So I opened some vehicles this week. Crumb Bomber - TRU Exclusive Gunship Overall, a nice change of pace as far as sculpt and features go. I prefer the original sculpt, but am glad to have something "new." The slightly resculpted the front "hallway" to accommodate the drop down doors. Interior is otherwise the same. The large doors that enclose the bay are nice...although technically inaccurate. The gunships seen in the cartoon will fully enclosed bays have 2 doors on each side.....one slides forward..the other back. Obviously that is not possible without completely redesigning the toy. The new flip-up rocket launchers on the engines are pretty neat...and have a surprising firing range. Kids will like this feature. This gunship no longer holds bombs on it's bay doors. It comes with spare missiles to fire, instead of a bomb assortment for the wings. No rappel lines were included....although if needed, one can easily be taken off another gunship....or you could use the lines that came with Rex and Anakin (?) cartoon figures. Paint job, although maroon and white, is unique to the ship The blues, greens, and reds do not exactly match other gunships. The maroon on this one has a decidedly rosy color to it. A nice difference, although definitely not consistent with other maroon/white vehicles. The Lucky Lekku gunship had very dark blood red/maroon coloring, while the original should be a tad lighter (mine is packed away right now). TRU Exclusive TIE Interceptor with cockpit update I'm sure everyone has a dozen TIE varieties by now. While this is touted as the latest cockpit update.....it's actually a complete resculpt of the entire ball section...exterior and interior. If you hold it up to recent Large-scale TIE fighters, you can see that it's not just an update to an existing mold. Much to my surprise, I have to admit that this is perhaps the definitive TIE cockpit. In addition to the fresh hull sculpt, the front chin guns are now accurate, and can be slid out to protrude like the movie models. (Although I'm not sure the interceptor actually had chin guns, since it used wingtip cannons). The cockpit hatch now opens with a hinge at the back, and opens very easily, but latches shut. It does still have the goofy peg or thumb tab sticking up to assist with opening, but it really isn't necessary. The interior has accurate stickers on the sides, and sculpted forward control panels and control yoke. The pilots seat can be manually removed (for some reason thought it ejected). The seat is apparently based off of artwork from the Darklighter storyline in Empire comics. It includes various details like ejection/maneuvering thrusters on the seat back and bottom, ad has a plastic c-shaped seatbelt-grip to hold the pilot to the seat. Overall, a very nice update. The wings still have tabs on the back edge so the interceptor cannot stand upright. This prevents kids from tripping and impaling themselves on the wing tips. I don't mind these, although I always remember standing my vintage Interceptor upright as a kid, creating a reactor core diorama, or a crazy throne/meditation chamber, or whatever else I could imagine. Corporate Alliance Tank Droid I think someone already reviewed this one. In short...it's awesome. The central tread really rolls. Two cannons that can be fired like missiles. Although the tank droid had no crew, the toy has a forward cockpit and a rear gunner station inside it....which are very cool addition and add great play value. This one is a must-purchase for anyone. Republic Fighter Tank I also like this one a lot. It has lots sculpting details (that are often missing on Clone Wars vehicles), giving it an almost-GI Joe-vehicle feel. 2 side compartment open for storage, and have engine and missile storage details sculpted inside. The top hatch opens to fit one figure either sitting inside, or standing looking out the hatch. The anti-personnel turret mounted at the top hatch also rotates 360 degrees, so you can face it backwards or any direction. Immediately in front of this hatch are two smaller hatches that flip up sideways, allowing two more clones to sit in the front of the vehicle and look out the windows. Not sure which is supposed to be the driver(s) and which is the gunner(s)...but cool nonetheless with lots of play value. The two cannons on either side can be maneuvered up or down and fire like missiles. The only drawback is that the side cannons mount on hex-pegs...presumably to keep them from sagging under weight. On mine one of the hex receptacles is not straight....so I have one cannon aimed slightly up (which is good), but the other is aimed somewhat down. I may take it apart and see if I can adjust this piece. A minor assembly flaw, but noticeable enough to bug me. Warren
