Saturday, January 22, 2011

Great Balance, Superior Detailing, The Vintage Collection (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot Is A Must For Star Wars Toy Fans!





The Good: Great articulation, Cool accessories, Decent balance, Wonderful detailing, Fits in Cloud Car perfectly!
The Bad: Somewhat more expensive than most . . .
The Basics: The (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot action figure is an impressive sculpt that seems perfectly designed to fit into the new Cloud Car toy!


It was not very long ago that Hasbro actually came out with their first contemporary Cloud Car Pilot figure (reviewed here!). Thus, I was surprised when the 2010 Vintage Collection of Star Wars figures included the (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot. My wife, dear that she is, decided to tease me with this new sculpt figure a month before she gave me the new Cloud Car from the 2010 Vintage Collection Star Wars toy line. And the worst I can say about this new (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot figure is that Hasbro raised the prices on their figures and as a result, it is very hard to find the figure for less than $10. That said, Hasbro went out of their way to create a perfect figure with this one and they succeeded admirably!

For those unfamiliar with the Cloud Car Pilot, this was the driver of the flying ships around Bespin. Seen only at a distance in the late moments of The Empire Strikes Back (click here for my review of the film!), the cloud cars harassed the Millennium Falcon as it tried to land. The (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot was not even a real person; it was part of a model for the cloud car, so there has never been a rush to make the figure, despite the fact that the early ‘80s line of The Empire Strikes Back toys did include one! The Vintage Collection figure actually features the card from the original ‘80s release!

The 4" (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot figure is pretty impressive and it makes the collector glad Hasbro is milking us for money for the accessory ship!

Basics

The (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot is a good support figure for anyone's Star Wars action figure collection as it is a neutral character. This incarnation makes a good addition to one's collection because it is well-articulated and looks exactly like it is supposed to. The figure stands 3 3/4" tall and he is dressed in the white, orange and yellow flight suit of the cloud car drivers. He looks like a futuristic race car driver, without advertisements all over his body. The outfit is clean, which is realistic considering the Cloud Car Pilot ought to have a pretty clean environment inside the cockpit of his flying car. The Cloud Car Pilot figure is cast with the intent that he will most often be sitting down. Unlike the prior release, the figure’s stance is a bit more neutral, so he stands or sits well. The figure is made almost entirely of soft plastic, most notably the holster for the gun, which rides low on his hip.

This toy is an impressive sculpt, looking precisely like the flying car driver , including the fact that it has the almost bib-like top portion to the flight suit. The (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot is well-detailed in his coloring detail, except when it comes to his skin tones. There is no shading to his face, and his lips are not colored at all. He does, however, have a realistically-colored mustache and intense brown eyes with appropriately black pupils. There is no hair on the figure because the Cloud Car Pilot has a helmet and a hood underneath.

The costume is adequately detailed and includes insignia on the figure's chest and helmet. As well, the forearms of the figure feature racing stripes. The figure has a minimal belt, but he has loops and pouches on his belt that make him look as versatile as most of the other Star Wars figures!

Accessories

The Cloud Car Pilot is well armed and appropriately coiffed for a pilot. The (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot has a helmet which actually may be removed from the figure's head. The helmet comes right off and reveals the hood beneath! As well, the Cloud Car Pilot comes with a blaster pistol.

The blaster pistol is a small gun unique to this figure. Smaller than most, it seems designed mostly to fit in the figure's right hand and go into the holster on his right hip. The gun is ¼” and while that might seem small, it is perfectly proportioned and looks like a neat little weapon with a good amount of surface details etched in, but monotonally colored. It is small, though, and not recommended for small children; despite being cast in soft plastic, it still has a bit of a point.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot is extraordinary in that regard. The figure is incredibly articulated and has great balance as a result. The (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot has wonderful articulation and it fits perfectly in the new Cloud Car! When the figure is posed flatfooted, he is very stable, even when moved to more outlandish poses! The Cloud Car Pilot figure comes with fourteen points of articulation, most of which are not just simple swivel joints! The (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot has proper hinge and ball-and-socket joints! He has joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck, and waist.

Collectibility

Cloud Car Pilot is part of the 2010 Vintage Collection four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was not very common at all, but largely recast figures that had been previously released by Kenner and Hasbro. Hasbro sought to improve the old figures by having a greater attention to detail, coloring and accessory detail and proportion. The (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot accomplishes those goals! Released the one time as Vintage Collection figure #11, it has already appreciated in value nicely. This turned out to be one of the better investment figures from this period in Hasbro's history!

Overview

With or without the Cloud Car, the (Twin-Pod) Cloud Car Pilot is a winning figure from the new Vintage Collection line!

For other The Empire Strikes Back figures, please check out my reviews of:
Saga Legends IG-88
Legacy Collection Snowtrooper
Legacy Collection Captain Needa

10/10

For other toy reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


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