Firespeeder Pilot - TSC - Basic (SAGA 022)

By the time Hasbro really got The Saga Collection going, fans knew that they were in for some real treats. As with any good basic figure line, mixing heroes, villains and obscure characters into one wave is a surefire way to brew collector excitement. When wave 4 of The Saga Collection was announced, it showed us that Hasbro was going to be tweaking some classic favorites, making some first time major character releases and throw in a couple of barely seen characters into the mix as well. One said obscure figure, the Firespeeder Pilot, really surprised collectors. While most of us were ecstatic to see this character designed in 3.75” scaled plastic, we probably never expected to see them get a slot in the basic figure line. While the “masked” pilots were only seen for a few seconds on screen, those without helmets can be seen in a couple of other additional frames of Revenge Of The Sith as well. (Hasbro took advantage of the character’s obscurity in advertisements for The Saga Collection in various collector magazines with some comical statistics of how briefly they appear in Episode III.) Firespeeder Pilot was one of these characters. But isn't that what makes our hobby so unique from others? Obscurity often translates into 'must-have'.

The Firespeeder Pilot is an awesome action figure and it’s a great deal of fun. It has its share of negatives, but for the most part will provide collectors with a very well-made action figure that you’ll come back to time and again and think what a cool figure it is. First and foremost, the Firespeeder Pilot has a really nice paint job. And the best part of his paint job is his fire extinguisher backpack. It’s colored in a rustic silvery copper and finished off with lots of weathering and dirt. If we didn’t know any better we would have assumed it was cast in some sort of metal. It’s actually done that well. This extinguisher looks great against his primarily light uniform and nicely matches the copper helmet (even though the character in the film has more of a silver helmet) with dark visor. Keep in mind that the hose and his “backpack” are all one piece, so you’ll have to display this action figure with fire hose in hand because it is too stiff to lie down. (It sort of just sticks “out there” otherwise.) But don’t worry because he holds it wonderfully well. Firespeeder Pilot does offer multiple options for posing him, so don’t be disheartened by what you may perceive as limited articulation. He also possesses a great center of gravity and it makes posing him in static poses as well as action poses almost effortlessly.

Firespeeder Pilot comes with a healthy dose of articulation, obviously not enough for super-articulation junkies, but we find the inclusion of swivel elbows particularly unfortunate. Not only are they aesthetically displeasing to the eye, but they really don’t offer any useful articulation. They'll likely "break off" in your hands when you try to articulate them anyway. (But that is really just our own two cents.) The lack of ankle joints is slightly disappointing, but in all honesty, we would have much rather seen Hasbro abandon the swivel elbow joints instead. But the incorporation of ball-jointed knees is splendid and really the only lower articulation this figure needs. (We know some will disagree.) But it's important to note that you get a wide range of movement from the swivel hips and ball-jointed knees. You should be pleased. As we have mentioned earlier, you can see the same uniform on clones (not wearing the helmets) in various scenes in Revenge Of The Sith. Unfortunately, Firespeeder Pilot was not designed with any “forward thinking” in mind, so we will have to wait for a retool at a later date if we want to pad these “technicians” in our dioramas. For now, Firespeeder Pilot will have to suffice. And he will suffice just fine in your collections for sure.