TIE-Fighter Pilot - Real Action Heroes

It takes a dedicated warrior with unending loyalty to strap in behind the control yoke of a TIE fighter and pilot the fragile, speedy craft into battle.

Imperial combat pilots are well trained to overcome the inherent design flaws of the TIE fighter and turn it into a formidable and deadly vessel.

Medicom has had an illustrious career with their Star Wars one-sixth scale Real Action Heroes line. Always providing collectors with topnotch high-end Star Wars collectibles, it’s been more often than not that they’ve released figures that have made the collecting community just drool uncontrollably. No one can really claim that all of the releases under this one-sixth line have been perfect, but it’s been the rule rather than the exception that most have impressed the most discriminating collectors. Medicom has taken risks on releasing characters that don’t immediately make collectors’ top ten lists, and they think outside of the box for many others. With a high price point, but with meticulous details to soften the blow to the wallet, the figures in this line have raised the bar for other licensees and generally have provided the collecting community with a line of large-sized figures that they are proud to own in their collections. Perhaps no other character than the oddly spelled TIE-Fighter Pilot in the RAH scale created as much anticipation for 1:6 Scale collectors. While Sideshow was up to their necks deep in producing Order Of The Jedi characters, Medicom Toys was busy preparing a long-awaited high-end Imperial for our collections. The final result is astounding. As a testament to their collector-focused goodwill, Sideshow Collectibles has partnered with Medicom Toys to bring these Japanese collectibles to the American marketplace. And to date they have been a hit with Sideshow Collectibles as well as they quickly sell out before most have the opportunity to save up for and purchase.

The TIE-Fighter Pilot Real Action Heroes figure is very, very impressive. The fabric black uniform contrasts beautifully against the extremely shiny helmet. Even the plastic/rubber gloves and boots nicely contrast against the helmet and uniform too. There is an unbelievable amount of detail in the helmet alone. What impresses us more however is the range of smooth motion the head sculpt offers the collector. This is due to two high quality enhancements. First, the articulation in the head is ball-jointed and perfectly engineered to give the smoothest movement possible. Also, the hoses are extremely pliable and prevent any inhibition of head movement (to a certain point) which allows you to attain some pretty nifty poses with this character. With over an impressive 30 points of articulation, the TIE-Fighter Pilot is one of the most articulated body types available today. Fans of Sideshow Collectibles’ 1:6 Scale Figures line find the Real Action Heroes line a slight disappointment due to their smaller stature. While many collectors have desired to supplement Sideshow’s prolific 1:6 Scale Figures line with the Real Action Heroes line, it’s very difficult because RAH are created at this slightly smaller scale, which sadly is noticeable on a display shelf. There is no getting around it really. Figures like Luke Skywalker tend to go unnoticed, but a figure like the TIE-Fighter Pilot are too great of a variance to ignore. However, if it’s something you can overlook, or if you just keep your Medicom Toys figures separately from the rest of your collection, you will enjoy an incredibly produced line of high-end of one-sixth scale figures. Even at a cursory first glance, the TIE-Fighter Pilot Real Action Heroes figure is beautiful. It will be your instant reaction.

It’s very true that the RAH body type provides an inordinate amount of articulation as well and a range of endless dynamic and static poses. You may not need all of this movement for a character that just pilots an Imperial TIE Fighter, but we know that when it comes to action figures in the one-sixth scale range that articulation is everything. You have been well cared for with this figure and hopefully that is your sentiment also. The costume looks screen accurate. All of the uniform parts are in place. And the silver details added to the helmet have been flawlessly added with care and precision to recreate the character from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Surprisingly and sadly, this figure comes without and Imperial blaster. In fact, no other accessories have been included with this figure at all. There aren’t even an extra pair of hands included for alternate display. We find that disappointing. These figures are already expensive. And the MSRP on them has skyrocketed into untouchable zones for the hardcore collectors who have been collecting this line since day one. Would the inclusion of a gun have killed Medicom Toys’ budget? It’s not our wallet of course, but we don’t think it would have killed the bank for them. Aside from a few small issues with the RAH body type (like it has no rear end for example), we think that the TIE-Fighter Pilot is a fantastic addition to the line. If we had one other criticism, we feel that Medicom Toy has no focus when choosing characters in the Real Action Heroes line. It’s rare when one figure will complement the next in some way. They release characters in more of a “pot luck” fashion. Anyway, we don’t want to leave on a sour note. The TIE-Fighter Pilot is a wonderful release and we’re thrilled to have it.