First Order TIE Fighter Pilot - TFA - Build A Weapon (Space)

The skilled pilots of the First Order launch into combat aboard advanced fighter craft, hunting down enemy vessels and protecting space around installations and warships.

Is anyone else out there seeing the trends of The Force Awakens as strongly mirroring Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope? We’re certainly seeing it. While it’s a stretch to think that Episode VII will be “A New Hope 2.0” it’s hard to deny the strong similarities that the stuff revealed so far share with each other. Poe Dameron is a specific X-wing pilot, and now we have the opposite of that, the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot, which is a significantly streamlined version of the characters we saw in the Original Trilogy. Much of the same design has been carried forward for 2015, but the same black bodysuit, black shiny helmet and distinguished chest box once again appear in a totally revised way. And it looks fantastic. Putting articulation on hold for a moment, Hasbro’s First Order TIE Fighter Pilot Build A Weapon figure is one of many army-building figures in the first wave of The Force Awakens basic figures. And it’s our belief those interested in purchasing these figures will undoubtedly begin picking up multiples to create a First Order of their own in 3.75” scale. The First Order TIE Fighter Pilot is another excellently sculpted figure. It has an advantage being mostly solid black because Hasbro can’t mess up paint operations too badly with a character that is essentially one color.

Instead, they used the simplicity of the black color to concentrate more on the sculpt, which in our opinion, succeeds tremendously. You can really see the details etched into the helmet, the wrinkling in the outfit and the smoothness in the boots and gloves. For a simple action figure, the detail is monumental. What’s more, the figure can pilot the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter as the co-pilot if you so wish. If you’re someone who likes to pose your figures however, the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot really is limited in what it can do. Swivel shoulders and swivel hips essentially render the figure “useless” when trying to attain some interesting action-styled poses. But that’s the fate of the basic figure line. It’s all about making budget action figures. Our point is that if Hasbro is going to make action figures with five points of articulation, this is the way to do it. You’ll find that most of the new figures in The Force Awakens line have been giving ball-socket heads. We saw this pattern of swivel shoulders and hips paired with ball-socket heads in Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D] Battle Packs line. It looks like it has returned for good. Surprisingly, it makes these figures all the better. Getting significantly more movement out of the head is an important upgrade for these figures.

The First Order TIE Fighter Pilot comes with a blaster pistol and he can hold it well in both hands. But aside from pointing the gun straight ahead, there isn’t much else you can do with the accessory. We can’t help but be impressed with the new design of the “Imperial TIE Fighter Pilot”. In all honesty, it truly looks like an updated version of the character, like the next progression of what this Imperial would look like in the future. Now, of course that’s what he exactly is, but it works incredibly well. They figured out how to remain faithful to the designs we strongly associate with the Original Trilogy, and then they took it to the next level and made it fresh and new again. It’s truly a “TIE Fighter Pilot in the 21st century” and we think that’s actually pretty awesome. The squared helmet and the reduced sized chest box are just some of the new enhancements that make these characters fresh again. Packaged with the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot action figure is a Build A Weapon part. These odd pack-in premiums don’t really make too much sense right now. They’re likely a Hasbro creation anyhow, but it does give the figure a “LEGO” type of feel which is what Hasbro may be trying to do here. Either way, you should be getting this for the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot figure anyway.