First Order TIE Fighter Pilot Elite - TFA - Armor Up (Space)

The skilled pilots of the First Order launch into combat aboard advanced fighter craft, hunting down enemy vessels and protecting space around installations and warships.

When we wrote our review on the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot from the Build A Weapon line five days after Force Friday we wrote “Is anyone else out there seeing the trends of The Force Awakens as strongly mirroring Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope? We’re certainly seeing it. While it’s a stretch to think that Episode VII will be “A New Hope 2.0” it’s hard to deny the strong similarities that the stuff revealed so far share with each other.” Well, are we soothsayers or what? Despite your own opinions of the The Force Awakens film, Hasbro has been banging out, albeit inconsistently, many products to accompany and support Episode VII. Some are film inspired, but many others are just Hasbro’s own concepts. But when it comes to the Armor Up line, technically ALL of the characters are Hasbro concepts because none of these outfits appeared in the film (with the Armor Up costume accessory of course). This line does has some charm and there is no doubt that kids are the primary targeted audience for this line. The line seems to sell briskly, so dare we comment that it looks to be a hit already? It even has corresponding store exclusive sets too!

Hasbro’s First Order TIE Fighter Pilot Elite Armor Up figure is one of many army-building figures in The Force Awakens toy line. And it’s our belief those interested in purchasing these figures will undoubtedly begin picking up multiples to create a First Order of their own in 3.75” scale. Here we get the red striped helmet version of these modern Star Wars characters. The First Order TIE Fighter Pilot Elite is another excellently sculpted figure. After all, it borrows the same sculpt from 2015’s TFA First Order TIE Fighter Pilot (Space) Build A Weapon figure. The sculpt is borderline ingenious. It’s the articulation that sucks. For the Armor Up version, you get a nicely sculpted figure with minimal articulation and a borderline obnoxious Armor Up accessory which looks like some deviant costume jewelry than anything else. And despite our high criticism of these pieces; i.e. their cost, their necessity; we concede that they do possess a level of charm that we just can’t perfectly pinpoint yet. Being a mostly solid black figure, it has an advantage over most others because Hasbro seems to do well with crafting figures in the black plastic medium. You really don’t have to worry about paint operations here.

Instead, they used the simplicity of the black color to concentrate more on the sculpt, which in our opinion, succeeds tremendously. You can really see the details etched into the helmet, the wrinkling in the outfit and the smoothness in the boots and gloves. For a simple action figure, the detail is monumental. What’s more, the figure can pilot the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter Elite or even as the co-pilot if you so wish. If you’re someone who likes to pose your figures however, the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot Elite really is limited in what it can do. Its extra accessory is really the focus of play value here. Swivel shoulders and swivel hips essentially render the figure “useless” when trying to attain some interesting action-styled poses. But that’s the fate of The Force Awakens toy line. It’s all about making budget action figures now. But as we’ve said for a while now, if Hasbro is going to make action figures with five points of articulation then this is the way to do it. Just do your best to remember that the Armor Up line isn’t for you. Yes, they’re silly, but Hasbro is capable of worse things.... like not focusing on the adult collector-focused Walmart exclusive 3.75” action figure line. Sigh.