Another "off topic" review specifically for Halloween, think about the fun you had playing board games as a child, and pass that fun on with this neat monster game...

I bought this because it was $3 and it had the word "vampire" on the box. Is there a stupider reason to buy something? Maybe, but this game has been sitting around my house for a few years now after I pulled it from a Kay Bee Toys closeout sale. And I gotta admit, I do have a bit of a soft spot for it. Any game designed to be played in the dark, whose objective is murder, gets some respect from me. And my nephew used to love it before he became obsessed with guns.

I won't spend much time on the rules and what not, but I'll just say that the object of the game is to have your character navigate across the board, get to the master vampire "Drakus" and kill him before he gets away in his ship. Along the way you may have to do battle with all many of ghosts and goblins (in a similar vein to the classic Dungeons and Dragons style, by way of rolled dice) and collect the necessary tools to kill the vampire.

The fold out game board has a plastic tower placed in the middle of the board with some cardboard appendages along the side for detail. The real gimmick of the game and about the only thing that makes it noteworthy is that the tower contains a light up function. Once turned on, it will shine either blue or red, to represent night and day respectively. The light is changed by simply pushing down on the top of the tower.

This comes into play because depending on what time of day it is (determined by a playing card), the game play can be altered. Parts of the board actually show a different image under each color light. For instance, in the pictures below, if you land on the square in the middle during the "day", there is a harmless fog there. But land in the same spot at night and you must do battle with a lesser vampire!

The game includes 4 character pieces as well as the vampire's ship. Each piece is plain white plastic, but I suppose you could paint them up if you wanted to get fancy with it.

I can't say that I expect anyone here at CollectionDX to run right out and buy this. But if you have kids or tend to find yourself babysitting from time to time, it's a neat game to have around the house, especially around this time of year. Kids will dig playing this and it's especially great for keeping otherwise fidgety kids occupied should your house lose power. Since the light tower is run on batteries, you don't need to have your electricity working to play. In fact, it's better if you don't.

Now bring the hate! :)

"Where are we going? Life, the timeless, mysterious gift, is still evolving. What wonders - or terrors - might evolution hold in store for us in the next ten thousand years? In a million? In six million? Perhaps the answer lies in this old house in this old and misty valley..."
..in this action figure...

Gwyllm Griffiths comes from the episode "The Sixth Finger", from the first season of The Outer Limits, and aired on October 14, 1963. The story concerns a dumb peasant boy who allows himself to be subjected to some evolutionary experiments that basically hurl him thousands of years into his "biological future". In other words, he doesn't actually travel through time himself, but his body undergoes the changes of the species as it advances through the generations, one of those changes being the addition of a sixth finger, for added dexterity. The entire episode is viewable online. Here is part 1:

Gwyllm Griffiths is another one of those figures that I never cared much for until I actually owned it. On the surface, it doesn't look that spectacular. It's just an egghead with an extra finger on each hand and a boring all white costume. But perhaps because of it's almost antiseptic appearance, the figures really stands out from the rest of my monster toys. Perhaps moreso than any other figure I've got, this one just screams "SCI-FI" more than horror.

As you might expect, the head sculpt is once again phenomenal. Even if they weren't set so far back into the skull, I think those eyes would show a depth rarely seen on a toy. There is some real emotion in these eyes, from sadness to arrogance and contemplation.

Unforunately, perhaps because he has just a bald head, the seam lines across the top of the cranium is a bit more noticeable here than it might be on other figures. Still, it's not a huge distraction.

The hands are unremarkable, excepting of course, the addition of the sixth finger on which the episode is named. The costume, a simple white patient's uniform, is well made and features buttons along the right side of the figures torso. These buttons appear to be old fashioned from the outside, but underneath have metal snaps. A pocket is also sewn into the left breast. The pants have no real distinguishing characteristics to speak off and the black shoes are removable. All in all, it seems to be an accurate representation of the character from the episode.

