Wedge Antilles’ X-wing Starfighter - LC - Vehicles (Exclusive)

The X-wing fighter has become the symbol of the Rebellion. Swift, reliable and highly responsive in battle, this rugged craft is capable of absorbing plenty of damage in combat. X-wings have flown in all the major battles against the Empire and are the preferred fighters of Rebel pilots. In the bustling Alliance hangars, X-wings are prepared for another battle with Imperial fighters, as pilots and technicians check engines, instruments and weapons. Once Alliance pilot, Wedge Antilles, flew an X-wing in the Battle of Yavin as Red Two and as Red Leader in the Battle of Endor.

Wedge Antilles (in action figure form) is very much an ignored character by Hasbro (as far as the basic line is concerned). While we have gotten multiple versions of him throughout the line, he has never seen the front lines in any basic figure collection. Never! Not once! While he came awfully close in 2005 as an OTC online exclusive, it was an exclusive and not considered a general release figure or part of the basic figure line. This is honestly quite perplexing to us because he is a character that has appeared in every chapter of the Original Trilogy, as well as countless Expanded Universe sources. For a character of this stature to not get time in the spotlight as a basic figure is almost unforgivable. To be quite honest however, we are just thankful to get Wedge (as many times as we did) and fans can be happier more than ever because a definitive version of him has been released. And fans love “definitive” versions of their action figures. Although this is for right now the definitive version of Wedge Antilles, interestingly, this TARGET exclusive appears to be based on the Expanded Universe source, X-wing Rogue Squadron (a source getting attention in the Hasbro line). If you aren’t a fan of the EU, we still think that this is a product you will thoroughly enjoy because you can pretend it is based off of A New Hope. It is close enough and if there are variances from the original scene in which it appears, just ignore them because this is a remarkable exclusive and you will miss out on all that it offers if you were to pass on it. It is our general assumption that most will be able to accept this vehicle as it pertains to Episode IV because it is definitely close enough. Besides getting two figures built with the best and latest sculpts and technology, you get another large-sized X-wing fighter thrown into the mix that is beautifully painted and one of the highlights of the exclusive program for 2009. Hasbro left nothing out and obviously changed their approach on weathering and battle-damage details.

This exclusive is awesome in every way, but you may be confused by one or two things included in it. One of the things that throws off the set (not in a bad way) is the “Astromech Droid” (which is actually named “Astromech Droid”) contained within it. (Editor's Note: In February of 2010, Hasbro contacted Lucasfilm, Ltd. prompted from their Q&A with the Star Wars fan sites and asked what the official name of this droid was. He is officially known as R2-A3 now.) It is a simply but beautifully colored R2 unit with awesome weathering details. It is modeled after the popular R4-G9 mold so it has optimal functionality and great accuracy to this type of droid unit. Once placed in the droid socket, we have to admit that the droid appears to be a little too small for the space provided. This isn’t a complaint of course, because we want our droids to fit in the places they should be. But is just seems like there is a bit too much airspace between the droid and the edges. Interestingly, the droid still fits tightly in place so we don’t think it should go flying out if you decided to make your X-wing do donuts in 'space'. The droid imitates the appearance of CB-3D that came in the Walmart exclusive General Grievous/CB-3D (1 of 5) Droid Factory set. They look so much alike that one looks like a clean version of the other, but after careful analysis you will find additional differences. Wedge Antilles is another awesome figure in the set. He is made up of new parts and old parts. Mostly an amalgamation of Nrin Vakil, from the Walmart exclusive 2009TLC Ibtisam/Nrin Vakil Comic Packs set, Wedge also has a new torso and head. The removable helmet is a marvelous repaint of the Snowspeeder Pilot helmets we saw first in the Evolutions line. The helmet is just plain awesome! As a compilation of already great older figures (in addition to new parts), Wedge is truly spectacular and is now our most definitive version of the character. The duo looks great together and it is believable that they have seen many a battle in their tenure together. As a bonus, you get two ladders that look fantastic for additional play value.

This brings us to the actual X-wing Starfighter. If you have any of the previous release then you won’t be getting anything particularly new, but it is new in the fact that it has an amazing paint job and great weathering and battle-damaged markings. It is an accurately scaled and breathtakingly decorated X-wing vehicle. In a collecting era where battle-damaged paint operations and additional deco gets dropped in favor of cost containment, Hasbro didn’t hold anything back for this TARGET exclusive release. We are thoroughly impressed with the final product and extremely thankful for this attention to detail. Getting these larger-scaled vehicles in the basic figure line is fantastic, but when they're decorated so beautifully, it makes them that much better. After the ghost-white 2008 TLC Dagger Squadron B-wing Fighter Toys R Us exclusive we received, we don’t think many of us were hopeful that our future vehicles would look any better. Hasbro has allowed us to regain some of our confidence back with this release. Hasbro may be finally realizing that certain sacrifices cannot be made (and that poor or “no” finishing details will result in poor sales). Battle-damaged markings are a necessity and not a luxury. But they make vehicles look phenomenal. And since these vehicles and exclusives are commanding such high prices, Hasbro needs to ensure that they give us a truly beautiful product for those higher costs. The Wedge Antilles’ X-wing Starfighter satisfies on every level, especially the paint job and we feel it is worthy of the $49.99 price tag. For a large scale vehicle and two new figures, this is a very fair price. And if you don’t think it is a value for your collection, you’ll have to at least admit that it is indeed an altogether cool product. Even the smallest details like the retractable landing gear, the crystal clear cockpit window, the action feature to lock the wings open and even the “kill markers” make this set one cool exclusive! Plus, let's not forget how awesome "all-new" pack-in figures are as well!