Review: Star Wars Black Series Imperial Remnant AT-RT Driver from The Mandalorian and Grogu
- Mephitsu
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
"Did you get the Mandalorian?"
Ahead of the release of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 22nd, a wave of Star Wars Black Series figures was unveiled and subsequently released. The five-figure general release wave arrived in March and April across the US, where the wave also included a white box ‘first edition’ variation sold via Walmart and Target. In the UK, the wave appeared to be held until the week of May the 4th.
The general release figures use the same black box packaging as the wider Black Series, with an assigned accent colour that is a blue-purple tone and used on the name plate, the numbering, the band under the window that confirms the source as ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ and on the artwork. In this review, we are taking a look at the Imperial Remnant AT-RT Driver, the number 03 release in the wave. The artwork shows the AT-RT Driver from an angled side profile with a blaster in hand against a cloudy planetary sky, which has been a consistent and linked background on all the figures. This artwork connects directly to the wider montage for The Mandalorian and Grogu, preceded by the number 02 figure of AT-AT Driver and then sitting before Colonel Ward at number 04 and the Imperial Remnant Stormtrooper at number 05.
The colour-hued artwork is repeated on the back of the box, along with a short synopsis of the movie rather than the character/trooper. This is to avoid spoilers ahead of the movie hitting cinemas. The box opens via the top or bottom flap, held closed by a piece of tape. Our Driver sits in an inner-shaped plastic tray with a solitary blaster to the top left. The figure tray sits in a blue/purple-hued backdrop by way of an inserted cardback that itself incorporates the same embedded image of a planetary sky scene used on the side art.
AT-RT’s as a mode of military transport had sat within the Prequel era so far in the Star Wars Universe, operated by Clone Troopers and in particular, the lighter scouts such as the ARF Troopers. This equipment, in The Mandalorian and Grogu, is being repurposed by the Imperial Remnant, and to operate it, there is a new amalgamated Imperial Trooper. The figure is a combination of Shore Trooper armour, along with elements reminiscent of a Snowtrooper and with elements of an AT-AT Driver also evident.
Everything on the figure is new and constructed like the established Clone and Stormtrooper figures, with armoured parts cast separately to clothing and joints, and then assembled to create the full figure. Based on what we know, the AT-RT Driver is operating in a Snowy Environment, and therefore the colour palette of all the cast parts is a slightly off-white, a colour in keeping with the original Imperial Snowtroopers from Empire, with the armoured pieces a slight variation lighter and a harder gloss plastic.
The chest and mid-section are the same as that of a Shoretooper, abletit in white with a painted black stripe in four quadrants that also features battle-worn scratches. Further details are added around the back on a backpack that is similar to, but smaller than, the Snowtrooper packs. It features red coloured indicators and silver and grey vents and panels.
The arms are a fabric uniform, sculpted to suit with folds and creases and are covered at the hands by a pair of gloves, with an armoured hand panel, and a wrist bracer. The shoulder pauldrons at the top of the arm are the same as those worn by the AT-AT Drivers, but reversed to sit the other way round. The legs, like the arms, are meant to be a fabric suit and feature glossy knee armour and are finished in a pair of tied, wrapped snow boots. These boots carry loads of detail in terms of the individual straps and ties, but come without any applied paint. The Trooper concludes with a belt and an incorporated skirt piece in softer plastic. This includes some textured pouches and a working holster for the blaster. It carries a further tiny bit of paint decor with a silver central buckle or fastening.
The helmet, again the same as a Shoretrooper, uses the same coloured gloss plastic as the armour with a painted glossy black visor and black trim around the upper helmet as well as around the mouthpiece and around the back and sides, picking out the vents.
While the helmet and upper chest are Shoretrooper in origin, there is no immediate reuse from any of the older Shoretroopers. The helmet lacks the grooved lines seen on the Scariff and Niamos versions, while the chest armour is shaped slightly differently, and the rear and midsection are vastly different.
The AT-RT Driver has a total of 22 points of articulation, with the extra joints vs the usual format coming from the boot and forearm swivel, which is a benefit thanks to the component parts plugging in to the basic body. There are also two joints in the torso, with one behind the skirt as a ball joint, and a similar joint above where the torso armour sits into the midsection. The lower legs, while featuring a good range of motion, are held in check by the skirt piece, so there is no kneeling or sitting for our Driver, which will be an issue when the AT-RT model lands later this year (albeit that one is a Clone Wars era model).
Head and chest joints are also wide-ranging, although the chest is spongy and doesn’t hold any posed position forward. The upper arms have a good level of movement, with butterfly shoulders bringing the arms an extra dimension of range in towards the body or outward. Those pauldrons, as is usual, are hinged so move with the arm and do not impede any positions.
The range of the arms is not particularly utilised, with just a single small holdout blaster included as an accessory. This is the SE-14r blaster pistol, and a grey metal cast piece with limited detail and quite a bit of deformation, thanks to the upper sights, which bend and warp easily. The blaster as an accessory in the Black Series dates back to circa 2016, and the original Death Trooper releases for Rogue One, and it also features in some of the Andor figures from Season 1, the Morak disguise figures from Mando Season 2, and will be seen again on the AT-AT Driver and the upcoming Imperial Remnant Warlord.
It fits into the Driver’s right hand and can be wielded as wide as the articulation allows, including straight arm firing poses. When not in use, it sits in the included holster, but requires the sights to be left outside the holster in order for it to fit properly.
If you look at the Hot Toys release of this Trooper, that figure is also provided with a larger DLT-20A blaster rifle, another weapon that exists in the Black Series, dating back to the original Stormtrooper releases of 2014. Handing a spare one of these to your AT-RT Trooper certainly enhances it massively, taking it from an AT-RT Driver without an AT-RT to some form of advanced Scout Trooper for cold weather climates, similar to how the original Scout Troopers operated on Endor.
With this longer weapon, we can see the range of the upper articulation with cradled weapon poses, either marching, running, on guard, or even firing with the weapon and sights brought up to the helmet so the Driver can see his targets.
The AT-RT Driver from The Mandalorian and Grogu is a neat design, perfectly in keeping with the Imperial Warmachine and how armour is configured and reused in various situations and planetary climates. We know from the title that this guy should really be piloting an AT-RT. And while one is incoming in the 6-inch scale, this figure won’t be doing any driving with the relatively rigid skirt piece he has been given. Instead, he works really nicely as a Scout class Trooper, but for that, a more appropriate weapon like the DLT-20A that Hot Toys includes should have been thrown in.
Hasbro should be applauded for building this figure from scratch and with no re-use from the existing Shore Troopers for the helmet or the front chest piece. I do, however, think that we will see this figure base again in the figure. Firstly, as a Remnant Snowtrooper, as the gear is virtually the same apart from the chest and helmet, and maybe as the AT-AT Commander who wears the same Shore Trooper chest plate, and possibly in the future with an updated soft goods skirt to let him hop on an AT-RT and cause some real damage.
Keep Track of all the Star Wars Black Series figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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