Tag Archives: Star Wars

#3991: AT-AT Commander & Driver

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

AT-AT COMMANDER & DRIVER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Oh man, I haven’t reviewed any Power of the Force II figures since last year, you guys! …that’s, like, a whole month.  Crazy.  So, let’s jump back into the fray of ‘90s Kenner 3 3/4-inch Star Wars! As I make my way through what remains of the line, I am, of course, running low on standard release figures, but there’s still the oddball and pack-in releases to be considered.  Early in the line, the vehicles were packaged without figures, but as the line progressed, and Kenner was looking to get as many figures out as possible, pack-ins became the standard.  Most just included a single figure, but the line’s largest vehicle, the Electronic AT-AT, featured two figures of its own, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The AT-AT Commander and Driver were packed in with the Star Wars: Power of the Force II AT-AT, released in 1997.  Both figures were exclusive to this set, and remained so for the run of the line.

The Commander is unnamed, but is clearly meant to be General Maximillian Veers, the primary AT-AT Commander seen in the movie’s Hoth battle.  This was his second figure, following up on his vintage counterpart.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His sculpt is similar to the other Imperial Officer figures the line put out, albeit with the obvious change-up that he’s wearing the armor seen in the AT-AT scenes.  His detailing is definitely on the softer side, and his head seems a touch oversized relative to the body sculpt, but I do really like the detailing on the armored sections of the uniform.  There’s not really much of a Julian Glover likeness, but it doesn’t look *unlike* him, and the uniform is distinct enough that it’s pretty clear who he’s supposed to be.  His color work is basic, but does all the stuff it needs to do.  I do also really appreciate that he’s got the varied grey shades, to help the armor and cloth stand-out from each other.

I’ve actually already looked at *an* AT-AT Driver from Power of the Force, but it wasn’t this one, it was the ever so slightly different single card release that they did so that people could have a second Driver to pilot the AT-AT without needing to buy a whole second big vehicle.  This one’s the original, though.  He’s really not different, in a broad sense (and, in fact, you would’t really want him to be), but he’s the slightest bit taller than the single, and his pose is a bit more rigid.  The details are also somewhat softer on this release than the single, more in line with the Commander’s sculpt.  His paint work is more or less identical, though, and that’s again a good thing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

At one point in time, I considered going the route of buying the vehicles that came with figures for my complete run of Power of the Force, but this was the one that broke me, because it’s so big, and kind of pricey, and I just wasn’t looking for the commitment.  Thankfully, I was able to find both of the pack-in figures loose, so that made that whole bit easier for me.  These figures aren’t great by any stretch, but they’re decent enough, provided you’re not buying a big vehicle to get them.

#3987: Ahsoka Clone Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

AHSOKA’S CLONE TROOPER

STAR WARS: GALAXY OF ADVENTURES (HASBRO)

