Anakin Skywalker’s Starfighter - TAC - Vehicles

Anakin’s starfighter was destroyed during the Battle of Coruscant when he and Obi-Wan rescued Chancellor Palpatine from the Separatists. After Anakin has fallen to the dark side and become a Sith apprentice, he is sent by Palpatine to the planet Mustafar to eliminate the Separatist Council. With his own fighter gone, Anakin borrows another starfighter to make the journey to Mustafar where he will carry out his Master’s deadly orders.

After you crash-land your Jedi starfighter in the opening act of a Star Wars film, logic dictate that you’re going to need a new one for the rest of the film, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith for both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. After following General Grievous with kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine in tow to the Invisible Hand, both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker miraculously crash-land in the cargo bay of Grievous’ flagship and manage to escape relatively unscathed. Transpiring during the Battle of Coruscant, their Jedi starfighters didn’t sustain them as long as they needed, so secondary vehicles were required for the remainder of the film. Anakin Skywalker received a green and white Jedi starfighter which he used to go to Mustafar and kill off the remaining Separatists. Originally released as a Toys R Us exclusive in 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith line, Hasbro adds this vehicle into the main midsize vehicle assortment as a general marketplace/mainstream release to give kids and collectors more options to pick it up in case they missed it. The vehicle looks very nice, but it isn’t anything out of the ordinary. But it comes in exquisite packaging making it look a whole lot better than it actually is.

Because Hasbro released both of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s and Anakin Skywalker’s starfighters in the 30 (77-07) line look vehicle assortment, they had to come up with a unique way of naming them to help resolve identity confusion. (Their efforts to do this were admirable, but it failed miserably). The vehicles that we saw in the first act in Revenge Of The Sith are referred to Jedi Starfighters in the toy line, while the secondary vehicle are simply referred to as Starfighters. At least Hasbro was consistent with the primary and secondary designations. So for the first time this previous Toys R Us exclusive is called Anakin Skywalker’s Starfighter. The sculpt of course is based on 2005’s ROTS Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter, but the paint operations are completely different to make it the second starfighter he used in the film. All of the same action features that have been present on every previous starfighter utilizing this mold are present here as well. They’re simple, but they provide enough extra play value to make the vehicle worthwhile. What’s particularly interesting is that the original 2005 Revenge Of The Sith Toys R Us exclusive version came without a decal sheet with labels pre-applied. It was an oddity back in 2005. But the same approach has been carried forward here.

Surprisingly, this vehicle’s release in the 30 (77-07) line comes packaged the same exact way. It’s the only starfighter vehicle utilizing this sculpt that comes packaged in this fashion. Interesting, no? There must be some detail at the factory that forces this vehicle to be processed in this fashion. There is no reason for the machines (or factory workers) to worry about this detail. Perhaps we’ll never know why this vehicle has been treated differently from all others (again, utilizing this very same sculpt). In all honesty, Anakin Skywalker's Starfighter is sort of a ‘B’ vehicle in Episode III. This probably would have never been released had Hasbro not produced the yellow vehicle we saw Anakin Skywalker fly during the Battle of Coruscant. This first vehicle was released as 2005’s ROTS Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter and was the first of many vehicles released using this sculpt. Hasbro is certainly making the most of this sculpt and they’re not shy about releasing more and more vehicles to help amortize costs. We’d assert that the coloring to Anakin Skywalker's Starfighter isn’t completely accurate. It imitates the vehicle we saw in Episode III, but it’s much too “off white” whereas the vehicle in the film appeared more gray (with the green accents of course). It’s nice to see this vehicle available at retail and not at an elevated price like so many exclusives are. But it will be interesting to see how well it performs over time.