Tag Archives: jazwares

Apr 12 2024

Halo: Warthog and Master Chief by Jazwares

Halo and I have had our ups and downs together. I adored the first game and still think it’s one of the best games to ever launch with a console. I’ve played it through at least a dozen times, and I’m long overdue for a revisit. Halo 2 disappointed me, because I did not like the bait-and-switch that forced you to play half the game as a filthy Covenant. Halo 3 must have been pretty forgettable, because I have no memory of it. And I kind of liked Halo 4, which I think is at odds with most people. I have yet to play any of the other games, but I’m pretty sure I own all of them. With that preamble aside, I have a lot of nostalgia for the property and I like to pick up the toys now and then. The last one I checked out here was a surprisingly good and cheap 12-inch figure by Jazwares, and today I’m checking out their 4-inch scale Warthog with Master Chief.

To be honest, the only reason I bought this toy is because it turned up on Amazon at half-off and for fifteen bucks, I decided to give it a try. After it arrived and I played around with it for a short while, I was so impressed that I quickly ordered up a second while it was still on sale, so that should give you an idea where this review is going. The iconic vehicle comes in an enclosed box with a cut out to show the included figure, and boy does the art on the front of this box give me the feels. It’s kind of weird to have nostalgia for a game that was released when I was 23 years old, but I guess the older you get, the more that window of what’s nostalgic just opens wider and wider. One strange thing about the packaging is that you have to look really hard to find the manufacturer, and when you do, it’s listed as Wicked Cool Toys. And it turns out that WCT is a subsidiary of Jazwares, and I simply can’t understand why Jazwares wouldn’t want to stamp their name on a toy this good. Maybe it’s a licensing issue. Anyway, the Warthog comes out of the box nearly completely assembled. You just have to put the machine gun on the back, plug in the antenna, and load up the extra gas cans. Let’s take a look, and we’ll start with the Master Chief figure.

I don’t have any experience with this 4-inch line, so I wasn’t expecting much from a figure packed in with a vehicle. Suffice it to say I was pretty pleased when I got this little guy in hand and started playing around with him. The sculpt is decently detailed, albeit a bit soft, there’s a fair bit of dry brushing to give the olive green armor some weathering and character, as well as some black scoring where he took a hit on his chest. The exposed parts of the suit between the armor is all painted black, and naturally John-117 has his tiny 117 printed on his chest. There are some silver paint hits on some of the suit details and the visor is painted in a metallic gold finish. Chief comes with his trusty United Nations Space Command Battle Rifle, which can peg into his back or held and ready for action.

I think the articulation is what surprised me the most about this little Chief. He’s got rotating hinges in his shoulders, elbows, hips, and ankles. His neck is ball jointed and he’s got another under the chest. His wrists swivel and he’s got double hinged knees. I can get some great poses out of this fella and I absolutely love how he can even draw his rifle up to his shoulder to aim down the barrel. I’ve got plenty of 6-inch scale figures that can’t even do that! OK, let’s move on to the Warthog!

These days, I expect toy vehicles found at retail to be mostly hollow, cheap plastic, and have minimal paint apps. This Warthog is the complete opposite of all that. The build quality is fantastic and it has a nice heft to it, especially for a 4-inch scale vehicle. The detail in the sculpt is off the charts, with no expense spared at giving this war machine all the character it deserves. Sure, there’s the more obvious stuff like the vents, latches, hatches, stepping bars, and grab bars on the body, but then you’ve got the insane attention to detail in the undercarriage, where you can see the suspension straight through to the shock absorbers behind the wheels. There’s s non-functioning winch with a hook hanging off the front and you get some big beefy treads in the plastic tires. The deco is also superb, with plenty of dry brushing to simulate abrasions where the paint has rubbed down to the bare steel. You also get various UNSC tampos and emblems placed about the vehicles body. Overall, I think this vehicle looks more like a mid to higher grade model than it does a toy, and yet it’s rugged as all hell and rolls along great.

The machine gun can raise and lower, and it also rotates at the base, but it is very hard to turn it. I think they overdid it a bit with the friction to keep it in place. It’s actually easier to pull it out and pop it back in the direction you want it pointing. There’s a foot peg to help secure the figure to the base and a couple of handles for him to grab.

The four gas cans on the back are each removable, with one attaching flat against the rear tailgate and the other three tabbing in on their sides.

