TIE Fighter - POTF2 [R/G] - Vehicles

When The Power Of The Force “2” came to be, Kenner knew that they had to get out the core vehicles that the older Star Wars generation had as kids. They were banking on the fact that they’d have a similar impact on a new generation too. To do this, they took the original sculpts from the 70s and 80s and applied very little retooling to those existing sculpts. Although the initial offerings were based on the original vintage Kenner era molds, in actuality all of the modern POTF2 vehicles can be technically considered all-new vehicles. Tweaks, some major and some minor, were done to all of them making truly unique versions for the modern era. But with such little time available to get vehicles out for the big launch of the line, they just focused on the primary vehicles first, updating them here and there, with the hopes that they’d go over well with a new generation of collectors. They did. In fact, the newer versions went over so well that they exceeded Kenner’s expectations.

A TIE fighter toy and X-wing fighter toy are primal vessels for the Star Wars line and usually the first two Star Wars fans are interested in buying for their collections. So, they’ll likely go over well no matter how often they’re released. But what makes the modern versions so impressive is the various updates made to them making them more screen accurate. Take for instance the TIE Fighter. NO more decals! Kenner actually tooled textured solar panel wings for this release and the updating wings looks fantastic. You can also see differences made to the cockpit and a few other parts too. But the wings stand out as the biggest update. Still not properly scaled, the TIE Fighter still may irritate those looking for a properly scaled TIE Fighter vehicle. We concede that the wings are much too small. Perhaps this would have been an ample time to make the wings larger since they had to completely retool them for The Power Of The Force “2” line. But we believe Kenner was trying to capture the magic of the vintage Kenner line, and that was too drastic of a step forward fro the introductory vehicles.

Another update to the TIE Fighter is the color. Originally released originally in white and then blue in the vintage Kenner line, the modern version comes in a bluish gray color. Again, tie this together with the newly sculpted wings and you truly have a standout modern vehicle release. The cockpit could have stood a little bit more of aggressive tooling. Its basically just a bucket seat that is too big for the 1996 POTF2 [R/G] TIE Fighter Pilot figure that was released to accompany this vehicle. Still, it’s not the end of the world and the figure does look pretty cool piloting the TIE Fighter. Expect the TIE Fighter vehicle to be a mainstay in the modern Kenner line. It is as core to Star Wars as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader really. It will be very exciting when Kenner decides to redo these vehicles from the ground up. (Editor’s Note: Kenner/Hasbro have made tremendous strides throughout the years making all-new versions of these classic vehicles.) Check out the TIE Fighter for your collection. It’s a great start to an important toy line.