TIE Fighter Pilot (Battle Of Yavin) - SW [S - P3] - Basic (’04 #14)

Imperial TIE Fighter pilots were dedicated warriors with unending loyalty to the Emperor. These combat pilots were the elite of the Imperial Navy, well trained to overcome the inherent design flaws of the TIE fighter and turn it into a formidable and deadly vessel. Their determination and skills were put to the test when they fought the Rebels at the Battle of Yavin.

Hasbro often without expectation updated action figures that many collectors didn’t feel needed such a quick reinvention. case in point would be 2004’s Star Wars “Saga” TIE Fighter Pilot (Battle Of Yavin) action figure. What may be most surprising at all is that we believe not all collectors may find this to be that much of an improvement, if an improvement at all. Sure, the silhouette of this 2004 version looks better and there is increased articulation, but when looking at this action figure as a whole sum of the parts, you may question, more than appreciate, whether or not the final figure was worth the long-awaited update. The original modern 1996 POTF2 [R] TIE Fighter Pilot was a pretty great figure. It definitely had exaggerated features, but the figure looked awesome and it has held its own pretty well throughout the years. When a character’s sculpt and articulation can be improved upon, we would never want the update to that character to be ceased, but with all of the other characters that do need action figures, perhaps this figure could have been updated when articulation takes the next quantum leap in the line.

Let’s hash out the good points of the TIE Fighter Pilot (Battle Of Yavin) action figure. There is no doubt Hasbro had studied excellent reference materials this time around because this really looks like an onscreen TIE Fighter Pilot. Despite all of the variations of this character in Episode IV, Hasbro played it safely and released what we deem the most generic form of the pilot, that is, all black without any unique helmet deco or design. The figures comes with a generous ten points of articulation. Some of it is very useful, and many other parts of the articulation aren’t. The obvious benefit of this sculpt is the ball-jointed knees. There is an inordinate amount of “give'” in the knee joints, almost malleable in many respects. They feel like they have more range of motion that many other ball-jointed knees we have encountered in the line. They bend and twist forwards, backwards and even to the sides. You can get a great deal of motion out of them, so Hasbro clearly succeeded at updating this point of articulation in this way. The rest of the figure leaves a lot to be desired. The swivel shoulders are so limiting that it’s frustrating, and the hands have not been sculpted well enough to hold the blaster easily.

Still, many find solace in the release of a new Imperial soldier, so this figure may pique your interest regardless. We have to point out however that there is something off about the helmet. It definitely looks to be too big, although the helmet sizes in the POTF2 line were frankly way too small. We believe the scale of the helmet on this figure is accurate, but it’s a shock to the system to see it for the “first time” on this character. But the size of the helmet isn’t the issue we take with it. The issue is that the lines that make up the lenses and the detail of the helmet are muddled and unclear. The lines aren’t as defining as they need to be to give the action figure the much-needed personality it needs. For lack of a better explanation, it’s almost as if the mold that created the helmet didn’t press into it hard enough to give it those needed outlines, as they come across as muted. The Battle of Yavin was a huge pivotal sequence in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and we need excellent action figures of the characters from these scenes. TIE Fighter Pilot (Battle Of Yavin) is a great start, but we’ll wait a little bit longer until more impressive sculpts arrive.