The only accessories included with this figure are two books: "Descent Of Man" by Charles Darwin and "Bach: Preludes For Piano". They are rather large so I don't bother displaying them with the figure, but he can hold them if you so desire.

The packaging matches the other releases from the line. A black and white photo adorns the front cover with pertinent episode information on the inside flap.

Although he's using the "wrong" finger, the image on the back looks rather, uh, dismissive. Who knows.. maybe customs, and hand gestures, have also changed 10,000 years in the future.

"A war between worlds had long been dreaded. Throughout recent history, Man, convinced that life on other planets would be as anxious and belligerent as life on his own, has gravely predicted that some dreadful form of combat would inevitably take place between our world and that of someone else.

And Man was right."

"Nightmare" was an episode of the classic science fiction program "The Outer Limits" and aired during the first season, on December 2, 1963 to be exact. The episode featured a young Martin Sheen as an Earth soldier captured by an advanced race of aliens from the planet Ebon (pronounced with a soft "E", like "Eh Bon") and separated from his fellow soldiers for questioning.

In 2002, Sideshow Collectibles (then still known as Sideshow Toys) released a series of 12" figures to commemorate the classic program. In addition to the Ebonite Interrogator, there were the Zanti Misfits from the episode of the same name, Ikar and Ikar's Soldier from the episode "Keeper Of The Purple Twilight", Gwillm Griffiths from the episode "The Sixth Finger" and The Helosian ("O.B.I.T.") and Andro ("The Man Who Was Never Born"), who were sold together as a set.

Originally, I didn't care too much for the box art for these figures, but over time I'm come to like it a lot. It's simple, but really evokes the feel of the show. The front lid opens and a ton of information about the episode (a synopsis, production notes, cast and crew) is printed on the inside front cover. Across from that, the figure is visible throw a plastic window as it rests in it's tray.

As with most of these types of figures, a fully poseable generic doll body is used along with character specific designs for the head, hands, costume and accessories. I can't say enough about the sculpt of the head of this one. It is PERFECT. This guy looks like he stepped right out of your TV screen and onto your shelf. Even the paint applications on the head perfectly highlight the ridges of the creatures skull without being distracting or overstated.

The hands are also well done and are molded specifically to hold the characters included accessories. The interrogation wand fits snugly in the left hand while the right hand can hold the mind control device.

The costume is simply but effective. A plastic collar circles the neck and a black outfit, highlighted with light purple, covers the rest of the body. The wings of the are large and exaggerated, running literally from the ankles to the wrists, but are an effectively spooky addition.

If the figures fails anywhere, it's because the stand (included) cannot really wrap around the figures waist without compressing those wings against the body. The back of the costume can be unbuttoned so that you can insert the metal clamp around the waist under the costume, but you have to really pull it down a bit farther than it goes naturally to do it. Still, I think it's the best way to display it and if it stretches out the costume too much over time....well, so be it.

I really like this figure and am glad it never really shot up in price. I got mine for about $10-$15 on Ebay not long ago, along with the Gwyllm Griffiths (review forthcoming). I would highly recommend these to any monster or sci-fi fan.

The Ebonite Interrogator was limited to 5,000 pieces.

The sensuality of Go Nagai’s character design have never been understated in his projects over the years, from Cutey Honey to Devilman Lady if there is going to be a female character you know she will have at least an underlining but more often an obvious sensuality about her. Minerva X from Mazinger Z is such an example.

(If you have read my CollectionDX reviews you will see that most of my review subjects are from toys or models that I have bought back when I was a kid in the 1980’s. Having been a collector back in the 1980’s, I had a lot of great items that many people had forgotten about and that were worth taking the time out to review. I still have a lot of vintage items to review, GI Joe alone could take another decade to review all the pieces I posses but I knew sooner or later I was going actually take the plunge and seriously collect Japanese toys again.

As a kid I just bought any toy that was Japanese but as I got older my tastes begun to get refined and I settled on a few lines that have most influenced me over the years: Spiral Zone, GI Joe, Mazinger, Gatchaman, Macross, Godaikin, Studio Ghibli, MS Gundam & Zeta Gundam and early Super Sentai. Sometime around 2001 I sold off about half of my Japanese and American toy collection on Ebay and begun to focus on my taste on a few lines that I really cannot live without.

