Review: 75320 Snowtrooper Battle Pack
Posted by CapnRex101,
Battle Packs were conspicuously excluded from the LEGO Star Wars theme during 2021, despite consistent popularity. Thankfully, this appealing series returns during 2022. 75320 Snowtrooper Battle Pack has therefore inspired considerable anticipation.
The minifigure selection seems absolutely ideal, featuring three standard Imperial Snowtroopers alongside the exclusive Hoth Scout Trooper. Some enjoyable models are also provided, which potentially improve upon equivalent Battle Packs. However, such improvements are important because the price has notably increased.
Minifigures
Generic minifigures for assembling armies are perfectly suited to Battle Packs, so these three Snowtroopers are welcome. Their modern design was introduced during 2019, lacking the backpacks and fabric kamas which appeared on past minifigures. Such details are instead printed here, which reduces their accuracy but ensures easier interaction with seats, such as those inside 75313 AT-AT.
Despite lacking the fabric kama and separate backpack, these minifigures include satisfying detail. The metallic silver and red highlights across their armour correspond precisely with the source material, while the light bluish grey pouches look excellent too. Furthermore, this helmet component remains impressive, capturing an accurate shape and printed lenses.
Different heads are found underneath the Snowtroopers' helmets, assuring appropriate variety among Imperial personnel. However, these three designs have already become common, so I am surprised the designers have not included elements from other licensed themes instead. Countless examples are available and almost any would work, except those belonging to prominent Star Wars characters.
An exclusive Hoth Scout Trooper accompanies the Snowtroopers. These characters are not shown during the movie, but were introduced in Star Wars: Incredible Cross Sections before Hasbro produced action figures representing them. This minifigure accordingly includes light bluish grey highlights, primarily replacing the black body glove worn by standard Imperial Scout Troopers.
Otherwise, the exceptional detail from those Scout Troopers remains intact. The dual-moulded helmet appears particularly appealing and integrates accurate vents on each side. Beyond the aforementioned colour, this minifigure is distinguished from other Imperial Scout Troopers by a printed hose that connects their backpack to a heating unit mounted on speeder bikes.
Removing the helmet reveals another unique head, which was previously exclusive to 75313 AT-AT. Moreover, the four minifigures are each equipped with a selection of blaster pistols and rifles, replacing the much-maligned stud shooters that have populated Battle Packs since 2014. While stud shooters never bothered me, these weapons are certainly an improvement.
The Completed Model
Stud shooters have not been completed abandoned though, since an updated version is fixed on this E-Web blaster cannon! While its appearance has changed, the function has not and continues to work well. The mounted blaster cannon also appears familiar, remaining nearly identical to those from 75288 AT-AT and 75313 AT-AT. The connected power generator is not provided though, unfortunately.
Those renditions of the AT-AT also introduced an updated 74-Z speeder bike, which matches this model. The vehicle accordingly measures almost 12cm in length, appearing reasonable beside minifigures and faithfully recreating the shape of the onscreen bikes. Moreover, this colour combination of black and white looks marvellous and reflects the Hoth environment.
The outriggers and steering vanes on these speeder bikes have sometimes proven fragile, but they feel sufficiently sturdy here and certainly look brilliant. I like the single laser cannon placed under the vehicle as well, while a black megaphone represents the power cell. Remarkably, this element has performed the same role since 7128 Speeder Bikes was released during 1999!
Foot pedals were only introduced last year, but look perfect beneath the driver's seat. These handlebars and the printed control console are splendid too, while the bodywork behind the driver features accurate shaping. Strangely, the 1x2 curved wedge slopes attached on either side are placed upside down relative to the speeder bikes from 75313 AT-AT, but they appear better here. The adjustable thrust flaps are also effective.
Finally, the set contains a simple fortification in the snow. The structure consists primarily of various white slopes and features great texture, especially since several studs remain visible. Nevertheless, this feels superfluous and was presumably included to improve the value, which is rarely beneficial when developing LEGO sets because such additions are often poor.
The fortification does provide some play value though, providing space for minifigures to take cover and including a pair of macrobinoculars on a clip. However, the studded surface behind the wall should have extended for its entire length, so the minifigures would be easier to pose. Without those additional studs, the model seems incomplete.
Overall
The return of Battle Packs is undoubtedly welcome and Snowtroopers are an excellent choice, especially given the success of 8084 Snowtrooper Battle Pack from 2010. 75320 Snowtrooper Battle Pack contains an even better selection of minifigures, while the speeder bike is instantly among my favourite vehicles from any Battle Pack.
