Imperial TIE Bomber - SW [SOTDS] - Vehicles (Exclusive)

The TIE Bomber is a destructive workhorse, capable of carrying various payloads including concussion missiles and proton bombs. Like its relative, the TIE fighter, the TIE bomber has a pair of solar array wings. Between those wings are twin cylinders; one is the cockpit, and the second is the weapons bay. What it lacks in speed, it makes up for in precision targeting that eliminates the intended objective with little or no collateral damage.

One thing that is for sure is that Star Wars is forever, but so also is its evolvement. Collecting changes each year and with it comes some new and exciting things. While some criticize that Hasbro should collect ideas for upgrading vehicles and make one massive improvement all at once in one fell swoop, this just isn’t feasible when the brainstorms come well after the second, third and perhaps even the fourth releases of these products. While vehicles like the Imperial TIE Bomber bring a smile to collectors every time we see them on the shelves, it brings a bigger smile when they Hasbro makes them better. Much can be said about the latest Imperial TIE Bomber release which for the third time becomes a Walmart exclusive but this time a member of the “Shadow Of The Dark Side” line look. Instead of just throwing the same old vehicle in a new box, Hasbro made strides to make this vehicle definitive. We think they succeeded. It’s certainly more than welcomed by us that Hasbro even just rereleased the thing, but it’s “gravy” when it’s made better. Although it has sustained a price hike and the pack-in pilot has been omitted, this is still a worthwhile purchase and one we’re thrilled we made. (We have no issues paying more for better quality and we don’t really want another one of the Imperial TIE Pilots because they aren’t definitive to us.) The significantly retooled Imperial TIE Bomber is now the definitive take of the vehicle and we are thrilled that Hasbro has updated many of its features to make it a quality toy. There is no doubt that from the outside the Imperial TIE Bomber looks an awful lot like the version we received in 2002 and a year later in 2003. But once you sit down and digest the enhancements we bet that you won’t be able to come to any other conclusion than this is a must-have vehicle.

Most of the upgrading has occurred in the cockpit but there have been enhancements made elsewhere too. The bay that holds the bombs now has the capacity to hold six of them. This is double to what the older versions could store. There is also now a sliding hatch that can close once all of the bombs are loaded. Oh, and those bombs? Instead of them being clear with bright orange centers, those centers are now a baby blue and look a whole world better in our opinion. The bombs are activated by turning a rotation device (that is actually part of the ships bombing hull) and with each turn a bomb falls to the surface below. There is also a projectile in the bomber half of the vehicle that is activated by a large square button on top of the ship. And because Hasbro designed this button so well, it truly looks like a natural part of the vehicle. The cockpit is a dream come true for us because it can now [barely} swivel and can function like an ejector seta which is something we love about the retooled Imperial TIE Fighter and TIE Interceptor from the Legacy Collection. It really works to the Imperial TIE Bomber’s advantage as well! While the ship comes with no pilot to navigate it, we actually don’t care. There has been more than ample opportunity to get the Imperial Pilot Legacy (Series II) Walmart exclusive for a song. In fact, many people where able to score the Evolutions set for $4.50. Most of us should have more than enough Imperial pilots in our collections at this point. Besides, we’re waiting for Hasbro to perfect an Imperial pilot sculpt. The ones we have now still have a ways to go before becoming perfect. So we suggest let go of wanting another pilot because we still need Hasbro to give us a definitive one.

The vehicle retails just under $39. In the recent wake of all things ridiculously expensive in 2009 and 2009, this is almost a fair price if you look at inflation alone. (We are not proponents of price increases. Let us please be clear.) But we think that this vehicle could have been given an inordinate price tag and we’re glad that we can get this for under $40. Whether we’re victims of getting gouged in the wallet one too many times, we’re not sure, but this isn’t an unfair price. Since the mid size vehicle assortment is averaging around $25 each, it’s not the end of the world that a [slightly] larger vehicle with enhanced features is about $15 more. (The TIE Interceptor is smaller than the Imperial TIE Bomber and Toys R Us tried to get $49.99 for it. It’s all about perspective.) But with a simple but nice paint job and a plethora of updated features, we are extremely happy to add this vehicle to our collections. Would it have been generous for Hasbro to throw in a pilot? Absolutely! But it certainly wasn’t a requirement as far as we’re concerned. We would have much rather see Hasbro release this product in The Vintage Collection instead. It would have been amazing to get this Original Trilogy vehicle in a vintage-styled box for the very first time. That is where we think Hasbro is misguided. They are not focusing enough products (and exclusives in particular) into The Vintage Collection format. We believe that in and of itself would have made the Imperial TIE Bomber a definite purchase for many. But perhaps they need to hear us whine for things like this more from us. But despite how this version of the vehicle gets packaged, definitely purchase the Imperial TIE Bomber. It’s the version you always wanted! Trust us on this.