2010 Hasbro Vehicle reviews

[darthskellington]

Towards the end of November I picked up a several of the recent Hasbro vehicles. I opened them at the time, but am just now finding the time to review them. Here are some photos and comments on the new AAT, AT-AP, Cloud Car, Hyena Bomber, Swamp Speeder, and Republic Fighter Tank.

 

[darthskellington]

Starting off with the repaints, we have the Trade Federation Tank, or AAT. This fifth version of the tank comes in brown and tan, reusing one of the Separatist paint schemes used on the blue and gray tanks. It fires four missiles, and can hold two figures. The inside of the cockpit features a flip panel revealing a battle damaged droid. However, like the blue tanks, it no longer has a spring loaded blast feature that blows off the hull armor. Overall, same great toy, new paint job, but no new features.

 

[darthskellington]

Next up is the Republic Fighter Tank. The previous version featured the popular red and cream colors seen on many Republic vehicles. This time, they’ve gone blue. No other changes. The tank has room for two pilots towards the front, and one gunner or commander up top. It also has pegs so Clones can ride on the outside. The two cannons on either side can be fired like missiles. There are also two access hatches on either side revealing missiles and machinery. Wheels on the bottom simulate the effect of hovering.

 

[darthskellington]

The new AT-AP, or All Terrain Attack Pod, features a green paint scheme for its third outing. This scheme will look good in Kashyyyk dioramas. It looks like Hasbro chose this color to tie in with Commander Gree, Clone Trooper Draa, and the other green colored clones out there on shelves. The vehicle has three poseable legs, allowing it to stand on either two or all three, The upper cannon rotates and fires a missile. The chin gun rotates. The side panels on either side open up to allow two pilots to sit inside. Overall, it’s a pretty fun toy, but is too small in scale, much like the original AT-ST.

Incidently, the Aurebesh text on the side says "Liberty."

 

[darthskellington]

Next we have the Republic Swamp Speeder, seen briefly on Kashyyyk in Revenge of the Sith. This one of the first new movie based vehicles we’ve seen in a while. It’s pretty accurately sculpted, but what you see is what you get, no extra hidden features. The gun turrets on the front pivot and fire as missiles. The seats have harnesses to keep the Clone pilots from flying out of their seats. There are numerous pegs to allow more figures to tag along for a ride. There are also wheels on the bottom to simulate low flight.

This is a vehicle that I was really looking forward to. I was a little disappointed it didn’t offer more, but in that respect, it’s a lot like a vintage toy in that it has all the features it’s supposed to have, combined with a good sculpt.

 

[darthskellington]

Next we have the new Bespin Cloud Car, making it’s long overdue appearance in the modern figure line. The vintage Twin Pod Cloud Car had two opening cockpits, and two retractable landing gear. This new Cloud Car has these features, plus firing missiles, engine hatches, hidden missile launchers, and separating pods.

Each pod has an opening engine hatch on the front hood, and a retractable cannon/landing gear on the bottom front. This is different from the vintage toy, which has full sized landing gear. There are missile launchers concealed in the middle engine. In addition, each pod slides inward toward the engine, revealing additional missile launchers.

The central engine splits down the middle, so that the Twin-Pod Cloud Car and be separated into two individual pods, each with two missile launchers. Overall, this new Cloud Car packs a lot of action for its size, which is slightly smaller than the original. Personally, I like the old Cloud Car better. This new one is pretty accurate in sculpt and scale though, and is a welcome addition to the modern vehicle line-up.

 

[darthskellington]

Last up is the new Hyena Droid Bomber. This is one of the coolest new toys they’ve put out. The Hyena is apparently a design predecessor to the TIE Bomber. It has a central droid pod and a secondary weapons pod. Like the Vulture Droid, it also transforms in to a walking droid form.

On the underside is a firing missile, that launches from a location near what is supposed to be the bomb drop. Extra missiles are attached to the wings/legs in the same location as on the Vulture Droid. In addition, there is a large bomb that can be released at the push of a button. A third button will allow the droid head to pop up from the main fuselage.

The Hyena Bomber is quite large, and holds its own against the recent larger Vulture Droid. They have basically the same features, with the Hyena’s addition of a bomb and extra leg articulation. It looks like this is the first in what will hopefully be a long line of cool new vehicles originating from the cartoon.

 

[wookiee_cookiee]

The cloud car is my fave! Good reviews, Skel!