Reader Review: 30th Anniversary 'Gold 4' Y-Wing Fighter (TRU Exclusive) By Whitewolf
By Bespin refugee on 2007-08-29 in
ReviewsLong ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
...when a computer's processing power was measured in kilobytes instead of the current terabyte juggernaughts, there was a game released by a young computer software company known for titles like "Sam & Max Hit the Road" and "Day of the Tentacle." That company's name was LucasArts. The game's title: X-Wing. It was the first (and some contend still the best) Star Wars flight simulator ever made. I remember playing that game for hours at a stretch and my favorite starfighter was the slow but tough Y-Wing. I had a sadistic streak where I would first disable a TIE with the ion cannons and then pick off individual ship's systems with the laser cannons...all the while, the enemy pilot unable to protect himself from the inevitable...MWUAHAHAHAHAH!!
...ahem...I digress.
Over the years, the Y-Wing has seen release at least 3 times. The first time was 1983, then again in 2003 (ironically also as a TRU exclusive, sporting a horrid red and silver paint app), and now as a 30th Anniversary TRU exclusive. The newest incarnation of the Rebel Alliance's workhorse is a solid mix of old and new. The basic spaceframe of the ship is a simple reuse of the same '83 mold, along with the engine pylons and exhaust vector plates at the rear of each engine. But several changes have been made to the newer versions of the Y-Wing, such as the original droid socket being filled in and replaced with a fixed droid head (in this case, an R5 unit) and the obvious lack of electronics. When the 2003 version was released, many collectors noticed that Hasbro had replaced the original long nose cannons with ones that were little more than stubs...presumably for safety reasons. But this glaring change along with the strange paint job turned many off and the ship was largely passed over by more than a few collectors. This time around, Hasbro went back to the drawing board and decided that there was nothing wrong with the original. If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it, right? The new nose cannons are not only restored, but are now larger than the originals and more movie-accurate. Now lets just see how many kids can poke their eyes out with them. The cockpit hasn't changed whatsoever in either version of this starfighter...although the current decals are quite eye-catching even if they aren't accurate to the movie.
The paint app is extremely nice on this Y-Wing. The signature dirt and grime of nearly all Rebel ships is there, giving it a much more realistic appearance than previous versions of the ship. Small details like carbon scoring around the laser cannons, and simulated engine glow also round out the whole "new and improved" look.
The Y-Wing is relatively the same length as the TRU Exclusive Dagobah X-Wing, given the extra length of the nose cannons.
The figures that come with the Y-Wing are:
*Lieutenant Lepira
*R5-A2
These two figures are definitely a case of love and hate. I love one of them and hate the other...
R5-A2 is one awesome droid! I've reviewed a couple of R5 units in the past, so I won't go into any of the sculpt/mold stuff. But the paint app is very nice, if not a bit odd. The astromech is a white droid with bright yellow and blood red detailing. There are no noticable paint defects that I can see and the weathering done to the droid matches the ship in which it co-pilots. Any astromech collectors out there will definitely want this droid added to their collections...
Lt. Lepira on the other hand is just another rehash of the Dutch Vander/X-Wing Biggs figure with a different head sculpt. I have a few issues with this figure...first and foremost the fact that he is posed in such a way that he does not fit into the cockpit very well. The other problem I have is his height also being a factor in his cramped-cockpit situation. The last and possibly biggest issue I have is the head itself. Since when did one of the T-Birds from Grease ever fly a Y-Wing?? The dude's hair is literally done in a 1950's pompador in the front and a ducktail in the back! What was his ship's nickname...Greased Lightning? C'mon Hasbro...anything but this! He just looks goofy as hell...
Lastly, the Gold 4 Y-Wing comes with one single accessory:
*Rebel Pilot Helmet
The helmet is the same one that comes with VTSC X-Wing Luke and TAC X-Wing Biggs, and suffers from the same "brand-spanking-new" syndrome that VTSC Luke's did. At first, I thought it was a simple repack, but upon closer inspection I saw a few slight variations around the Rebellion symbol that differentiate it from others. But from 5 feet away, you most likely wouldn't notice them.
Overall, I love the ship, love the droid...hate the pilot. Two out of three ain't bad, as the saying goes...
If you already have a fleet of these things clogging your collection shelves...this may not be for you, but if you don't have a Y-Wing yet, or just want to upgrade to the more movie-accurate styling...then grab one from your local TRU or TRU.com. Aside from Lepira, you won't be disappointed...
I give the TRU Exclusive Gold 4 Y-Wing 4 Death Stars.
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