Disney Store Star Wars Die Cast Vehicles: X-Wing, B-Wing, and Slave 1
It's been a few years since Disney bought Star Wars, and we're starting to see them rev up the merchandising. If you stop by the Disney Store, you'll see some cool PVC sets, Hasbro's Star Wars Black line, and other toys and role-play accessories. Between that and Marvel, the Disney Store's becoming extremely geek-friendly, even for those geeks too insecure to admit they love princess movies.
In addition, it appears Disney is trying to play off of their success with Cars and launch a line of die-cast ships and vehicles. Along with those I'm reviewing, I saw a land-speeder and a speeder bike, and a few minutes online revealed several more up on the website. |
I picked these up, because I'm a sucker for toy space ships, and the price was reasonable (more on that later). If you collected the old Micro Machines Titanium ships, these are about twice as large, measuring about 6 inches front-to-back or top-to-bottom (whichever is the longest direction).
Appearance and Construction: X-Wing: 7/10, B-Wing: 8/10, Slave 1: 9/10
All three of these are nice, but Slave 1 is the clear winner.
These are constructed of a combination of metal and plastic, just like the smaller Micro Machines. To their credit, they seem to have favored metal whenever it was practical. The X-Wing, in particular, is almost entirely metal, while the B-Wing seems to have the highest percent of plastic.
All three seem to match their onscreen counterparts, though, at least in terms of design. Likewise, the painting and weathering effects look fantastic.
The X-Wing loses a few points for having bent guns. These are one of the few areas of the ship they went with plastic parts, and they seem to have warped in the packaging. It's likely something that can be corrected with hot water and patience, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Seemed more appropriate to show how it came out of the package, anyway.
That said, the weather and detail work is fantastic: there's even a little R2 behind the cockpit. The inside of that cockpit is unfinished (i.e.: empty), but that's only an issue when you open it up.
The B-Wing looks nice, but it has a minor construction issue. I'll discuss this again in the Play and Display section, but it also applies here. The connectors on the rotating cockpit are very loose, which gives the figure a slightly cheap feel. It's not a huge problem, but it'll cost it a point. Once again, the interior of the cockpit is unfinished. It's still not a big deal, but it's a slightly bigger deal this time, since you can see through the window when it's closed.
I don't really have any major issues with the Slave 1. The guns are a little disappointing, but everything else is pretty stellar. They even bothered to include an interior display in the cockpit. I wished they'd been able to hide the Disney logo/Made in China inscriptions a little better, but - to their credit - they blend in pretty nicely unless you're looking for them.
I almost went to 10 for Slave 1, but the die cast market is typically pretty high quality. There are enough very minor improvements they could have made to hold it back. But it was close.
These are constructed of a combination of metal and plastic, just like the smaller Micro Machines. To their credit, they seem to have favored metal whenever it was practical. The X-Wing, in particular, is almost entirely metal, while the B-Wing seems to have the highest percent of plastic.
All three seem to match their onscreen counterparts, though, at least in terms of design. Likewise, the painting and weathering effects look fantastic.
The X-Wing loses a few points for having bent guns. These are one of the few areas of the ship they went with plastic parts, and they seem to have warped in the packaging. It's likely something that can be corrected with hot water and patience, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Seemed more appropriate to show how it came out of the package, anyway.
That said, the weather and detail work is fantastic: there's even a little R2 behind the cockpit. The inside of that cockpit is unfinished (i.e.: empty), but that's only an issue when you open it up.
The B-Wing looks nice, but it has a minor construction issue. I'll discuss this again in the Play and Display section, but it also applies here. The connectors on the rotating cockpit are very loose, which gives the figure a slightly cheap feel. It's not a huge problem, but it'll cost it a point. Once again, the interior of the cockpit is unfinished. It's still not a big deal, but it's a slightly bigger deal this time, since you can see through the window when it's closed.
I don't really have any major issues with the Slave 1. The guns are a little disappointing, but everything else is pretty stellar. They even bothered to include an interior display in the cockpit. I wished they'd been able to hide the Disney logo/Made in China inscriptions a little better, but - to their credit - they blend in pretty nicely unless you're looking for them.
I almost went to 10 for Slave 1, but the die cast market is typically pretty high quality. There are enough very minor improvements they could have made to hold it back. But it was close.
Packaging and Extras: Slave 1: -1, B-Wing: -2, X-Wing: --
The packaging is fine: it gets the job done, then goes in the trash. If you care more than that, I can't really help you beyond including the picture. Oh - and apologies for not doing a better job on that picture. I wasn't planning on reviewing these until later, so I just tossed them in the hallway and snapped a photo for my records.
