Poe’s X-wing Fighter - TFA - Vehicles (Class III) (Snow)

When missions call for it, ace Resistance pilot Poe Dameron becomes Black Leader, flying a dark-hulled T-70 X-wing starfighter into action.

Does anyone else find it odd that Hasbro keeps making bigger and bigger things for The Black Series 6” line, but going in the opposite direction for the 3.75” line? We are obviously aware of the fact that The Black Series 6” line means that Hasbro will need to make extraordinarily large vehicles to accompany the figures, but they’re doing the complete opposite thing in the 3.75” line. By this we mean they’ve gone back to the earliest vintage Kenner approach for Poe's X-wing Fighter, which in spirit is a nice gesture, but in practicality leaves a whole lot to be desired. After coming so far by upsizing the X-wing Fighter vehicles they used for years beginning with The Power Of The Force “2” line, a Power F/X version soon followed which put the vehicle at the correct scale. It wasn’t until 2002’s Star Wars “Saga” line however that Hasbro retooled this Power F/X version to be interactive with the basic figure line when they released 2002’s SW [S - P1] Luke Skywalker’s X-wing Fighter Toys R Us exclusive. And ever since they’ve been tweaking and tweaking this mammoth making it better and better. The last time they used it was for 2013’s TVC X-wing Fighter (also a Toys R Us exclusive). Hoping that they would dust off this wonderfully tooled vehicle again and tweak it to make it specific to The Force Awakens, Hasbro instead opted for a significantly smaller all-new version instead with a whole bunch less special features. Oh, and they resurrected a historic action figure for this modern 2015 release which completely baffles us and makes us unable to understand many of Hasbro’s moves. (More on that in a moment.)

You probably already know the multiple problems with this vehicle. It’s too small. It comes with bowed cannons that fit onto the S-foils. The included pack-in figure barely can fit into the cockpit, and you have to fight with it to get it deep enough into the tiny space to close the hatch all the way. (It is possible, but please know that he doesn’t look right once you’re able to finally make it work.) Poe's X-wing Fighter also comes with a laughable and removable rubber nose that can barely keep its shape on or off the vehicle. To date, we have never seen anything look so ridiculous on a Star Wars Hasbro vehicle in our lives. (We just don’t get it at all. It’s pointless, lazy, and makes the vehicle appear even more laughable.) Oh, and remember how you pressed “R2-D2” to lock the S-foils in attack position on the vintage Kenner vehicle? Well, you do the same thing to the un-removable BB-8 on this vehicle. There are also no extra compartments or similar features to give the ship some personality, something that is desperately needed in a toy line that is so simply approached. Now that we got the terrible things out of the way, let’s focus on some of the positive things. Poe's X-wing Fighter does have a decent sculpt, even though it's much too small. There is a great amount of detail throughout the vehicle’s hull that really draws out the realism in it. And while the paint operations are also simple in many ways, at least they’re applied neatly without overspray or sloppiness. With all of this vehicle’s issues, at least they can make it look half way decent when sitting on a shelf.

Perhaps the best part of Poe's X-wing Fighter is the pack-in Poe Dameron action figure. You know the 2015 TFA Poe Dameron (Build A Weapon) (Space) figure all too well unfortunately. Nicknamed “banana visor,” that figure came without a removable helmet and a solid yellow visor on a mostly badly painted action figure. Well, the Poe Dameron action figure that comes with Poe's X-wing Fighter should have been the basic figure because it is worlds better than the basic figure release. This version comes with a removable helmet WITH a clear yellow visor (you can see his eyes underneath of it) and the figure has been painted so much better too. We’re all aware how Hasbro uses digital files to make all of the various scales of the same character. We expect The Black Series [Phase III] Walmart exclusive Poe Dameron to look a whole lot like this pack-in figure. We’re pretty sure about that. It’s unreal how much impact a little effort will have on an action figure. We really wish Hasbro would reconsider how they approached characters in the 5POA line that sport helmets, because this is the way to do it. For this release, Poe Dameron has an all-new body and head sculpt as well as a revised right leg. He can barely fit into the cockpit of his X-wing fighter, but at least we have a tremendous upgrade to the Build A Weapon figure. The last thing that sticks in our craw about this release is the price. It retails for an astounding $49.99 and for what you get it’s about $20 too much money. We really hope the Star Wars line improves in the current state it’s in, because there is just too much junk getting pumped out.