Released as part of the Series 1 collection, the Light Runner comes in a partial window box, complete with the Try Me hole in the window that lets you see the toy all lit up. The big neon Tron Legacy logo runs vertically up the left side of the package, obscuring the front of the vehicle, but you can still get a pretty good idea of what you’re getting. This package also uses a much better economy of space than the Lightcycles.

The Light Runner comes out of the package completely assembled and ready to go. The first thing that impressed me about it is its size. It’s a pretty decent sized toy, especially when compared to the Lightcycles. The cockpit opens up to allow you to put in the figures, and I was very happy to see that even with Quorra’s restrictive hip articulation, she still fits into the seat pretty well, although Sam and many of the other figures fit better. The wheels roll very nicely and the front of the vehicle actually pivots to stabelize it while going over rough terrain. Don’t forget this baby was designed to travel off The Grid! There are also two spring-loaded guns on the front that flip up when you pull open the hatches. All in all, this is a great looking sculpt. The only thing to watch out for are the side pieces, which are a little delicate.

The electronics include blue lighting that runs down the center of the vehicle and also lights up in the front and back. When you activate it with the button on the back it flickers on via a cool start-up routine, but if you want to keep it lit, you need to plug one of the figures into the seat. Actually, it’s their Ident Disc that plugs into the hole on the back of the seat. It’s easy to do it with the Sam figure, but I haven’t been able to get Quorra into the right position to activate it. Fortunately, only one figure needs to be plugged in for it to work. The lighting is pretty bright and looks awesome.

The Light Runner vehicle retails at about $20-25, but Disney’s Amazon store was having a pretty sweet deal on it last time I checked at $12.99. Even with shipping it works out to less than I’ve seen it at most stores. It’s a great display piece and a really cool example of one of the brand new vehicle designs introduced in the new movie.

The packaging is the same as we’ve been seeing all along, except for the “Series 2” up in the corner and the back panel of the card, which shows off some of the new figures. The vertical neon Tron logo still dominates the left side of the card and the bubble shows off the figures nicely, while including an illustrated insert to customize the packaging to the particular character. Both figures have the Try Me hole so you can see their light gimmick without removing them from the packaging.

Let’s start with Quorra. A bunch of entries back I prayed for a Series 2 so I could finally get an Olivia Wilde action figure. This ain’t quite what I had in mind. I’m not sure if it’s a way to get around paying royalties for using Ms Wilde’s likeness, but the figure features her with her helmet on as she appeared in her first five minutes or so of the film. Maybe kids will think this is cooler to play with, but I would have at least liked a swappable head. Then again, based on  Spin Master’s lack of success with Sam Flynn’s head sculpt, we may be better off this way.

Nonetheless, it’s definitely Quorra. Her shoulders are bare like in the movie and she has a little skirt. Her feet are sculpted kind of strange to look like heels, but the way they curve at the heels, they don’t look very natural. Another issue is that they had to thicken her up a bit to cram those electronics into her. She looks fine from the front, but rather beefy when viewed in profile. My one big gripe with the figure is the way the skirt inhibits her leg movement. I don’t have the Light Runner yet, but when I do get it, I’m betting she won’t be able to sit in it all that well. I can’t deny Quorra is a disappointment, but just because I expected better, doesn’t make this a terrible figure.

Next up is Jarvis. He’s the creepy Michael Berryman-looking guy who served as Clu’s toady. He got a lot of screentime and had a fair share of dialogue, so he definitely deserves a figure more than 60 percent of the characters they make Star Wars figures out of. There’s not a lot to say about his sculpt. His head is pretty good, and I think the face shield is done much better on this figure than it was done on Sam Flynn. He has a bit of a skirt, which unfortunately gets in the way of his leg articulation. I do wish Spin Master used a brighter, more vibrant paint for the lighting. It just looks dull.

The light up effects are pretty good for figures in this scale. Quorra’s is very similar to the 3 3/4″ Sam Flynn figure I looked at quite a while back. Jarvis’ light is a little more underwhelming.