However, the price of £17.99, $19.99 or €19.99 has provoked understandable concern, since that represents a significant increase over past Battle Packs. I was therefore expecting to find the value very disappointing, but the content has improved and a small increase was probably justified. Unfortunately, the price rise is slightly greater than I would like, but this Battle Pack is better than anticipated!
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group, but the review represents an expression of my own opinions.
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47 comments on this article
See, I did a lot of my mods to my 2021 Advent Calendar speeder bike to make it look more like that one. It's not identical, but you can do a lot of kibble beefing to the AC bike to improve it. Which is just making me lament the reduced quality of ACs of late. Argh.
The foot pedals on the speeder seem odd to me. While they may be faithful to the on-screen vehicles, they don't quite fit with Lego Star Wars & the minifigures. Otherwise, looks like a nice set, if a little over-priced.
Looking forward to the minifig opinions. /s
Overall looks great. I love the [reasonably priced] Hoth themed sets so this is a no-brainer for me, price jump notwithstanding.
Up where I live, the snow build is superfluous - just go outside and a UCS Hoth landscape set awaits!
Your reuse threshold for heads to call them "common" must be quite low. This is the third appearance of the light nougat female and brown male heads, after the Imperial Marauder and $800 AT-AT. The light nougat male head appeared in a book, a Superheroes set, and the 2020 system AT-AT. Hardly common, and the cheapest set for most of them this far.
It's an excellent set, for a bad price.
How much will it cost to fill the AT-AT with troopers?
@Huw said:
"How much will it cost to fill the AT-AT with troopers?"
another 36 troopers required, so 12 packs: £216. I think it'll be cheaper to pick up a bunch of the forthcoming Lego Star Wars magazine which is supposed to have a Snow Trooper attached.
On the heads: I'll take literally anything that isn't Angry Clone. So glad they moved to other designs, even if they're not always movie-accurate. It's nice to have options and you can always score a hundred Angry Clone heads for a fiver if you don't like these.
@C_O_Patra said:
"Your reuse threshold for heads to call them "common" must be quite low. This is the third appearance of the light nougat female and brown male heads, after the Imperial Marauder and $800 AT-AT. The light nougat male head appeared in a book, a Superheroes set, and the 2020 system AT-AT. Hardly common, and the cheapest set for most of them this far.
It's an excellent set, for a bad price."
My primary point is that LEGO keeps using the same five or six heads for any appearance of Imperial personnel. That is definitely not the end of the world, although many other options are available and might be preferable.
I'll take some common heads if it means we get actual heads instead of the solid black versions. Yes, it is covered up so really doesn't matter technically. But I like the variety of skin tones and facial expressions here.
The builds look neat overall. I will definitely pick one up although I don't love the price increase.
The gun looks amazing. The speeder looks decent enough as well. I agree with the above comment about the foot pedals though. Seems odd for minifigures since they aren't dangling over the sides, but I guess the inclusion makes sense for source material purposes.
I like the cameraman
I actually like the fortification; several aiming points with good cover.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @C_O_Patra said:
"Your reuse threshold for heads to call them "common" must be quite low. This is the third appearance of the light nougat female and brown male heads, after the Imperial Marauder and $800 AT-AT. The light nougat male head appeared in a book, a Superheroes set, and the 2020 system AT-AT. Hardly common, and the cheapest set for most of them this far.
It's an excellent set, for a bad price."
My primary point is that LEGO keeps using the same five or six heads for any appearance of Imperial personnel. That is definitely not the end of the world, although many other options are available and might be preferable."
While I am totally open to a wider selection of heads the fact that we're getting 5-6 heads with different skin tones / genders is such an improvement from the same "Angry Clone Face" that we saw for way too long.
And who knows, they may add some into the mix in a year or two.
I don't love it for $20, but it provides a significantly better value than 75310. Seriously, what were they thinking with that one.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @C_O_Patra said:
"Your reuse threshold for heads to call them "common" must be quite low. This is the third appearance of the light nougat female and brown male heads, after the Imperial Marauder and $800 AT-AT. The light nougat male head appeared in a book, a Superheroes set, and the 2020 system AT-AT. Hardly common, and the cheapest set for most of them this far.
It's an excellent set, for a bad price."
My primary point is that LEGO keeps using the same five or six heads for any appearance of Imperial personnel. That is definitely not the end of the world, although many other options are available and might be preferable."
I would love if the stormtrooper heads were genuinely random and it was like a blind bag to see what heads you got in a battle pack.
This pack looks amazing though, and having just picked up 75288 from Legoland, I will be ordering this as soon as its available!
