Desert Landspeeder - TFA - Vehicles (Class II) (Desert)

Built from scavenged parts, this landspeeder has been customized to hold up in harsh desert terrain.

It’s outrageous in 2015 what you have to pay to get a vehicle the size of what we used to call a “Deluxe” or “Class I” item just a few short years ago. A vehicle this size AND a pack-in action figure would have been $19.99 at the most. Now a nicely tooled, but essentially hollow vehicle of similar caliber will run you $29.99 (and Hasbro upgrades these vehicles’ titles to Class II no less). How unassuming do they think we are? While we honestly try to say that in a joking manner, we’d be lying if we claimed there wasn’t any truth behind it. It goes without saying that the long-running standard “Mid Size” vehicle assortment line (we’re talking years here) contained vehicles of different shapes and sizes (and a whole lot more plastic), but the Desert Landspeeder wouldn’t qualify for such a “higher end” assortment like the Class II Mid Size vehicle assortment on a good day if it were made in years past. So we find it very disheartening that this beloved sub-line has been relegated to such cheapness and utter disrepair. We can’t ever see it going back to the way it was. If Hasbro did, imagine a well designed starfighter costing you about $50. That’s about where we are now, regrettably. We know, it’s very saddening. If you’re able to get past the nearly $30 MSRP for the Desert Landspeeder, you may be able to appreciate what a finely tooled design it is (visually). It’s when you hold it that you once again feel you’ve been sold a bridge.

The Desert Landspeeder itself is a nice design. We don’t know if it’s in the film yet, but by the scenery we’ve seen thus far of Jakku, it looks like it would fit in flawlessly. The vehicle feels much too light and its assembly is really low quality. The canopy portion barely clicks into place on our sample, and the slightest bump will make it pop off. Thankfully, the cockpit has been well designed to allow Finn (Jakku) to fit into the cockpit flawlessly. He can also “man” the rotating cannon flawlessly. We’re extremely thankful for such nicely designed interactivity of the pack-in figure with the vehicle. When fully set up, the Desert Landspeeder an Finn (Jakku) really do look very nice. But there is no way this is $30 nice. Admittedly, we’ve been quite disappointed with the low quality materials used to make Star Wars toys recently. And you really feel this in the vehicle line. The Desert Landspeeder feels light and flimsy, and while it may not be easily breakable thanks to the rubbery and bendable plastic, it still feels brittle and low quality. We find that utterly disturbing. Again, there is no denying the beautiful design and the fabulous details etched into this vehicle, but the final product leaves a great deal to be desired. And just as a reminder, we must reiterate that this would have easily been an item in the “Figure with Vehicle” we received in the many different The Clone Wars lines from 2009-2011.

The included Finn (Jakku) action figure included here is unique and basically all-new. The only reused pasrt we see from the 2015 TFA Finn (Jakku) Build A Weapon (Desert) figure are the legs. Other than the legs, this version looks to be all-new. And even the legs look to be revisited in a few ways as well. This version of Finn (Jakku) makes the character look a little bit too chunky. While Finn (Jakku) does appear to be slightly stockier than past Star Wars heroes, he shouldn’t look this stocky (at least in our minds). Even his face is a little too rounded for our tastes. Interestingly, the outer yellow jacket is nowhere to be found this time around, so Hasbro had to definitely do quite a bit of all-new sculpting to make this action figure supposedly screen accurate. This is why we believe the Desert Landspeeder is likely in the film. Hasbro tooled an almost all-new pack-in figure with it. And behind every major action lies/is a valid reason. We have received plenty of Finn (Jakku) action figures at this point, but at least this one is a fresh new take on him, although the simply designed black outfit doesn’t seem to work all that well. It worked for Luke Skywalker as a Jedi Knight, but the style of Finn (Jakku)’s outfit seems like something anyone of us here on Earth might wear on a lazy fall day. That being said, the Desert Landspeeder isn’t without merit, it’s just a low quality toy that’s been given a very high price.