I am still a big model kit buyer and builder but when it came to Japanese toys proper I have very much held off as long as I could, but with so many great toys being released and being reviewed here on CollectionDX I know that I was going to have to make a choice if I like it or not.

Last week, after a long careful debate I finally settled on collecting Bandai’s Soul Of Chogokin line of releases. SOC seems to scratch that itch that I have for Japanese robots. When I think of Japanese robots I think of die-cast metal content, rocket fists, shooting missiles, foam trays, colorful boxes, exclusive releases and a hi-brow attitude. Also most of SOC releases cover my favorite era, the 1970’s and 1980’s. SOC meets those expectations and more. No toy line is perfect and I know SOC has its dog releases but generally speaking from what I have read this seems to be what I was looking for.

Even when I found out about SOC back in the 90’s I knew we were going to have destiny together but it was just a matter of time and when. So here it is friends, my first Soul Of Chogokin review.)

Minerva Soul Of Chogokin

You have got to love Go Nagai’s character and art design. With a few strokes of his paint brush and ink pen he’s created a world that personifies what I love about Japanese art design. Go Nagai has always been cutting edge and controversial and most of his fans are always waiting for what his next project will bring. In the USA most kids watch Tranzor Z on TV but what blew me away was when he made a special one-off Mazinger Graphic Novel for the US market called Mazinger published by First Publishing in 1988. Who knows if it was a big seller but this was the first time I saw Go Nagai unleashed that only Transzor Z hinted at. Somehow I knew there was something more to Go Nagai than Tranzor Z and this was it.

The story features a Mazinger Pilot, Major Kabuto who gets transported to another dimension when a bomb explodes during a battle. Kabuto gets transported to another dimension where a princess is waging a war against Lizards men called ‘Zards that are trying to kill off the last of the humans. Mazinger joins the battle with the princess and afterwards offers herself to marry him. There is just one problem, the Mazinger is the size of the humans in this dimension, making the Mazinger pilot fit in palm of her hand. Not only was the art beautiful (it was in color) and featured the typical Nagai violence, cruelty and fantastic Mazinger designs but the princess was bare-chested during the entire comic!

The sensuality of Go Nagai’s character design have never been understated in his projects over the years, from Cutey Honey to Lady Devilman if there is going to be a female character you know she will have at least an underlining but more often an obvious sensuality about her. Minerva X from Mazinger Z is such an example.

In Mazinger Z, Minerva X was not like the other lead “Lady Robots”. While the other three robots, Venus A, Aphrodite and Diane A are all piloted Chogokins; Minerva X is actually a combination of remote control operated and an advanced AI computer control. Minerva X has made an impression with Go Nagai fans as she was only seen in one episode. Redeveloped by Dr Hell to destroy Mazinger Z, Minerva X soon develops a “thing” for Mazinger Z and begins to protect Mazinger Z in battle, which sadly leads to Minerva’s eventual destruction. In a sense Minerva is the edgy misguided bad girl with the heart of gold and that’s what I like about her. Heck, she even cries!

Now that's Melodrama at it's finest!!!

Minerva X Soul Of Chogokin includes: 1x Minerva X, 1X Stand, 1x stand stickers, 2x stand parts, 2x fists, 2x open hands, 1x instruction sheet.

When I received my package from Japan I was not let down. First off I was surprised how tall the Minerva figure was. Do not think for one minute that the small packaging features a small figure, Minerva fits snug in the box with no area wasted and the figure is a good size when pulled out of the package. The second thing I noticed was how heavy the figure is, besides the forearm, hands, red chest flashes and head, this figure is pure die-cast medal and boy does it feel good! That’s how a Japanese toy is supposed to feel like! Popy Lives!

