Cross-section 3D X-Wing

The X-Wing had always been my favourite one-man fighter since childhood. I even built 2 out of cardboards when I was a kid for my vintage pilot Luke to fly in. Unfortunately those did not survive until today.

Luckily, I was able to get my hands on the Kotobukiya version of Luke's Red 5. This was released under Finemolds, another line under Kotobukiya which produces scale models ranging from Zoids to Armored Core.  For Star Wars vehicle, Koto previously numerous model including the very detailed 1/72 scale Millenium Falcon.

 This X-Wing version is a 1/35 scale and it is Koto's first Cross-section 3D model kit. Not only do you get an accurate X-wing with painted exterior, you get to literally open up the fighter to reveal its interior including a look at the engines and inner workings. This is based on a popular book series by DK called Incredible Star Wars Cross Section.  

Photo credit  : Lucasfilm Ltd.

This great for people with limited painting skills or time to have a piece with accurate details. I bought my from XL-Shop, one of more the successful toy shop in Malaysia and cost me MYR758 (roughly USD220++) in June 2008. 

Photo credit  : XL-Shop

It came in a gigantic black box, with 6 smaller boxes inside which holds all the parts for assembly at home. In Japan, the smaller boxes were sold as blind box packaging, so collectors had buy all 6 matching sets to complete the piece.

Photo credit  : Kotobukiya

Some smaller parts are still attached to the parts tree, so must be carefully removed to avoid chipping the plastic or paint job. The floor is made up of 6 pieces locked together with fastener underneath.  

Once fully assembled, the piece can be displayed a diorama depicting Luke's X-Wing ready to launch from the Yavin rebel hangar or displayed with the exterior panels off to show off the inner parts of the fighter.

Photo credit  : Kotobukiya

You can see parts like the proton tropedo launch tubes, flight computer, hydraulic lines, antenna, shield generators, exhaust cones and other engine parts. All are painted and "aged" for a realistic look.

Photo credit  : Kotobukiya

The cockpit itself is highly detailed, with Luke sitting in it. You can see the extended targeting scope, joystick,foot control pumps, the ejection seat, oxygen tanks, switches and hoses. The only cons. the Luke figurine cannot be removed from the seat as it glued in place.

The X-wing also comes with 6 mini figurines; Luke, another X-wing pilot (with a yellow and red colored helmet), 3 rebels ground crews (one carrying take off signals, one driving and one managing the fuel hose) and 2 version of R2D2 (one normal and one battle damaged version).

There are also small parts to enhance the diarama scene including ladder, ammunition rack, fuel pump, fuel hose, floor lights, boxes or cargo and the rebel ground transport.

The exterior is decorated with markings and insignia of Red 5. Throughout the exterior, Weathering is done to enhance the molding and depicting this fighter as well worn and used.
 

Additonally, the S-foils (the wings) can be open to form an X configuration. However, it is unfortunate that Koto did not provide a base to support this look. I had to use acyrilic plastic as a base here.

For the normal landing position, one only needs to attached the 3 landing gears, but be careful as the parts are extremely fragile especially the front gear. This model is well worth the price, with different display options. The quality of the mold is top notch and paint job is excellent as usual from Kotobukiya.  Hopefully Kotobukiya may consider coming out with another version perhaps Wedge's Red 2 or a completely new Y-wing. This way the Yavin rebel hangar diorama scene can be further expanded.

Photo credit  : Star Wars, 1977

My overall score for Cross-section 3D X-Wing are as follow:

Articulation (Multiple display option) - 5 ocd

Accessories - 5 ocd

Paint Job - 5 ocd

Sculpting - 5 ocd

Value for money - 5 ocd

OVERALL - 5 ocd (out of 5 ocd)

Hasbro Titanium

Previously, I talked about the discontinued line of Hasbro's 2" Battlepack Unleashed and 7" Unleashed figure. Another discontinued line was the Titanium series. These were the often diecast vehicles of Star Wars which ran from 199x to 200?.  Overall I've collected only a few of these mostly the ones from the original trilogy.  The iconic ones were Tie Figther variants including Vader's, bomber, defender and interceptor. On the rebel side, Y-wing, B-wings, A-wings and snowspeeder.  

