Millennium Falcon - TLC - Vehicles (250th Review)

Added: January 28th 2010
Category: Legacy Collection, The
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: Millennium Falcon
Collection: The Legacy Collection
Number: N/A
Source: A New Hope*
Availability: July 2008
License: Hasbro

* Some of the Millennium Falcon's features source it to The Empire Strikes Back.

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The fastest ship in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon has amazing speed and firepower that helped the Rebel Alliance defeat the Empire in numerous battles, including Yavin and Endor. Piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca, the Falcon packs powerful secrets and special modifications inside and out. They all came in handy on that fateful day when Han and Chewie agreed to fly Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2, and C-3PO to Alderaan, and ended up battling the evil Empire for the first time. As Han Solo says, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid."

If you have been a Star Wars collector for a while, then you know that the event of 2008 was the announcement of the “Big” Millennium Falcon. Of course it wasn’t named that way on the box, but fans affectionately coined and adopted this term almost immediately to set it apart from all previous releases of this vehicle. This all-new vehicle broke boundaries and barriers to what was considered the standard or even possible for a large-scale vehicle and gave us something to drool over for years to come. Hasbro once explained that the mold to the original vehicle broke so a new one had to be built from the ground up. Since the opportunity presented itself, Hasbro decided it should be the best it could be and went all out. Exceeding 2.5 feet long and featuring a gamut of sights and sounds that has never been included with a vehicle of this size, the “Big” Millennium Falcon raised the vehicle bar so high that we doubt Hasbro will be able to exceed it. (Well, at least until they decide to make a Sail Barge.) And it dwarfs the old mold by incredible measures. As a pack-in bonus, the Millennium Falcon comes with both Han Solo and Chewbacca. Han Solo is a repack of 2007’s TAC Han Solo (No. 11) figure while Chewbacca is a repack of the figure from the 2005 TSC Early Bird Figures multipack. They are perfect companions and great additions to this set, but they aren’t the reason to buy this vehicle obviously! No, clearly the reason to buy this massive vehicle is for all the bells and whistles it has and for the grand magnificence of its size. Loaded with lights, sound effects, phrases from the first two original Star Wars films, hidden compartments, lowering ramp, control table, light-up dejarik game, lightsaber training remote, etcetera, the Millennium Falcon is a sight to behold. We could go on and on (and we probably will by the time this review is over). The Millennium Falcon is also two vehicles in one. Housed in one of its “bays” is a mini rig-like vehicle. We are actually pretending that it is one of those “escape pods that were jettisoned.” This was verbally described to us by an Imperial Officer when he was speaking to Darth Vader in Episode IV about the whereabouts of the crew. (We like keeping as much as we can out of the Expanded Universe even if we didn’t actually see it in the film.)

Hasbro decided to cast the Falcon in a light gray plastic. We think it looks splendid, but perhaps a darker color gray would have been a better choice. While Hasbro clearly tried to give the Falcon quite a bit of battle-damage markings, we think it would have benefitted it much more to include a lot more than they did. The ship has different colors throughout and overall, the outside of it passes our strict and demanding standards. The top of the ship has a beautifully designed panel. Do you remember how the top six vents used to be decals? Hasbro actually designed six separate circles and given them all their own unique lined texture. It is a vast improvement honestly and does a great deal to make this ship as authentic as can be. The cockpit has been redesigned to seat four figures. This is an amazing upgrade and the sheets move up and down a track to accommodate Chewbacca’s long legs. Once the top panels are lifted off, you will have for yourself and amazing playset to recreate multiple scenes from the films. The Falcon has seven projectiles along with seven separate detachable landing gears. While we love the flexibility of them, they absolutely drive us insane because they pop off way too easily. But, we will look the other way and forgive this mistaken design. When the ramp is lowered with the press of a button, two yellow lights shine down on the ground forming two yellow discs on the ground. It looks too cool for words to express. We will leave it at that. The dejarik chess table is beautiful and sits in the center of a lounging area. Hasbro sculpted a beautiful quarter arc “couch” around the game and it looks spectacular. Across the way you will find Han Solo’s miniature command station table complete with articulated chair and the detail of this wall is simply stunning. It looks like it was taken right out of the film. The area where the lightsaber training remote hangs you will find a hidden trap door compartment. It is deep and extends beyond the width of the opening so you can fit quite a few figures in the ‘smuggling’ area! If you decide to have your action figures walk through the “half wall” into the other side of the divider, that floor lifts up for more hiding space. The possibilities are endless!

You would have to play with the Millennium Falcon for quite a few hours to appreciate all of its play features and awesome sound effects and phrases. For example, there is a button on the cockpit and when it is pressed lights it up as well as the controls area. And when the engine revs, it blinks uncontrollably just as if a car is having a hard time starting up. Again, these little things all added together make for an incredible value. There is one particularly awesome action feature that we tend to think is one of the best. There is a button on the left side of the vehicle (diametrically opposite to the cockpit) that when moved back and forth activates explosion and firing sound effect while simultaneously motioning the top and lower gunner stations and firing projectiles. We think that took quite a bit of engineering to get all the parts to work together and we think it brings a whole new level of cool to this large vehicle. You will find three more projectiles that fire in the front middle of the vehicle too. These are not nearly as impressive, but look great nonetheless. The rear of the ship lights up in a brilliant blue (try it when the lights are out – it’s awesome), looking just like it did when Han Solo and company blasted from Docking Bay 94 to escape the Imperial sandtroopers. It looks so realistic we have to remind ourselves that this is a toy designed by Hasbro and not some higher-end collectible. Originally retailing for a grand $149.99, the Millennium Falcon saw multiple sale prices. It is not the easiest vehicle to find at retail now and who knows when we will see it released in new packaging. But we can say that this is an absolute must-have vehicle for every collector out there. This means you. It will bring worthy play value for years to come and we dare claim that it is worth every penny. And kudos to Hasbro for making such an amazing toy for our collections. A big vehicle deserves a big place in your big collections. We can confidently say that the “Big” Millennium Falcon should be in yours.

Collector Notes

Millennium Falcon

Assortment Number: 87591/87636

UPC: 653569318439

Retail: $149.99 USD

Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on Click here to check the market value on eBay! listings.

Millennium Falcon

Status: Millennium Falcon is an all-new vehicle.

Articulation Count: TBD

Articulation Details: TBD

Accessory Count: 29

Accessory Details:7 projectiles, 7 landing gear legs, anterior quad cannon, posterior quad cannon, laser cannon, radar dish, 1 smuggling compartment panel door, 2 covers, 2 front mandibles, escape pod (miniature vehicle), cockpit canopy, side hatch cover, holochess aliens (Mantellian Savrip and Kintan Strider/houjix/k'lor'slug)

Date Stamp: 2008

Han Solo

Status: Han Solo is a straight repack of 2007's TAC Han Solo (No. 11) figure.

Articulation Count: 12 points

Articulation Details: ball-socket head, 2 ball-jointed shoulders, 2 swivel elbows, 2 swivel forearms, swivel waist, 2 swivel hips, 2 ball-jointed knees

Accessory Count: 1

Accessory Details: blaster

Date Stamp: 2007

Chewbacca

Status: Chewbacca is a straight repack of the figure that came in 2005's TSC Early Bird Figures multipack.

Articulation Count: 15 points

Articulation Details: ball-socket head, 2 ball-jointed shoulders, 2 ball-jointed elbows, 2 swivel hands, double ball-jointed torso, 2 swivel hips, 2 ball-jointed knees, 2 ball-jointed ankles

Accessory Count: 2

Accessory Details: crossbow (2 pieces)

Date Stamp: 2004

 

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