Great review as always!
I'll be replacing these all with plain black minifigure heads. I prefer not having that bit of skin-tone neck showing between the helmets and torsos, plus I rarely ever remove helmets from these types of troops. To me the mystery and anonymity of these persons under the hood is more compelling than having clearly identifying genders/ethnicity/disposition.
The absence of cloth kamas and backpacks is a much bigger mistake in a set like this after the price increase, than the head selection.
I can understand removing the backpacks because Snowtroopers couldn't sit in the walker otherwise but then why didn't they at least print the backpack on the back like they did for the Mortar trooper and some Bad Batch guys? It's a terrible solution when the figure might as well have a physical version but for the Snowtrooper there is at least a functional reason tied to the removal, not just because the designers limits couldn't be extended to cover an additional 4 or 5 1x1 plate modifieds.
The kama is the worst because with the high cost of the sets. They are essential to convey the snowtrooper design when the backpack can't be included. That it is a question of either backpack or kama for every single appearance of the Snowtrooper outside of 2014 is ridiculous and is unacceptable once we have reached current prices for Battlepacks and the UCS AT-AT which is definitely overpriced by 100 to 200€ at least.
Now the heads, I am also bothered that they immediately repeat some designs when there are still a couple heads they could rotate in and out. It made no sense for the selection to be this narrow, especially in the 2015 era where heads were only ever taken from the SW range even though many fitting ones were available. Finally they apparently can come from all corners of Legos production cycle. I hope we finally see some more characters re-used from other themes like Harry Potter and Jurassic World or even from inside the SW range where certain heads represent specific characters but that has never prevented Lego before from using heads for several named ones within a line like for example Princess Leia with an Anakin wig substituted for Mon Mothma.
I hope we get more heads with neutral expressions than the constant teeth gritting as the 3 Snowtroopers here suffer from. That was the largest reason for why the angry clone face got on everyones nerves so fast. Not because the skin tone was wrong and because the details that have been there were generic to the point of uselessness, but because a teethy facial expression is so scene specific and could never be used visibly en masse. They might as well have supplied unprinted light flesh heads, it would have saved people a lot of work to erase the faces and substitute their own decals. But it really isn't an issue anymore as B&P offers so many light flesh and Clone trooper flesh faces, who cares which heads are included in which specific set, you can still buy it for a reasonable price if it's not your taste and use the included head for another figure. Just a few more reddish brown heads than just the Stranger Things kid and the recently added woman and I would have nothing to complain about the available single heads at all because of my stockpiles.
The printing on the 3 stormtroopers seems very inconsistent. Blurry, clear and misaligned. That’s unfortunate.
@darkstonegrey said:
"I'll be replacing these all with plain black minifigure heads. I prefer not having that bit of skin-tone neck showing between the helmets and torsos, plus I rarely ever remove helmets from these types of troops. To me the mystery and anonymity of these persons under the hood is more compelling than having clearly identifying genders/ethnicity/disposition."
Yeah, the skin tone is simply inaccurate when it comes to most troopers. The most common troopers (Clone Phase 1, Clone Phase 2 and Stormtrooper) all have the neck covered by the black jumpsuit or in case of the Stormtroopers even have most of the head and hair covered by a type of balaclava that leaves only a small outline for the face.
The 2011-2013 head was actually the best choice, just that Lego is unable to print the correct skin tone on black parts, and of course the weird facial expression that should have been more stoic. But I am content with just switching the common troopers to have unprinted black heads.
Though in case of this snowtrooper helmet and others like the BARC Troopers and Airborne Clones I actually use yellow heads from my childhood that would otherwise have been thrown in the garbage. The head is far too covered up by some of the newer helmets to tell what color it actually is so I don't care if it's the Johnny Thunder that I chewed on when I was 5 or the indian warrior which I wanted to customize with a red marker. It's nice to know that they are still there and play a role in my collection even if not as prominently as back then. And this way I can use the included fleshy heads for customs and characters that actually need to have and show a face sometimes.
I'd much rather drop the heap of snow for a lower price, but alas. Shame about no kamas and no backpacks too.
The bike looks cool though.
While not a Battle Pack, I hope to see more sets like 60326: Picnic in the Park for €15.
Expand it to Pirates/Space/Castle etc.
Starter Packs and even the People Packs were great sets while they lasted.
@Heavywisp said:
"I don't love it for $20, but it provides a significantly better value than 75310. Seriously, what were they thinking with that one. "
I just ran that through the inflation calculator, and US$25 in 2009 is US$32.39 in 2022.
