Eta-2 Jedi Starfighter & T-47 Snowspeeder Review Having recently come across some youtube reviews of Hasbro's Jedi Starfighter (RotS version, circa 2005) and finding it to be an incredibly cool looking toy, I ventured the bay to pick up a few of its variations as cheaply as I could. It took a little bidding patience, but I managed to nab five vehicles, all MIB, plus a whole boatload of figures, with shipping included, for altogther about 120 bucks. The overall detail and quality of these toys are great -- nice paint apps and durable, well-formed parts -- plus a few cool features like spring-loaded flaps (S-foils) and firing missiles.
The 4 Jedi starfighters I purchased (offically the Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor, wookipedia link below*) are Darth Vader's black (aka "Sith Starfighter," Extended Universe), Anakin's yellow, Obi-wan's red and Obi-wan's later-version white and blue. There are three other variations of this toy -- a green and white Anakin, a gray and purple Mace and a multicolored Aayla Secura -- but four were enough for me; plus the snowspeeder, a last minute pick-up I had to have. This is the Rogue Two version, similar to the original with some small but impressive improvements, like back windows, a properly scaled rear gun and opening break flaps.
Pilots not included (except for the Snowspeeder), the action figures were mostly bought loose -- average winning bid with shipping was 5-7 bucks a pop (they BIN at 10-15) -- and not going for accuracy I had fun picking out and matching the pilots I thought looked best with each ship. I haven't had a 3 3/4" figure in many years and I was pleasantly surprised with the improvement in the sculpts and posing articulation -- much better than my old GI Joes of the 1980's. These new figures are mostly ball-joined or ball-hinged at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, thighs, knees and ankles.
Overall, I give the Jedi Starfighters a rating of 9.5. They look cool as display pieces and are very durable/playable, with good features. They lose .5 for only including half-bodied astromechs (no feet), which are removable, but the sockets are just slightly too narrow to put full-figure astromechs in -- a sloppy oversight by Hasbro because it would've been an easy adjustment. If determined, you can kind of cram a full-figured astromech in there, but it can be a pain in the neck to get it back out so I don't recommend it unless some modding is performed to either widen the socket or slim the astromech.
The snowspeeder also gets a 9.5 -- losing .25 for an untensioned landing gear that just kind of flops out and offers only moderate support (in my original 80's Kenner snowspeeder -- from the same basic mold -- the landing gear was spring-loaded and stood rigid.) Some have complained that the guns and cockpit hatch on this vehicle are too loosely fitted and come off too easily, but I actually find it a plus, as I'd rather accidentally knock something off and easily fit it back in, than snap it off and have to glue it back on. Vehicle get an additional minus .25 for a bland, non-detailed cockpit. But other than that, it's a great toy.
If you're thinking of buying any of these on ebay -- unless price is no object -- my suggesting is definitely NOT to Buy Now, which is usually set at 30-40 bucks plus shipping for each of the vehicles. They are readily available and with a little patience can be picked up on a bid for 10-20 bucks a pop, or occasionally even less. I got the blue one for 7 bucks.
* Eta-2 description :
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Eta-2_Actis-class_light_interceptorClicky Pics :Regular ConfigurationAttack Configuration (w/ S-foils locked)"Imperial" Biggs Darklighter body & helmet w/ "Ecliptic" Hobbie Klivian head sculptArvel CrynydKeyan Farlander body w/ Tycho Celchu head sculpt & helmetClone PilotWes Janson & Zev Senesca (Zev came w/ the Snowspeeeder)Thanks for looking :)