Ecliptic Evader TIE Fighter - TLC - Vehicles (Exclusive)

TIE fighters are used by Biggs Darklighter and his mutineers to escape the Rand Ecliptic. Low on fuel, the group returns to the Ecliptic only to find it taken over by a Rebel cell led by Hobbie Klivian. The TIE fighters are then refitted with a hyperdrive, an astromech socket, and ejection seats for a mission to steal X-wings from Incom. Lastly, in a bold statement of defiance, these formerly Imperial fighters are emblazoned with the Rebel Alliance symbol. Biggs's pilots eject from the TIE fighters with astromechs guiding the ships on their own, a tactic which draws off Imperial TIE fighters on patrol around the system.

If the 2009 Legacy Collection Imperial TIE Fighter TARGET exclusive is chicken salad, then this Ecliptic Evader TIE Fighter from 2008’s The Legacy Collection is chicken crud. And there are many reasons why this is so. To start, this vehicle was simply highway robbery. Hasbro set the price point at a glaring $59.99 which made many collectors’ eyes tear when they saw the first advertisement of it in the Previews order catalogue as well as many online shops. And then fans didn’t get why an Imperial TIE fighter had the Rebel Alliance logo emblazoned on both of its wings. If you don’t follow the Expanded Universe, there is no way that you would know from where this concept came. But there are many fans of Star Wars: Empire and the series provided some pretty solid story lines for previously established characters that were seen in the first three films. Despite this however, the toy sat to the point of almost rotting and it wasn’t until retail (both brick & mortar and online) starting blowing it out for less than half of its original MSRP that the vehicle actually started moving. And to be honest, many people still didn’t want to waste their dollars on it. We found it for a song at Rite Aid for $9.99 along with the even worse (sorry once again for our harsh words) Crimson Empire multipack for the same price, so we couldn’t pass it up. But even though you couldn’t ask for a better price, the vehicle still leaves you feeling quite flat.

There was some powerful advertising that went behind this exclusive. Described as hot, fantastic, impressive and totally exclusive, the final product didn’t deliver these descriptive adjectives in the least. It has the same old boring cockpit that we have seen 100 times already in the line. And back to those Rebel Alliance symbols, ugh, water and oil just do not mix at all no matter what you do, people. It looks so out of place in our collection we have regrets picking it up. We don’t mean to come across so harshly, but why Hasbro would release this and take a chance on such an obscure scene in the comics is really beyond out comprehension. Based on its appearance from the pages in the Star Wars: Empire comic book series, this large-scale TIE Fighter has removable panels and an exclusive Hobbie Klivian (in TIE Fighter Pilot Gear) action figure. Since we already got Biggs Darklighter in his TIE fighter pilot gear (from the 2008 TLC Imperial Pilot Legacy Evolutions set) as well, you now have a micro army of these disguised Rebels. “Meh!” we say to that. There are so many Original Trilogy items needing revisiting and first time attention that we have to scratch our heads on Hasbro’s choice to attack this vehicle now.

Per Star Wars: Empire, the Ecliptic Evader TIE Fighters were used by Biggs Darklighter and his squadron to escape the Rand Ecliptic. The group returned to the Ecliptic after they ran too low on fuel and discovered that it had been taken over by a group of Rebels led by Hobbie Klivian. The TIE fighters were refitted with hyperdrives, Astromech sockets, and ejection seats for a mission to steal X-wings from Incom. Lastly, the Imperial fighters were emblazoned with the Rebel Alliance symbol in an act of total defiance. Biggs' pilots then ejected themselves from the TIE Fighters and allowed the astromech droids to pilot the ships on their own which in turn drew the Imperial fighters away from them so that they could gain entry in the Incom facility. This is actually not that terrible of a storyline, but it doesn’t translate into toy well at all. We apologize if this is a piece you like, but it just didn’t strike our fancy in any way. And since there are much better sculpted cockpits on TIE fighters now, this even leaves more to be desired, especially when the superior products sold for $20 less than the inferior version. So, if you're a fan of this Expanded Universe source, then this is for you, otherwise, we'll be you'll be left feeling rather disappointed.