Bespin Cloud Car - SW [SOTDS] - Vehicles

Cloud cars maintain order in the skies of Cloud City above Bespin. These atmospheric vehicles have twin pods and are armed with laser cannons. Using ion and repulsorlift engines, cloud cars can achieve impressive speed as they cruise above the mining colony. When the Millennium Falcon arrives at the floating city to escape Imperial pursuers, two cloud cars immediately flank the ship and keep a close watch on it until permission is granted for the Falcon to land.

Well, the surprise vehicle of 2010 is indeed the Bespin Cloud Car. This is certainly a vehicle that none of us expected especially since Hasbro was the one telling us this was not a viable candidate. How many times have we heard Hasbro spew year after year that this vehicle is not engaging enough and that the vintage version could still be found less on eBay than what Hasbro could ever sell it for in the main Star Wars toy line? We heard this way too many times. But for some strange reason (and one that thrills us no less), Hasbro did a 180 with their original decision and decided to attack the Bespin Cloud Car from the ground up. And we are ecstatic they did. For the Bespin Cloud Car may indeed not be the most engaging vehicle, but it still remains a symbol of The Empire Strikes Back and perhaps most importantly, a symbol of the vintage toy line. The 1980 Twin Pod Cloud Car was one of the first vehicles made for The Empire Strikes Back and its pilot didn’t show up until two years later. (In 2010, we get both the pilot AND the vehicle in all-new status at the same time!) That didn’t stop it from selling like mad years ago however and it still remains one of the most favorite vehicles in the classic line. Hasbro made the new 2010 vehicle a whole lot better and while we don’t expect to see it carried forward into every future toy line as the line refreshes, it is nonetheless a worthy upgrade and we couldn’t be happier that it has finally received the upgrade/update it desperately needed. With a plethora of all-new features and a beautifully perfect design, the Bespin Cloud Car is a vehicle we hope makes it into your collections because this is another example of Hasbro at their finest. It’s loaded and has impressive tooling and an even better deco.

Perhaps the neatest thing about the new Bespin Cloud Car is the inclusion of a new action feature. While we are not huge fans of action features, this one has been included so discreetly and yet provides a whole new avenue of believable play-ability. The two pods slide inward toward each other which in turn forces out side guns that fire projectiles. This wasn’t seen in the film, but it is certainly believable as something that was just off screen enough to be missed. It is a very cleverly incorporated enhancement to a vehicle that would otherwise be a little too amoebic in nature. This rather previously tame vehicle now has a whole new bad attitude and we absolutely love it. The vehicle is primarily orange (just like the vintage vehicle) but now has darker burnt orange panels symmetrically and asymmetrically placed throughout the vehicle. The contrasting traits of the two orange colors are beautiful and this alone brings the vehicle to a whole new level aesthetically. You will also find some dark gray on the two canopies, the midsection and the side guns. This is one beautifully painted vehicle and of course the orange color is very striking and catches your eye immediately. Despite this vehicle’s new “articulation," it is tight and keeps its current state very well and human action is required to transform it into another mode. The Bespin Cloud Car has new landing gear which also looks pretty cool and keeps the vehicle standing up straight while keeping it in a landing position. The engineering of this vehicle is quite impressive and Hasbro really made sure all bases were covered and that a quality vehicle was constructed.

The interiors of both cockpits are also very cool. While they really didn’t need the level of detail they received, we are sincerely thrilled that Hasbro gave it the attention that they did. There isn’t a steering column directly in front of where the pilot would sit, but there are certainly more than enough controls to the left and the right of the seat that would lead anyone to believe that the ships movement is controlled from those points. The Vintage Collection’s (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot (VC11) fits perfectly inside. You can obviously put the same figure in both sides, but you may want to rather include 2004’s OTC Cloud Car Pilot instead for a little bit more variety. It is our wish however that Hasbro include the 2010 TVC (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot (VC11) figure with a new head in a Bespin themed Battle Packs set instead. They could also include a few more Cloud City Wing Guard figures as well. Since running changes are no more and have gone the way of the dinosaur as far as Hasbro is concerned, we still need army builders and we feel this would be the best method to do this. Anyway, two of the same figures in the Bespin Cloud Car won’t be that big of a deal because it was even hard to see who was piloting these vehicles in the film. Hey, maybe having a mustache is a prerequisite for this flying gig. (We are kidding here!) One thing is for sure however, the Bespin Cloud Car couldn’t have been released at a more perfect time. We are so thrilled with all of the love The Empire Strikes Back is getting in the Hasbro toy line in 2010. And it is so awesome to get another vintage vehicle updated with an all-new sculpt again!