In addition to the gunner, the Warthog holds a driver and passenger in the front cabin and Master Chief fits in quite nicely despite his bulky armor.

When you consider that I don’t really collect Halo toys, that I only bought this one because it was on deep discount, and that I have a huge backlog of stuff that I do collect, it really says something that I bumped the Warthog up to the front of the review queue. I was just so impressed with this toy I wanted to give it it some recognition. Sure, a lot of the wow factor comes from getting it for $15, but even if I had paid twice (which I believe was the original MSRP), I would have been equally happy. It seems like when Hasbro releases something approaching this quality in their Star Wars Vintage Collection line it would be at least $50-60 and it might not even include a figure. Now… I may just have to pick up one of the figure packs so I can get this Warthog fully loaded!

Dec 11 2023

Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron AT-AT Walker (Hoth) by Jazwares

It’s the middle of December and you know what that means? Cold and snowy scenes! Well, not where I am in Florida, but all the more reason to turn to snow to evoke the Christmas Spirit! And I’ll be going with that theme a few times as we march toward Christmas! And today’s review is actually even more Christmas related, because the original Kenner AT-AT Walker was probably one of the most memorable toys I can remember opening on a Christmas morning and I have fond memories of dragging it out into the snowy backyard and playing with it until my face nearly froze off. Granted, today’s offering is a lot smaller than that one, but nonetheless still pretty cool!

I really dig the packaging Jazwares uses for this line. It consists of a huge window showing the toy against an illustrated battle scene. The included mini-figures and Speeder Bike are also displayed front and center, and you get some snappy foil on the box too! And it’s a sizeable box for a toy released as part of a MICRO Squadron. The box also calls out some of the toys features, including the electronics. Sadly, there is no Try Me feature, and you’ll have to supply your own batteries. Everything is collector friendly and the Walker comes out fully assembled. I will likely display this little beast in the packaging because it looks so damn good in it. Let’s have a look at the little figures first.

There are five figures included with this set: General Veers, Luke Skywalker, an AT-AT Driver, and two Snowtroopers. It’s a good assortment, but I really wish Jazwares could have squeezed one more figure in there to give us two Drivers. And if not, I’d rather have had another Driver than Luke, since we got a similar version of him with the Snowspeeder. Either way, bigger vehicles like this make a strong case for Jazwares to release figure packs, but I don’t think that’s likely to happen. Anyway, the detail on these little guys is really good considering their size. You even get some dirty wash on the Snowtroopers, and little details like Veer’s rank insignia. Even the Imperial emblems printed on the Driver’s helmet are better than the ones on my 6-inch Black Series figure, and that’s pretty impressive. As usual, you get four points of articulation on each figure, allowing them to sit and move their arms at the shoulders.

The AT-AT looks spectacular, and this toy really gives me a sense of being a shrunken down version of the big AT-AT Hasbro did a short while back. The Micro Galaxy line continues to deliver on some very detailed sculpts even on the smaller ships, so they were able to really go nuts on this one given the bigger canvas they had to work with. The armor is covered with panel lines, vents, and other bits and bobs with only some exposed screws on the interior of the legs to muddy the realism. Much of the toy is left in pale gray plastic, which looks great with a bit of understated weathering. I can’t emphasize that enough, because the heavy handed dirt and weathering on the Endor release made that one an easy skip for me.

If you’ve handled Kenner or Hasbro’s AT-AT toys, the articulation here should be readily familiar. You get strong rotating joints where the legs meet the body and again at the knees and ankles. The leg joints hold fast and make this a fun toy to pose and play with. You also get jointing in the neck tube, which is covered with a soft rubbery plastic. The cheek guns can rotate just like on the older toys. There are buttons on the front side and top which will activate the electronics. This includes lights in the cockpit, voice clips from The Empire Strikes Back, laser blasts, and the stomping and whirring of the leg motors. The sampling is all very loud and clear and I think it really adds a lot of value to the toy.

Both the head and body can be opened to reveal interior play areas. The interior of the head really reminds me of Hasbro’s big boy, as it has room for two Drivers and a place behind the seats for Veers to stand, along with a clip to hold him in place. It’s a great use of space with some nice detail to the controls. It’s just a shame that one of those Driver seats will always be vacant.