I had the Millenium Falcon (ultra class) which was the bigger version of the typical 3" titaniums.

 

I had since sold off most of these leaving only the capital ships like the Star Destroyer and rebel transports since I had collected the 3 3/4" versions.  Although mostly accurate in terms of shape and paint job, the titanium series was not produced in a uniform scale. 

An OCD like me would be troubled when displaying the titaniums together as some looks bigger than the other.

Hoth Diorama

One reason I prefer to be a loose collector is the ability to pose figures together in a diorama. Very often, I follow closely which character appears in a scene and thus buying that particular figure to suit it.  Sometimes it is also fun to combine a few characters together in a diorama, perhaps to depict an imagined "cut scene" from the SW movies.

An example of this is a diorama I had around 2006, but since had been taken down to make room for other figures.  Below you will see a reimagining Battle of Hoth scene. I used the Hasbro Unleashed Battlepack figures as the troops and a Miniatures Collossal AT-AT.

Hasbro Unleashed Battlepack figures were smaller in size (around 2 inch tall) and came in a pack of 4 figures. They also featured playsets which added to the realism of the diorama.  This line have since been canceled, perhaps due to its limited play value as a toy.

(Photo credit : Hasbro)

The AT- AT I used was meant to be used with the Wizard of the Coast Star Wars Miniatures figure. However I find that it looks compatible enough with the 2 inch figures. Just think of it as a smaller Imperial walker (Junior AT-AT).

(Photo credit : Wizard of the Coast)

Wall Fillers plastered over styrofoam was used to create the snow covered terrain. A black and white print out was used as a backdrop.

On the left side, a trench was formed for the rebel figures to occupy. 

A snowspeeder was hung midair with fishing line.

 

Notice the size of the Imperial Walker vs the troops. A wampa also shows up to join the action.

The movies never show how the snowtroopers disembark from those tall Imperial Walkers. Maybe this is one way.

I like how the snowtrooper on the left reacts after being shot by the rebels.

Kotobukiya Ep.3 Darth Vader

Next is my favorite and the most expensive Vader in my collection, the Kotobukiya Ep.3 Darth Vader. It cost me MYR330 (roughly USD110) in Dec 2006. I got it from Fantasy Toys, another well-known toy shop near Low Yatt Plaza, Kuala Lumpur,

(Photo credit : Kotobukiya)

Kotobukiya is a Japanese brand known for their quality sculpting and craftsmanship. One of their well known line for Star Wars is Art-FX. They are essentially 1/7 scale put-together model kits for beginners. Each comes with separate parts; head, torso, arms and legs. They would snap fit together in a less than a minute, to complete a non-articulated vinyl statue.

In the case of Vader, the head and upper torso are one piece. The cape is also another piece attaching to the back. Although published as 1/7 scale, I think they are compatible with those 1/6 scale from Sideshow, Kenner or Hasbro. I always hate posing two figures with different scales next to each other in the same shelf space. For instance, having a 1/6 (12") next to a 1/10 (7.2") just doesn't work for me. Must be the OCD in me. However with Kotobukiya, it is close enough not to notice. Shown here with a Sideshow 1/6 Stormtrooper, Vader towers over all his troops by an inch.

Vader itself is around 13" tall in a slight squat pose. He extends his left hand, focusing the Force,I supposed, while holding the lightsaber with the other hand. The saber can be attached or detach from the hilt for a different look. The cape itself billows to the sides extending the width of the piece to around 15".

Sculpt lines are clean and clear, detailing the seems of his leather pants and cape. The boots, helmet and black parts have a glossy look on them with silver details on the armor. It comes with a lava based platform for the piece to stand on, hence making this the Ep.3 version. Before this, Kotobukiya also produced an ESB version with Vader standing on the carbon freezing chamber floor.

There were 2 version for Ep.3 produced. Version 1 had the upside down chest piece as shown on the left below. The version I got was version 2 with the corrected chest piece. However, some movie production picture shows the chest piece having blue buttons instead of green.

