X-wing Fighter (Electronic) - POTF2 [R/G] - Vehicles

When Kenner/Hasbro announced the relaunch of the Star Wars brand toy line, collectors were speechless. And it was likely because of our loss of speech that we couldn't complain about what they released for us. It’s probably the reason why the “re-release” of “barely” changed vehicles were the greatest things since sliced bread. And because they technically weren’t created from the same molds as the vintage Kenner vehicles were, it felt like we were getting something completely new. Take for instance the X-wing Fighter (Electronic) vehicle. Although based on the original vintage Kenner tooling, the X-wing Fighter (Electronic) vehicle is very different in many ways and constitutes as an all-new vehicle. Besides additional details that weren’t present on the release from 1978, Kenner/Hasbro updated the “cannon” at the front of the vehicle by completely removing it. There is no longer a flashing light at the nose of the vehicle now. However, they added electronic and movie-accurate sound effects, which ups the accuracy and the quality of this vehicle dramatically. Also, Kenner/Hasbro produced a stunning decal sheet to decorate the X-wing Fighter (Electronic) like never before, and we’re thoroughly impressed with how much color it adds to it. In all seriousness, the X-wing Fighter (Electronic) vehicle hasn’t looked better in the Star Wars toy line, even if it’s terribly out of scale.

We believe most can agree that The Power Of The Force “2” [Red] packaging leaves much to be desired, but you’re probably not going to care much at all once you open up the packaging and appreciate how Kenner/Hasbro upgraded this classic Star Wars vehicle. Instead of a “bright white” plastic, Kenner/Hasbro cast the X-wing Fighter (Electronic) vehicle is a light gray. They then added quite a bit to the body of the vehicle to help give it depth and dimension before the decals get applied. You’ll find black streaks from laser blasts. You’ll find a reddish-brown collection of dirt on the underside of the vehicle. You’ll also find general exhaust residue on the engines. No detail was left undone. It’s an amazing feat of creativity and art that Kenner/Hasbro applied here. Collectors will love what they’ve done here, and these details prove why it’s the best-looking X-wing fighter in the toy line today. (Yes, it’s the only modern one at the moment, but it’s beautiful.) To keep things within the same color scheme, they cast the cannons on all four of the S-foils in a gray that matches the body of the vehicle. They’re no longer black. And keeping things traditional, they also kept the action features alive and well to open and close the S-foils. Depress “R2-D2’s” dome and the S-foils open up. And then the pullback of a lever closes them. Also faithfully following in the vintage Kenner vehicle’s footsteps in the landing skid. Another lever keeps that locked into place.

The flashing light at the tip of the vehicle’s nose may no longer be in place, but Kenner/Hasbro has done justice to this iconic Star Wars vehicle. We can’t stop raving about it. It looks that great. They need to work overtime to give collectors all of the significant action figures that interact with these vehicles. The packaging of the X-wing Fighter (Electronic) vehicle shows 1995’s POTF2 [R/G] Luke Skywalker figure on the box, but a “snowspeeder pilot” version of Luke Skywalker was released later in 1995 and it works much better as a pilot to this vehicle. While the figures look quite different from how they appeared in the vintage Kenner line, admittedly, they look pretty great with the modern take of the vehicles. From the nose to the engine of the X-wing Fighter (Electronic) vehicle, Kenner/Hasbro have done remarkable work. It’s quite astounding to us how deco and a new sheet of decals makes the vehicle look like an all-new release. (It is an all-new release, but hopefully, you understand how the decals and paint operations elevate it from looking anything like the vintage Kenner version). The X-wing Fighter (Electronic) is a fantastic toy for the modern era of Star Wars collecting. Kenner/Hasbro are doing a fine job at getting all of the vehicles from the past out again but redone and refreshed. And they’re accenting the basic figure line perfectly, even if some of the much-too-bulky figures are a bit of a challenge to get into the cockpits.