My last Galaxy of Adventures review was published in January of 2020.  Good thing nothing major has happened since then, huh?  Oh, wait, sorry, I’m getting word that *everything* major has happened since then.  My mistake.  When I wrote my last GoA review, the line was still quite new, and most of what had been shown off was already released.  We had two items, both from the then upcoming final season of Clone Wars, that we knew were coming, but we didn’t know when.  In the chaos that was 2020 and its effects on the retail landscape, more GoA figures were released, but not in any way that was consistent or easily located, and it was a good couple of figures before we got the two we were expecting, and even then, they were kind of an understated release.  But, umm, I got one?  So, without further ado, here’s Ashoka’s Clone Trooper, about six years overdue.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ahsoka’s Clone Trooper was, at least initially, meant to be released in the third series of Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures, which would have, presumably, hit in the spring of 2020, to coincide with the release of the final episodes of Clone Wars, which are the episodes wherein this design appeared.  Distribution chain issues made that troublesome, so he and his assortment mates just sort of quietly showed up at the end of 2020, in pretty much no notable numbers much of anywhere, with no fanfare to speak of, and then kind of disappeared just as quickly and quietly.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is much the same as the other figures in the line.  I always found it to be quite an effective set-up, hitting all of the major spots and offering up a good range of motion, while still keeping him at that basic price point level.  His sculpt was unique, though given its just the standard Phase II Clone armor, I’d imagine the plan wasn’t for it to stay that way, had the line gotten the chance to progress more naturally.  More than a few times in my old reviews, I referenced the line as having something of a Clone Wars aesthetic to it, and that’s none more evident than here, on a character from Clone Wars.  In fact, this winds up being the closest we’ve gotten to an Ahsoka Trooper that actually looks like they did on the screen, since all the other figures have been “real world” versions.   I really like this sculpt, and think it’s very clean and striking, and really works well.  The color work is what sells it specifically as an Ahsoka Trooper, with the distinctive markings on the helmet and all.  The paint’s a little bit spotty around some of the edges, but generally, it works well.  The Trooper is packed with a simple blaster rifle, which he can hold easily in his hands.  He sports an “action feature” in the form of spring-loaded shoulder joints, allowing for a “blaster fire” effect.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a huge fan of this line early on, as can no doubt be seen in all those early run reviews.  Unfortunately, the pandemic changed a lot of things in my life, which included how I shopped for toys, meaning I wasn’t going out of my way at retail to find things.  I ended up snagging a few of the later figures that came in through All Time second hand, but this one eluded me, which was a shame, because I was genuinely very excited for him.  It wound up kind of dampening my desire to get any others, and the line went away not long after that anyway, so that was that.  At least until I took Matty to Yesterday’s Fun while we were in the area back in December, and after buying him a few things, noticed this guy sitting near the counter.  I quite like this figure, and he’s pretty much exactly what I’d been hoping for six years ago when he was shown off.  It’s not often something takes me back to where I was six years ago, but this one did it, and that was honestly a nice experience. 

#3983: Wedge Antilles

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

WEDGE ANTILLES

STAR WARS: ACTION COLLECTION (KENNER)

I’ve mentioned more than once around here the strange occurrence of my favorite Star Wars character being Wedge Antilles, a rather minor player from the Original Trilogy, who’s most notable for being named on screen, actually appearing in all three films, and being the only person to participate in both Death Star runs.  He’s got a fair bit going on in the expanded universe, so you might think that’s why I’m attached, but no, I just like him from the short bits he’s in the movies. I know.  Weird.  He’s one of those characters that has a decent number of figures, but not so many so as to make it impossible to own them all, which is always fun as a collector.  So, here’s one I haven’t looked at before!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wedge Antilles was released in 1998 as part of Kenner’s Star Wars: Action Collection, which served as the 12-inch scale component of the Power of the Force run.  He was sold in a two-pack with fellow X-Wing pilot Biggs Darklighter, which was exclusive to FAO Schwarz.  He’s based on his look from A New Hope, hence the inclusion alongside Biggs.  The figure stands about 12 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation, as well as those kind of pointless ratchet joints on his knees.  He’s got sort of a combination of a couple of the bodies Kenner used for Action Collection.  He has the improved upper torso with the waist and elbow joints, but lacks the proper articulated legs that some of the later single release figures got.  It means he can sort of pose, but not a lot.  He got a new head sculpt, which looks as much like Dennis Lawson as any of the ‘90s 12-inch figures looked like their respective actors, so it’s at least consistent with the other stuff.  You can generally tell who it’s meant to be, even if it is perhaps a bit soft.  His outfit, which was entirely shared with Biggs, consists of a jumpsuit, vest, web gear, boots, and gloves.  The boots, gloves, and web gear are sculpted elements, and generally look alright, though the gloves are quite bulky around the wrists.  The rest of it’s fabric, and it does alright.  It’s very loose and thick, and kind of shapeless, but that’s what these figures looked like.  Mine’s got some light staining on the back.  At one point, he had a helmet, which was another sculpted piece, but mine lacks that.  Paint is minor, and pretty much confined to the head.  His hair’s light for Wedge, but that’s about it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been slowly accumulating Wedges for a while, and this was one I didn’t have, largely because I’ve never wanted to shell out for the whole two-pack, because I don’t need a Biggs.  This one in particular made his way into my stocking this Christmas, with an assist by my wife Rachel, who had been informed it was a Wedge I didn’t own (by me).  These figures are far from the high-end collectibles we’ve come to expect of sixth scale figures, but they have their charm in a way.  I remember the line rather fondly, and I’m happy to have Wedge, because it means I don’t really need to dive back into the line further than just him.  Still, a Wedge I don’t have is always a cool thing to me.