The body section opens up completely by lifting off part of the roof and side. I really wish Hasbro’s did this with theirs, as it gives better access to the interior, which in this case includes three areas: An upper seating area for the assault troops, a garage for up to four Speeder Bikes, and a deploying area with light up computer stations.

There are no less than ten seats in the upper area, plus room for officers to stand and brief the troops. Again, it’s sad that I’ll never have enough figures to fill this, but if this Walker ever drops in price like the Falcon did, I’d be down for at least one more. But that won’t even fill one side of these chairs!

Like the big Hasbro toy, this one also has a winch that can be lowered and in this case it makes for a good way to deploy the Speeder Bikes to the ground or raise cargo up to the interior. The speeder looks like it’s the same one that was available in the small mystery boxes. Again, lots of nice detail for such a tiny toy and it seats a figure really well. It also comes with a tiny stand. I should note that you also get a grapple hook for Luke to climb up and plant his detonator, but I didn’t bother much with it because the string is too long and he just winds up dragging on the ground.

I have to admit, at $60 I had my doubts about this thing, but once I had it in hand I was completely sold on it. Indeed, I think it’s safe to say that Jazwares has produced one of the best AT-AT Walker toys ever made. Sure, it’s hard to compete with the appeal of the ones that can hold 3 3/4-inch figures, but the amount of detail and play value that Jazwares packed into this toy really makes it stand out as an absolute gem. The detail and finish on it makes it a perfect display model for your desk or shelf, while still having all the interactivity of a truly fun playset. And considering what the big ones go for these days, $60 for this beauty ain’t so bad.

Oct 9 2023

Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron Imperial Shuttle by Jazwares

I was kind of surprised when I looked back and saw that I hadn’t spotlighted any of Jazware’s Micro Galaxy Squadron vehicles here since the Millennium Falcon back in January. I was even more surprised to find that I’ve only actually reviewed four of these little buggers. I actually like this line quite a bit and I’ve been buying it when I find it, but I feel like a lot of them are getting past me because they’re exclusives or just tough to find. At this point in my life, hunting down toys isn’t an appealing aspect of collecting and I’ve got enough to spend money on without having to do that. Anyway, I hope to catch up on my backlog of these vehicles a bit in the months ahead, but I’m bumping today’s fairly new release to the head of the line, because it’s one of my favorite ships in the Star Wars Universe.

The shuttle comes in a window box with some snappy foil deco and while the box is collector friendly, the toy does indeed require some assembly. Both the top fin and the side wings have to be plugged in and it’s a one-time assembly deal meaning this is one of those toys that isn’t going back into the box once it’s put together. That’s a little disappointing to me as I like to display these in the boxes, but maybe this will be what makes me decide to just pitch all the MGS boxes and save me some space. The figures included are The Emperor and two of his Royal Guards, and I wonder if Jazwares will do a re-release of this ship with the Endor assault team as a store exclusive. I’d love to have Endor Han, Luke, Leia, 3PO and R2 in the cockpit and a bunch of Endor Commandos in the back. OK… Let’s take a quick look at the figure first!

I continue to be pretty impressed with how decent these have been for such tiny 1-inch figures, and that holds true here with The Emperor and his posse. I mean, they aren’t mindblowing, but they’re damn good for the size. They can bend at the hips to sit down and their arms swivel, making them arm chair friendly. The paint is basic, but certainly competent and the guards have their batons sculpted into their right hands. I would have liked to get a couple of pilots too, not only to occupy the seats, but also so I can find out once and for all what the Imperial Shuttle pilots looked like. As a kid, I used to alternate between having TIE Pilots and AT-AT Drivers fly my old Kenner shuttle.

The ship is designed for two display modes: Landed and Flight. When it’s landed the wings fold up and landing gear fold down. Actually, one of the landing gear is really the boarding ramp which drops down from under the cockpit to hold the nose up. Like the Micro Galaxy Falcon, there isn’t enough clearance there to get a figure in and out, so they made it double as a landing support, which is pretty clever. The two rear landing struts simply fold into the ship, while the ramp has a button that needs to be pressed to retract it.

I have to say the detail on this ship is absolutely fantastic, from the sculpted panel lines to the weathering, this is such a great looking toy and definitely one of the better representations of this ship that I’ve seen. The scale really works wonderfully, as it’s a decent sized toy and it allowed Jazwares to do a lot more with it than some of the smaller versions I’ve owned over the years. It’s also a lot easier to inspect the detail in hand than my big Hasbro version. I think the paint wash on this toy is near perfect. It’s just enough to give it a grungy well-used patina, but not too heavy handed.