This is a very impressive piece indeed. It looks high-end while being affordable and still can hold up with the latest 1/6 Vader figures from Sideshow or Medicom.  Although without articulation, the pose itself invokes a sense of control and power of the Dark Lord. Currently Vader is posed next to his troops to drive home this point.

My overall score for Kotobukiya Ep.3 Darth Vader are as follow:

Articulation - 0 ocd

Accessories - 4 ocd

Paint Job - 5 ocd

Sculpting - 5 ocd

Value for money - 5 ocd

OVERALL - 4 1/2 ocd (out of 5 ocd)

Darth Vader Unleashed (ESB version)

I bought this back in Sep 2006 from a toy shop in Kuala Lumpur, now no longer in existent (close down around 2008). For KL residents, you may heard of Toy Quest, near Jalan Bukit Bintang. The price was MYR64 (around USD20), which was close to its original retail price.

This ESB version depicts Vader as he is confronting Luke about the truth of their relationship on the Bespin gantry / platform.  While extending his clenched left fist, he tries to convince Luke to join him to rule the galaxy together as father and son.

 

The sculpt is very good and the chest armor painted black with silver details. This time they match the look of Vader's armor in ESB. The leather attire is slightly off-black (maybe greyish) to differentiate it from the rest of the black figure.

One nice detail is the burn marks on the pipes protruding from the gantry floor. In my figure, one of the pipes is slightly crooked, most likely due to being bent in the card and plastic bubble packaging.

I only wish Hasbro made a companion piece depicting Luke with his right hand severed while perched on the other end of the Bespin gantry. But I guess it is not an action-posed sculpt contrary to the Unleashed approach.

My overall score for Darth Vader Unleashed (ESB version) are as follow:

Articulation - 0 ocd

Accessories - 3 ocd

Paint Job - 4 ocd

Sculpting - 4 ocd

Value for money - 3 ocd

OVERALL - 3 ocd (out of 5 ocd)

Darth Vader Unleashed (ROTJ version)

The Hasbro's Darth Vader Unleashed 8" vinyl figure (more like a statue) was the first Hasbro item I purchased when I started collecting. I bought it from the "Star Wars Magic of the Myth" exhibit held in Science Centre, Singapore while on a holiday around Jan 2005.

Back then it cost SGD60 (roughly USD49). I really wasn't sure of the market price and was attracted by the nice plastic tube packaging. I still remember how clumsy it was to luge it around the Singapore MRT and public buses while going back to Malaysia.

 (Photo credit : Action HQ)

I believe in the US this was a Best Buy store exclusive, hence the big plastic tube packaging. There was another version which was sold with the figure dissembled on a cardback and plastic bubble. The great thing about buying the tube version is getting the packaging cardboard artwork. Cut it down to size to fit a 11" x 11' picture frame and display it as wall decoration.

 (Photo credit : Entertainment Earth)

Although the figure itself was black, it has a beautiful subtle blue and red highlights which would slightly reflect. The effect is quite faint by you can see the blue highlights on the left while red on the right side below.

This version came assembled with the figure perched onto a staircase; lightsaber waving, cloak billowing while lunging forward.

It should be depicting an off-screen scene of Vader attacking Luke in the emperor's throne room, but the body armors are covered by the black robes ,which represents the ANH look.

IMHO, Star Wars Unleashed figures themselves were an experiment by Hasbro to produce static figures which was more detailed than the average 3 3/4" figure. The selling point was the characters in action-oriented poses never seen before compared to the movies. There were some hits and misses in this line. Example of hits would be the 2 Vader version, Slave Leai and ROTJ Boba Fett while misses are Chewbacca and the short-necked red shocktrooper. This line was discontinued around 2007 or 2008 at the same time when the quality and articulation of the smaller figures was getting better and better.

My overall score for Darth Vader Unleashed (tube version) are as follow.

Articulation - 1 ocd

Accessories - 3 ocd

Paint Job - 5 ocd

Sculpting - 4 ocd

Value for money - 3 ocd

OVERALL - 4 ocd (out of 5 ocd)