darthskellington
Dark Lord of the Typos
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
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