Today’s unboxing and review features Sabine Wren’s TIE Fighter from the Micro Galaxy Squadron collection. We are big fans of this range of scaled Star Wars vehicles and would love to add as many as we can to our collection.

I wanted this TIE Fighter variant from the moment I saw it, but my hopes dropped when I saw it was one of the hard to find 5,000 chase variants. You should have seen my face when I spotted this one hanging on the rack at my local toy store – I grabbed it so fast. I still can’t believe we found this one locally, and only paid retail for it, the Force was with us that day!

The assortment number for this pack is SWJ0012-091922-TM.

Check out my full unboxing video –

The packaging for this ‘light armor class’ vehicle is standard for this range – a big clear window bubble on a cardboard backing card. The lower front window insert has the name and number for this specific variant – Sabine Wren’s TIE Fighter #0036. The bubble has a gold foil circle sticker noting that is a rare chase variant – 1 in 5,000.

The backing card has colourful space battle artwork behind the bubble (A-Wing vs TIE Fighters), while the back has a blueprint style image of the vehicle, a few insert shots of moveable parts, and a collectible card that you can cut out if you want to – I will be leaving my backing card intact.

Sabine Wren’s TIE fighter looks great in the packaging, but even better when you get it out. The bright orange and yellow paint scheme just sings, especially in contrast with the classic black and pale grey of the wings. It was such an iconic design from Rebels, I wish it was used more in merchandising – like the fun Republic Gunship paint jobs from both Clone Wars animated series.

This colourful TIE Fighter is so fun, makes me wish I had a full size one to jump in and go racing – especially with that black and white checkerboard print. I have to admit I did fly this one around my living room making TIE Fighter noises…

The paint job is fairly accurate, especially when you consider the scale of this vehicle, and it looks right at home with the style of other painted vehicles in the Micro Galaxy Squadron range. Of course the TIE fighters in Rebels have a slightly different wing size/ratio than the TIE Fighters of the original trilogy films (which is the sculpt used here), but I understand why Jazwares wouldn’t bother with a completely different vehicle sculpt. Not many people would notice or care about the subtle differences, and it looks fine, especially lined up with other TIE Fighter variants from the same range.

Sabine’s custom paint scheme is confined to the inner wing panels, cockpit and arms – the outer wing surfaces are the standard TIE Fighter black and grey as seen in Rebels (which is a slightly different grey to the original trilogy film TIE fighters). The wings can be removed from the main body if you wish – a tight fit, the simple peg-and-hole attachment is nice and secure.

There is a push-button panel on the underside of the cockpit, which raises the inner seat section, so you can more easily get a figure out. A simple push-up mechanism, it doesn’t fire the figure out James Bond ejection seat style or anything.

The back of the cockpit is also fully painted, and the checkboard print continues around the back as well. This vehicle has one of the most complex paint schemes in the Micro Galaxy Squadron range that I have seen in person (so far), and I am really impressed with how tidy it looks, even up close.

At the back there is a hinged section that can be folded down. I’m not sure this adds a lot of useful detail for display as this won’t really be seen once it’s on your shelf, but yeah, it’s there.

Next, onto the included figure. The Sabine Wren figure is quite well done, considering her size. She has quite a detailed paint app, with multiple colours, and is quite reasonably tidy. She is articulated at the shoulders and the hips, allowing you to pose her arms and legs into a sitting pose to put her in the cockpit.

The TIE Fighter cockpit window and top hatch both have sections of transparent plastic to act as windows, but in practice this is hard to see through. If I look really closely, I can just make out a figure through the front, but it’s not very easy to spot. Still, I appreciate the detail here, and much prefer it over opaque sections instead.

Overall, this is a fantastic version of Sabine’s TIE Fighter. I knew it was highly sought after on the secondary market, so realistically my only chance to own one was to find it locally, which I did! We know realistically, with some store exclusives and chase variant scarcity in the mix, it’s going to be hard or very expensive to be completionist with this range (as with so many Star Wars collection lines these days) so it was absolute luck to find this one instore ourselves.

Stay tuned for more review of Micro Galaxy Squadron vehicles coming soon – including a comparison of four different TIE Fighter variants.

May the Force be with you!

The post Micro Galaxy Squadron – Sabine Wren’s TIE Fighter appeared first on Villa Varykino.

Now this is podracing! The latest addition to our Micro Galaxy Squadron collection is the Boonta Eve Battle Pack, which includes two podracer vehicles.

This battle pack is marked as ‘series 1’ but does not have a ‘launch edition’ foil sticker. It is currently available in-store at branches of The Warehouse in New Zealand for a retail price of NZ$45.00 each (approximately US$28.47 at time of writing).