There are two interior compartments to access, the cockpit hinges open similar to the old Kenner toy, while the back area compartment lifts off entirely. And holy crap, there is a lot of room for figures in this thing. The cockpit alone has room for six figures, and there’s a peg in there which might be intended for an Astromech Droid? I’m not sure. Each of the seats have arm rests that double as clips to hold the figures in place. There’s some excellent sculpted detail in here, although I wish they had left an open hatch leading to the back compartment.

And if you thought the cockpit was roomy, the rear compartment not only houses a throne for The Emperor, but eight additional seats. The throne is patterned after the one on Death Star II and there’s even a detailed engine compartment behind the chamber that is revealed when you remove the cover and another strip exposing the inner workings of the ship that’s painted as well sculpted

Getting the Shuttle ready for take off means folding up the landing struts and ramp and folding down the wings. The wings are geared and synched so that they will both fold down together at the same time just like the old Kenner toy. The only downside of this is that the gears are visible on the ship and really that’s the only thing I can complain about when it comes to the aesthetics. It also really doesn’t bother me, but my guess it will irk the hell out of some people.

The guns are all represented, including the aft cannon, which I remember becoming intimately familiar with when playing the old X-Wing PC game, as the Lambda Shuttles would love to take pot shots at you when you were trying to run them down. All of the gun barrels are a bit soft, so this is one to be careful with when storing it so they don’t get bent out of shape. The paint on the rear thrusters looks good, but I do kind of wish they had included electronics in this one to light these up and maybe provide some engine sounds.

And I couldn’t resist taking a shot of it parked next to my 3 3/4-inch scale Shuttle. It looks pretty damn good in comparison despite it’s much smaller size. Yeah, I still like the big boi better, but this little one is a lot easier to whoosh around the room.

This is an absolutely beautiful ship and it definitely has loads of shelf presence. The biggest strike against it for me is that there’s no flight stand in there, as it really could have used one. I’d always rather display this ship in flight than resting on a landing bay. I imagine some intrepid sellers on Etsy will make a few bucks selling stands for this ship and maybe I’ll hunt one down. At $29.99 I think this one is a pretty fair value. It feels at least as substantial as the Falcon and every bit as fun to play around with.

Jan 4 2023

Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron Millennium Falcon by Jazwares

Perhaps one of the biggest toy surprises of 2022 was a company other than Hasbro or Mattel getting the license to produce Star Wars ships. And yet Jazwares came out of the gates swinging with their Micro Galaxy Squadron series. It was a line I did not want to get into, because I already have so many Star Wars toys, but in the end, I had to give it a try with the X-Wing and TIE Fighter, and after that all bets were off. Today I’m checking out what I believe is the biggest release in the line so far. It’s the fastest hunk of junk in the Galaxy… The Millennium Falcon!

The packaging for this line continues to be rather gorgeous with lots of snazzy foil and a huge window to show off the toy. You also get a good look at the four micro figures that are included and the package announces that there are motion activated lights and sounds. Alas, there’s no Try Me button, because there are no batteries included, so you’ll need some AAA’s and a screwdriver to enjoy the electronics. The packaging is collector friendly, although you do have to pop on the top gun and radar dish and pop them off again to return the ship to the box.

As outstanding as this ship looked in the box, I have to say that it’s even better in hand, and it’s the perfect size for whooshing around the room. Let’s face it, it can be a little difficult to do that with Hasbro’s Legacy Falcon or even the old Kenner release for that matter. I am extremely impressed by the amount of detail in the sculpt and there is indeed a lot of it to take in. There are panel lines, vents, wires, hoses, and even exposed patches of the ship’s inner workings. Jazwares clearly does not use the smaller scale of this line as an excuse to skimp on the details, and that’s a big part of what makes these ships so special. In addition to the detailed sculpt, you also get some wonderful weathering, as well as some orange trim here and there, and the iconic scorch marks trailing behind the top vents. The only possible call out I have regarding the ship’s design is that it shares the oversized cockpit that most toy versions of the Falcon have had, and for the same reason: To allow it to fit figures.

