cannons and medium repeating blasters at the snowtroopers and AT-ST walkers.