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.

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)