Cloud Car Pilot, (Twin Pod) - TVC - Basic (VC11)

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars saga that changed the universe forever! This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. Iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are captured with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Star Wars saga. May the Force be with you!

The (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot action figure in The Vintage Collection is an equally surprising and equally expected release. With the release of the brand new Cloud Car, Hasbro had to release a figure to pilot it and instead of just repacking 2004’s The Original Trilogy Collection Cloud Car Pilot (OTC #19) figure, they made a new figure from the ground up. But what is hard to distinguish for sure until more reference photos surface is if the 2010 (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot is based on the models from the original version of The Empire Strikes Back, the enhanced Special Edition or the concept art. We think that the action figure is a hybrid of a little bit of everything. But if you look closely in the reference photo below, you can tell that the helmet definitely resembles the latest action figure. Hopefully a question and answer with Hasbro will bring this information to full clarity one day. But until that happens, we will have to enjoy the (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot for what it is. And the good news is that it is a wonderful action figure and it is so exciting to get the pilot for a newly made trademark Episode V vehicle in The Vintage Collection. While the Cloud Car Pilot doesn’t have all of the accessories of the original vintage figure or the 2004 figure, it certainly is a vast improvement in most other ways. While we love the Cloud Car Pilot, we don’t feel comfortable saying “this is the best action figure ever…” because we don’t know how to judge him from the reference materials. We effectively see a bobbing head in the film and so many of the large coffee table Star Wars reference books like The Star Wars Chronicles don’t even touch this character or give better details on what the uniform looks like. But we can confirm that the outfit has been perfectly matched to the concept art by Nilo Rodis Jamero. Whether of not the final “puppet” in the film is wearing the same outfit remains to be seen. But this figure is definitely more closely related to the concept art that the first two basic action figures (the vintage figure and the 2004 OTC figure).

(Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot has a wonderful 14 points of articulation. This is going to be perfect for setting him in the newly designed Cloud Car. And since he comes with a gun, you’ll also have the flexibility to set him in some battle sequences if you so desire. His outfit is primarily white (just like previous versions) but instead of a gray circle on his left breast, it is now a red circle with the same insignia that can be found in the concept art sketch of Nilo Rodis Jamero. And he has a yellow undershirt which was the perfect accent to his outfit. It just looks great. Instead of gray boots, he is really wearing gray sneakers and his pants have yellow calves with a yellow stripe going up to his knee in the front thigh on both legs. He also has yellow gloves and his arms and shoulders have thin red line accents which really make the figure pop and catch your attention. Hasbro decided to include facial hair (a moustache) for this figure. While we think it looks a little too like the late seventies or early eighties for us, it definitely doesn’t happen that often and we think it looks alright. His shirt continues below the swivel waist joint and hangs halfway below his cod section. This feature slightly inhibits movement in the legs, but it doesn’t prohibit putting him in sitting position. Vehicle fans can breathe a sigh of relief as you will be able to put him in your Cloud Car without issue. In the same section of the figure as the lower shirt, Hasbro has also designed a functioning holster for his gun and then a communications device with hanging cords (which are non-removable). These separately sculpted pieces are nice touches or additions, but we wonder how necessary they are especially since they can interfere with the aesthetics of the figure (especially those figures that pilot ships). Even so, this is not a knock on the figure. This is a very cool pilot and it is the definitive version and a definite modern counterpart to the vintage figure.

The figure has an awesomely sculpted helmet and underneath is a fantastic portrait. The expression on his face is cool and we love the style Hasbro chose to bring another Bespin resident into our collections. The head is covered in a gray skull cap so only the face is visible. But Hasbro did a great job in this tiny little work space to make a believable “puppet” of a character come to life. The Cloud Car Pilot has a small stature, especially in comparison to many other figures in the wave, including Dengar (VC01). This is really no big deal. After all, he will be primarily piloting a vehicle and not battling the Empire. So he being on the small side should not make or break your decision to purchase him. But while he is smaller, it is also important to note that he is also lean and has a thin but athletic build. We absolutely love his helmet. It has all the ribbing it should and the colors are flawless. Another insignia which is different from the one on his chest be found where his ears would be if he wasn’t wearing the helmet. The helmet is decorated in three sections with the two outer ones colored in red with the white ribbed section in the middle of the two red ones. Hasbro has managed to sculpt yellow goggles into the helmet as well as a communicator. And lastly, the yellow goggles are outlined in silver to give them a realistic final touch. Once again, no detail was spared to make the best action figure possible here. We are so impressed with what Hasbro has done in only the first wave of The Vintage Collection. There are clearly going to be some very impressive figure coming in the next couple of years. We are getting more and more excited for the line and we hope that it has tickled the potential interest of those who have scaled back on their collecting habits. And if we are going to be getting quality figures like the (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot, we are going to have a lot to be thankful for in this line.