The assortment number for this battle pack is SWJ0093 112522 GC

Watch our full unboxing video below –

This Battle Pack includes two vehicles, that at this time are not available individually – Anakin Skyalker’s Podracer and Sebulba’s Podracer, as seen in The Phantom Menace. Each vehicle also includes a small figure that fits into the cockpit.

Each vehicle comes with a clear plastic stand that attaches to the podracing engines, so they can be displayed in a more correct hovering style, rather than just sitting on the ground. I rather wish that all vehicles in this range came with a clear stand, to have options for display (especially the Jedi Starfighter with hyperdrive ring). The vehicles snap onto the stands nice and securely, but are also removable if you prefer to display the vehicles without them (perhaps in a diorama setup).

The paint applications are colourful and tidy, with minimal weathering applied in appropriate areas. There is some minor articulation in the connectors between the engines and the cockpits, and the energy beam connectors are sculpted nicely.

Sebulba’s podracer –

Anakin’s podracer –

Overall, I think this is a fantastic set and a fine addition to our Micro Galaxy Squadron collection. The figures fit in the vehicles well, and the display stands give a more accurate ‘hovering’ presentation when on display.

Will you be adding this set to your collection? What vehicles do you hope to see in future waves of the Micro Galaxy Squadron line?

May the Force be with you!

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So many exciting new Hasbro The Vintage Collection figures lately! Celebrating the recent 20th anniversary of Attack Of The Clones, we have the new Anakin Skywalker ‘Padawan’ figure from AOTC – VC244.

We are still quite shocked to find this figure available on local store shelves, as it is still listed for pre-order on most international collectible websites. We were excited to get our first in-hand look at this Anakin figure, especially after the surprise appearance in a flashback in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series! I think Hasbro knew about those scenes, and put this figure in the same assortment as the first figures from the show.

Check out our unboxing video –

Anakin Skywalker ‘Padawan’ is VC244, as he appears in Attack Of The Clones. The backing card features a promotional photo of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, from what looks like the Tusken Raider camp scene.

This figure is part of the assortment containing the first figures from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series – all the more interesting after discovering that this version of Anakin does appear in the series in flashback scenes.

Here in New Zealand, this TVC figure retails for NZ$29.99 each – which is approximately US$20.

So, our first look at the figure loose and up close.

This Anakin figure comes with an alternate ‘robotic’ hand, which is quite unique for Hasbro 3.75″ figures. This ‘padawan’ version of Anakin is from Attack Of The Clones – technically the gold version of his robotic hand is only seen in the closing wedding scene on Naboo, so it’s really interesting to see it included as an option here.

As expected, the figure also comes with two lightsaber accessories – a lightsaber hilt with peg that can attach to a hole on the left side of the belt, and an “activated” lightsaber with blue blade, that can be held for action poses. The figure also comes with a removable soft goods cloak, and attached soft goods lower tunic.

First up – the cloak. Anakin has a unique cloak in Attack Of The Clones – the front has strips, which is quite different to other Jedi cloaks. Unfortunately, his style doesn’t translate well in this small action figure scale – the front strips here don’t want to hang down the front. This is mostly due to the way they have been cut/sewn, as part of the back, so they naturally want to hang down the back. I understand a small change like sewing separate strips to the front would increase production time and costs, but it would have been a big improvement.

With a bit of wrestling, the strips do hang down the front, but that creates a bit of bunching at the shoulders. If I want to display this figure wearing the cloak, I would just lie the strips down the back for a cleaner (if not as accurate) look.

Personally, I prefer this figure without the cloak on, which is a shame – not very many Anakin Skywalker figures have come with a cloak. It can be easily removed – it sits on the figure with a loop of cord around the neck – not very accurate, but as Anakin’s cloak doesn’t have standard sleeves, it needs some method of staying attached to the figure and not just falling off.

Taking a closer look at the figure sculpt up close. I like the Jedi tunic details, some good fabric folds and lines here. The plastic lower front tabbards are joined together, so they lie straight and flat – though they do limit the hip articulation a little.

The padawan braid is curved to the front – it isn’t bent so it naturally sits forward. The hands hold the lightsaber well – though considering the options included here like the robotic hand, I wonder why they didn’t include a second lightsaber. Anakin uses other random lightsabers on Geonosis in the arena and in the fight against Dooku, so it would have been fun to include another here. I know I can always grab a spare lightsaber accessory from another figure, but that would have really make this figure into the definitive AOTC Anakin figure.

There are nice points of articulation at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and ankles. The knee joints on our figure are quite tight, but better than being too loose. To be honest, most of our figures are displayed standing straight, with most posing done with the upper body, so I don’t really mind – I care more about the arms for lightsaber poses.

The detail continues nicely on the back, with the belt pouches and capsules, tunic fabric folds, and boot strap details all very well done.

