Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter - TAC - Vehicles

A Jedi Master and a man of peace by nature, Mace Windu was nonetheless a fearsome warrior; slow to engage in violence, but unstoppable in battle. As skilled a pilot as any in the Jedi Order, Mace flew this customized Jedi Starfighter into many successful skirmishes against the droid legions of the Separatists.

It’s flabbergasting how the chances of a vehicle getting produced exponentially go up when a sculpt already exists. A simple repaint is sometimes all that is needed to make a completely awesome store exclusive. And that's what HAsbro did in The Saga Collection when they released Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter as a TARGET exclusive. The vhicle proved so popular that Hasbro decided it would be wise to get the vehicle out again as a general marketplace release. So they added it to the first wave of vehicles in the 30 (77-07) line (a remix case to be specific). It's hard to believe this evhicle was even made. Appearing very briefly in Tartakovsky's Clone Wars micro-series, did any of us truly expect Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter to ever be produced for the basic figure line? His signature brightly colored starfighter and accompanying astromech droid were instantly memorable because of their association to Mace Windu and the color purple. (Why is everything purple?) Because it's an old sculpt, obviously nothing new is brought to the table here. After all, it’s just a straight repaint. So that’s where you’ll have to focus your attention. That being said, Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter looks just as cool as it did a year ago and it's great it gets another chance at retail, to a broader audience not less, for those that missed it the first time.

Based on 2005’s ROTS Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter, Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter is every bit the same as the the original vehicle's sculpt except for the paint operations of course. But it even varies a bit from 2006's TSC Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter TARGET exclusive release. THe carbon scoring and battle-damage markings are ever so slightly different (lighter and thinner) which gives the deco on this updated release a difference. You'll be able to tell them apart because of this. The inclusion of decals helps to add additional detail and color to an already stunning paint job and bring the vehicle to another whole level. Even the underside of Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter has been given the brillaint purple color treatment as well. It will be hard for anyone to complain that this vehicle doesn't look good because it looks great. With Hasbro already utilizing this sculpt more and more (and still counting) already, it appears that their intention is to utilize this sculpt as many times as possible. And at nearly $20 a pop for the mid-size vehicle assortment, Hasbro should rake in the cash rather easily. With so many Mace Windu specific things we’re getting (and including the 2006 TSC Mace Windu’s Attack Battalion Battle Packs set), you’re quickly going to amass a nice selection of purple items for your Mace Windu collection.

The droid socket houses a “half of an astromech droid”. In this case it’s R4-M6. As an alternate solution or for extra play value, you can also interact 2007’s TSC R4-M6 (Mace Windu’s Astromech Droid) (SAGA 074) figure with this vehicle as well. Granted, the full size R4 unit is too large to fit inside of the droid socket properly, but we don’t think many will care about this. While flying the vehicle around, make use of the droid accessory. When parked or displayed, utilize the complete action figure. Or do whatever you want to do with your toys. Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter is particularly special to us because we absolutely adore the Tartakovsky Clone Wars micro-series. For us, there really has been no better supplemental multimedia event in the history of the Star Wars line that has so thoroughly engaged us as collectors and fans. So anything Hasbro makes based on this property is very exciting for us. Sure, it’s almost a no-brainer for Hasbro to reissue almost every starfighter in every color. That’s how they amortize costs because sculpts are very expensive in the toy line. Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter allows collectors and kids to be introduced to Mace’s vehicle in an intimate fashion, and it’s one of the ways that we learn more about our favorite Star Wars characters. But most importantly, this is a great vehicle and we’re happy to see it manufactured. It may have succeeded better as an exclusive however.