The top side of the Falcon has an articulated radar dish and the main cannon, which can swivel. The cannon mount is transparent plastic, as is the canopy for the cockpit. There are two buttons concealed under two of the circular vents, which activate the electronics. One makes the sounds of the cannon firing, while the other makes engine noises and lights up the engine strip on the back of the ship. Once this is activated, whooshing the Falcon around will make different flying noises, all of which sound great. The undercarriage of the ship has five folding landing gear for the ship to rest on and a sculpted cannon that does not turn. The boarding ramp can also be lowered. Before getting inside the ship, let’s take a quick look at the figures!

The Falcon comes with Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan, and Princess Leia. It’s a good assortment, but obvious exclusions are farmboy Luke and C-3PO. I’m hoping Jazwares will include them in a future release of the Landspeeder. The sculpts on these 1-inch figures continue to impress me, and while the paint is overall really good for figures of this tiny size, my Leia has some brown splatter on her forehead. Still, the detail is exceptional, with the only surprising thing being that they didn’t paint Chewie’s bandoleer strap.

What really blows me away is that you can fit all four figures into the cockpit area. It’s worth noting that even the 3 3/4-inch Kenner Falcon only seated two. There’s also a crazy amount of detail inside the cockpit and even some nice linework sculpted on the inside of the hatch. I would have liked some darker gray paint on the interior of the cockpit, which is a similar nitpick that I had with the X-Wing and Slave-1, but what we got still looks great.

The top of the ship opens up to reveal a pretty good amount of space inside. Points of interest include the circular seating around the Dejarik table, a cargo area, and the removable deck plate that reveals the smuggling compartment. Here again, the detail is really off the charts. All the grating in the deck plating has been recreated, as well as the various cargo containers.

Like the original Kenner Falcon, the top cannon gunning station is in the middle of the ship. Here you can remove the gunning station and place a figure inside!

As mentioned earlier, the boarding ramp can be lowered, but the figures are a bit too big to enter through there. Even with such tiny figures, some accommodations had to be made, and that’s understandable.

Boy, do I love this ship! While the Falcon is scaled for 1-inch figures just like the previous releases, that doesn’t really make the ships scale all that well together. In fact, I’d say the relative scale is probably about the same as we got in the 3 3/4-inch lines. The Hot Wheels fighters would work a little better with this Falcon, but they’d still be a bit large. But, with that being said, the Falcon is another great release for Jazwares’ fleet. At the original MSRP of about $45, it does seem like this line is getting rather pricey, but the good news is that this Corellian freighter has already been deeply discounted and you should be able to find it for closer to $25, which is a real steal for what you’re getting! It looks outstanding, has some well designed play areas, and the electronics are a nice bonus. Now, if only Jazwares would release the Ebon Hawk, I could die a happy collector!

Nov 16 2022

Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron: Jango Fett’s Slave-1 by Jazwares

While I’ve only gotten around to checking out the Micro Galaxy Squadron X-Wing and TIE Fighter here on FFZ so far, I have been picking up Jazware’s tiny Star Wars ships here and there, and now I’m trying to find the time to open some of them. This Attack of the Clones version of Slave-1 came in most recently, so I decided to bump it to the head of the line! As a rule, I don’t really buy any Prequel stuff, because I’m not into the movies at all, but I was having a tough time finding the Empire Strikes Back version of Slave-1, so I settled for this one for now. And that’s fine, because if there’s one thing I do like about Attack of the Clones, it was Jango Fett.

The package calls this Jango Fett’s Starship, because Disney is still enforcing the absolutely f*cking ridiculous practice of no longer referring to this ship by name. Please note in the title that I am, because “Prisoners-With-Jobs-1” is too long to type. Seriously, Disney made a joke out of how stupid it was to be afraid to say the word SLAVE in one of their Marvel movies, and now they are literally afraid to do that very thing. Welcome to Clown World… You can’t make this shit up. Anyway, the box is really nice with some snappy foil in the deco and a space scene printed on the tray backing. The window shows off the toy beautifully and everything is collector friendly. I especially love how the tiny figures are enclosed in their own separate tray and bubble, as it’s nice to have a place to keep them even if you don’t want to keep the entire package. Let’s free this Slave-1 and check him out!

