October 12, 2016 – Three days ago, we posted a review of Hera Syndulla’s A-Wing.
A side-by-side comparison of Hera’s A-Wing and the 2008 Legacy Collection version made us appreciate how much superior the quality and play features are in the 2008 A-Wing. And so this review follows.
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Classic A-Wing Design
Released in November, 2008, Green Leader’s A-Wing Fighter from the Legacy Collection retailed for $29.99. If you look at the bottom of the right tail fin, a date stamp (© 1997 Lucasfilm Ltd) tells us the ship is essentially a re-issue and re-paint of the 1997 POTF A-Wing Fighter.
But no matter. Green Leader’s A-Wing Fighter has so many positive things going for it, that you would be remiss to not add it to your fleet collection:
● Beautiful sculpt and attractive rust-red paint application with a dirty wash of grey-black, giving the A-wing a scorched, battle-scarred appearance
● An all-new cockpit with a shiny, clear canopy which opens with a sliding button behind the canopy. The control panel in the cockpit is prepainted with multiple colors (thankfully, no tiny decals to apply) and snuggly fits the included pilot, Arvel Crynyd.
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● Three landing gear retract into and out of the fuselage when you slide a small lever at the bottom-rear of the ship.
● Twin laser cannons, attached to the wing tips, rotate up-down when you slide them out from their locked positions. (There are no firing projectiles.)
● The A-Wing is 12″ L x 8.25″ W x 4.75″ H (30.5cm L x 21cm W x 12cm H).
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Arvel Crynyd Action Figure
The 2008 A-Wing includes a highly articulated pilot, Arvel Crynyd. The pilot has an incredible 22 points of articulation and comes with a soft helmet that easily slips on and off. However, there is no visor, see-through or otherwise.
Arvel Crynyd is so well articulated (22 POA) that he can be comfortably posed, sitting on the nose of his A-Wing.
The pilot’s body appears to be a re-issue of the 2007 TAC Tycho Celchu (A-wing Pilot). The pilot’s head, of course, is new and the chest breathing apparatus has a different paint scheme.
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We first saw Arvel Crynyd (Green Leader) in Return of the Jedi (1983). The character was played by British actor Hilton McRae in an uncredited role. Crynyd died when he flew his A-wing into the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer Executor, destroying the bridge and causing the Executor to crash into the Death Star.
Where to Find the 2008 A-Wing
By the end of 2008, Green Leader’s A-Wing (a Walmart exclusive) was largely sold out and missing from store shelves. Therefore, your best bet now might be Ebay or Amazon. A current Ebay listing has it priced at $75.00.
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