#3979: Mandalorian Warrior – Holiday Edition

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

MANDALORIAN WARRIOR — HOLIDAY EDITION

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Twas the night day before Christmas…for the people reading this.  It’s sometime the week before Christmas my time, because I wrote this in advance so as to go easy on myself in preparation for the holiday.  I’m trying to be nice to me like that. And I appreciate it, I assure me.  The last few years, my festively-themed reviews have centered on Hasbro’s admittedly kind of hokey Holiday Star Wars: The Black Series figures, which they skipped doing last year.  There are new ones this year, but I didn’t end up snagging them, so I’m falling back on an older one again this year.  Let’s get festive and look at the Mandalorian Warrior…Holiday style!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Holiday Edition Mandalorian Warrior is one of the 2022 Holiday Star Wars: The Black Series figures.  He was number 4 out of the 6 released and was available exclusively at Target.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  All of the Holiday figures are repaints, and this guy in particular is a reuse of the Clone Wars era Mandalorian Loyalist from 2020, who was of course himself a re-use of a lot of parts from Jango Fett.  By 2022, this was a rather dated mold, so it was kind of crazy to see them trot it out again, but I guess a repaint’s a repaint.  While more recent years have gotten more inventive with their color schemes and holiday themes, the first two years pretty much just decked everyone out in garish holiday colors, and threw a tacky Christmas sweater detail on the front of the chest.  This guy specifically gets the Manalorian sigil, as well as a pair of helmets.  Honestly, the whole thing doesn’t look too awful, and I do quite like the chest pattern.  The Mando is packed with a long rifle in Nerf-style colors, and a recolor of the Bogling creature mold, which I don’t think got much use.  Bafflingly, despite the mold’s sculpted holsters, he doesn’t include any blasters that can fit in said holsters, which is annoying, but also not the first time it’s happened with these figures, so I guess it’s just a quirk that you have to accept.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve never gone out of my way to find any of these guys, and in 2022, I was able to get the Protocol Droid through work, so I just figured that was good enough for the season.  That said, a bunch of these got traded in loose throughout the years that followed, and I picked them up as they caught my eye.  I’m a sucker for the hokey, gimmicky nature, and love having something silly to drag out with the decorations every year.  This one’s not really noteworthy within the whole set-up, but he’s still fun.

#3976: Dagobah with Yoda

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

DAGOBAH with YODA

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The boggy, swamp planet Dagobah is the principal planet in the star system of the same name. Although explored, Dagobah remains sparsely populated because of its inhospitable climate and generally unpleasant surroundings. Constantly shrouded in mist and strangled by dense vegetation, the planet is the home to numerous animal life, including dangerous flying predators. The Jedi Master Yoda also makes his home and hideout there and is the only resident of notoriety.  When the evil Emperor Palpatine ordered the Jedi Knights erased from the galaxy, Yoda went into deep hiding there, using its natural defenses and the power of the Force to discourage visitors. It was not until near the end of his days, at the arrival of Luke Skywalker, that the 800 year old Yoda would have a purposeful visitor. 

Dagobah is totally without spaceports nor any other modern technological convenience. It has been considered a haunted planet due to its history with the dark side of the Force and an evil group of Dark Jedi that terrorized it and the neighboring Sluis sector during the Clone Wars.”

