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Droid starfighters, also known as vulture droids, are sent out in huge numbers to overwhelm Republic forces. They are capable of skillful maneuvers in aerial and space battles, and are armed with blaster cannons and torpedoes. On land, they position their wings into stilt-like legs for ground patrols.
The Variable
Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I (Vulture-class
droid starfighter or
even more simply Vulture droid) was
a droid created and utilized by the Trade Federation. Interestingly,
although classified as a starfighter, the vehicle has no pilot and
navigated itself via its central control computer. The vehicle has
four blaster cannons and two torpedo launchers.
Armed with a bevy of artillery, the droid could also attain speeds
of 1200 kilometers per hour. And when the vehicle was not in flight
mode, it could separate its wings and use them as functioning legs
and walk about the shipyards as needed to get from point A to point
B. For
years we received the Vulture Droid as a much too small deluxe figure.
About the same size of a 3.75” action
figure, fans knew that they weren’t
the right size, but we just weren’t
sure just how off the scale was. Hasbro remedied this issue with
the release of The
Clone Wars Vulture
Droid. A vehicle/droid
that is more impressive than you may think, its level of detail and
amount of articulation will definitely put a smile on your face. Not only do you get plenty of it, but it also has great functional articulation as well. There is nothing more frustrating than being given a vehicle that's intended to articulate yet doesn't.
While
the Vulture Droid has made appearance in Star Wars sources as early
as Star
Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace,
this Hasbro toy is based on the vehicle seen in The
Clone Wars film as well as multiple episodes including the Shadow
Of Malevolence episode. The
vehicles created for The
Clone Wars have
been primarily colors in blue and the Vulture Droid is no different.
An all-new vehicle from head to toe, the Vulture
Droid has been designed in a very thorough manner and can actually
function and be displayed in your collections just as it did on the
big and small screens. Hasbro ensured that they gave this vehicle some
additional play value including a double-jointed neck (which allows
for awesome mobility), ball-jointed,
hinged and
swivel wing connectors
and extra missile storage on the inside of the wings. As you know,
the wings of this droid can separate (pull
away) from
the hull and then split in
half (boy,
what is it with Separatists and splitting limbs?) to
form “legs” so
that it can walk around like a “normal” droid.
The design is wonderful and although we think the “head” on
the vehicle may be a bit too big, it is not sore on the eyes.
The
Vulture Droid has very cool patterns and contrasting designs on its
body. And the common “alternating
white triangle” pattern
on the wings looks spectacular. The good news is that the wings are
fastened with tight joints and this allows for optimum posing
capabilities and we are happy that a strong plastic was used to help
aid in the prevention of bowing legs. Part of the mid-size vehicle
line, the Vulture Droid is a very fair and modestly priced vehicle.
It is a nice chunk of plastic worthy of you $20 purchase. After getting
years of Vulture Droids that were about 75% too small, Hasbro as given
us a properly scaled one in The
Clone Wars line. It
would be awesome if Hasbro could repaint the Vulture Droid in accurate
movie colors as well. If
we had any
suggestions,
we would have
recommended redesigning
the head to
make a
cockpit. Although this droid has no pilot, we think it would have added
that extra play value it needed. But if they did indeed
add this,
it wouldn’t
be able to house a
figure, so maybe we take back our suggestion. Still,
we love the Vulture Droid as is and it is the perfect accent to The
Clone Wars line
which seems to be taking over retail. We
are beginning to crave the stuff and an all new interest level too. (Editor's Note: The Vulture Droid has also been released in The Clone Wars [Red] "red" line look in addition to The Clone Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] "dark skies" line look.)
Collector Notes
Vulture Droid
Status: Vulture Droid is an all-new vehicle.
Articulation Count: 14
Articulation Details: double hinge-jointed neck, 4 connectors each containing 3 points of articulation each (swivel, hinge-jointed and ball-socket articulation)
Accessory Count: 6
Accessory Details: 6 missile projectiles
Date Stamp: 2008
Assortment Number: 87968/87870
UPC: 653569374893
Retail: $21.99 USD
Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on
listings.