Rebel Snowspeeder

from "Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strike Back" (1980)

SCALE: 1/35

INITIAL RELEASE: 1980

MEDIUM: Polystyrene

RARITY: (1)

ABOUT THE DESIGN

ABOUT THE KIT

The “speeder” concept had been part of the “Star Wars” universe ever since Luke Skywalker went zipping across the deserts of Tatootine in the original film, and here audiences got to see an advanced version – in this case, a T-47 airspeeder adapted to fight in the frigid cold of the ice planet of Hoth.  Unlike Luke’s open-cockpit ‘speeder, this was a closed-cockpit, two-seater design equipped with two powerful blasters and a harpoon gun.  “Harpoon gun?”  It was a case of form-following-function as the “Empire” screenplay called for the Rebels to bring down one of the Empire's AT-AT’s by entangling its legs with a tow cable.  What other function this weapon could possibly serve in conventional combat remains extremely unclear.

The Rebel Snowspeeder was one of the first model kits issued by MPC in conjunction with the 1980 release of “Star Wars – Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.”  (Airfix had rights in the U.K.)  The large, well-engineered kit featured a hinged cockpit canopy and a detailed interior; however, the figures within were weirdly out of scale, giving them an almost Cabbage Patch Doll-like appearance.

The kit was re-issued several times, including 2005 with new box art.

This model was built from an original 1980 issue.

Original Box Art

2005 Re-Releas Box Art