Kessel Run Millennium Falcon - SW [S] - Vehicles

When the Millennium Falcon jumps the Kessel Run, a risky hyperspace route that weaves a path through the space that surrounds the planet Kessel, it earns its reputation as one of the fastest ships in the galaxy. Only the most daring pilots risk charting shortcut paths through the run's obstructions rather than taking safer – but ultimately slower – routes from Kessel.

Hasbro needs to stop washing their Millennium Falcon sculpts in hot water because they’re all shrinking! Of course that is an absurd comment, but we’re not sure if we understand why every new Millennium Falcon vehicle is more dumbed-down than the last! The Star Wars [Solo] Kessel Run Millennium Falcon is the latest in Hasbro’s long line of Millennium Falcon vehicles, and each subsequent release, while better is some worse, ultimately gets worse overall. But the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon may change this pattern for the better. We’ve heard terms like micro-monstrosities from our readers in the past, and they use them to identify the latest vehicles Hasbro produces. It feels like we’re always going in the wrong direction with them. At first glance, you might fear that the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon is another vehicle release in that same negative direction. But this release isn’t without merit. Hasbro tooled a beautiful amount of detail in this vehicle’s design. And in all honesty, the Force Link 2.0 technology is a pure joy. But you’re ultimately left with the feeling that some pretty hefty shortcuts were taken with this vehicle. Sure, there is a great amount of play features here thanks to Force Link 2.0 technology, but the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon is so small that there aren’t enough play features within the vehicle itself that the Force Link 2.0 feature may not save it as far as collectors are concerned. In fact, the cockpit cannot hold Chewbacca and Han Solo at the same time. That’s how downsized this vehicle is. That’s not to say that Hasbro didn’t add some cool features. They have. We’ll get to all of them in detail, but if you want a quick overall assessment on this, we feel that is pleases as much as it disappoints.

Before we talk about the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon’s features, let us talk about the decal sheet. You’ll notice right away that we didn’t apply them. This vehicle is made from the same slippery plastic that 2015’s TFA Battle Action Millennium Falcon was made. And with that vehicle, the decals fell off almost immediately. We didn’t want to experience the same problem with the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon too. So, whether it is or isn’t an issue with this 2018 version, we’re not going to spend the time to find out. We cannot confirm it either way. One thing the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon has is interchangeability. And this is a big deal for us, hopefully for you as well. There are many configurations of the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon. You can remove or add panels as desired. And with the appropriate combination of buttons pressed, you can make the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon rumble to the point the panels pop off to recreate a battle-damaged effect. There is a nice variety of orange and blue lights that ignite depending upon the feature you’re utilizing. If you incorporate the Force Link 2.0 feature, it adds more play value. Again, this is a fun toy. It comes with a ton of interactive things to do, but it’s just so darn small that you’re probably not going to believe it is Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon. There is a middle section on the front that pulls out and transforms into an escape pod. It can house an action figure and returns the Millennium Falcon to shape with which we are more familiar. It's like it is its own transformer or something.

Pressing the button on the cockpit side will initiate hyperdrive. If you press it a second time, the “rumble” feature enacts. If you press this same button a third time, the panels will pop off to simulate the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon getting hit with fire. The button on the opposite side provides a ton of battle-action and cannon sounds. You can also lift the vehicle and “takeoff” effects with sound. Likewise, you can move the vehicle to initiate “flying sounds” and placing the vehicle back down on a surface will set off “landing” sounds. The escape pod has similar features as well, but those work with the Force Link 2.0 wristband/gauntlet accessory. Include with the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon is a Han Solo (Kessel) action figure. It comes with seven points of articulation. Hasbro added two swivel wrists which are necessary for this release. The figure isn’t wearing a jacket and comes with two accessories including a DL-44 blaster pistol and coaxium containers. (We suppose we’ll learn more about these in Solo: A Star Wars Story.) Han Solo interacts with Force Link 2.0 as well, but we experienced periodic “FIRMWARE UPDATE REQUIRED!” errors and a not-so-smooth chain of lines and sound effects. We’re not sure why this is. The figure is an alright likeness of the character, but we don’t think it is anything that special. We do love how he can hold the coaxium containers. (There is even storage for them in the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon hidden compartment.) Again, this vehicle will probably go over well with young fans, but Hasbro didn’t have collectors in mind when they made it.