Hasbro Star Wars - The Power of the Force A-Wing Fighter Review

When I started my "first" Star Wars collection of Kenner Toys' action figures, playsets and vehicles in 1978, I was about to make the transition from junior high (what's now known as middle school in most of the U.S.) to senior high school, so most of my spending money was spent on getting as many of those collectibles based on the characters, locations and space- and land-based craft of the Star Wars Trilogy as possible.

But by the time Kenner's Star Wars product lines began to peter out two years after the release of Star Wars - Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, I was a college freshman with the most serious of minds and focused on being one of the best journalism students at what was then called Miami-Dade Community College.  I still loved Star Wars, of course, but I had to pay for my classes, eat lunch on campus, and buy expensive textbooks, so after buying one last Return of the Jedi-based toy (the Imperial Shuttle), I stopped going to Lionel Play World and Toys R Us and gave up looking for new Star Wars  stuff,

This, of course, means that when Kenner rolled out the original version of the A-Wing Fighter under the Droids collection's aegis, I had no clue that it existed until my friend Rogers and I stepped into a comic book store in the early 1990s.  It was still in a near-mint package on one of the store's display shelves and was being sold for a "mere" $90.00.

This was several years befolre 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm Limited released the 20th Anniversary Special Edition of the Star Wars Trilogy, and the Hasbro-absorbed Kenner still hadn't reintroduced its Power of the Force Star Wars figures yet, so I didn't pony up the $90 for the A-Wing, which probably had a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $24.99 when it was sold in stores in the mid-1980s.

Now, I didn't kick myself at the time for not getting it either when it was less rare or at the outrageous "collector's item" price the comic book store was asking for it, but it was the only of the "letter-named" Rebel fighters which had slipped through my fingers.  I had the original X-Wing Fighter, as well as the Y-Wing and the B-Wing Fighters. but not the A-Wing..

Star Wars - The Power of the Force: A-Wing Fighter

I had not planned on ever restarting my Star Wars collection, partly because I figured (no pun intended) that I was a bit too old (I was 34 in 1997) to be going to toy stores and comic book emporiums in search of the new figures and all the space vehicles that Hasbro was updating in anticipation of not just the Special Edition reissues of the Star Wars Trilogy but also the long-awaited Prequel Trilogy.

However, my friend Rogers, whose heart is as big as his own Star Wars collection, upened my intentions by buying lots and lots of Star Wars collectibles as extras, then giving me many as gifts.

One of the first vehicles Rogers surprised me with was, to my shock and wonder, the second and much improved A-Wing Fighter made for the "Kenner Collection: The Power of the Force 2" line by Hasbro.

Model: Alliance A-Wing Fighter
Type: Interceptor and Multi-Purpose Starfighter
Length: 9.6 Meters
Affiliation: Rebel Alliance
Crew: 1 Pilot
Weapons: Modified 360º Pivoting Laser Cannons

Released in 1997 as part of the Classic Star Wars Trilogy-centered Power of the Force collection, the A-Wing is a compact little starfighter that was featured in Return of the Jedi's climactic Battle of Endor sequence.  With its delta-wing configuration, twin-laser armament twin-tails and two sublight engines, its lines vaguely resemble those of a capital letter A.

Weapons and Accessories :

Unlike its former rival and mid-1990s acquisition Kenner Toys, Hasbro has usually ditched the "detailing by labels" technique to give the various vehicles the "lived-in, battle-worn" look that makes the Star Wars spacecraft look believable in the movies. 

Not only are the Hasbro-made vehicles less angst-inspiring for parents or collectors who would otherwise have to spend some time carefully affixing at least one sheet of labels, but painted-at-the-factory weathering, unit insignia, and basic paint schemes last much longer than paper-and-adhesive stickers.  (The A-Wing I own has two tiny labels just in front of the cockpit's bubble-style canopy; all the other detaling, which includes carbon scoring from space dogfights and stains near the engines, is painted on.)

The A-Wing Fighter has two function buttons that add to its playability factor.  One unobtrusive button at the back of the fuselage is disguised as a sensor fairing and can raise or lower the cockpit's transparent canopy. 

Another button on the undersise of the port (left) side of the A-Wing Fighter lowers and raises the three legs of the landing gear to simulate landing and in-flight configurations. (My A-Wing Fighter has been on static display for over 10 years and it's pretty hard to get the landing gear retracted completely, and I'm not willing to risk breaking any of the gear struts just to see if forcing the individual "legs" into the gear wells would work.)

Finally, unlike Kenner Toys' strategy of selling vehicles without figures, the A-Wing Fighter comes with an "exclusive" and nameless A-Wing Fighter Pilot. He is the same size as most of the 3.75-inch action figures in the various Star Wars collections.  He wears a permanently-molded on helmet and green-colored A-Wing pilot's uniform, with a nicely detailed silver and black "life support equipment pack" strapped onto his chest.

Unlike the later variants of Hasbro's Imperial TIE Fighter Pilot figures that come with the various TIE Fighter variants, the A-Wing Fighter Pilot only has the basic articulation points at the neck, upper arms, and hips.  This limits the figure's posing possibilities to standing in front of his spaceship or - more than likely - sitting in the cockpit of his starfighter.

My Viewpoint:  With its compact size - it's far smaller than the Incom T-65 X-Wing flown by Luke Skywalker - and its authentic detailing, Hasbro's Star Wars - The Power of the Force A-Wing Fighter makes a nice gift for either a rookie Star Wars collector or an experienced adult colllector.  It's almost ready for either play or display out of the box (the two little labels I have on mine aren't really needed) and it fits easily on any shelf or desk for storage or display purposes.

Because it's only available at either comic book stores or online toy and collectibles web sites, the Star Wars Power of the Force A-Wing Fighter is probably not as cheap as it was in 1997 and therefore not an appropriate gift for a youngling under the age of 8.  Hasbro says it's "age appropriate" for kids 4 years and up, but its parts may not stand up to rough play for long.  It's up to the individual parents to decide, of course, but these collectibles are usually better appreciated by more mature kids and grown-ups who love Star Wars movies.

As with all the Star Wars action figures, vehicles, and playsets, Hasbro recommends this toy for children 4 and up since the small parts pose a clear and present choking hazard, especially for children under 3 years.