ARC-170 Fighter - TCW [B] - Vehicles (Exclusive)

The ARC-170 (Aggressive ReConnaissance) fighter blasts into battle! Specially trained clone troopers serve as pilots for this attack and recon vessel that can carry a crew of clone troopers and has an on-board astromech droid to handle in-flight operations. The well-armed fighter lives up to its name as an aggressive vehicle against the Separatist forces during the Clone Wars. Crews often customize their ships with personalized insignia; this crew has chosen the fierce wampa as their symbol.

Quite a few new vehicles were part of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. Their introduction in the Star Wars saga helped us to appreciate the newness the Prequel Trilogy brought to the Star Wars timeline. One of them, the ARC-170 Fighter, stood out strongly from the rest. With a frame similar to an X-wing fighter (but thicker in proportions), the ARC-170 Fighter became the perfect vehicle to produce for The Clone Wars toy line by Hasbro because of its strong Prequel Trilogy presence, and the overlap it has to the Clone Wars storyline. At the time of the The Clone Wars [Blue] ARC-170 Fighter Toys R Us exclusive release, the vehicle didn’t make an appearance on the television show. (Editor’s Note: The first appearance of the ARC-170 Fighter occurred in Season Two in 2010, more than a year after this vehicle’s release.) But Hasbro, always able to think outside of the box but within the parameters of their existing tooling, produced a brilliant “Flaming Wampa” version of the collector-favorite ARC-170 Fighter vehicle. And it’s one of the nicest-looking vehicles in the entire The Clone Wars [Blue] line. It fits in with the rest of The Clone Wars [Blue] products seamlessly, and yet offers a new avenue of play that isn’t a focus in The Clone Wars television series.

The ARC-170 Fighter is a rework of 2005’s ROTS ARC-170 Fighter vehicle. Hasbro made no other enhancements to the vehicle, aside from deco and decal changes, which is significant in this case. The ACR-170 isn’t a complex vehicle and possesses multiple straightforward features. Still, if you itemize everything it can do, you’ll discover you’ll get a significant amount of play value from the vehicle. The centers of the wings open up (manually by your hands) and give the vehicle an appearance reminiscent to the Original Trilogy X-wing fighter. The long canopy and cockpit area houses two pilots, and then a third “gunner” or pilot in the rear compartments fits into that seating area. Hasbro also added a fully functional droid socket and it has no issue fitting The Clone Wars [Blue] R2-D2 (No. 8) figure or other astromech droids in the line. The bottom of the vehicle has two plastic flaps that flip open to reveal a handle with a trigger. It flips down so you can hold the vehicle in a flying position, and the trigger releases the two bombs you store in the lower nose of the vehicle. Also included is cannon functionality, and the two guns upfront each fire a long projectile when activated. As you can see, you get to do many things with the ARC-170 Fighter.

The ARC-170 Fighter is moderately priced. Keeping in mind that exclusive vehicles also cost more than the ones released to the mainstream, the ARC-170 Fighter’s MSRP hangs around $39.99. It’s more than the standard versions of the vehicle, but it could be worse. And it probably will get worse as time progresses. Hasbro’s exclusive program will continue to feature repaints and reissues of previously existing vehicle sculpts. It’s the only way that exclusive can exist in the modern line. There is less and less retail space, and the way we’re going to see the larger vehicles at retail is only through retailer exclusives. It’s the way things are now. The ARC-170 Fighter is truly a nice vehicle. Hasbro used a high-quality plastic to cast the vehicle. And the paint operations are clean and tidy. They accented the ship with deep red stripes, and then you’ll find other colors like lime green and white as well as others that help bring everything together so wonderfully. We hope the ARC-170 Fighter makes frequent appearances in The Clone Wars television show in the future. Hasbro has a great base vehicle to make new and exciting versions of the vehicle for its toy line. And it would be great if they could focus on the ones that make it into The Clone Wars television show.