Tycho Celchu (A-wing Pilot) - TAC - Basic (30 44)

Tycho has a personal interest in defeating the Empire: he lost his family when the first Death Star destroyed the planet Alderaan. A member of Rogue Squadron, Tycho draws off Imperial fighters during the Battle of Endor, so that the Rebels can attack the second Death Star.

It’s really pretty cool when an Expanded Universe character gets “retconned” into the films, isn’t it? It does two things. First, it makes Expanded Universe lovers very happy and second, it creates the possibility for movie-only fans to learn more about those background characters that blow by the frame in seconds. Such is true for Tycho Celchu (A-wing Pilot) who is not only a modern update to the vintage A-wing Pilot action figure from 1985, but he is also an Expanded Universe character who has “always” been in Return Of The Jedi from the beginning. (Well, not really, but that’s the magic of “retconning”.) (Editor’s Note: Hasbro has also released an A-wing Pilot in the 2008 TLC Walmart exclusive Green Leader’s A-wing Fighter set as well as one in the 2009 LC Rebel Pilot Legacy (Series III) Walmart exclusive Evolutions set. Both of these figures more accurately reflect the modern update to the A-wing Pilot because of their helmet design.) He got his start in Star Wars: X-wing Rogue Squadron and has since been backwardly incorporated into Episode VI. And even though Hasbro styled him more after his Expanded Universe look (with the bright blond hair), his skull cap and helmet cover it up quite well so it shouldn’t really be that much of a distraction.

But as far as collectors are concerned, it’s all about how well Hasbro made the action figure and let us tell right from the get go, this is one impressive action figure. Tycho Celchu has diversity, playability, artistic appeal and phenomenal articulation that should make any vehicle and pilot lover extremely thrilled to be a Star Wars collector. Loaded with 14 points of articulation, Tycho Celchu is a dream to own. Not only does he have awesome articulation, he has some “weight” to him as well as a flawless center of gravity. This makes positioning him in any display easy and he looks good no matter how you pose him. As far as his versatility is concerned, you can choose to put his skull cap or his helmet on his head. Oh, and that helmet? Tycho Celchu’s helmet is one of the best painted we have seen yet in the modern Hasbro line. It is simply amazing how much detail they are able to get onto these small-scaled helmets. His uniform also is painted well and his flight straps are a separate piece that you attach via plugs in his body. You may question why Hasbro molded a separate piece here, but trust us, it looks spectacular. A little known variation exists for this figure on both the figure itself and well as its packaging. Hasbro moved the picture of Tycho Celchu to the right a bit more so his name could be read more easily. And on the figure he can be found with both a cloudier (first issue) or much clearer (second issue) helmet visor. (Our photo gallery shows the cleaner, updated and sadly rarer version.)

It is quite a lot to digest just how far Hasbro has come with their pilot figures. Changes for the better started happening around the 2004 mark. But a new excellence has been achieved with this A-wing Pilot figure. This is certainly the template to use if you’re going to be issuing any more pilot action figures, so it’s very likely we’ll see this body revised soon. As part of a Return Of The Jedi focused wave of figures in the 30 (77-07) line, Tycho Celchu (A-wing Pilot) ranks high for us as one of the best in the wave, but he’s got Romba & Graak competing with him and we’re suckers for Ewoks. But the good news is that he ranks barely below them as far as we’re concerned. The 30 (77-07) line is certainly one of Hasbro’s finest collection of figures to date. They have created a lineup that has something in it for everyone and the precise sculpts to the near flawless paint jobs they have given the action figures that make it up are something all of us are thankful to have received. Tycho Celchu faithfully replicates the generic A-wing Pilot uniform and yet still has the capacity to appeal to Expanded Universe collectors due to his rich back story. We have a lot to be thankful for in the 30 (77-07) line for sure!