A-wing Fighter - SW [S - P1] - Vehicles (Exclusive)

The Empire prepares to crush the Rebellion with a second, more powerful Death Star. As the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the dreaded space station, Luke Skywalker confronts his father, Darth Vader, in a climactic duel before the evil Emperor. In the last second, Vader makes a momentous choice: he destroys the Emperor and saves his son. The Empire is finally defeated, the evil Sith are destroyed, and Anakin Skywalker is redeemed. At long last, freedom is restored to the galaxy.

The A-wing fighter is the fastest starfighter in the Rebel Alliance's fleet. Used in the Battle of Endor, an A-wing helped to successfully turn the tide of the battle by attacking an Imperial Super Star Destroyer, which caused the enemy flagship to crash into the Death Star II.

Yeah. Don’t read the introductory text on the TARGET exclusive A-wing Fighter vehicle unless you’re looking to get confused. This vehicle (and pack-in) pilot were not in Return Of The Jedi. In 1993, LucasArts created a PC game entitled “Star Wars” X-wing” that referred to A-wings from different squadrons had different colors. Whether these were shown in the game in great detail or not is not entirely clear, but Galoob’s Micro Machines property was the very first licensee to create a green colored A-wing Fighter in the Star Wars Action Fleet lineup. It was this exact miniature version that inspired Hasbro to create their own 3.75” scaled A-wing Fighter, complete with green-suited Pilot. For all intents and purposes, both scales, save for their sizes, are identical to each other. Fans of the Expanded Universe should be excited that Hasbro has decided to produce a vehicle of this caliber in a color scheme that wasn’t seen in Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. It helps when there are toys to associate one source to the next and that’s exactly what the 2003 Star Wars “Saga” TARGET exclusive A-wing Fighter brings to the table. It may not resonate with everyone, but we think it’s neat that Hasbro is stretching their wings a bit and acknowledging other licensees in their own brand too.

That being said, the 2003 flavor of the A-wing Fighter is the same exact vehicle Hasbro/Kenner released in The Power Of The Force “2” line, but this time has been repainted to match the Micro Machines Star Wars Action Fleet release. While the deco isn’t movie accurate in the least, we have to admit that it has a splendid paint job this time around. It’s actually better than the 1997 release. That’s saying quite a bit because the POTF2 version was excellent all around as well. Whether it’s the army green base color or the fabulous final dirty wash given to it, the Star Wars “Saga” A-wing Fighter might end up becoming your “go to” vehicle. In fact, the vehicle has been decorated so beautifully you will be able to accept it as an A-wing Fighter that was just off screen during the Battle of Endor. We kid you not. You will soon wish that Hasbro would go back and revisit the way they’ve paint the red A-wing Fighter next. Just like the 1997 release, the electronics are no longer included and the battery compartment has been sealed shut. (That’s a shame because it would have been a cool option to leave this as storage space. After all, it’s not difficult to tool “space” for a vehicle. From top to bottom, we know without a doubt you will not be able to criticize the deco on this A-wing Fighter.

Hasbro has also included a “new” pack-in figure with the A-wing Fighter. But don’t get too excited. It’s simply a repaint of Arvel Crynyd from 1999’s POTF2 Rebel Pilots Cinema Scenes set. Just like the A-wing Fighter, Hasbro has re-envisioned this action figure to be compatibly matched with his vehicle. He now sports a green flight suit and the removable helmet is almost not even recognizable now (as it’s mostly a solid green color now). The figure comes with a standard six points of articulation, but it can sit in the pilot’s seat without issue. What’s especially nice about the Star Wars “Saga” A-wing Fighter is that Hasbro produced a crystal clear cockpit window. You can see the Pilot perfectly through the canopy. It almost looks like real glass. We’re more than satisfied with this exclusive vehicle release. Aside from a completely different approach to the paint operations, Hasbro hasn’t really done anything new with the sculpt. A new cockpit would be fantastic, or the aforementioned and suggested storage bay areas would all make for wonderful enhancements to a classic Original Trilogy vehicle. We do appreciate Hasbro’s braveness in bringing an Expanded Universe focused vehicle into the line, but we hope that it doesn’t become the norm. These types of exclusive should remain special, and the only way that’s done is in moderation.