Our figure unfortunately has a bit of a paint flaw on the back of the lower tabbards. It’s frustrating, but always a risk with Hasbro figures – thankfully it is on the back, as we very rarely pose a figure facing away, so it won’t be seen once displayed on our shelf.

I particularly like the soft goods lower tunic – it adds a nice touch to the figure, and matches nicely in colour to the top of the tunic. It allows for some flexibility of the legs without having to create large artificial cuts in a plastic tunic.

One of my favourite aspects of this figure is the alternate hand – as well as coming packaged with two standard ‘human’ hands, this Anakin figure also comes with a gold robotic right hand. This allows collectors to create a ‘post-Count Dooku fight’ version of Anakin, as we see him during the wedding on Naboo.

Of course we don’t really see Anakin fighting or holding a lightsaber with this version of his robotic hand (it is black in Revenge Of The Sith, and mostly covered by a glove), but I really like the options here. I always feel nervous pulling off parts like hands, but the switch was relatively easy – the robotic hand sculpt has a hole/gap at the wrist so I was careful not to force it too much when attaching, as it can flex and bend.

The lightsaber hilt accessory attaches nicely to the peg hole on the belt, tight but not too tight. I am not worried about it falling out or coming loose. Of course this attachment method always leaves a hole in the belt sculpt if displaying the figure with the activated lightsaber in hand, but I do think it’s one of the better ways of giving collectors the option of displaying the hilt on the belt – and given the style of the belt clip, the gap is not too distracting within the design.

Overall, a great figure. Yes I am frustrated that the cloak isn’t quite as good as I hoped (it really is tucked behind the figure when carded so you can’t really see it at all before purchasing), but I still like all the other design details. Good sculpt details, good articulation, and I love the alternate hands.

As a big fan of Attack Of The Clones, I am really happy to see a new sculpt of a character from the film – especially as this year marks the 20th anniversary. I hope we see more AOTC figures released this year, especially since there are still many Padme’ Amidala outfits that have yet to be made in the action figure line.

May the Force be with you!

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The time has come – we opened up the brand new TVC Darth Vader figure!

After we featured the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series figures online, we had many collectors ask about the VC241 Darth Vader figure in particular, and if we could show him uncarded to see all the details. The iconic Star Wars villain has been made countless times in the 3.75″ action figure line, with so many different sculpts and repacks – so how does this one compare? After initially deciding to keep our Obi-Wan Kenobi series figures carded, our curiosity got the better of us, so we decided to open them for a closer look.

Check out our unboxing video –

We are still quite shocked to find these figures available on local store shelves. International retailers like Entertainment Earth (affiliate link) and Big Bad Toy Store have these figures available for pre-order, with a release date of November 2022 – that’s still months away. Here they are at our local Farmers department store, sitting alongside the current range of locally available Star Wars toys.

Here in New Zealand, these TVC figures retail for NZ$29.99 each – which is approximately US$20.

Here he is – “The Dark Times” Darth Vader VC241. I found the variant title quite interesting – this version of Darth Vader is “The Dark Times” – just as Obi-Wan Kenobi mentions when talking with Luke Skywalker in A New Hope… “Before the Dark Times, before the Empire”.

The back of the card shows the other figures in this wave, including Obi-Wan Kenobi “Wandering Jedi” and Reva “Third Sister” from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. It’s kinda funny that a couple of the other figures pictured here, like the Ahsoka Clone Trooper, are still not available here yet. It really is quite exciting to have these new figures available while the series is still airing on Disney+, we are so excited for the final episode!

So, our first look at the figure loose and up close.

This Darth Vader figure comes with four hands – two left hands and two right hands, for a variety of poses.

• An open grip left hand, capable of holding a lightsaber
• A closed grip left hand, in a fist
• An open grip right hand, capable of holding a lightsaber
• An half-open grip right hand, as if pointing or using the Force

As expected, the figure also comes with two lightsaber accessories – a lightsaber hilt with peg that can attach to a hole on the left side of the belt, and an “activated” lightsaber with red blade, that can be held for action poses.

This figure has two soft goods components – a large flowing black cape, and a lower “skirt” robe. The soft goods are made from the same material, and suit the scale well. The edges are not sealed, they are left raw, so do be careful not to cause any fraying with handling.

I really like the cape in particular – it is pleated at the back, to give extra fullness. This means that you can open the cape up for a full wide shape, like when Darth Vader strides down hallways.

There is a great level of articulation in this figure, which means he poses very well, and I found he is quite steady when attempting to stand him without an additional base stand (not included). There are articulation points at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist, waist, hips, thighs, knees, and ankles. The joints all feel nice and tight, so the poses hold well.