The snow is stupid. I dont want a snow Battlepack. I dont want an army of snows. I dont want to pay for snows that will sit in a box for the rest of time. If you want to sell a 25$ BP, include another minifig, not a snow! This isnt looking good for BPs at all, when was the last time we had to pay for something like this in a BP?
"...printed hose that connects their backpack to a heating unit mounted on speeder bikes."
Fascinating detail, and one of the (many) reasons that I love reading your reviews on Brickset! Thank you.
The set is okay. Worse upon inspection than I thought. At least it doesn't have stud shooters so I'll probably get at least one. I don't have many snowtroopers.
So I went through all the SW BPs (found out that that there were actually lots more BPs from different themes!) and discovered what I suspected. There were a few BP builds that I would classify as "unnecessary duplicates", but MOST were army building repetitive goodness. Stuff that could be built right out of the box and placed into the battle next to the minifigs. The ratios usually work, for every four or so minifigs you get one or two builds, like this sets perfectly reasonable speeder bike and gun, both things I would gladly pay for. But snow, every four minifigs you have a snow? No. Not cool to spend money on.
I guess I can live with a $20 Battle Pack—if LEGO promises not to raise the price again for ten years!
Seems there are just some weird inverted parts (mistakes?) in the 75313 AT-AT speederbike, since the rear section slopes as well as the handlebar parts are reverse-orientation in that set, unlike here and in 75288 AT-AT.
I have one or two of the old style snowtroopers with kamas and the helmet/backpack combo part. I wish the kamas at least were kept in the new design…it’s a big part of what makes snowtroopers unique, and figures with fabric components always feel special generally speaking.
The solution for the seating thing would’ve been simply a printed design for both that would’ve been covered by the fabric when in use, along with separate parts for the helmet + backpack. You would then have the option of removing these for seated use cases while preserving the better and more accurate designs for standing + action poses.
LEGO Star Wars is overpriced time and time again. Yawn. Next.
The snow pile is not an inherently terrible idea. Something that could act as a trench for the defending rebels would have been useful for people that don't want to think too much about a diorama but would appreciate it. A snow trench makes more sense than what the original Snowtrooper BP included, a plate with a weapon holder and flickfire turret. Even the old Laser Ice-Cutter is not my favorite idea for a battlepack vehicle since it's not something that was seen in endless amounts in the movies.
Especially if the section is designed so it could be expanded with multiples. But the slopes used here aren't as useful for a trench or even a large scale Echo Base moc.
I wish battlepacks would never include too specialized parts if it's a pack including soldiers that people are motivated to armybuild an infinite amount of like Stormtroopers, battle droids, or the Snowtroopers here that go so well with the iconic Battle of Hoth. It makes no sense for something like a Naboo guards or Jawa BP that people would want a very limited amount of if more than one at all. Useful parts would be basic square plates in grey, white and black, pairs of wedge plates, curved slopes, 1x1 clip joint pieces and Mixel joints or other parts which have only recently been introduced. Overall stuff that lends itself to be used by Star Wars MOCers on Flickr and not mudguards and Click hinge joints which are mostly used exclusively by Legos design team to more easily create large and functional builds.
I like the alternate heads because they give the minifigures much more personality. Whereas the old troopers were all the same (which was fine but not as good), each of these troopers can be distinguished relatively well (even if you have a few of them with the same alternate head). Just gives the collection a bit more humanity, much like the sequel trilogy did for Stormtroopers in general by showing Finn without his helmet and Captain Phasma’s eye through hers.
I dont think the snow pile is a bad idea, I just think stuff like that automatically becomes bad once youre forced to pay for it. I know it doesnt REALLY work like this, but I see that extra five bucks buying the snow pile...
@PubliusMaximum said:
" @Heavywisp said:
"I don't love it for $20, but it provides a significantly better value than 75310. Seriously, what were they thinking with that one. "
I just ran that through the inflation calculator, and US$25 in 2009 is US$32.39 in 2022.
"
I'm... not sure what set you're referring to, but I mean 75310: Duel on Mandalore, released this year for $20. I should have clarified better, my mistake.
At this price for the US market, it means R$199,90 for the Brazilian market, for just 105 pieces...
Absolutely no way.
@Heavywisp said:
"I'm... not sure what set you're referring to, but I mean 75310: Duel on Mandalore, released this year for $20. I should have clarified better, my mistake. "
My bad. I had meant to reply to @TomKazutara, below your comment. I'm not sure what happened there. My apologies.
20? Never, but it will be 25% off at Amazon eventually.