Hey remember that sub-set of Star Wars figures I’ve been looking at for two weeks? Well, I’m not done with them.  So, you know, there’s more.  Yay?  Well, maybe let’s not get too excited.  Bring it down a notch.  Can’t say I’ve got much else to get at here, so away we go!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

Dagobah with Yoda is the third of the four “Complete Galaxy” sets added to Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II line in 1998.  This was the only set specifically based on Empire….although given that Yoda and Dagobah also show up in Jedi, I guess it could work for the third movie as well.  There was at least one more Empire set planned, as the single-carded Hoth Leia was originally meant to be included in a rebel base-inspired set before the whole sub-line got scrapped.  Like the Death Star set, Dagobah is a bit more solid on its base than Endor, which is nice in a sense of “it doesn’t always fall right off.”  We get the usual globe set-up on the exterior, showing Dagobah’s swampy nature, with a few important spots labeled.  Inside, there’s a recreation of Yoda’s Hut and some of its exterior on the bottom, as well as one of the “dangerous flying predators” from the bio mounted up top.  Said flying predator is not designed to be removed from the rather obvious post its attached to, and if it breaks, it’s no small chore to get it to stay in place again.  I speak from experience on that one.  There’s a small little spot at the front where you can stand Yoda, and spin him, in case you feel a need for spinning your Yoda figure, I guess?

Speaking of spinning Yodas, the Yoda what gets spun is the included figure here and he’s…different?  Ish?  A little.  Like, honestly, this one’s almost virtually identical to the standard release Yoda figure, which was hardly a rare figure.  He’s got the same general sculpting, right down to the same pose, and the same lack of hair.  I guess maybe the sculpt is a little sharper?  And they did change the date stamp, so, you know, you gotta have that.  Spin that guy around and check out that sweet new date stamp, am I right?  His paint work’s a touch darker than the standard, but again not by much, so it’s hard to note the difference without having them both in front of you.  He has a cane, which looks suspiciously like the cane from the standard figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up, still sealed but in a pretty banged up package, as part of a larger lot of Power of the Force figures I snagged about a year or two ago.  It was the most recent big push to fill the holes in my PotF collection.  This got picked up purely because I didn’t already own it, and was by far the least exciting part of the stuff I picked up, which is probably why it’s the last one I got to reviewing by a fair bit.  It’s…not great.  The Yoda offers nothing new, and I think the set proper is kind of bland and uninspired.  It could be worse, I guess, but it also could have been a lot better.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3972: Endor with Ewok

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

ENDOR with EWOK

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The Endor star system was long thought to be an insignificant, removed cluster with few planets and no major travel routes. For that reason, it was considered the ideal construction site for the second Death Star battle station and in turn became the location of the Galactic Civil War’s final battle. The Battle of Endor resulted in the destruction of the Death Star, the slaying of Emperor Palpatine, and the scattering of the Imperial fleet.

Endor’s moon (Sanctuary Moon) is home to vast forests of giant trees, many predator species and the tribal Ewoks. The tree-dwelling Ewoks are curious creatures; they stand about one meter tall, rely on primitive spears and bows for hunting, and dwell in village clusters built high within the forest’s giant trees. Their understanding of forest survival skills are extremely advanced and came in quite useful during the Battle of Endor where they helped a Rebel strike force destroy the Death Star’s force field generator.”

