Anakin Skywalker’s Podracer - SW [TPM 3D] - Vehicles

Added: July 1st 2012
Category: Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D]
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: Anakin Skywalker's Podracer
Collection: Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D]
Number: N/A (Vehicles)
Source: The Phantom Menace
Availability: January 2012
License: Hasbro

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Anakin Skywalker pilots a Podracer at the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace. The young slave boy has used his impressive mechanical skills to assemble an exceptionally fast vehicle. The engines on Anakin's Podracer have air scoops to enhance braking and cornering control.

More often than not, Hasbro isn’t that great at apprising the collective body of changes they make when they rerelease vehicles originally tooled from years ago into the modern line. It’s not completely fair to accuse them of complete lack of communication, but being in the know will certainly help the success of a vehicle that is seemingly a repack of a vehicle that we don’t want to repurchase when we originally bought it in 1999. We’re thankful we did our own investigation. And the reason is it has paid off because we’ve discovered that the paint job on the new 2012 SW [TPM 3D] Anakin Skywalker’s Podracer is completely different (and a world apart) from the original 1999 Episode I release. Hasbro stepped up to the plate completely to make this vehicle look better than it ever has. And it does. The blue and silver canopy/cockpit and the yellow power rockets have never looked better or brighter. And quite frankly, every last part of Anakin Skywalker’s Podracer paint job has been completely updated to look like the vehicle Hasbro intended years ago. The question, however, is will this vehicle be a success, even with a completely revised paint scheme?

Anakin Skywalker’s Podracer comes with all the same features as the 1999 version. There is a thick black hand grasp with two yellow action feature buttons which activate opening the air scoops. Admittedly, it’s a cool action feature, as its very screen accurate (the feature, not the method of how it’s activated). The same energy binder that Jar Jar paralyzes his tongue on is still here. And the cockpit of the Podracer still can house almost any Anakin Skywalker of your choosing. The vehicle doesn’t fire any projectiles and there is nothing top wind up or explode. Anakin Skywalker’s Podracer is what it is. There isn’t anything hidden or elusive here. And that begs us to ask, is this vehicle really worthy the $24.99 price tag? We’d be inclined to say no. Repaints are still a cost effective way for Hasbro to get new product into stores while saving on tooling costs. So they could have reduced this vehicle assortment to $19.99 and we bet it would have been better received by the collecting public. But we still feel that Hasbro could have advertised the improvements made to the vehicles paint job a little bit more. It could have helped sell this vehicle through a little bit more.

You probably know our feelings on the Boonta Eve Classic sequence of Episode I. We’re not going to attempt to state our feelings on that here, as we know there are varying opinions of it. But we think it’s important to note that the kids that Hasbro is directing the Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D] line to aren’t into that scene of the film like kids were back in 1999. Toys R Us can’t give away the Podracer Pilots multipack and both Anakin Skywalker’s Podracer and Sebulba’s Podracers have been chronic shelf warmers ever since they landed on shelves in January 2012. What Hasbro hasn’t configured into their 2012 plan is that Episode I product was produced in ridiculous numbers and more than a decade later can be found on the aftermarket for pennies on the dollar. Why would kids/collectors/parents who don’t care about things like new paint jobs plop down almost $30 (including tax) for the vehicle in a box with new artwork? The Star Wars line is in trouble folks. We personally find Anakin Skywalker’s Podracer a worthwhile improvement, but we completely understand why most of the buying public won’t fall for this vehicle.

Collector Notes

Anakin Skywalker's Podracer

Status: Anakin Skywalker's Podracer is a major repaint of 1999's EI Anakin Skywalker's Pod Racer.

Articulation Count: 10

Articulation Details: 6 opening air scoops, 2 opening podracer cockpit fins, 2 push action feature buttons

Accessory Count: 1

Accessory Details: removable energy binder

Date Stamp: 1999

Assortment Number: 36787/36785

UPC: 653569701392

Retail: $24.99 USD

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

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