Darth Vader’s Sith Starfighter - TAC - Vehicles

Painted to disappear against the black background of deep space, the color of this starfighter reflected the rage and grief felt by the young Darth Vader at the destruction of the Jedi. As the reputation of Darth Vader became known across the galaxy, the black silhouette of this ship above a planet came to mean one thing – the Emperor's hand is here to squeeze the life out of those who would resist him.

Each year Hasbro must constantly be thinking how they can make something old new again. And thanks to the wonderful tooling they’ve produced throughout the years they’re able to do exactly that. In any given Star Wars toy line, collectors have to accept the fact that Hasbro must reuse existing tooling to help save on production costs. But when they tweak things previously tooled and repaint them to be something completely different, the final results are something longtime collectors can get behind. Take for instance 2007’s 30 (77-07) Darth Vader's Sith Starfighter vehicle. Sure, it may be based on the much older 2005’s ROTS Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter vehicle, but with a completely new paint job and decal sheet this new, it’s hard to even realize this fact. This ingenuity needs to happen more often. It’s the only way we can get Hasbro to bang out vehicles that they normally wouldn’t produce otherwise. But thanks to this existing tooling, we’re able to get vehicles that are deeply entrenched in the Expanded Universe. This couldn’t be more exciting for EU fans. What’s more, Darth Vader's Sith Starfighter is done so incredibly well that Original Trilogy purists will have difficulty shooing away their own interests in this very cool vehicle.

So, Darth Vader's Sith Starfighter is clearly based on 2005’s ROTS Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter vehicle, but imagine a dark, evil version of it. Although based on the interceptor from Dark Lord: The Rise Of Darth Vader, the very first appearance of Darth Vader's black Eta-2 Actis-class interceptor was first seen in Star Wars Galaxies: Rage of Wookiees. Hasbro did a fine job of recreating to eerie aura of this vehicle. Some of it is also a bit of a novelty. For example, would Darth Vader really go all out and add bright Imperial insignias on the ship’s body? That may not matter ultimately because the final product is quite impressive and will be coveted by all who collect midsize vehicles in Hasbro’s toy line. The 30 (77-07) line is proving to be a true celebration of 30 years of “Star Wars” and not necessarily one film. This may be the very best way to celebrate a three-decade old intellectual property and shows how clever Hasbro can be. Products like Darth Vader's Sith Starfighter engage those who may adore things that aren’t front and center in the films. And it draws movie fans because the toy prompts collectors to do research and then will produce interest in these Expanded Universe sources from which they’re based. It’s all good and they work in tandem with one another.

As far as the toy, it’s just as fun as other starfighter Hasbro has produced that utilizes this sculpt. There is an opening cockpit which welcomes 2007’s TAC Darth Vader (30 01) figure beautifully. The vehicle also has two firing missiles which launch from buttons on the back of the vehicle. A beautifully worked in lever launches the wings to deploy in flight mode and the detail that is underneath of these wings is simple gorgeous. The landing gear still doesn’t work as optimally as we’d like to see, but it’s there to give you options for landing mode. In an awesome “coincidence” Darth Vader's Sith Starfighter comes with a semi-functioning droid socket and a sorry interpretation of R4-K5. But the great news as this can be removed and you can use the incredible 2007 TSC R4-K5 (Darth Vader’s Astromech Droid) (SAGA 066) figure in its place. (The droid doesn’t fit into the socket, but you can make the figure interact with the vehicle wonderfully in other ways.) The organization, the interactivity and the overall beauty of the 30 (77-07) is completely geared for longtime collectors. And frankly, nothing Hasbro has done beforehand comes close to this magnificence. Darth Vader's Sith Starfighter is a must-have vehicle for us, hopefully it'll be a must-have vehicle for you, too.