Last week, I stared into the Kenner “hey exactly how far can we stretch the Star Wars license” abyss, and that abyss, “The Complete Galaxy Collection” stared back.  And in that staring, I found that there were in fact *more* Complete Galaxy sets than just the one I looked at so, hey, I guess this is a running thing here, right?  Cool.  Cool cool cool.  So, let’s take a look at the line’s Endor representation, along with its resident figure, an Ewok!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Endor with Ewok is the second of the four sets that made up the “Complete Galaxy” portion of Kenner’s Power of the Force line.  Like the others, it was released in 1998, at their height of the Kenner Star Wars sprawl.  There were two sets specifically from Return of the Jedi, and this was one of them.  Like the Death Star set, the bulk of it’s this sort of globe thing that’s supposed to be Endor…’s moon?  I think that’s what the text on the box is implying? Anyway, you get a sort of basic approximation of it as seen in the movie, with some spots labeled.  Apparently there was a lot of water that we just didn’t see?  That makes a bit more sense, I suppose.  While the Death Star base is pretty solidly attached when you want it to be, Endor really just rests on top, so it falls off a lot.  Also, the base clearly says “Endor,” despite the words on the back implying otherwise.  No consistency, which makes sense, honestly.  The interior of the set is probably the most ambitious of the ones we got.  You get part of the Battle of Endor, complete with a downed AT-ST, and there’s a glider mounted to the top so that the included figure can make use of it.  The glider has spring-loaded arms, so I think it’s meant to fold-up and pop-out when the set opens, but..it doesn’t really do that.  There’s a lot of points of failure, and it just sort of clunks about.  It certainly tries its best to be cool, though.

The included Ewok figure has the distinction of being the only truly unique figure these sets spawned, since he’s actually a separate character from the other Ewoks released.  He’s about 2 inches tall and has 4 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s very similar to Wicket from the standard line.  Totally unique sculpt, ultimately, but similar.  I do miss the removable headdress, but I can understand its removal.  He’s got a spot on his back where his glider can be mounted, which isn’t too obtrusive when he’s not on it.  The color scheme is distinctly different from the other two, and it looks pretty decent.  There’s some slight bleed over around the edges, but generally it’s minor.  The Ewok includes the…whatever you would call the things they drop on the stormtroopers in the battle.  It’s rocks with rope.  It’s pretty well sculpted and fits nicely in his hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION 

As with so many Star Wars items recently, I bought this a little while ago, still sealed, and am only just now getting around to opening it.  This one’s not quite as old as a lot of the others, in a sense that I purchased it within the last year, but it’s still been a tick.  I think this one tries to be more than the Vader set, and I can admire that, but it’s also not a fantastic execution, and there’s more room for error, so the final product is just sort of…fine.  It’s nice to get a unique Ewok out of it, though.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3968: Death Star with Darth Vader

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

DEATH STAR with DARTH VADER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Designed to invoke fear throughout the galaxy, the Death Star battle station is the largest, most powerful object in the galaxy. The size of a planet or small moon, the massive weapon took nearly two years of construction in the Horuz system located in the Outer Rim Territories.  A fully-equipped array of surface weapons including turbolaser batteries, laser cannons, ion cannons, and tractor beam emplacements served as deense to the centerpiece offensive weapon — a superlaser system more powerful than the entire Imperial fleet. Capable of disintegrating an entire planet with a single pulse, the superlaser was demonstrated on the planet Alderaan during an attempt to extract vital information from Princess Leia.

Commanded by Grand Moff Tarkin, who oversaw its construction, the Death Star is in effect a self-sustaining world. it houses a crew of approximately 800,000 enlisted soldiers and officers, nearly 400,000 support and maintenance personnel, over 25,000 stormtroopers, and an additional 400,000 droids of various sophistication to assist the support staff.  Also found on the Death Star are several of Darth Vader’s specialized meditation chambers. Exactly like the chamber first seen aboard the Super Star Destroyer Executor, these compartments function as pressurized spheres offering Vader an inner sanctum.”

Have I mentioned recently how Kenner was really just trying a little bit of everything with the Star Wars license in the mid-to-late ‘90s?  Because it’s gonna come up a lot as I get into the depths of what I haven’t reviewed from Power of the Force.  1998 was sort of the height of all the craziness, with lines all over the place, any one of which could have been the straw that ultimately broke the proverbial camel’s back.  In addition to the main line, the “Princess Leia Collection,” The Expanded Universe, and a CD-ROM Game-based playset, Kenner also got into the “Complete Galaxy,” an assortment of weird little contained globe kind of things based on locales from the movies.  I think they were meant to be like Micro Machines or Polly Pocket, but scaled up (which is funny, because there were officially branded Star Wars Micro Machines already).  Largely, they seemed to justify doing another figure with each set.  Today, I look at the Death Star and its occupant, Darth Vader.