The sculpt is amazing, capturing the ethereal beauty and soft sensuality of Go Nagai’s design perfect. The poseability is great with chromed metal joints throughout the figure. My only problem is that the head cannot be posed to look up, but as is, it is just fine.

The paint is beautiful, especially the metal flaked silver/blue paint on the leg, body and arm area and the gloss black used throughout. This is a first rate toy as the craftsmanship is perfect. I also admire the head sculpt of Minerva, with its black eyeliner, red devil face and the absolutely beautiful silver blue paint that is used for the top of the head. The clear blue gem on the stomach is a nice touch and adds a nice visual to the figure.

One complaint that I have heard from collectors is the lack of accessories that Minerva comes with. This figure only comes with two sets of hands: a set of fists and a set of open hands. I like the open hands as each finger is molded apart and silver is painted in the finger joint. Perhaps it could have included a weapon or accessory for another Mazinger SOC release but as is I am neither here or their about extra accessories although including the bouquet of flowers that Mazinger Z gives her would have been cute.

My only real complaint is how the hands are attached to the figure. The hand is manufactured out of rubber and the ball on the end of the hand is pushed into the wrist. Simply stated, in so many years of pulling the hands in and out that the ball is going to snap where the ball meets the hand. The figure should have a rubber ball in the forearm and the hand should have a prong that fits into the hole in the ball. That is how most all the Gundam model kits are made and they should have brought that system over to this figure.

I have never been a huge fan of SOC stands, as I believe each figure should have its own uniquely sculpted stand. Minerva includes a generic stand and a sticker sheet is included to be applied to the stand to denote that it belongs to Minerva. But the stand does what its designed to do and holds the figure firmly.

This is a fantastic figure and a must own if you are a huge Mazinger or vintage Popy fan like myself and it easily stands out in the display case among your other Mazinger’s. Minerva X makes a great SOC entry level purchase as it was only $55.00 with shipping from Japan from the dealer I bought it from on Ebay and is worth every dollar I spent on it. I am looking forward to purchasing many more Mazinger related items in the SOC line.

©2009 Article and pictures by Leonardo Flores and Collection DX.

"All good people are asleep and dreaming.."

The original "Outer Limits" has always been one of my favorite tv shows and it's really something of a mystery why I don't own more merchandise from it. Until recently, the only things I had were both figures from the Zanti Misfits, both by Sideshow Collectibles. In addition to the Sideshow figures, there's also a really cool vintage board game that I'd love to have, among other things.

This set features two 12" figures from the episode "Keeper of the Purple Twilight", which aired on December 5, 1964. The story concerns an emotionless alien who comes to Earth to learn about humans. He manages to somehow take a scientist's emotions (in exchange for knowledge of how to build an incredibly destructive weapon) because he thinks that things like love and hate are energy sources. Honestly, outside of the nice alien designs, I thought it wasn't one of the best episodes I've seen. It's up on YouTube in 6 parts...

Perhaps the thing that I like most about this episode is that it is the source of a sample found in Skinny Puppy's song Tin Omen. It may sound weird, but one of the things in life that makes me happiest is to be just chillin' out watching some movie or tv show when suddenly you are surprised with a sample that you've heard plenty of times but never knew where it was from. Sure, these days I'd bet there's all sorts of places online where you can find out where they are from, but I still love that surprise. (If you didn't watch the clips, it's right at the beginning of part 3.)

Ok, so enough about the show and the song and whatnot. Now the toys.. Both figures come packaged together in a 14" square box with a lid that swings open to the left to reveal the toys resting behind a clear plastic window. On the back of the lid you will find a synopsis of the episodes, along with production notes and cast and crew credits. Furthermore, there's several pictures from the show and even a picture of Ikar kicking back reading an issue of "Famous Monsters Of Filmland"!

The first figure, Ikar, is the main antagonist of the episode and features a distinctive design with pointy ears, a large bulbous head and a trio of gills for a mouth. The design was quite popular and was used as the inspiration for one of the cantina band members in the original Star Wars.

