Sculpt--4.5/5
So here we have it, the new Jedi Starfighter. With a design meant to help bridge the gap between the prequel and original trilogy, the ship has elements from the classic TIE Fighter combined with elements from the prequels' original Jedi Starfighter. Now that I've got the ship in my hands, all I can say is that I like the results. The ship has a nice combination of sharp angles and smooth edges which help it to fit in with both the original and prequel trilogies. I am especially pleased with the juxtaposition of the smooth and sleek cockpit section with the harder-edged and angular wings. It all gives the ship a feeling of being fast and tough.

Anyway, this toy version of the Jedi Starfighter seems to be pretty darn accurate, as it holds up very well with comparisons to movie shots of the "real" thing. The proportions seem right and the details are excellent. The cockpit is perhaps one of the most well-sculpted cockpits in Star Wars toy history, with accurate details that match up well with its movie version. The rest of the ship is equally well-sculpted with sharp lines and fine details here and there.

So is there anything wrong with the sculpt? Sort of. Due to safety reasons, the front tips of the ship are molded in a soft rubber much like the tips of Zam Wessel's Speeder. Unfortunately, the tips and the main cannons are molded together which equates to slightly warped guns because of the softer material. It's not that big of a deal but it is kind of noticeable. R2-D2 is a bit of an eyesore as it's pretty obvious that he's just a hunk of plastic (but don't worry; his head rotates). Thankfully, you can remove him and put in whatever astromech figure you want in his place, which I guess is a good segue way to the next category...

Features--4/5
Anakin's Jedi Starfighter has spring-open wings, firing missiles, retractable landing gear, opening canopy, and an astromech droid socket. When I realized that Hasbro made R2-D2 removable and that they left a space for inserting a real R2 figure, I was stoked. Unfortunately, the socket wasn't thought out very well in terms of its design as there are protrusions from the walls of the socket which prohibit you from completely inserting an astromech figure. These protrusions keep the faux R2-D2 from being pushed all the way down into the socket, but ironically disable the socket's usefulness.

The spring-open wings are a cool feature and unlike the first Jedi Starship, this is a feature that is actually in the movie. A lever between the engines activates the feature and causes the wing panels to spring open. Sometimes the panels on the right wing of my Starfighter don't deploy too well, but most of the time it works well. The firing missiles are pretty basic. Press a button at the back of the wing to shoot a missile. There is one in each wing for a total of two. The retractable landing gear is pretty basic as well. Simply pull them down to deploy. They are a bit weak feeling in that they do not "lock" in place very well, but as long as you're not putting a lot of weight on the front of the ship it will be fine.

Accessories--3/5
You get two missiles and the removable faux R2-D2. R2-D2 can rotate his head. Oddly, the box says "Some assembly required", but the ship was completely built when I pulled it out of the box; you need only to insert the missiles.

Paint--4/5
The paint job is pretty good. The yellow trim is painted well with clearly defined edges and consistent color. The weathering is a mixed bag though. I like the silver paint apps which simulate paint chipping, but the black spots seem a little cheesy looking. I think they should have added a light paint wash all over the ship to bring out all the sculpted seam lines and to add that extra feeling of wear and tear. As it is, I think the ship looks too clean, and yet it has these black streaks all over it--it just doesn't look right to me. However, to Hasbro's credit, they have supplied us with extra stickers of various blast marks which you can then place where ever you want to give the ship added damage. The rest of the stickers are well done, especially the cockpit stickers. They are accurate to the movie and help make the cockpit look more detailed. On a related note, sticker numbers 14 and 16 aren't shown in the instructions. Well, after looking through all the photos I had of the Jedi Starfighter, I've found where they should go; they go in the cockpit under the armrest section. See this photo for reference.

Packaging--5/5
I'm really digging the ROTS packaging. I love the color palettes that Lucasfilm's marketing department chose, and I think that the orange Star Wars logo is a nice change of pace from the silver and gold iterations of the past. The box has no window but shows some nice photos of the product on sides of the box. The features of the toy are clearly listed on the back of the box, and the box feels sturdy. The front of the box has a sticker denoting this as the Sneak Preview vehicle.

Overall--4.5/5
I love the design of this ship, I love this toy, and I love the fact that this toy has done a wonderful job of recreating the features of the real thing. It's a fun toy, it looks great, it's got a good paint job, plenty of extra stickers, a huge cockpit that should be able to fit any pilot figure you want, and firing missiles for the kids (or the kid in you). Just buy it, that's my recommendation.

--Photos and review by Garett Yoshimura
garett@carrotnetwork.com