Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing Fighter (Electronic Power F/X) - POTF2 [FF/TKC] - Vehicles

MODEL: Incom Corporation &-65 X-wing Space Superiority Fighter
AFFILIATION: Rebel Alliance
CREW: 1 Pilot And 1 Astromech Droid
HYPERDRIVE: Incom GBk-585 Unit

After the sugar high of the Star Wars toy line returning in modern form wore off, collectors began badgering Kenner/Hasbro for when they’d release all of the vintage Kenner vehicles with modern enhancements. While Hasbro/Kenner got out a healthy dose of initial vehicles before the end of 1995, many others came later. The original X-wing Fighter (Electronic) released in The Power Of The Force “2” [Red] line received significant updating from its 1978 vintage Kenner release, but we all soon realized that we needed a bigger and better version. Hasbro listened. And they produced the new larger-scale Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing Fighter, which was a part of the Electronic Power F/X sub-line (but in the form of a vehicle). The Electronic Power F/X Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing Fighter may have a permanent Luke Skywalker “bust” in the cockpit, and a permanent R2-D2 “dome” in the droid socket, but dang it if we’re not thoroughly impressed with how this vehicle/playset/electronic smorgasbord turned out for the Star Wars collecting community. Aside from the non-removable Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 “figures,” we’re confident that Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing Fighter will stand the test of time. The larger scale and the more-detailed features jettison this vehicle to almost definitive status. It stinks we can’t change out the figures, but with what else this vehicle offers, you’re probably not going to care that much. Let’s take a look at this vehicle’s wonderful features.

Perhaps aside from scale improvement, the greatest enhancements are the lights and sounds. It takes a moment to familiarize yourself with how they function, but between the depressing of R2-D2’s dome and the back and forth motion of the levers on the top back of the vehicle, you can figure out the full operations to this vehicle. Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing Fighter has twelve real movie sounds and phrases locked into its memory plans. They include sound effects such as proton torpedo sounds, firing laser cannon sounds, and light-up thrusters sound. Dialogue includes “R2, fire-up the converters (with R2-D2’s response),” “Red Five standing by,” “Lock S-foils in attack positions (with R2-D2’s response),” “I’m going in,” “R2, that stabilizer’s broken loose again, see if you can’t lock it down (with R2-D2’a response),” “R2, try and increase the power (with R2-D2’s response),” “Use the Force, Luke,” “Luke, trust me,” and “Luke, the Force will be with you.” The latter three are all quoted by Obi-Wan Kenobi, while the rest are quoted by Luke Skywalker. The dialogue comes in crystal clear and has a significant volume. But while we enjoy the sound effects portions of this toy, we love the light-up features more. Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing Fighter comes with light-up rear engines. And then the targeting computer lights up VERY brightly too. They’re activated by the right combination of the lever movement on the back top portion of the vehicle, and depressing R2-D2’s dome.

What about the scale of Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing Fighter? Well, it’s still too small if you’re looking for screen-accuracy. It would have to be significantly larger to come close. But when compared to 1995’s POTF2 [R] X-wing Fighter (Electronic), it’s remarkably larger, and probably is a “big enough” scale as far as collectors are concerned. On top of a larger sized frame, Hasbro tooled an astounding amount of detail in this release. You’ll find lots of this etched detailing framing the shape of the wings and the main vessel of the vehicle. And as if the electronics weren’t enough to impress collectors, Hasbro also decided to add in a lever to open and close the S-foils. The lever moves left and right to open and close, and then locks in place to hold the open position “open.” They also crafted a handle that locks into place to provide the best center of gravity when held. For gimmicks, Hasbro added a trigger to shoot the translucent red projectile that sits within a cannon at the bottom of the starfighter. Also included is a HUGE decal sheet. We don’t do well with this slow-moving activity, but once you apply all of the stickers to Luke Skywalker’s Red Five X-wing Fighter, you’ll be overwhelmed by how many positive things it brings to the deco of the vehicle. Overall, we’re thrilled with this release. But it will also be great if Kenner/Hasbro updates this down the road with a functioning cockpit and droid socket and perhaps less or no electronics. There are all types of collectors, and we all like specific things when it comes to our toys.