These ships continue to impress me with the intricacies of each sculpt, as Slave-1 features all the panel lines, vents, cables, and other bits and bobs that I would expect to find in the larger 3 3/4-inch scaled vehicle. The plastic used here is pretty light, but it still holds the details of the sculpt very well. A good part of the ship is just bare gray plastic with a light wash, but you do get some instances of paintwork, including the dark blue, green, and yellow trim in all the right places. There isn’t as much convincing weathering on this ship as there was on the X-Wing, but Slave-1 looked a lot less battered in Attack of the Clones than it did later on under Boba Fett’s stewardship, so I’m thinking what’s here is appropriate.

Jazwares went absolutely nuts detailing the ship’s undercarriage! Here you get the thrusters painted in a sort of mustard color and lots more panels, compartments, and whatnot sculpted into the plastic. For a part of the ship you aren’t going to see most of the time, I’m really impressed with what they did here.

They also made an opening hatch to show where the seismic charges are deployed. I like that they thought to include this feature, but the execution is pretty piss-poor. There’s no paint on the charge at all, so it kind of just looks like another part of the ship’s machinery. I really think the charge should have been painted, or better yet, actually have one that could be removed from the compartment. And while we’re on the subject of paint, it feels like the whole bottom of the ship should have been painted darker gray. I’ll come back to that idea again in a bit.

The gyro scoping gimmick found in the original Kenner Slave-1 is recaptured here, so as you maneuver the ship from its horizontal landing posture to its vertical flight mode, the “wings” will remain parallel to the ground. The two laser cannon at the end of the ship’s tail can be rotated 360-degrees independently of one another. Let’s take a quick look at the figures and how they can interact with the ship!

The set includes Jango Fett in his armor and young Boba, and I am sincerely blown away by how much attention to detail Jazwares has been able to pack into some of these tiny figures, and I think this pair is especially nice. Even when you punch in this close, most of the paint and details hold up, which is beyond impressive. You could randomly hand me that young Boba Fett figure and I’d know exactly who its supposed to be, and that’s quite an accomplishment when dealing with figures so tiny that the Macro mode on my shitty camera can barely lock on to them. As usual, these figures only have articulation in their hips and shoulders, to allow them to either stand or sit in their vehicle. You’ll notice that Jango’s jetpack is slightly askew. I’m pretty sure it’s meant to come off, but I can’t budge it without applying more force than I’m willing to give it.

Like previous 3 3/4-inch Slave-1 toys, the cockpit opens and the pilot seat orients itself with the “wings” as the ship is moved. Amazingly, there are three seats in this tiny ship, with the pilot riding in the front and two passengers in the back. The seat designs are genius, as the arm rests act as clips to hold the figures in place and they do that very well! The interior of the cockpit has a lot of detail, including the segmented deck plating and even the contours of the seats. Like the bottom of the ship, I would have loved to see the interior cabin painted a darker gray, or at least the platform and seats.

The cargo compartment also opens up and there’s a loading ramp and a hatch that opens and tucks into the top area to hold it open. This whole design is better implemented than some of the 3 3/4-inch versions we’ve had in the past. The cargo compartment contains a hinged weapons rack with sculpted grenades and guns. There’s a peg hole in the center and I can’t help but think that if I could get Jango’s jetpack off, it might be meant to peg in there, or perhaps that’s for a feature used in the ESB release. And once again, some darker gray paint on these areas would have gone a long way! I should note that there are no electronic features on this ship, and I’m fine with that.

There’s no doubt about it that Jazwares is pouring some wonderful design elements into these tiny ships. I absolutely love everything they did with this version of Slave-1, and with the exception of the rather cheap looking seismic charge hatch, the features here go above and beyond what I was expecting. Indeed, the only nitpicks I have are how much more could have been done with some added paint to the interior and undercarriage. My customizing skills aren’t the greatest, but even I would be tempted to pick up another one of these if it goes on sale, and add a little matte gray finish to the interior. In the meantime, I’m still on the hunt for the ESB version of Slave-1!

Aug 26 2022

Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron: TIE Fighter and X-Wing by Jazwares

It’s not often that you see a new mainstream toy line launch with the Star Wars brand name and not see Hasbro on the box! And yet that’s exactly what we’ve got here, as Jazwares has secured the license to make little Star Wars ships, and even littler figures to pilot those ships. These are sort of like a reimagining of the old Micro Machines or Action Fleet ships, and they seem to be drawing from every corner of the Star Wars franchise! I swore up and down that I wasn’t going to collect these, because I’m trying to tighten up the shit I spend money on, but in the end I thought I’d give it a go with a couple and see what they’re all about!