The hands of Ikar have really long figures, but the figure features an odd choice. The left hand has separated, flexible fingers, but the right hand has all the fingers connected to each other. I have no idea why they would bother to make it like that.

As you can see, Ikar also has the gun that he helps create in the episode, but it's not easy to get him to hold it properly. You basically have to just rest it in his hands and hope it doesn't fall out.

The second figure, Ikar's soldier, is basically a modified version of Ikar. It has the same body, feet and clothing, but has a different head and hands. The soldier is meaner looking and not just because his hands look like sharp metallic claws. He's also got an angry look in his eyes, whereas Ikar himself looks almost cute.

Both figures feature standard articulation for a 12" doll, except for Ikar's soldier, who has a really thick neck that doesn't allow for any significant movement. Ironically, even though the entirety of their bodies are covered by their clothing, the flesh colored figures are painted green to match the heads around the edges. Not the whole body, just near the ends of the clothing. Wish they'd done that for all their figures...

Custom adjustable stands featuring the Outer Limits logo, the name of the episode and the name of the character are included.

If you're a fan of science fiction and 12" figures, these Outer Limits monsters can be found at a good deal on the after market. Although this set originally retailed for $70, I think I got mine for about $22 on Ebay. Now I just gotta get off my butt and get the rest in this series, not to mention the Twilight Zone figures (of which I have none as of yet...)

I was first exposed to Toei’s 1972 series Henshin Ninja Arashi in an old 1985 issue of Hobby Japan. For many years I thought Arashi was a chicken or rooster, almost like some sort of weird downtown Tokyo chicken joint mascot you would see standing on the corner waving his sword. Regardless of what fowl Arashi was (He has an eagle costume) I knew he was very important in tokusatsu lore.

Henshin Ninja Arashi

I have a huge amount of respect for the pre- Super Sentai and Metal Heroes tokusatsu series that aired in the 1950’s through the early 1970’s. Really it is a case of “Kids, you need to know your roots” with series such as Moonlight Mask, Ultra Man and Ambassador Magma. Don’t get me wrong I’m a huge fan of Super Sentai but the innovations of these early tokusatsu shows cannot be denied with the later successes of Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Metal Heroes.

I was first exposed to Toei’s 1972 series Henshin Ninja Arashi in an old 1985 issue of Hobby Japan. In that issue a master modeler scratch built a resin kit of Arashi in a dynamic pose. For many years I thought Arashi was a chicken or rooster, almost like some sort of weird downtown Tokyo chicken joint mascot you would see standing on the corner waving his sword. Regardless of what fowl Arashi was (He has an eagle costume) I knew he was very important in tokusatsu lore.

Henshin Ninja Arashi aired in the 1972-73 season and aired for 47 episodes. After years of civil war and strife in Feudal Japan a mysterious group known as the Blood Wheel Clan has decided to shatter the newfound uneasy peace and use the instability to take over Japan. The father of one of the members decides to use magic to change his son Hayate into Henshin Ninja Arashi to help defeat the Blood Wheel Clan’s evil leader Devil Sai and his mutant ninjas.

I have always liked the look of Arashi’s Eagle costume, as there is nothing quite like it compared to other tokusatsu heroes. I was quite surprised when I saw this Bandai’s Soul of Soft Vinyl Arashi sitting dusty in a dark corner of a dealer booth at Frank & Sons. The dealer was quite surprised that I knew who Arashi was and $6.00 less in my pocket I had my first new Soul of Soft Vinyl.

Arashi is 7 points of articulation at the arms, plume, feet, waist and head and comes with a hanging card that denotes the toy info connected with a plastic hanger. I also like the sword part molded to his back, although it would be better if you could detach the sword from the figure. The scarf and plume is also a nice detail that could have easily been molded as part of the figure or left off entirely. All around the sculpt is excellent with lots of fantastic details throughout.

The painting details are very well done considering the complexity of the colors and jagged edges throughout his costume and there is no overspray or misplaced paint masks anywhere on the figure. Honestly, It is one of the nicest vinyl figures I have seen. Also, if you have some sort of creepy bird foot fetish then would like this figure as well.