The helmet has some really nice sculpting and details. The lenses have a red tint, to match Darth Vader’s appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi. There are also nice accurate silver/grey touches on the cheeks, nose, and tusks of the helmet (as used on the full-sized filming helmets to increase the contrast and visibility of dtails). One aspect which I found interesting – the helmet dome is made from flexible plastic, so the sides can be flexed (it feels like the same plastic as the cod piece, which can also bend). Perhaps this helps when assembling the figure with the soft goods components? In any case, I only noticed it when checking the neck articulation movement.

All up, a fantastic action figure – and I’m glad we opened it up to take a closer look. I know for many collectors, when it comes to a character that we all own several versions of, sometimes getting yet another double doesn’t always fit into the budget alongside new characters being done in the action figure line for the first time. Personally for us, this VC241 Darth Vader is a must-have figure, and in our opinion, one of the best versions Hasbro has ever made.

May the Force be with you!

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This week I finally sat down and read Todd Fisher’s autobiography My Girls – A Lifetime With Carrie And Debbie. Todd’s story follows his life with mother Debbie Reynolds and sister Carrie Fisher – a unique insider perspective on these famous women. From childhood, to a year after their passing, the book follows his life and his close relationship with his family. A loving and honest look at the troubles both women faced, and their incredible strength.

No such word as ‘can’t‘ in our family.

Todd Fisher

I don’t read as much as I want to (as I’m sure many of us find these days), but I knew I had make time to read this book. I settled in and soon found that I’d read for hours. It was an easy read, full of incredible stories – it may sound cliche’ but I highly recommend it to every Carrie Fisher fan. The book also includes wonderful family photos scattered throughout, and in two glossy inserts.

Although the book was first published last year, I wasn’t sure I was emotionally ready to read about Carrie’s last days – now that I have, I am glad I waited. I have read Carrie’s autobiographies, including The Princess Diarist which was published just before her death (and I read afterwards) – but there was an added emotional weight in Todd’s book, an honest behind-the-scenes account of her struggles, which shares his family’s grief with the world.

I’m still not sure why Carrie’s death can still, after several years, easily make me cry when I read or talk about it. Perhaps one day I’ll be better able to articulate what Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia mean to me. In the mean time, she will always always be my hero and inspiration. In the book, Todd shares that Carrie had this quote from the film Heartbreak Ridge painted over her bed –

Adapt! Overcome! Persevere!

As soon as I finished reading the book, I printed out that quote, with a silhouette of Princess Leia underneath, and pinned it to my bedroom wall. A daily reminder of Carrie and her legacy of inspiring me through both her on-screen characters, and her own personal journey.

Thank you Todd, for sharing your story with us.

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Now that I’m home from the Run Disney Star Wars Weekend at Walt Disney World, I was keen to get all my medals displayed all together. I have had one particular medal hanger bookmarked ever since I got my first Run Disney medal back in 2016, and now it was finally time to place my order.

After a lot of looking around, my favourite medal hanger design is the ‘Do Or Do Not There Is No Try’ hanger by Allied Medal Hangers. It comes in four widths (12″, 18″ 24″ and 30″), with one or three hanger bars. Planning ahead, we decided to go with the biggest design – 30″ with three bars.

As international fans, it can often be a hassle to get larger items shipped from the US, but we were happily surprised by this order. Not only was the shipping cost very reasonable (FedEx tracked), but it arrived incredibly well packaged.

I opened the box straight away from excitement, but I was so impressed with how well packaged the hanger was – wrapped in foam and many layers of cardboard. It arrived in perfect condition.

The hanger came with mounting hardware, to attach securely to your wall. The bar is flat, but the screws have plastic spacers that sit behind the bar to create space so your medals hang nicely. This hanger has five mounting points – two at each end, and one in the middle.

I am so happy I went with the biggest size – the design looks great on the wide bar, and the three rows means I don’t need to replace it or buy additional rows in the future. The brushed aluminum finish is so pretty!

I spent a while trying to decide on the placement of my medals – the bar is divided into four even rungs, and I have an odd number of medals (eleven so far), but with a little adjustment I can hang all my medals from the top row.

Matt got the hanger mounted on the wall – the supplied hardware made the process quick and easy, with just a few additional items needed (pencil to mark holes, screw driver, and cordless drill).

I love the space behind the hanger, the shadows create a fun 3D effect behind the text. This Star Wars quote really kept me going during my first half marathon event, so it really was the perfect design to display my medals. The font works really well with the theme, just the right amount of galactic style, while working with the cut-out design.

I am beyond happy to finally get my Run Disney medals displayed all together – they look awesome! The spot we picked is in our hallway, so I walk past this display every morning, which is a great daily reminder of my accomplishments. I look forward to adding more medals to this display in the future!

To read more about my Run Disney Star Wars medals, check out my post here!

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