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I was out for Midnight Madness, and spent the whole day on
the 23rd hunting down various Attack of the Clones figures. But none
of them held a candle to the cool new sets from Playskool.
Playskool is a division of Hasbro, so it's no real surprise
that they finally incorporated the Star Wars license. This set of
figures and vehicles are in the All In One Adventures series, similar to the
Jurassic Park figures they did last year.
There are two large sets with vehicles, and two smaller sets
of just four figures. I also believe that there's a Millennium Falcon
set out, but I haven't came across it yet. I found these at Walmarts
and KB stores so far.
The Duel with Darth Maul set includes Maul, Obi-Wan, a Droid
and the young Anakin, along with Anakin's ship. The Obi-Wan figure has
a magnet in his hand to push back the Droid.
The X-Wing Adventure includes an X-Wing, Luke, R2 and Darth
Vader. The Luke has a magnet in his hand, although he doesn't effect
anyone in this set.
The Endor set has two speeder bikes, a Luke, Wicket the Ewok,
and a Stormtrooper. Both the trooper and Luke ride the bikes
perfectly, and Luke has a magnet in his hand that pushes the Stormtrooper
back. The magnet can also be attached to the back of a speeder bike to
make it appear as though he's hanging on for dear life.
The Hoth set has the Wampa (Stompin' Mad!), Taun Taun, Luke
and Han. Luke has a magnet in his hand, and when it comes close to the
Wampa's chest, he's eyes roll back and he gets 'confused'.
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Packaging - **1/2
There's nothing particularly exciting about the packaging, and actually,
it's surprisingly dull considering the desire to appeal to the under 6
crowd. But at least there are NO twisty ties involved!
Sculpting - ****
The sculpting on both the figures and the vehicles is excellent.
Think Star Wars meets Tiny Toons. Each of the characters - Han,
Luke, Vader, Maul, etc. - look like they are little kids. Even the
doe eyed Taun Taun looks like some sort of alternate universe version.
Paint - ***1/2
The paint ops were clean on most of the figures, and the vehicles are
excellent. There's a fair amount of detail as well, even for this
style of figure.
Articulation - **
Although I love these figures, I can't give them too much on
articulation. Most of the figures are basically big PVC's, although
all the Jedi have one twisting wrist, and the Wampa has an arm sweeping
action. The Wampa's other arm has a basic cut joint as well.
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 Play
Value - ****
These are terrific toys, not collectibles. They are designed for
kids to play with, and connect with the films at a much earlier age.
While some collectors will be turned off by the 'immature' nature, I think
these are some of the coolest Star Wars toys to come out in a long time.
Vehicles - ****
The two larger sets come with excellent vehicles. Both are
designed so that a figure can fit inside the cockpit, and the X-Wing even
has a button to snap the wings open. R2 fits in back perfectly, and
the design is simply excellent.
Value - ****
I paid only $12.77 for the big sets at Walmart, and $8 for the smaller
sets at Kaybee. You should be able to find the smaller sets at a
cheaper price at other outlets, and these are a terrific value.
Fisher-Price toys in the same style tend to be a bit more expensive.
Overall - ****
If you're looking for a great toy for your kids, that can bring them into
the universe of Star Wars, then these are for you. They are a ton of
fun, well made, and well designed. This is one of the best ideas
Hasbro has had in years, even if they are just copying Fisher-Price's
similar success with this style figure and vehicles.
Where to Buy -
Bricks and mortar stores are just putting these out. I found them at
Walmart and Kaybee so far, but on-line you can try:
- Entertainment
Earth, where they've been for awhile. It looks like they are currently
out of stock, but you can pre-order the Falcon set. (MROTW
Affiliate)
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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford. |