I decided to go with the TIE Fighter and X-Wing, and these sure do look nice in the packages. At a time when Hasbro is weening their action figure packaging off of plastic, these two have big, bold windows to show off the goods. These are really playing up the collector aspect, with the Series number and the ship number on the cards. These also state Launch Edition in gold foil, which I imagine will pertain to the deco, as it seems like Jazwares will be releasing these ships in multiple colors and finishes. The tiny 1-inch figures are packaged beside their ships in their own self-contained tray and bubble, which is just adorable. Let’s rip these open and start with the X-Wing!

Measuring at about 5-inches long, this is billed as Luke Skywalker’s own X-Wing Fighter, and looking great! With the wings closed, it can rest on it’s three retractable landing gear, ready to launch and take on the Empire! I’m always cautious about discussing accuracy in these sculpts, because no matter how many toys and models of the X-Wing I’ve owned over the last 40 years, there are plenty of people who are much better versed in how well these toys match up to the on-screen models. So let’s just say this looks pretty damn close to me! Despite it’s small size, Jazwares packed a ton of detail into this little bit of plastic. There are panel lines, exposed panels, and all sorts of little bits of attention to take in as I turn this thing about in my hands. Even the undercarriage is fully detailed, with only a couple of screws and licensing information there to distract from it all.

And as fantastic as the sculpt is, the paint work on this little fighter really does its part to elevate the entire toy. Everything about the ship looks dirty, grimy, and well used, hammering home the concept of a lived-in universe that Star Wars practically pioneered. This tiny ship has seen some shit in its day, and the weathering tells the story of a fighter craft that is being barely held together by an undermanned and underfunded rag-tag band of Rebels. I particularly love the scorched black thrusters on the back, and the little chips taken out of the red wing paint. We have certainly seen many larger and more expensive toys of this ship with a lot less attention to sculpt, paint, and overall detail.

The figures are pretty nice considering how small they are. The sculpts are definitely better than the paint, but there’s enough here to get the idea across. Luke even has four points of articulation (hips and shoulders), which are there to help him sit in his cockpit. And that’s obviously what these figures were designed to do, but it’s nice to have the option to display them standing beside it if you so choose. Luke fits in the seat perfectly, and R2 secures into his droid slot with a peg. If you press the panel under the slot, he will rise up to make it easier to pluck him out.

In addition to the landing gear, the wings can also be moved into attack position, simply by pulling them apart. And again, it just looks amazing and begs the handler to whoosh it around the room looking for TIE’s to blast and trenches to run. If I was trying to convince myself not to collect this line, this little X-Wing probably wasn’t the best one to open first, because even after handling it for a short while, I want a couple more. Let’s move on to the TIE Fighter.

I actually don’t have as much to say about this little 3-inch TIE Fighter. That’s not because it’s any less impressive, but rather it’s just a much simpler toy. The sculpt here is every bit as phenomenal as the X-Wing, with all sorts of little details in the body, and some absolutely beautiful texture work on the wing-panels. This literally looks like Jazwares took one of Hasbro’s toys and shrunk it down. There’s no complex paint work or weathering on here, nor should there be. The Empire flies state-of-the-art fighters in tip-top condition. These things are well serviced and scrubbed clean after each mission, and that’s certainly reflected here. You do get a transparent front windshield, and red paint hits for the laser emitters.

The TIE Pilot is the most impressive of these three tiny figures, probably because he didn’t require any precision paint to make him work. I could complain about the one droopy emblem on his helmet, but one of my 6-inch Hasbro Black Series AT-AT Drivers had the same problem, so I think I can let it slide here on a 1-inch bundled figure. The top of the TIE opens and the pilot seat can be raised or lowered to make it easier to pop him in and take him out.

The only other feature here is the ability to pull off the wings to simulate it exploding. It’s a great nod back to the original Kenner toy, and it really makes me want to get one of these in white. And I’ve already picked up a second TIE Fighter for the fleet, so that alone should tell you how much I love this little ship.