THE TOY ITSELF

The Death Star with Darth Vader is one of four sets that make up the “Complete Galaxy” sub-line of Star Wars: Power of the Force.  They were part of the single 1998 assortment.  This set was unique in not being an actual planet-thing (I guess…Endor’s hard to classify), and also being the only one from A New Hope….technically.  Why technically?  Well, while the Death Star itself is very clearly its first movie design, when you open it up to view the “playset” inside, you get a version of Vader’s hyperbaric chamber, which makes its debut onboard the Executor in Empire.  I suppose there *could* have been one onboard the Death Star, but it’s certainly not something we see in the film.  Questionable accuracy aside, the interior is a neat enough set-up.  There’s a swiveling chair for Vader to sit in, and a console behind him, as well as an arm affixed to the top part, which can hold the top portion of his helmet for him.

The included Vader figure is a good indicator of the majority of this set’s figures, which is an overwhelmingly “different for the sake of different” figure.  He stands a little over 3 3/4 inches tall and  has 8 points of articulation.  His construction is fairly similar to (though notably different from) the Gunner Station figure, especially with his added knee articulation.  The details on this one are once again leaning into the Empire designs, with the robes running under the shoulder armor.  The biggest change-up is that his hands are turned to the side, so as to better rest on the sides of the chair.  His head is shared with the figure from the Board Game release, with its removable dome.  It’s all topped off with a cloth cape, which is better for letting him sit in his chair.  The color work is the basic Vader set-up for the most part, with the addition of the visible skin under the removable dome.  The application is generally pretty clean, and about what you’d expect for the line.  Apart from the removable dome, he’s got no other accessories, notably missing  his lightsaber, though I guess he couldn’t hold it anyway.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These are one of those oddball parts of Power of the Force that I completely missed when the line was new.  I’ve seen them a few times since, but there’s not a lot of uniqueness going on there, so I skipped them a bunch of times, until I finally realized that I might need to get around to finally picking them up.  Vader was the first one that ran past me after I decided to finally get them.  It’s fine.  The globe thing is an odd gimmick, but I guess it’s fun enough.  The included figure is sort of middle of the pack, but I suppose it could be worse.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3964: Airspeeder with Airspeeder Pilot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

AIRSPEEDER with AIRSPEEDER PILOT

STAR WARS: EXPANDED UNIVERSE (KENNER)

“A series of publications called The Art of Star Wars unveiled how a group of artists whose talent for intricacies revealed a far-away galaxy that continues to capture the imagination of Star Wars fans everywhere. Several versions of the Incom T-47 airspeeder, also known as the snowspeeder, were created before deciding on the definitive model seen in The Empire Strikes Back. This vehicle was designed and built based on several production sketches by artist Ralph McQuarrie.”

Following up on last week’s exploration of the “Expanded Universe” line’s vehicles, I’m doing…well, more of that.  Just really exactly that.  Yeah.  That’s it.  There were three of them.  I’ve looked at two.  Now, here’s the third.  Pretty cool, right.  Okay, here’s the Airspeeder and its accompanying pilot.

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

The Airspeeder with Airspeeder Pilot is the last of the three vehicle sets that accompanied the “Expanded Universe” sub-line of Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II, released in 1998.  This is yet another set based on Ralph McQuarrie’s concept work, and, much like last week’s Cloud Car, the Airspeeder is another Empire concept, the first draft of what would become the Snowspeeder in the final film.  The Snowspeeder isn’t a huge vehicle in the final film, but it *was* a two seater, where as the original design was meant only for a pilot, with no gunner seat.  As such, the ship’s about half the size, making it a tad smaller than the Cloud Car, though it’s a bit boxier and fuller than that design.  There’s actually still a lot of the final design present here, especially as it relates to the general shaping, making it pretty easy to tell what this was meant to be.  Like the Cloud Car, the Airspeeder gets a spring-loaded pop-out feature, where the rear engines go upward to make more distinctive wings, but I prefer it in its standard configuration.  There’s some decals to be applied to the vehicle to give it some of its smaller markings, and it also gets a missile for use with the launcher mounted on the underside of the vehicle.

