Y-wing Fighter - OTC - Vehicles (Exclusive)

Y-wings are durable, reliable starfighters that excel in close-quarters combat. During the battle of Yavin, Y-wing squadrons were influential in helping to defeat the Death Star threat. Designated attack fighters, Y-wings went one-to-one with imperial fighters as the Rebels attempted to reach the battle station's vulnerable exhaust port. Jon "Dutch" Vander was Gold Leader of the Y-wing Gold Squadron during the Battle of Yavin, fighting bravely against the powerful Imperial forces.

Hasbro is tasked every year with organizing a line that will appeal to both kids an collectors. Depending upon if it’s a movie year or not, well with the Prequel Trilogy at least, the focus will shift and product will be created to support the media event at hand. And it is in between those years that Hasbro is able to focus on the stuff that hardcore long term Star Wars collectors will be interested. 2004 was a unique year. Attack Of The Clones' attention in the spotlight was waning, and Hasbro turned the Star Wars “Saga” focus of the lineup towards the Original Trilogy. But the line was cut short because of the breaking news that the Original Trilogy, in its unaltered format, would be released on DVD after too many years of Star Wars fans wishing for this to come to past. While Hasbro couldn’t escape the Prequel Trilogy completely during The Original Trilogy Collection’s entire run, they admirably suppressed it so that they could focus on what has always been the bread and butter of the line: the Original Trilogy. Interestingly, they secured an exclusive deal with Toys R Us to produce an Original Trilogy vehicle through the eyes of the Expanded Universe. Specifically, Hasbro was inspired by the Star Wars Action Fleet Y-wing Fighter vehicle with the red deco and blue cockpit. It would be chosen as the paint job of choice for the Toys R Us release.

This isn’t the first time Hasbro has been inspired by another toy line to make a larger sized vehicle in their own. They once again look to the Star Wars Action Fleet line for an new idea. If you recall, they produced the TARGET exclusive A-wing Fighter also based on the Action Fleet line. The all-green A-wing Fighter was a late 2003 release and had one of the greatest paint jobs collectors have ever seen on a vehicle. We’re not so sure the same can be said for The Original Trilogy Collection Y-wing Fighter, but it is heartily decorated with a nice paint job, a pack-in figure and packaging reminiscent of the glory days when we were kids collecting the vintage Kenner line. The 2004 OTC Y-wing Fighter, which is a Toys R Us exclusive if you missed that detail, is a complete repaint, but the exact mold, of 2000’s The Power Of The Force “2” Y-wing Fighter (a TARGET exclusive). This means that there is a permanent droid dome in the droid socket (not removable) and the battery compartment has been permanently sealed. (All of the electronics have been stripped out of the vehicle.) That’s alright though because electronics for us aren’t the greatest enhancement to a vehicle. Perhaps Hasbro could have made them more interesting with today’s technology, but in general for us they’re just something else to break.

The vehicle is very silvery and is accented with red detailing and an odd blue cockpit cover. It has “EU” written all over it and that’s what makes its release in The Original Trilogy Collection packaging so ironic. If this line is to focus on things from the first three Star Wars films, why would Hasbro choose a deco (for this line in particular) that is sourced outside of it? Maybe that doesn’t matter in the long run. Collectors want new and exciting releases and not the same vehicles rehashed over and over again. So we really don’t fault Hasbro for their decision to make this a vehicle that isn’t seen in any of the Star Wars films. Also included is a “unique” Y-wing Pilot figure. It’s based on 1998’s POTF2 Biggs Darklighter figure (which isn’t that bad of a sculpt) with an all-new head. And of course the figure has been repainted as well. The important point here is that he fits into the cockpit well without any force despite his limited articulation. And collectors are lastly treated to an all-new R2-unit astromech droid dome. It’s unknown who this droid is intended to be, but it matches the rest of the vehicle quite well thanks to its red and blue details. Overall, any new vehicle for us is a must-have purchase. This is certainly new from multiple points of view. But if you’re a “movie only” collector, this may not strike your fancy as much.