Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer - SW [TLJ] - Vehicles

Kylo Ren has inherited amazing piloting skills from his father, though he uses these abilities to pursue the Resistance from the seat of his unique, angular TIE fighter.

What happens when you mix Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced x1 Starfighter and a TIE Interceptor? Well, we’re not too sure about that quite honestly, but we can easily imagine that the product could look something similar to Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer. This brand new vehicle for the Star Wars [The Last Jedi] line has exceeded our expectations. After one micro vehicle release after another, we didn’t have much hope left that Hasbro could produce a vehicle that would ever truly fit into the 3.75” scaled figure line with any believability again. Between the reduced scale and NERF incorporations, the vehicle line has been tragically suffering to the point where collectors are losing interest. Thankfully, NERF is history for the Star Wars [The Last Jedi] line, and Hasbro is tooling vehicles that may not be perfect, but at the same time are far from terrible. What’s more, they’ve cleverly extrapolated the Force Link technology into the vehicle that not only adds sound but lights as well. Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer may be a simple vehicle, but when assembled comes across as large and hearty, and collectors are going to find that it does meet some loose definition of a collectors’ item. It’s a bit rubbery, and it does have a small cockpit, but for us, it comes off as a more than acceptable vehicle.

Just one look at Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer and you’ll know right away that it’s a good-looking ship. You’ll be jettisoned back to Episode IV and Episode VI in your mind because this vehicle looks like a summation of the best Imperial vehicles from those films. They even share a similar color scheme to this vehicle. Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer is cast in a dark gray plastic and accented in luxurious textures and fine details. The sculpting of this vehicle is excellent. And even if the plastic on the wings is a bit too rubbery for our tastes, it still looks like a beautifully streamlined vehicle. You have to assemble the vehicle once you take it out of the box. The wings easily attach to the hull of the vehicle. And then you need to add cannon tips to each of the four points created by the wings. It takes only a few minutes to complete the vehicle, and it looks incredible once done. There is an action feature added here. You press a release on the top of the vehicle’s body, and cannons pop out from the sides of the wings. Then another button fires the projectiles. Features like this add wonderful play value while keeping the vehicle as screen accurate as possible. The best part of this toy is the Force Link technology. With the Force Link wristband in hand, the vehicle replicates a ton of cool sound effects. What’s more, the Force Link also adds light functionality to the vehicle. It’s rear and top light up in red when activated.

The Kylo Ren (TIE Pilot) pack-in figure is decent, but nothing more than what you already expect. Based on 2017’s SW [TLJ] Kylo Ren Force Link figure, this version gets an all-new head sculpt and new Force Link lines. Why Hasbro decided to tool an all-new head sculpt is a bit perplexing, but we appreciate the gesture. The figure comes with the standard five points of articulation and can sit nicely inside the vehicle’s cockpit. The head sculpt is alright, but it doesn’t look like a dead ringer to actor Adam Driver who plays this new Star Wars villain. There is a gruesome scar coming down the right side of his face, and it is a bit more accentuated when compared to the basic figure. There isn’t a black mark covering it up as we have seen in stills. (Who knows if this is some special effects thing or if it’s actually in the film. Time will tell.) Kylo Ren (TIE Pilot) comes only with his standard lightsaber. This accessory can be held in either hand, and its sculpting is great. In our opinion, Kylo Ren interacts with the TIE Silencer perfectly. Whether posed inside of the cockpit or posed around the outside of it, kids and collectors are going to be interested in this combination of vehicle and pilot. Retailing for a whopping $49.99, it’s a pretty good bet that many collectors are going to wait until this comes down to a fairer price. But we all know what happens when we wait for clearance.