TIE Fighter Pilot - Mini Busts

It takes a dedicated warrior with unending loyalty to strap in behind the control yoke of a TIE fighter and pilot the fragile, speedy craft into battle. Imperial combat pilots are well trained to overcome the inherent design flaws of the TIE fighter, and turn it into a formidable and deadly vessel.

Gentle Giant Ltd. often sneakily squeezes in periodic variations to their Mini Busts line that are unbeknownst to the general public. This is sort of what happened to the TIE Fighter Pilot Mini Bust. An edition size of 4200 pieces was set for the TIE Fighter Pilot, but one-sixth of the one-sixth scale collectible was given a special paint job that set it apart from the remaining 3500 units. 700 pieces received special “ace stripes” on the front of the helmet denoting the character as Black Three from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The TIE Fighter Pilot [Black Three] Mini Bust also sported a silver base proving it is the “rare” variation. The remaining 3500 pieces came in standard black, perhaps meant to be a specific TIE Fighter Pilot, but is interpreted as a generic one instead. It’s hard to say which one is better, but as far as we’re concerned, we need them both because variants are a big aprt of what makes collecting Mini Busts fun. The TIE Fighter Pilot Mini Bust is a superb sculpt. While posed in a definite “off screen” moment with his hands tied behind his back, the TIE Fighter Pilot will fit right in at home in your collection. It’s so cool that Star Wars licensees across the board find this character a worthy candidate in so many scales. We’re glad he hasn’t lost any luster throughout the years either.

The TIE Fighter Pilot’s sculpt is significantly rivaled by its paint job. Hypothetically if Gentle Giant Ltd. has done nothing right in its long career, it would still be easy to state that they’ve nailed the deco on the TIE Fighter Mini Bust with excellence. No expense was spared to ensure his authenticity from the. Glossy black paint was used to recreate his plastoid helmet and chest box, while a dull flat black was used to adorn his body glove and give it the extra texture it needs. You may need time to inspect this piece to prove to yourself that it’s been sculpted in polystone because it clearly looks like mixed media was used to bring it to life. From the proper larger scale of the helmet, to the details etched in his body, the TIE Fighter Pilot is one of the premiere collectibles of this character produced to date. That says a lot because we are fans of movie accuracy. We tend to not prefer much of the artistic license Gentle Giant Ltd. has taken with many of their pieces. But this one we’ll let slide. Quite honestly, we may very well see TIE Fighter Pilots standing at attention somewhere in the background of the Star Wars films. It’s probably something we missed anyway.

The TIE Fighter Pilot is a character that Hasbro collectors have been waiting for a millennium for Hasbro to master. With each step they come closer and closer but there is no truly definitive TIE Fighter Pilot action figure (as of the release of this Mini Bust). However, if Hasbro followed closely in Gentle Giant’s footsteps, they would come extremely close to replicating this character with impressive accuracy and deliver unto collectors the greatest TIE Fighter Pilot action figure of all time. Apparently we will all have to wait a bit longer for that. With the regular edition TIE Fighter Pilot making up five-sixths of the edition size and the remaining “Black Three” making up the difference, it goes without saying that the all black version will be the easier piece to attain. But keep in mind that this is a highly collectible character. Any members of the Imperial army are. So we expect the TIE Fighter Pilot Mini Bust (either flavor) to become a hot commodity over time. Trust us when we tell you that it’s beautifully done. There are just some pieces you need to consider for your collection irrespective if you collect that line. This is one of them.