Dash Rendar’s Outrider - POTF2 [FF/TKC] - Vehicles

Technical Information
MODEL: Heavily Modified Corellian YT-2400 Freighter
LENGTH: 21 Meters
CREW: 2
GUNNERS: 2
PASSENGERS: 4
CARGO CAPACITY: 75 Metric Tons
WEAPONS: 2 Heavy Double Laser Cannons, 2 Concussion Missile Tubes

There are few who can shoot, fly, and brag like Dash Rendar. As one of the most effective mercenaries and smugglers in the galaxy, he needs a craft large enough to hold a sizable cargo, but with the speed and agility of a starfighter. The Outrider is such a ship. Its design is inspired by a Corellian freighter much like the famed Millennium Falcon, with a few different specifications. For one, the Outrider is more compact and a little quicker in sub-lightspeeds. It also has a beefed-up hyperdrive and powerful twin shield generators housed in the forward main hulls. Rotating dual laser cannons are mounted on the top and bottom turrets, but its most notable feature is its conversion to battle mode. This is a state-of-the-art defense system in which the main hull separates from port to stern with a rotating swing-arm mechanism that provides the ship with an almost unlimited field of fire. In this mode the ship's rotating axis, the Outrider may appear to be flying out of control when in fact, it is efficiently avoiding enemy fire and destroying enemy craft at an unbelievable rate. Many have compared the Outrider's "blast-cluster" attacks to a hurricane, since it appears to be moving in every direction at once before snapping out of battle-mode and into lightspeed for an easy exit. With Dash Rendar in her cockpit, the Outrider is a devastating fighter and one of the most challenging targets in the galaxy.

Who would have thought that the very first all-new tooled vehicle in the modern Star Wars line would be Dash Rendar's Outrider from the Shadows Of The Empire multimedia event? We don’t think too many of us cared, because so many of us were entrenched in the Shadows Of The Empire story and were eager to see what toys based on it would come from Kenner/Hasbro. It should be noted immediately that Dash Rendar's Outrider is not a great vehicle, but it’s a fun toy and provides some landscape for the Shadows Of The Empire storyline. Still, it surprises us that Kenner/Hasbro chose to reissue it in The Power Of The Force "2" [Freeze Frame/The Kenner Collection] lineup. Although the Dash Rendar basic figure BARELY fits inside of the cockpit of this vehicle, he interacts with it beautifully outside of it. With a fine sculpt, unprecedented detail, but tiny in scale, Dash Rendar's Outrider is a vehicle that will probably be welcomed by the Star Wars collecting community, even if some fans will huff and puff about it under their breath.

You know a vehicle isn’t going to turn out as expected when the call-outs on its packaging express things like “with cockpit” and “gun turret you fully rotate in battle” on it. These are things most collectors would consider standard features and not something to draw attention to potential buyers. To their credit, Dash Rendar's Outrider comes with a multi-positional seat in the cockpit. But you’re going to break your fingers attempting to place Dash Rendar in it. You can get him in there, but he doesn’t look comfortable, and we don’t think they tested this well before designing the final proportions of the vehicle. Aesthetically, Dash Rendar's Outrider is a pleasant-looking starship. Of course, Dash Rendar's Outrider possesses elements of the Millennium Falcon in multiple places. But we would have loved to see Hasbro make this vehicle larger even if that meant a higher price point. The MRSP for this vehicle is $24.99, but if $39.99 meant a significantly larger vehicle, we would have gladly paid that too.

Aside from the “functioning” cockpit, Dash Rendar's Outrider has another major feature. By rotating the control arm, you can convert Dash Rendar's Outrider into a pretty neat battle mode which favors the appearance of a B-wing fighter flying into action. It’s a pretty tight feature, and we’re glad to see it implemented here. Dash Rendar's Outrider comes with the basic light gray color we see on many other Star Wars vehicles, but Kenner/Hasbro added quite a bit of dirt and grime to it to give it that standard lived-in appearance. On top of that, they’ve produced a stunning decal sheet which breathes color and life into the rather bland base paint job. Decals always enhance Star Wars vehicles, but they appear to dramatically improve Dash Rendar's Outrider by comparison. Other features include landing gear, rotating cannons, and a large rotating turret. For us, these are all standard additions and nothing to get excited about, but at least they’re here for maximum play value. We do like Dash Rendar's Outrider, but we need a larger one. We still don't think it needed a re-release, however.