The Airspeeder Pilot is, I guess, an early take on the updated Rebel pilot garb from Empire, presenting a more distinct deviation than we saw in the final product, ultimately creating something that feels more in line with what was ultimately worn by the ground troops.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He doesn’t feel quite as diminutive as the other two pilots from this line, though he’s still a *little* small.  While the Cloud Car Pilot kept with the illustrations more stylistically, this figure is once more back to the general Power of the Force aesthetic.  That said, I do think it works a bit better here than it did with the smaller speeder pilot, and is just generally a nicer sculpt, with a lot of smaller work, and a surprising amount of character in the face.  The color work is easily lost, since it’s a lot of white, but it works out okay, and I do like the little splash of red and blue on the shoulder.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m pretty sure I picked this set up at the same time as the Cloud Car.  I don’t remember much about getting either of them beyond that, and they’ve both been sitting in my office unopened since then, for at least a couple of years.  Like the Cloud Car, I opened this one for the purposes of writing the review.  I’m once again pleasantly surprised by the final product.  I think the Speeder Bike’s lackluster nature just really soured me on the whole set of these, which is a shame, because the other two vehicles and their matching figures really are just a lot better.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3960: Cloud Car with Cloud Car Pilot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

CLOUD CAR with CLOUD CAR PILOT

STAR WARS: EXPANDED UNIVERSE (KENNER)

“Cloud cars are atmospheric vessels that employ both repulsorlifts and ion engines, filling the important gap between airspeeders and starfighters. Functional in many ways, twin-cockpit, patrol cars escorted the Millennium Falcon and her crew onto Cloud City during The Empire Strikes Back. It was here that Darth Vader had Han Solo frozen in carbonite while Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO were held prisoners of the Empire. This single cockpit cloud car was designed and built based on production sketches found in The Art of Star Wars; its brainchild was renown Star Wars artist, Ralph McQuarrie.”

Back in early 2021, I wrapped up the last review of the standard “Expanded Universe” figures from Kenner’s Power of the Force run.  I was, however not *truly* done with the “Expanded Universe” sub-line, because in addition to the nine standard figures, there were also three smaller-scale vehicles, each including their own unique figure.  The slight switch up there is that, rather than go proper Expanded Universe, the vehicles were all early concept designs.  Thus far, I’ve reviewed one of those, a fact I almost forgot because I found the set so “meh” that it continues to leave virtually no mark on my memory.  Perhaps today’s offering will fair a bit better?  I sure hope so.  Here’s the Cloud Car and its associated pilot!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

The Cloud Car with Cloud Car Pilot was released alongside the rest of the “Expanded Universe” sub-line of Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  As noted in the bio, this set is based on illustrations by Ralph McQuarrie as part of Empire’s pre-production, making it, I believe, the earliest McQuarrie-based item in the toyline.  This was the largest of the three vehicles, though not by a ton.  It’s about 6 inches long and about 4 inches tall.  While the Cloud Cars seen in the final film are a rather odd twin cockpit design, the initial look was a more conventional single-seater.  It’s actually not a bad little design, with a very fun futuristic vibe that’s very clean.  It doesn’t feel like it’s totally out of place with the final design, either, so perhaps it was still there, just elsewhere?  It certainly feels like more of an older, Clone Wars-era design.  The toy does a nice job translating it, and working in a number of fun playable features, so it can be fully collapsed or deploy the wings.  It’s even got a rather clever missile launcher design, which isn’t too obvious or silly.

