General Grievous’ Starfighter - TAC - Vehicles

General Grievous’ Belbullab-22 starfighter has a sleek design reminiscent of the cyborg general himself. The fighter has a lightspeed engine that makes it capable of achieving superluminal velocities without using an external docking ring. Side-mounted cannons provide effective firepower during space battles. Obi-Wan Kenobi “borrows” Grievous’ fighter to escape from Utapau after his final encounter with the leader of the droid armies.

The 2005 Revenge Of The Sith line was loaded with some amazing products, but Hasbro could really only produce the tip of the iceberg within that year as planning time was limited and not all of the reference materials were accessible to make all of the products they might have made. Thankfully, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith marked the end of an era really, and that allowed Hasbro to dedicate 2006 and the years onward to the entire Star Wars saga. Plus, they were able to go back into recent history and finish making products that they never got to in the Revenge Of The Sith line. One good example was General Grievous' Starfighter, a long-awaited release that many collectors were eager to see realized for the mid size vehicle assortment since it made its appearance in Episode III. Hasbro made it a priority for the 30 (77-07) line, a perfect time to celebrate everything Star Wars from A New Hope to Revenge Of The Sith. With beautiful packaging and a well made product to accompany it, General Grievous' Starfighter was a highlight of 2007, and perhaps the Star Wars line in general.

Although General Grievous' Starfighter didn’t come with a ton of features, there were enough added in it to make it interesting. The standard opening cockpit was designed in an extra roomy manner to allow for various 3.75” General Grievous action figures to fit inside of it. 2005’s ROTS General Grievous (1 of 4) Sneak Preview as well as and 2006’s TSC General Grievous (SAGA 030) (which it a repaint of the original ROTS Sneak Preview figure) fit inside of it beautifully. Also, 2005’s ROTS General Grievous (III 9) figure fits charmingly well inside of it too. (A slight repaint of it is also part of the Saga Legends line too.) Hasbro thought ahead here and made sure that the existing General Grievous action figures would interact well with the character’s vehicle. It seems like a simple thing, but often pilots do not fit inside of their respective cockpits. It can be a very frustrating thing. What’s more, the console inside of the cockpit is removable to allow you even more room to situate the figure perfectly. What more could you possible want to see in a 3.75” vehicle’s cockpit? We couldn’t be happier here.

General Grievous' Starfighter has other features too. The vehicle has a removable underside cannon and well as two hidden launchers on the side of the vehicle that fire projectiles. Additionally, the rear vector fin rotates and offers the vehicle balance and different angles. These are small features and maybe they’re not so significant. But they do offer play value and help the vehicle look great in a landed position. The ship looks a tad small in scale, but it nonetheless looks great next to the 3.75” action figures you pose with it. So we’re not going to go on a tirade about the vehicle being too small. We don’t see it as such. Many collectors will probably choose an Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure to place inside of this vehicle’s cockpit anyway. We didn’t see anyone pilot it in the film, including General Grievous. But we have to assume that Obi-Wan piloted it to leave Utapau after his battle with him. Overall, we’re quite pleased with General Grievous’ Starfighter. This Belbullab-22 starfighter has been on wish lists for a while now. It’s nice to see Hasbro produce something collectors want.