TIE Fighter With Darth Vader - POTF2 [FF/TKC] - Gunner Station

Re-enact classic Star Wars battle scenes from Darth Vader's TIE fighter cockpit!

1998 was one of the most bustling years of the modern Star Wars toy line. In many instances, it’s hard to know what figure was produced first, because it rarely coincided with their releases. The Power Of The Force “2” line underwent three transitions at this point (Red, Green and Freeze Frame/The Kenner Collection line looks) and the amount of product pouring from the factories in Asia was something that was difficult to manage as young adult Star Wars collectors finishing up college or entering the workforce with entry-level salaries. But that didn’t prevent most of us from catching up as much as we could. In the middle of basic figures and accompanying vehicles, Kenner/Hasbro produced three Gunner Station figures, and they were released across two waves. TIE Fighter With Darth Vader was the last of the three and came in a late Fall case assortment.

The Gunner Station sub-line is about as gimmicky as the Star Wars toy line can come. It pairs an action figure with a significantly reduced piece of its environment. For Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, they were teamed up with the cannon on each end of the Millennium Falcon. But for Darth Vader, we get a cross-section of his TIE Fighter, the TIE Advanced x1. It’s a nicely detailed “environment,” but it looks more like an accessory. And it comes with some pretty nifty play features. The front of the TIE Fighter shoots missile projectiles. And then a handle attaches to the base of the TIE Fighter and with the flick of a button you can make the TIE Fighter flip, spin and do whatever else you want. Again, all of these things are designed for kids, but adults will likely have fun with it too. The TIE Fighter comes with pre-applied decals, and they brighten the toy up beautifully.

And the included Darth Vader figure interacts with it wonderfully as well. This version of Darth Vader is a tremendous upgrade to past versions. Based on the same approach as the Death Star With Darth Vader Complete Galaxy figure, this time the figure comes with a new head sculpt (without a removable helmet) new arms, slightly repositioned legs and an all-new soft-goods cape with a remarkable drape. Sadly, Kenner/Hasbro still utilized the body of 1995’s POTF2 [R] Darth Vader figure which hurts this release. The paint operations look to be shinier as well. Darth Vader fits inside of the of the cockpit nicely and the control area (and the shifters) function to lock the figure in place when you decide to make it fly 360 degrees. Again, this version of Darth Vader is impressive. It isn’t perfect, but it’s a tremendous upgrade from past versions. And we love the fact that the helmet isn’t removable like the Complete Galaxy version. But you do have to accept that the figure isn’t screen-accurate because they didn’t tool a new torso reflecting the cape over the shoulder armor.