Since I didn’t grab anything new this week, I decided to take some pictures of my small collection of Black Series vehicles. This is just the collection so far, and while I wasn’t that into them at first, there’s a few on my list now that I want to complete a display.
Currently I have four of the available TIE fighters, and on my shelf display at home they’re lined up along with the two different destroyers I have (Imperial and First Order.) My favorite of these is probably the basic TIE. It’s a sturdy build with great colors. The First Order TIE, strangely, doesn’t have as much titanium in the build as most other vehicles in the series – it’s actually mostly plastic. The Inquisitor TIE is also a lot of fun, and it can fold its wings just like the real thing for a more compact look. Vader’s TIE is, as is appropriate, a big heavy beast. I can’t wait until the TIE Bomber eventually comes out (I don’t know if/when they’ll actually make one) As far as I know, the only TIEs I’m missing so far are the First Order Special Forces TIE from Force Awakens and the TIE Striker from Rogue One.
The Imperial Star Destroyer (left) actually has a play feature, which I’ve never seen on these collectible vehicles before. Pressing the middle engine at he back drops a miniature Tantive IV out of the lower bay, and you can pull it back up with another press of the button, capturing the iconic opening scenes of A New Hope when Vader’s Executor captures Leia’s consular ship. On the right we have the lean and mean First Order Star Destroyer. It lacks the crossguard design at the tip, mimicking Kylo Ren’s lightsaber, so it isn’t the Finalizer we see at the opening of Force Awakens. Still, it’s imposing just like the classic Imperial destroyer. I don’t like the huge screw posts sticking out of the bottom, but it’s otherwise a good-looking ship model.
These X-Wings came in a four-pack of black series vehicles along with the basic Imperial TIE and the Millennium Falcon. The wings don’t stay open or shut – really, that’s my only nitpick, that they can’t stay in attack or flight positions. Call it standby, or wings slightly ajar position? Anyway, it was a surprise to get Biggs Darklighter’s X-Wing instead of Luke Skywalkers’. Some variety never hurts. Identical except for the paint job and wing designs, Poe Dameron’s upgraded X-Wing from Force Awakens also looks very good. Both feature opening cockpits and landing gear if you don’t want to use the stands. These are tucked away in my display, not front and center, but I do enjoy grabbing them and playing with them while I read or write.
The Falcon! This model has a moving radar dish (the classic one, before Lando broke it off) and moving gun wells at the top and bottom of the ship. It’s sturdy and has a good weight, and the paint looks great with one minor nitpick – the paint. The engines lighting is painted almost too blue. It needs a little white to make it more movie accurate. Also, for such a grimy and used, weathered ship, it looks too clean. But still, overall pretty good.
Last but not least, the ship of two of my favorite characters – Slave One in both Jango and Boba Fett’s paint schemes. The Jango variant is one of the best vehicles I’ve ever seen in this scale. The colors really pop, especially the yellow details against the navy blue sections. Boba’s also looks great, especially since it doesn’t fall into the common misstep of making his ship too dark a shade of green. This one is just right. Both feature clear cockpits and a micro Mandalorian pilot as well as wings that shift for landing and takeoff and gun turrets to match. Neither pilot is painted but that’s a small gripe. My only issue with either of these beyond that is that the wings on my Jango variant seem slightly bowed downward.
I give troopers a ton of attention here so I wanted to show some love for the vehicles too. The ships of Star Wars are so iconic and works of art in their own right. I’m a big fan with a small collection of these but I hope the line keeps going strong so I can pick up some more for the fleet.
If you enjoyed this and enjoy Star Wars, consider subscribing to the Empire’s Elite! I put together weekly mixes of news, head canon and speculation, and toy reviews. You might even find a theory or two, but no crappy Supreme Leader Snoke theories since that’s been done to death. Thanks for reading!
-David
TheEmpiresElite.com 