Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter - SW [DV/ROTS] - Vehicles

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker battle enemy ships to rescue Chancellor Palpatine. Obi-Wan blasts attacking vulture droids with his laser cannons on his starfighter and maneuvers his ship through a chaotic space battle to reach Grievous' flagship, where the kidnapped Chancellor is being detained.

Here we go again! The controversy surrounding the new mid-size vehicle assortment is one that collectors still cannot shake. Is Hasbro really taking this line, which has roots in the vintage Kenner era, this way and giving us vehicles that just aren’t to scale with the action figures in the line any longer? Hasbro is clearly on a mission with reducing the scale of these vehicle, removing many of the original features, and hollowing out as much plastic as they can in an effort to reduce cost while still bringing “quality” vehicles into the basic figure line. Sadly, quality just isn’t part of the mix any longer. Despite the efforts made to save some money, we don’t see this newly scaled vehicle line being successful. Even the vehicles from the Star Wars [Yoda/Attack Of The Clones] line had to be blown out on clearance. And the new Star Wars [Darth Vader/Revenge Of The Sith] line look isn’t performing any better. After all, these are the “same” vehicles we had received at full scale multiples times in the past. Clearly there are ways to still get them on the aftermarket. Currently, we don’t know who is buying these smaller vehicles, but it certainly isn’t adult collectors. And we don’t know how kids will be interested in these lackluster vehicles either. They are such a letdown. They’re $10 vehicles at best, not $20.

Hasbro quickly amortized the all-new sculpt of Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter and brought Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter in the same case assortment. It’s the same vehicle but has now been repainted in the colors to mirror the Jedi Starfighter Obi-Wan Kenobi used in Revenge Of The Sith. Even R2-D2 has been repainted to reflect R4-P17. The case assortment that contain these two vehicles also contains a repacked version of 2013’s SW [Y/AOTC] Jango Fett’s Slave I. Are you kidding us Hasbro? Haven’t we learned not to repackage vehicles like this and put them in inaugural case assortments? Obviously they’re still slow learners when it comes to forecasting. And sadly it’s absolutely killing the line. We all know how bad it is with basic figures. Well, vehicles don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell either. Just like Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter, this is a vehicle that has been produced and sold multiple times in an appropriate larger scale with awesome features (and leg room for the action figures). To say it’s a disappointment is an understatement. It may be in the best interest for Hasbro to just retire the vehicle line altogether, until they can redirect the appropriate dollars to make good vehicles again. Otherwise, leave vehicle releases for store exclusives only. It’s gone from disappointing to laughable to enraging.

Aesthetically, Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter looks pretty good, but please don’t interpret that as our approval for this line. You’ll quickly realize how so many parts of it have been skewed to accommodate the smaller scale. While they do seat action figures in the new Saga Legends or Mission Series lines, there is barely any room to play or anything else. And besides, the figures look cramped inside of them. While we will agree that an inordinate amount of detail has been etched into the vehicle from top to bottom, it ultimately fails because it pales in comparison to the detail of the larger (and better) vehicles from a few short years ago. Two projectiles have been included and shoot when buttons are pressed. Besides an opening canopy, the only other articulation this vehicle has are four hinge-jointed wing panels, which definitely add some versatility to the starfighter. It’s unfathomable that this is the new Class II assortment. In fact, it’s painful. Even if Hasbro absolutely had to go this route, wouldn’t it have been better if they attacked vehicles they have never produced before and especially include some Original Trilogy “mini rigs” to help engage those purists? And we have mentioned this to them and they still don’t listen. It’s time for a revolutions for vehicles, folks.