For $6.00 dollars you cannot go wrong at many levels, a great soft vinyl figure of a historical tokusatsu character of one of the most iconic costumes of the genre.

©2008 article and photos by Leonardo Flores & Collection DX.

"Chewie, let's see what this piece of junk can do."
-Han Solo piloting the Tydirium Shuttle to Endor

The Imperial Shuttle Tydirium is a Lambda-class shuttle used by the Imperial Fleet to transport cargo and passengers. Many government officials prefer them because of their combat-worthy construction and large interior space. The shuttles are outfitted with weapons, which allow them to travel without the need for military escort, thus preventing Rebels from determining whether a shuttle is transporting mere cargo or important officials. Equipped with hyper drives, Lambda shuttles are capable of transporting passengers or material between different fleets or star systems.

Today I will be reviewing Hasbro's 2002 ROTJ release of the Imperial Shuttle. This particular release was an exclusive only available through F.A.O. Schwarz toy stores.

To start off with, the box is just plain huge! It is an almost a perfect 24" cube, give or take a few inches. The box has a great photo of the actual toy set in a diorama of the Death Star's landing bay. What really makes this diorama cool is all the 3 3/4" action figures lined up next to the ship with the Emperor and Darth Vader exiting the vessel.

The ship requires some minor assembly once removed from the box. The ship is made a precision fit high quality plastic making assembly a snap, taking only a few moments. Once the ship is assembled you are rewarded with a huge an imposing toy, towering at almost 22" tall with its landing gear down and wings up.

The Imperial Shuttle is highly armed with cannons located at both ends of the ship. Along with being armed to the teeth this ship features some truly realistic weathering. If the guns and weathering detail weren't enough, this toy also has a few surprises. Check out the landing gear, notice the front center looks like a trigger/handle? Well it is, and you need this handle to steadily hold this very heavy toy. The trigger, when pressed, lowers the side wings. Other features shown are the extendable boarding ramp and realistic rear thrusters. Just check out the next 4 photos to see what I mean.

The last 2 photos show the cozy detailed cockpit and the spacious passenger cabin. The cockpit is accessed by simply flipping forward the windshield hatch and the cabin is accessed via removing a side panel.

Jango Fett is known throughout the galaxy as a relentless bounty hunter who doesn't stop until his prey is captured or killed. His ship, Slave 1, is just as dangerous and deadly as its owner........

Jango Fett is known throughout the galaxy as a relentless bounty hunter who doesn't stop until his prey is captured or killed. His ship, Slave 1, is just as dangerous and deadly as its owner, with an arsenal of weapons from which no prey has ever escaped.

This highly modified Firespray-class patrol and attack ship was originally used in law enforcement, but Jango rebuilt it with hidden weapons compartment, sensor masking and tracking systems, and powerful shield generators - all the necessities for the most dedicated and brutal bounty hunter ever known (lets not forget his son, Boba Fett).

When chasing Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jango Fett makes full use of his technology and weapons - firing laser cannons, dropping sonic charges and firing missiles - in an attempt to destroy his prey and his pursuer.

Today I'll be reviewing Hasbro's 2002 Attack Of The Clones Jango Fett's Slave 1. The box is very retro as you can see in the photo below. Picture the blue area's in black and you'll feel like its the late seventies all over again.

Getting Slave 1 out of the box and assembling is very easy. Its just a matter of attaching the 2 wing arms, foils, cockpit canopy and its ready for play. The plastic construction is extremely sturdy and it doesn't have parts that fall off when you look at it like the original.

The first 5 pictures give you a quick walk around the ship. Notice the great detail of the paint and weathering. Also, you may be able to tell that this is an entirely different mold than its Kenner predecessor.

The next picture shows the front of the ship where you can pull down a cover to reveal a retractable rotating Gatling style missile launcher.

Another feature shown below is the sonic charge release hold (sonic charges not shown).

