Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser/Playset (Electronic) - EI - Vehicles

During the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo, the Royal Starship is the only escape for Queen Amidala and her Jedi protectors from the occupied palace at Theed. Under a relentless attack from the Trade Federation forces, this J-type 327 Nubian vessel boosts its powerful shields but still sustains heavy damage from the aggressive assault. The crew's only hope is to reach Coruscant and the Galactic Senate – the fate of Naboo depends on it!

Hasbro decided to forsake logic and produce the largest vehicle to date in the Star Wars toy line for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Now, we’re criticizing them for producing the Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser/Playset. No, we’re not doing that at all. We’re surprised that they would take on a new vehicle and make it as large as they did. The Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser/Playset is so sizable that they added a forward slash in the product’s name to describe it as both a vehicle and a playset. In short, it’s gorgeous and the highlight of the Episode I toy line. Over three feet wide, the Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser/Playset is the longest vehicle in the Star Wars toy line now. And it has so many levels of detail and play that collectors of all ages will find it one of the most engaging toys of the modern Star Wars toy line. The outside paint job isn’t vac-metallized, and that’s a disappointment. But Hasbro managed to find a silver (and sparkly) paint that gives it as close to a chrome finish as possible. No, it’s not the same thing, and it doesn’t have a mirrored finish, but it’s a great-looking toy, and we’re confident that longtime Star Wars collectors will become overwhelmed with how much it offers in terms of play value, screen-accuracy, and stupendous detail. Complete with a couple of pack-ins for play and cost value, the Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser/Playset offers a litany of interactions that we haven’t seen Star Wars toys offer to collectors until now.

The Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser/Playset comes with many, many play features. It’s electronic, so batteries breathe incredible life into this vehicle/playset. The packaging boasts there are three vehicles in one here, but technically there are only two. Included are the main Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser vehicle, which converts into a stunning playset. And they added into the nose of the vehicle a yellow Gungan-like submarine, which has room for both a pilot and an astromech droid. But those are the only two vehicles here. Hasbro may be referring to the mis-scaled vulture droid as the third vehicle. But that’s technically a droid, and therefore a Star Wars character. Accompanying the vulture droid is a character Hasbro called Red R Unit. But this character’s name is R2-R9. It comes with a droid power harness, but the figure doesn’t fit into it all that well. The electronic features of the Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser include T-14 hyperdrive "burn out" sounds. Two "armored" panels blast off under "enemy fire" which you create via a button. When you remove the vehicle’s panels, it exposes a gigantic playset. There is an elevator which moves figures to three different levels. The vulture droid snaps on to the included infra-red power blaster. And this “gun” allows you to "blast" off panels, sets off alarms, ignite lights and activate explosion sounds. There is also a loading ramp. And Hasbro couldn’t resist including a projectile function here. The escape vessel fires “proton torpedo” for extra play value.

Lastly, they’ve included the Queen’s chair, although there isn’t a good place to place it necessarily. It’s almost as if they forgot to plan where this chair should go inside of the playset. It’s a shame it doesn’t have a designated spot inside of the vessel. Overall the Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser comes with 15 distinct movie sounds, and a wealth of various colored lights inside and outside. This is an inordinate amount of electronics, and we should count ourselves fortunate for getting a Star Wars toy with all of this glitz and glamour. The Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser sits atop three legs that snap into the bottom of the vehicle. They provide great resistance for the vehicle and they keep it at the right height off the ground for the ramp and other features. If we’re honest, we’re not crazy about the design of all of the removable panels here. We love the access to what’s underneath of them, but unfortunately, they don’t lie flatly on the outside of the vehicle. Some of the panels don’t snap closed all the way, and it gives the Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser a less-than-smooth appearance aesthetically. It’s not a huge deterrent, but it is a disappointment here. The decal sheet included is hige, and it's a pain to apply them, but they do add much-needed color. The Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser/Playset is set with a $99.99 MSRP, and we feel it’s worth every dollar.

Editor's Note: The Photo Gallery is incomplete. It will be updated at a later date.