Firespeeder Pilot - TSC - Basic (SAGA 022)

Added: June 13th 2011
Category: Saga Collection, The
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: Firespeeder Pilot
Collection: The Saga Collection
Number: SAGA 022
Source: Revenge Of The Sith
Availability: April 2006
License: Hasbro

Review_FirespeederPilotTSC001 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC002 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC003 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC004
Review_FirespeederPilotTSC005 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC006 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC007 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC008
Review_FirespeederPilotTSC009 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC010 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC011 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC012
Review_FirespeederPilotTSC013 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC014 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC015 Review_FirespeederPilotTSC016

Firespeeder Pilot

Battle of Coruscant

skill: extinguishing fires on disabled ships

mission: put out fire on Grievous’ flagship

helps: obi-wan, anakin & palpatine land

As the massive aerial battle over Coruscant comes to an end, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker pilot General Grievous’ flagship to a dramatic crash landing. A raging fire breaks out once the ship hits Coruscant’s atmosphere, but lucky for the Jedi heroes, this brave firespeeder pilot and his crew are ready to put out the flames and help the ship land.

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.

Collector Notes

Firespeeder Pilot

Status: Firespeeder Pilot is an all-new figure.

Articulation Count: 16 points (12 areas of articulation)

Articulation Details: ball-socket head (1), ball-jointed left shoulder (2), ball-jointed right shoulder (2), swivel left elbow (1), swivel right elbow (1), swivel left glove (1), swivel right glove (1), swivel waist (1), swivel left hip (1), swivel right hip (1), ball-jointed left knee (2), ball-jointed right knee (2)

Accessory Count: 1

Accessory Details: removable fire extinguisher backpack/hose combination

Date Stamp: 2005

Assortment Number: 85939/85770

UPC: 653569123293

Retail: $5.99 USD

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



The Saga Collection Wave 4
Firespeeder Pilot (SAGA 022)
Lushros Dofine (SAGA 023)
Clone Commander Cody (SAGA 024)
Anakin Skywalker (SAGA 025)
Holographic Ki-Adi-Mundi (SAGA 027)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (SAGA 028)
Foul Moudama (SAGA 029)
General Grievous (SAGA 030)



This review comes from Jedi Temple Archives
www.JediTempleArchives.com

The URL for this review is:
http://www.jeditemplearchives.com/content/modules.php?name=JReviews&rop=showcontent&id=751