Skip to main content

Star Wars Power of the Force Red Box Vehicles X-Wing, AT-ST, and Speeder Bike with Scout Trooper




Speeder Bike with Scout Trooper

This was the only one of these three vehicles that my brother and I had as kids. We had two vintage scout troopers so finally having a speeder bike was a big deal. An added plus was that it was the same mold as the vintage line so our original scouts could finally feel the air fog up their goggles. The new scout figure introduced one of my least favorite things about the new Power of the Force line: wide stance, bending knee figures. They just look awkward off of their vehicles and besides the speeder bike, no one else could ride unless they had similar legs. Say what you will about the vintage vehicles and beasts but the trap door mechanism made it possible for most anyone to ride. Thankfully, like I mentioned, this was a vintage mold so we didn't face that issue YET.











AT-ST

My best friend had the AT-ST so I never felt the rush to go buy one. Though, if it had been in stores longer I probably would have. Return of the Jedi was my favorite Star Wars movie so recreating any part of that film was my thing. Also, this is the perfect time to talk about the AT-AT/@-@ debate. I never heard it referred to as an @-@ until I heard Kevin Smith talking about them. The @-@ name doesn't click for me, especially knowing there are AT-STs. Would you call them @-'stis'? Either way, I always referred to AT-STs as Chicken Walkers. I'm not sure where that term originated or where I first learned it. Maybe from old Star Wars resource books? I used to get every Star Wars book that I could from the Library in that time before the Star Wars renaissance so it's very likely that that is where I picked it up. Anyways, I love this vehicle. The stomping action feature is neat but I never used it. My only complaint is that it can't hold two figures. 











Sorry, Chewie


X-Wing

Holding this toy gave me real joy. Seriously. Like a 5 year old on Christmas. I never even expected the rush of emotions that came over me when I wooshed this thing through the air. And when I say woosh, I mean woosh. It was almost a guttural reaction. I was making sound effects and everything. It just felt natural to do so. I'm not sure if it is just the overall design of the toy or the way X-Wings have been implanted in my brain over the years but it was an amazing feeling. Bear in mind that I had a POTF2 Snowspeeder, a Tie Fighter, a vintage Falcon and a vintage B-Wing previously. None of those ever gave me this rush and I was never a huge X-Wing person! Just an amazing feeling and I'm so happy to have experienced it.














Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Toy Biz DC Superheroes Flash v2, Hawkman, Two Face

I started getting back into the DC Superheroes line early last year. Even though the Kenner Super Powers line is superior in a lot of ways, this line has a nostalgic value for me. Recently, I was able to add three more figures to my collection: Hawkman, Two Face, and the second version of the Flash! Version 2 is a HUGE upgrade over Version 1. V2 Flash doesn't rely on a wind up action feature so it actually has arm articulation. Now Flash can actually do some better posing... let alone throw a punch! V2 Flash also comes with a Quicksilver/Silver Surfer-esqe platform. It even moves forward on its own if you pull it backwards.  Toy Biz vs Kenner. The Kenner figure is obviously the better choice. Just one look at his weapon and his head sculpt and that is obvious. However, there is a dumb charm to the Toy Biz figure and I'm happy to have him. I really like this Two Face figure. He has a winding feature for flipping his...

Toy Biz Sentinel

Any X-Men fan will agree on how cool the Sentinels are. They would rank in the top 10 of any X-Men villain list, easily. And if you poll X-Men the Animated Series fans, they will tell you how great the first season was with the premiere episode, Night of the Sentinels and the season finale, The Final Decision. The entire show was sold to us on the danger of these machine menaces. For whatever reason, I was never able to ahold of one of the Sentinel figures as a kid. We were just bombarded with so much coolness growing up that it was hard to get everything out there. Luckily, my adulthood has been filled with second chances. I picked up my first Sentinel this fall from Ebay. It was in wonderful condition and I can't wait to pick up a few more. Just really cool toys. Retractable capture claw snatches Mutants and reels them in. Hitting the head reveals mutants being held captive inside the Sentinel. Poor Morph. The left fist can be launched to smas...

Carry Cases - X-Men, Batman Returns, Marvel Superheroes

Since I got back into collecting a few years ago, I have been keeping my figures in boxes or tubs but within the last few months I decided to go with something different. I always loved having Carry/Collector Cases growing up. It was the ultimate way to say that not only do I have these toys but I'm a HUGE fan as well. It definitely gave you some street cred on the playground and during sleepovers. Using these now, there are some pros and cons. The pros being how great they look. The art on these things were always wonderful. Having these on your shelf rather than tubs just adds a little bit of flair to your collection. The cons, however, is the fact that they don't hold very many figures. Most Cases have two trays that are made to hold 6 figures each. That gives you 12 per case if you follow the suggestion. Luckily, there is always more wiggle room than they mention and a lot of us were able to get up to 24 figures in some of our Carry Cases. I decided to go ahead with getti...

Flash Gordon

  Flash Gordon. For many of us, seeing that name evokes the imagery, sounds, and energy of the fantastically over the top 1980 film. The bright colors. The Queen Soundtrack. Brian Blessed's Vultan's booming and jovial voice. This was my introduction to the franchise as well. It's an amazing film that still entertains as much today as it hoped to do back then. In fact, the film stuck with me so much that it pushed me to look further back into the history of Flash Gordon. "If this was the 'campy version', what was it really like?" Digging deeper, I found the 1970's Filmation series AND their hidden film. I say hidden because it has yet to be re released outside of a Japanese Laserdisc copy that some kind soul uploaded to Youtube. This was a great series that included more of the Flash Gordon world than the 1980's film. I especially love this incarnation of Thun, the Prince of the Lion Men. And of of course, Bob Ridgely's voice stands way out with...

Kenner Silverhawks

Around 1990, my family moved to Indiana, near my mom's hometown. Every so often, we would go shopping at the local mall with my Grandparents. During that first year, we visited Kay Bee Toys and they had a giant lot of Silverhawks that they were liquidating. At this time, neither my brother or I really knew what they were but we were immediately captivated by what we saw. We walked out of the store that day with Quicksilver, Flashback, Mon*Star, Mumbo Jumbo, Buzz Saw, Mo-Lec-U-Lar, and the giant Tallyhawk. Not a bad haul at all!  Even without knowing the backstory, we really enjoyed these figures. My mom was really great at keeping her finger on the pulse of what interested us and always kept an eye out for things that would fit the bill. Not much later, she found a Silverhawks coloring book that covered the story of Darkbird. This book was my first real introduction to the world of Silverhawks. I broke my childhood Quicksilver but kept the other figures in pretty...