The Cloud Car’s pilot is a unique figure, and not really at all like the established Cloud Car pilot from the film, largely because he’s not actually based on a pilot design, but rather a more generalized Bespin citizen, presumably an early version of the Bespin Guards.  The figure stands just shy of 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Like the last pilot I looked at from this line, this guy feels a bit small compared to the rest of the line.  Of course, he also feels like he’s from a different line entirely, just in terms of styling.  He’s more angular and cartoonish, again a bit more like a Clone Wars character, or perhaps Rebels.  In contrast to the Rebel Pilot, I feel like this stylization helps him to keep the original charm of the design, making for a generally more entertaining figure.  His paint work is a bit of a departure from the usual Star Wars shades, making it rather eye-catching and different.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t recall much about this set, or really much about getting it.  I know it was part of a larger purchase, and more than likely I grabbed it at the same time as the other vehicle I was missing.  It’s also been sitting unopened for a good while, continuing the theme of all of my recent Power of the Force reviews.  There was more reason this time, because the speeder bike was so underwhelming, and I just wasn’t sure about this one.  I’m happy to say, this one’s a pleasant departure from the earlier set, and I actually found it to be an immensely enjoyable set.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3952: Ronto with Jawa

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

RONTO with JAWA

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Given it was the line running when the movies were released, Kenner’s Power of the Force II makes up most of the admittedly pretty small selection of toys based on the Star Wars Special Editions.  Mostly, the focus was on the new CGI creations, with a specific focus on the new creatures the movies had to offer.  Some of the creatures were new just replacing pre-existing models, and could serve as updates to older figures in a pinch, but there were also completely new ones, which includes today’s focus, the Ronto!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Ronto was released in 1997 as a later addition to the first year of Star Wars: Power of the Force II’s Creature sets.  As with the other two sets from that year, the set’s based on A New Hope’s Special Edition, pairing off one of the new CGI creations with a standard figure, in this case a Jawa.

The Ronto was, as noted in the intro, completely crafted for the Special Editions, added to the background of the Mos Eisely Spaceport scene.  It was modeled on one of ILM’s Brachiosaurus models from Jurassic Park, and was nicknamed “Bronto” during production.  George Lucas, in one of his most Lucas-y moments, just dropped the “B” off the name for the official name.  The figure stands about 9 inches tall and has moving legs.  The neck joint is connected to the rear leg, so you can make it “move” that way.  You can also move the ears and horns, for a little bit of variety.  The sculpt is…well, it’s a dinosaur with a different head, which is appropriate to the source material, so good for them.  The sculpt has a nice selection of texturing on the skin, which gives it a realistic vibe.  The color work on the figure has a fair bit of accenting, which helps to showcase the strengths of the sculpt.

Included with the Ronto is a Jawa.  This was the third of four Jawas released in this line.  He’s very similar to the carded Jawas from the main line, with the single hip joint and the light piping.  Scaling wise, he’s right between the two of them, and his sculpt also sort of feels like an averaging of the two sculpts.  It’s a little lighter on the texturing than those two, but still gets a lot of respectable work, especially given the smaller scale of the figure.  The coloring of the figure is a little more on the washed out side, landing closest to the smaller of the two standard Jawas.  It also means we get two of each shade, if you’ve got all four, which is cool.  The Jawa is packed with a small blaster pistol, which was missing from mine, a fact I can definitively confirm because I opened it just prior to taking the pictures for this review.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t buy this set new, because I honestly don’t remember it existing when it was new. It wasn’t until going back to look more into the line as an adult that it even really came across my radar.  I ended up snagging it during a Star Wars Day sale at Cosmic Comix about 5 years or so back.  As you may have figured out from the main body of the review, it’s been sitting on the shelf unopened for all of that time, as I only just opened it the night before writing this review.  The Ronto’s a cool, big creature thing, which is nifty, and the Jawa is different, but still a very fun additional Jawa for the line-up.