Both figures feature decent enough articulation. They have ball joints in their necks, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles, and swivels in the wrists.

Accessories? Both figures come with the very cool Ident Disc style figure stand that we saw with Sam Flynn. They also both come with little Ident Discs. Quorra comes with a Light Katana and Jarvis comes with a Data Pad. A sticker would have been helpful to make the Data Pad look like something other than what it is: Just a little slab of black plastic.

What’s the verdict? Not bad. I’ve tempered my expectations a bit on these 3 3/4″ figures. They are perfectly passable, but with Hasbro doing some truly stellar sculpts in this scale these days, the competition is just getting steeper for smaller companies like Spin Master. Still, they look ok, the light effects are still cool, poseability is fine, and they definitely capture the spirit of the property. I still think the Deluxe sized figures are better executed and better values, but I doubt either of these characters will be released in the Deluxe size.

The packaging is pretty spiffy for a mass release figure, but probably nothing you haven’t seen in this scale before. It’s basically a window box with a front flap, emblazoned with the Tron logo, that covers up part of the window. It’s a decent enough design as it shows off the figure, screams the name of the license, and allows you to really see what you’re getting in the box. As with all the electronic Tron toys, there’s a Try Me hole cut out in the front of the window that lets you see the figure light up and demonstrate the impulse projection gimmick. The packaging is also fairly collector friendly. It’s easy to get the figure in and out without mangling anything, but the accessories are all attached to the back of the tray, so unless you go to the trouble of re-tying them, they’re going to be rattling around in the bottom of the box. And there are a lot of accessories.

Once out of the box the figure shows a lot of resemblance to its Deluxe sized cousin. There’s a lot more sculpted detail and some of the light effects that were just painted on the smaller figure, like the four rings on his torso and the bars on his thighs are now replaced with blue transparent plastic and actual lights. The painted lights are also more prominant and look a lot better than on the smaller figure.

So there’s good news and bad news about the electronics. The good news is that the lights have been added to his thighs too, so when he’s lit up you do get a much better looking effect than the Deluxe. The bad news is that pretty much everything else is just like the Deluxe. The impulse projection has a few more frames of animation, but otherwise it is exactly the same and the figure says the same lines:

• My name is Sam Flynn.
• Some things are worth the risk.
• We gotta work together. It’s the only way!
• Where am I? Am I on The Grid?
• This is it… Come on.
• I’m not a program.

A few more lines in this bigger, more expensive figure would have been welcome, but all in all the electronics look fantastic on this figure. The button has moved from his armpit on the Deluxe to the center of his chest on this version.

Accessories are definitely one of this figure’s strong points, although most of them are just scaled up versions of what we’ve seen in the Deluxe scale, albeit with some diecast added. You get Sam’s Ident Disc, a Light Katana, a set of Light Chucks, a Fighting Staff, and a Lightcycle Baton. Instead of pegging into the figure’s leg, the Baton here uses a magnet to attach. It’s a nice idea and holds on to the figure pretty well. The Ident Disc has some really nice weight to it too.

The articulation adds some useful points over the Deluxe sized figure. The arms feature ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows and swivels in the biceps, elbows and wrists. The legs have ball joints in the hips, swivels in the knees and ankles, and hinges in the knees and ankles. The fingers are hinged to grip the accessories and the feet are hinged too allow him to stand in more dynamic positions. Still no articulation in the torso or head, though.

I think the biggest problem with this Ultimate version of Sam Flynn is that, apart from its size, it still feels like a tweaked version of the Deluxe. Yes there are a bit more electronics, yes there are more accessories, some added articulation and some diecast… when I lay it all out it seems like a lot, but with the figure in hand? I’m not so sure. On the other hand, even at full price, this figure is only twice the cost of the Deluxe. And let’s face it at $30 for a 1:6 scale figure these days, it isn’t like you’re paying for a premium format figure. It’s not at all a bad figure at the price, but unless you’re an absolute Tron fanatic, you might find yourself content with the Deluxe version.