darthskellington
Dark Lord of the Typos
Collectible of the Day
Today’s collectible is the Mustafar Duel Battle Set from Hasbro’s Micro Vehicle line. Following Episodes I and II, the Micro Machines and Action Fleet lines were retired. While Action Fleet scaled vehicles enjoyed a brief revival in the Titanium series die-cast line, small-scale figures and playsets no longer had a home. For Revenge of the Sith, Hasbro briefly revived this concept in the Micro Vehicles line. This included carded packs consisting of 2 small vehicles (approximately the same size as X-Ray Fleets Micro Machines), and couple of small Action Fleet sized figurines. There were 8 packs that were sold primarily at Target. There were also 3 larger transforming playsets, depicting three large vehicles: a Turbo Tank, The Invisible Hand, and the Tantive IV Blockade Runner.
The Blockade Runner is seen here, in blue and white Senatorial colors. It comes with a small version of Palpatine’s shuttle, and small versions of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine. The large vehicle itself is a decent representation of the Tantive IV, but it sacrifices much accuracy for the play features, as seen around the upper gun turret and large hinge in front of the main bridge. Once open, it becomes the fiery lava world of Mustafar. The interior is designed for the small figurines to interact in. It includes a landing platform for Emperor Palpatines shuttle to land in; a spinning platform that Anakin and Obi-Wan can duel on; a catapult that can be used to launch the two dueling rivals into the air, “hovering” platforms, and a break-away platform. In addition, the playset comes with a tub of red Star Wars “Lava.” It is essentially the same slime or ooze that has been used in many previous toy lines, like He-Man, Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Aliens, to name a few. A black container with plunger (aptly named a lava extruder), attaches to the top of the playset and allows you to recreate a lava waterfall….er….lavafall. The platforms can even be detached and the figures can “surf” the lava down to the bottom. There is even a panel in the base that can be flipped over to reveal Anakin’s severed robotic arm.
Overall, I was a little disappointed with this playset, compared to some of its Micro Machines predecessors, but it did introduce a number of play features previously unseen in Star Wars toys. Combined with the oozing lava, it offers a lot of play value for kids. I’m looking forward to one day getting the other two sets, and seeing what they have hidden inside. For those who collect in the package, these sets all came in nice window packaging showing off the playset in vehicle form.
See more photos and discuss this collectible here.
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