ARC-170 Fighter - TCW [R] - Vehicles

The ARC-170 (Aggressive ReConnaisance) was originally designed and developed by the Republic for assault and recon operations against Separatist forces. Built for stamina rather than speed, this heavy combat fighter is armed with laser cannons and proton torpedoes, and can muscle its way deep into enemy territory. But with the rise of Palpatine's new Galactic Empire, the fighter is modified to serve a new and more sinister cause. This particular ARC-170 has been customized by its Imperial Shadow Squadron crew, who are hunting down pro-Republic remnants after the end of the Clone Wars.

Price does ultimately affect which collectibles toy collectors decide to purchase for their collections. And while it’s rare that we complain about the retail cost of a Star Wars item, one in particular almost brings us to rage. And before we tell you why it angers us, we do want to make it clear that price almost always never influences the score we give an item in our reviews. But we are making an exception here because we are trying to make a point that there is no valid reason the 2009 TCW [R] ARC-170 Fighter should have been selling at over $70 after tax. This egregious act (courtesy of Hasbro) scalped collectors in ways that collectors never felt until this release. And we began sweating bullets at wondering if this was the future of the vehicle line. Hasbro created a deluxe-sized vehicle assortment, and it is evident that they wanted to make up for tooling costs on the awesome Y-wing Bomber. But instead of introducing these vehicles at an acceptable $30-$45 range, they recommend that stores try to get anywhere from $69.99-$79.99 each for them. This price hike was particularly disconcerting to long-term collectors because only four years ago the Revenge Of The Sith ARC-170 Fighter, which was a brand new sculpt at the time, retailed for $29.99.

So how can Hasbro possibly justify this insane jump in cost? We bet economists would not even be able to explain this price hike, so we're certainly not going to try to make sense of it. Hopefully, this is a rare situation and that Hasbro doesn't try to overcharge vehicles of this size again. And the attempt to gouge us didn’t work because the vehicle nearly rotted on shelves until they were put on clearance for as low as $15.00 in some stores. Interestingly, we haven’t heard of any other vehicles making it to this assortment since the release of this vehicle. And in all honesty, we think Hasbro has decided to stick a fork in this sub-line. Maybe they should, if they cannot find an affordable MSRP for these vehicles. (And we thought the Ecliptic Evader TIE Fighter was a rip-off, huh?) What makes this so tragic is that this vehicle had a very cool design and an even better paint job. The paint job was spectacular, and it just didn’t get the audience it deserved, thanks to the ridiculous price tag. It should have received more credit than it did. You may be interested to learn that although Hasbro decided to squeeze this vehicle into The Clone Wars line, the vehicle is sourced from Star Wars: Dark Times. Whether or not it comes to pass that this vehicle will make an appearance in the television series remains to be seen. There have been quite a few vehicles to date that Hasbro has decided to put under The Clone Wars branding when it should go in the mainline and we’re not entirely understanding their logic. But it would be our opinion only vehicles that appear in The Clone Wars film or television episodes should be called “The Clone Wars.”

While we are aggravated over Hasbro’s decision to overcharge us for this vehicle, we have to admit that a “shadow” version of the ARC-170 fighter is cool beyond words. It complements the Toys R Us exclusive Imperial V-wing Starfighter nicely, and the stealth they bring to the toy line is pretty awesome. In a universe where vehicles tend to be lightly and brightly colored, we love the darker deco the “shadow” ones have. Hasbro has given the ARC-170 Fighter a metallic gray paint job and it is highlighted with dark gray details and some silver ones as well. We love the canopy to the cockpit, as Hasbro has given it a “smoked glass” look. All of the pieces, including the projectiles and the bombs, also share this dark theme. Together they drive the point home that this vehicle will certainly reach its aim no matter what cost. Because Hasbro has designed vehicles in The Clone Wars line to fit in with the realistic figures, we have plenty of “shadow” pilots now to outfit this cool vehicle. With the pilot in the Imperial Pilot Legacy II Evolutions set, we now more than a few choices to help pad out Imperial "shadow" army. Overall, the ARC-170 Fighter is absolutely a great vehicle, but do whatever you can to pay as close to $30.00 for it (and less than $45). It’s not big enough to warrant paying that much more for it.