Speeder Bike With Castas - TCW [SOTDS] - Deluxe

Castas pilots a speeder bike to hunt down his prey. The speeder bike is fast and lightweight, a suitable vehicle for hunters to chase anyone fleeing from capture. Bounty hunters like Castas prefer these bikes for their front-mounted blasters and hidden side blasters.

Hasbro has reinvigorated the so-called “Deluxe” line by creating new packaging, upgrading the articulation of the pack-in figures and giving us all-new sculpts. In fact, this line is already being called no less than four new names as they begin to hit shelves in July 2011. Class I (apparently the official designation of this line now), Rapid Strike and the other unofficial "Mini-Rigs" names can all be used interchangeably to describe this popular line. Collectors of The Clone Wars line have a lot to look forward to because the new sets are already foreshadowing the direction Hasbro is taking this line. There are some episode-specific sets in the first wave, but many can be referred to as those “just off screen” miniature vehicles that are created to satisfy the need for a small vehicle assortment to accompany the basic figure line. What’s nice here however is that the miniature vehicles come with their own action figures. The line is getting richer and richer as they introduce all-new miniature vehicles into this assortment, and what's even better is the inclusion of exclusive and well-articulated action figures to accompmany the vehicles. Take for instance the Speeder Bike With Castas set. Not only do we get a pretty awesome take on a speeder bike, collectors can now add the magnificent Klatooinian Castas to their bounty hunter collection, something that most of us want to build up like there is no tomorrow. These characters are awesome and Hasbro is doing a magnificent job on all of them. He is designed so well and has a hulking presence as well as a very large stature. More on him in a moment.

The new and improved slim line look of the Deluxe/Class I line packaging is quite impressive. There is a lot less empty space inside the packaging when compared to the trapezoidal styled shape of the previous design and Hasbro seems to be under some pressure to make all the necessary parts fit inside beautifully and seamlessly, which they do effortlessly by the way. The Galactic Battle Game card has its own holding place but in all of our samples it has become damaged from the tight plastic band holding it in place. (Come on Hasbro, it’s only cardboard!) But in all honesty, we're quite taken with the slimline appearance of the packaging now. To be honest, the Deluxe/Class I line is all about the toy inside and the Speeder Bike With Castas set should really thrill lovers of The Clone Wars and bounty hunters in general! Castas is so cool! He comes with an impressive 20 points of articulation including the premium ball-jointed hips and he has awesome full range ball-jointed shoulders and elbows. He can sit atop his speeder without issue thanks to a “third” kickstand. It locks the center of gravity into place and it is needed since Castas is so heavy. We didn't notice this feature immediately and was thoroughly impressed once we discovered it. It appears small fo rthis extra large bounty hunter, yet Castas interacts with it perfectly. Hopefully Hasbro will keep this up with future releases. We're also impressed that Hasbro has been excellent at keeping unique figures that are included in these Deluxe/Class I sets pretty much exclusive to them. We believe they are going to make sure this is the case for Castas. They’ll sell more if they do this.

Castas’ Speeder Bike is nicely designed with “flame-inspired” patterns. From what we can gather, it doesn't seem to match exactly to the ones we saw in the television, but it's likely something we missed. The speeder is primarily a light shade of gray, but the colorful patterns that run along its sides really makes this vehicle pop. The handlebars rotate and you can make Castas hold them like he is steering the vehicle, a very nice feature we might add. Castas "pilots" the speeder bike very nicely by the way. It is so annoying to wrestle a figure into making it hold on to the steering wheel of the vehicle it pilots. This is not an issue here at all! On the front of the Speeder Bike is Aurebesh and translates to “DOG FACED BOUNTY HUNTER” which is a perfect way to describe Castas since Klatooinians all seem to be reminiscent of any jowly household canine. And it kind of reinforces his notorious lifestyle getting the job done for whatever the asking price is. Castas also comes with a blaster pistol and it can be placed in his functioning holster while he is riding around terrorizing the galaxy. This Deluxe set should serve as a great jumping off point for the revitalized line. If Hasbro can keep the all-new sets coming, this line should prosper. Unfortunately, the retail for this line has increased. The only way you can probably swallow this is if Hasbro continues to give us all new sets. We think that this is the way it’s going to be. Speeder Bike With Castas is perfect if you love The Clone Wars. We think it’s the best of the four new sets in the wave! Hopefully they'll be strong sellers. You really do get a great value here.