Both of the above features are activated using switches located on the highly detailed back side of Slave 1. The yellow button drops the sonic charges and the small wheel button rotates, firing off the missiles in clockwise pattern. Note the clips for storing the 4 extra included missiles.

The last photo gives you a good side view of the detailed wing arms and foils.

Luke Skywalker bravely piloted the X-wing into the Death Star's trench while being pursued by Darth Vader......

Incom Corporation's T-65 X-wing Space Superiority Starfighter was made famous by pilot, Luke Skywalker during the Battle of Yavin. Luke bravely piloted the X-wing into the Death Star's trench while being pursued by Darth Vader's Advanced X1 TIE fighter and two regular TIE fighters. Luke was able to make the direct hit to the Death Star's vulnerable exhaust port without using the X-wing's advanced targeting computer, Luke trusted himself and used the force to deal the fatal blow.

Today I will be reviewing Hasbro's Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back 2002 release of the X-wing fighter. Hasbro's version of the X-wing is larger, greater detailed and more accurate to the movie than the original Kenner version.

Hasbro's has packaged this version in a window box. is it just me or do other people wish that Hasbro would just pick one style of packaging? Anyways, the box lets you get a good view of the detailed X-wing inside.

Removing the X-wing from the box and assembling the wings with outboard laser canons is a snap. Once assembled the ships plastic construction feels very sturdy and has good heft.

As you can see in the next few pictures, they kinda went a little overboard with the weathering detail. I don't remember the X-wing being that dirty looking...do you? Another pet peeve of mine about the X-wing's design and not this toy, is that the rear landing gear....Just how does it retract to the same space as the lower engines? hhhmmm?

At the rear of the ship you will locate the lever that activates the wing opening feature that gives the X-wing its namesake.

The next two photo's show the nicely detailed X-wing cockpit.

The last two photo's show the astromech socket and the included R2-D2 riding in the socket. I'm not going to include a review on the R2 unit because its a very basic figure with no special features to speak of.

To conclude, I like this version of the X-wing and feel it is the best representation of this ship in toy form to date. My only gripe is the excessive weathering detail. It is just to overboard in my opinion. Less is more Hasbro.

Tie Bombers are the prime assault bombers of the Empire. In traditional attacks, Tie fighters first soften up the target, and then the Tie Bomber's come in and finish the job.....

Tie Bombers are the prime assault bombers of the Empire. In traditional attacks, Tie fighters first soften up the target, and then the Tie Bomber's come in and finish the job. Their sophisticated targeting sensors enable them to hit specific targets without damaging surrounding area. This allows them to disable vital areas so that Imperial forces can take control of the crippled vessel or space station. Tie Bombers carry a heavy and diverse payload that allows them to not only attack ships and stations but also perform ground bombing and mine planetary orbits. In The Empire Strikes Back, Tie Bombers are deployed to locate the Millennium Falcon when it hides in an asteroid field.

Today I will be review Hasbro's 2002 release of Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Tie Bomber.

As you can see, the Tie Bomber comes in a window box letting you get a good look at the bomber inside.

To start off with, Hasbro has made this toy out of really nice plastic, ABS and PVC. these materials married together really give the Tie Bomber a nice heft and sturdy feel.

The first thing you will notice about the Tie bomber has an unusual twin pod spaceframe. The left side pod houses the pilot's cockpit. The right side is the Ordnance pod which holds all ammunition and has a missile port on the front. Note the bomb chute at the bottom of the Ordnance pod (More on that later). I am hoping the following 8 pictures will give you the reader, a virtual 360 degree view of the ship. Please note the paint wear details. I think these pictures really give a sense of just how cool this ship is.

The next 4 pictures I want to show you the bombing action feature.

The first picture is the 3 High Yield Proton Bombs that are supplied with the ship. The bombs are kinda strange, they are a clear casing with a visible orange center.

This second photo shows a hole located at the rear of the Ordnance pod. This hole is where you load the the 3 supplied High Yield Proton Bombs.

The third photo shows the button located on the front of the Ordnance pod. By pressing this button you can release one bomb at a time.