Seriously, I think right now prices, especially for small sets, are an issue. I do understand that production costs have risen recently while currencies have an inflation problem.
But still, wages don't rise as fast as prices and you have to take that into account, too!
Bad for Amazon competitors =/
Recently started adding Star Wars minifigs to my collection so I will have to look into getting a set of these, assuming they are different iterations to previous Snowtrooper releases. I do like this set anyway.
This Scout Trooper is cool ~:-} The content of this BP is very welcome. But without a decent discount, it sucks. Far too expensive. No 4T3 power generator. No Plate (as a stand or trench) for the showheap. No small backpacks for the trooper. No tool or imperial box. This kind of penny-pinching I had expected in GWP 40410 (if made by Mr. Scrooge himself), but not in high priced desired BP.
Keep in mind, for the previous BP, we always got discount - so the rate of price increases will stay extensive.
Man this is a nice set that I can't wait to buy.
I love that they changed the build of the front of the speeder bike. In the AT-AT set model the two front parts would pop out from inside the technic pin connector of the sticks at the slightest touch.
Overpriced up the pooper and superfluous for someone who probably has two of the old battle pack (can't find anything aside from the Minifigures for one of them, can't judge) I'll wait for a discount. The $20 price tag doesn't seem like it's because there is more to this set than past battle packs IMO, even if three builds are pretty rare for these. The Minifigures are one of the main appeals for me, but not for the reason you might expect; the new Snowtroopers wouldn't blend in with my older ones and they don't have the Kama piece. It's the heads that interest me; I don't have any of them and while the forces of the Original Trilogy didn't show this much diversity on-screen, I appreciate the inclusion of them. The head that looks like Iden Versio's is the standout to me, people who want that print will be able to get it for less than $800.
(P.s. I don't hate this set, I think the builds are interesting, and the return of blasters was a must, my criticisms just came to mind first.)
I actually really like the addition of the snow landscape. It provides an introduction for building landscapes to KFOLs. Landscapes are important for great MOCs.
Anyway, this is a great battle pack. The presence of diversity within the Imperial ranks makes me contemplate the ideology of such an openly fascist organization. Often, fascism requires an "othering", and are these others the non-human extraterrestrials with respect to the Empire? I'm not much of a Star Wars fan, if I bought this I'd have them fight the Ice Planet minifigures.
@CopperTablet said:
"I actually really like the addition of the snow landscape. It provides an introduction for building landscapes to KFOLs. Landscapes are important for great MOCs.
Anyway, this is a great battle pack. The presence of diversity within the Imperial ranks makes me contemplate the ideology of such an openly fascist organization. Often, fascism requires an "othering", and are these others the non-human extraterrestrials with respect to the Empire? I'm not much of a Star Wars fan, if I bought this I'd have them fight the Ice Planet minifigures."
Usually, the Empire is depicted to be anti-non-humans or humans first, though it doesn't seem to be to deep into the thought. After all, while in the SW universe humans are domination, there are gazillions non-human inhabitants in the Galaxy to rule.
Let's say, humans get an advantage, but not much, as the Empire usually see their own personnel as expendable (-> TIE Fighter fun etc.).
I believe most of all, the Empire is about ruling evreyone through order, fear and restriction.
@darkstonegrey said:
"I'll be replacing these all with plain black minifigure heads. I prefer not having that bit of skin-tone neck showing between the helmets and torsos, plus I rarely ever remove helmets from these types of troops. To me the mystery and anonymity of these persons under the hood is more compelling than having clearly identifying genders/ethnicity/disposition."
Same. And then I'll have a diversity of heads to use in figure MOCing.
@DoonsterBuildsLego said:
" @Huw said:
"How much will it cost to fill the AT-AT with troopers?"
another 36 troopers required, so 12 packs: £216. I think it'll be cheaper to pick up a bunch of the forthcoming Lego Star Wars magazine which is supposed to have a Snow Trooper attached."
From memory, I think the magazine is usually £4.99 - so 36 of them will be £180
Depends if you want the extra speeder bikes and ‘snow’ bricks for another ��36 !
@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"See, I did a lot of my mods to my 2021 Advent Calendar speeder bike to make it look more like that one. It's not identical, but you can do a lot of kibble beefing to the AC bike to improve it. Which is just making me lament the reduced quality of ACs of late. Argh."
I would love to take a look at your modifications because I have no inspiration for mods of my own :)
I quite enjoy what I'm seeing from the set!
Although I do think the price hike is quite unjustified :'(
I would love to pick up one or two of these to have a battle with my recently acquired Phoenix Squadron! Just need Zeb now...