Needless to say, the penalties aren't for the packing material. They're for the bases. Or, more specifically, the lack of any bases or stands for the ships to stand on. I'm sparing the X-Wing this penalty, because it has landing gear, so it doesn't necessarily need a stand. Slave 1 should have a stand, but it does alright without one, since laying on its back is both a screen accurate position and a cool one. I'm still hitting it with a -1. The B-Wing is extremely boring in that position, so it's getting a -2 penalty. |
Play and Display: X-Wing: -1, Others: --
I considered hitting these with another penalty from the lack of stands, since it's a certainly an impediment to displaying these. In the end, it felt a little too cruel, so I left it.
There's actually a good number of joints/play features on these considering their size. The X-Wing has folding landing gear, an opening cockpit, and wings that shift from flat to the iconic "X" shape. The wings are a little mixed, actually. They're locked together, so they effectively snap into the X shape then back to the flat configuration. That's cool, but the price is that the middle section is entirely separate, and as a result is sort of wobbly when the wings are together.
The much larger issue is due to the landing gear: the front leg snapped off while I was writing this review. It's a small, thin piece, so you'll want to be careful. Ultimately, not the end of the world, but I'm hitting it with a penalty.
There's actually a good number of joints/play features on these considering their size. The X-Wing has folding landing gear, an opening cockpit, and wings that shift from flat to the iconic "X" shape. The wings are a little mixed, actually. They're locked together, so they effectively snap into the X shape then back to the flat configuration. That's cool, but the price is that the middle section is entirely separate, and as a result is sort of wobbly when the wings are together.
The much larger issue is due to the landing gear: the front leg snapped off while I was writing this review. It's a small, thin piece, so you'll want to be careful. Ultimately, not the end of the world, but I'm hitting it with a penalty.
The B-Wing has several features, as well. The cockpit rotates 360 degrees and opens, the wings fold out, and there's a missile launcher that folds out.
Like I said before, the cockpit has a tendency to "roll" if the toy is moved. Likewise, gravity is perfectly happy to open it for you. This seems to be the case with all of them: it was evident in the package, and we were unable to find one without this issue. Again, it's not a huge problem, but it's certainly an imperfection.
Slave 1 does a little better.
The cockpit opens, revealing seats. The wings rotate a little, though only about 45 degrees. The miniature guns turn a full 180, of course. There's also a hidden ramp leading to the cargo hold I almost didn't find. I actually needed a safety pin to pry it open. The interior is empty, but it's still a cool little feature. None of this is enough to justify a bonus, but it's still nice.
Price Tag and Final Analysis: X-Wing and B-Wing: 6/10, Slave 1: 8/10
By now, you likely think I'm pretty disappointed in these. They're decent, but not great die cast toys, they don't come with a stand (a must for space ships), and a piece snapped off the X-Wing.
Actually, I'm astonished how good these are.
Okay, okay: I'm a little irritated that the front landing piece broke, but it's not like I was going to display it that way. I'll probably use what I used for the pictures, which are menu holders I picked up at a Daiso Japan.
Why the positivity? Simple: these are a fantastic value. These toys retail for $10 each (I actually got them on sale for $9, but let's just focus on retail price). That's only moderately more than the Micro Machines were going for, and check out the comparison picture to the left (I'm also including a 6 inch Star Wars Black Boba Fett for size). These might not hold up to $50 (or even $30) die cast ships, but this price point for a licensed property is something usually reserved for bargain stores. This is a phenomenal deal. For all their faults, these look great together.
And I'll wager they'll look even better on a shelf beside the other ones I ordered from The Disney Store.
Yeah, they're not perfect. But these are a lot better than the Star Trek ships this size, and they're about half the price. I'm pretty sure I can swing a few more menu holders with the savings.
Actually, I'm astonished how good these are.
Okay, okay: I'm a little irritated that the front landing piece broke, but it's not like I was going to display it that way. I'll probably use what I used for the pictures, which are menu holders I picked up at a Daiso Japan.
Why the positivity? Simple: these are a fantastic value. These toys retail for $10 each (I actually got them on sale for $9, but let's just focus on retail price). That's only moderately more than the Micro Machines were going for, and check out the comparison picture to the left (I'm also including a 6 inch Star Wars Black Boba Fett for size). These might not hold up to $50 (or even $30) die cast ships, but this price point for a licensed property is something usually reserved for bargain stores. This is a phenomenal deal. For all their faults, these look great together.
And I'll wager they'll look even better on a shelf beside the other ones I ordered from The Disney Store.
Yeah, they're not perfect. But these are a lot better than the Star Trek ships this size, and they're about half the price. I'm pretty sure I can swing a few more menu holders with the savings.