These little Starfighters cost $16.99 each, and in this day and age, that ain’t bad. The sculpt on both ships is downright impressive, showing that these were not stamped out on the cheap. The designers clearly put some serious work into them, and succeeded in delivering what have got to be some of the most detailed examples of these ships in such a small scale. I’d argue you could blow these up a lot bigger and the sculpts would still stand up just fine. But it’s the paint work on the X-Wing that really delivers the Wow-factor and makes me want to press on and see what else the Micro Galaxy Squadron has to offer. My guess is that Jazwares will be repainting the hell out of this X-Wing and I’ll probably be here for all of them.

Aug 25 2021

Halo: 12-inch Master Chief by Jazwares

I’ve had a bit of an unintentional video game theme going these last couple weeks. First it was Pac-Man, then The Witcher, and now Halo. Well, I wouldn’t read too much into it. I stumbled upon this figure for a crazy low price and decided to make it an impulse buy. Ages ago, I had that Joyride Master Chief figure, which was excellent, but did not survive a shelf-dive. Sadly, his leg exploded against the shock of the carpet, and he was beyond fixing. Sobbing, I turned to The Ebays to replace him, saw how much it was going for now, and gave that shit a big HECK, NO! But hey, now I’ve got The Chief back in the collection. Let’s see if this cheap sum’bitch is any good.

Straightaway, this release reminds me of those cheap 12-inch figures that Hasbro has done for Star Wars and Marvel. They’re sometimes referred to as Shampoo Bottle Figures, I guess because they’re hollow and cheap, and feel like the novelty themed recepticals that you might find containing kids shampoo. Most of those are terrible, some are OK, but this one looked a little better. But make no mistake, cheap this figure is! I got him off Amazon for $11, although I think the MSRP is around $20. And yes, that is about twice as much as Hasbro’s Shampoo Bottle Figures, so maybe it’s not fair comparison. The packaging is consists of a very long and narrow window box, that’s barely big enough to contain his Spartan might, but is otherwise serviceable. There’s a J-hook so he can hang from a peg, but I’ve never seen this guy in the Toy Aisles around here.

Out of the box, this figure actually impresses me. Now, let’s qualify that a bit, because my expectations were pretty low. The sculpt is excellent. Sure he’s got some unsightly seams, but they’re not any worse than any number of other figures on the market these days. And all the detail in the armor is certainly there. The plates have panel lines, and all the little bits and bobs that I remember seeing from the last time I played a Halo game, albeit that was probably five years ago. The green looks a bit bright under the studio lights, but in hand under normal lighting it looks fine. The undersuit is black with some texturing, and you actually get some silver dry brushing on the armor to signify wear and tear. It actually looks about on par with the stuff Hasbro was doing on their Transformers Siege figures. Take that how you want, but I think it looks fine. If I’m going to nitpick anything here, I don’t remember Master Chief having such small feet, but I’m really reaching for something to complain about.

The helmet also looks pretty good, with more of those silver abraisions on the green finish. The gold paint used for his visor looks excellent. I should also note that while the figure is hollow and not all that hefty, it doesn’t feel like junk either. And there ya go, Jazwares! Feel free to use that as a pull quote for the box!

What surprised me the most about this guy was his articulation. I was expecting retro five points of articulation, like Hasbro’s big bois, but this guy actually has rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, and swivels in the wrists, and in the neck. He’s fun to play with, although give me a little articulation and I just want more. He would have been amazing if they sprang for a waist swivel and some ankle tilts. Still, what’s here is great, and he has a pretty decent balance.

Master Chief comes with one accessory and that’s his trusty assault rifle. Sadly, the weapon is not as impressive as the figure. The big fail for me was having it silver. Jazwares may have been trying to add a little more color to the package, but I would have much rather they left it black, and it would have saved them some money too. It’s fairly well detailed, even if the sculpt is very soft. It fits perfectly into his right hand, and it even has a peg that allows Master Chief to carry it on his back.

There have been plenty of good Master Chief figures on the market over the years, so if you’re looking for a nice collectible you can sure do a lot better than this guy. But, if you’re looking for a big, rugged Master Chief toy to knock around and have some fun with, I think you could do a lot worse than this guy. Hell, if Hasbro’s 12-inchers were more like this in terms of quality and articulation, I’d probably actually own some of those. Jazwares has a few other Halo figures in this line, but Master Chief is enough for me. He was definitely worth the $11 I paid for him, and hell, I’d even go so far as to recommend him at $20.