Bio: The X-34 was an open-air/sealed cockpit civilian landspeeder manufactured by SoroSuub. One famous owner was Luke Skywalker. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy room.

Commentary: As upgrades go, the major revamp Kenner gave the original Landspeeder in 1995 was nothing short of groundbreaking. While it didn't have all the same great "let's plug droids to the back of the seats with foot pegs" thing as the original, it retained it to some extent and it looked superb. The vehicle was recolored to look closer to the film's design, the windshield was retooled, and a lot of sculpted details were added to the sheet such as a damaged nacelle. The spring-loaded wheels are controlled by a shifting knob and they still work great. The added grit and mess looks fantastic. Actually, this ship is so good that most fans didn't realize the 2002 release-- which was an entirely new sculpt-- wasn't this toy. There were a lot of improvements in the sculpt, but this version was so good that a lot of collectors didn't see a need to upgrade. Today, really all that's left to do is find a better way to connect the droids and maybe see if there's a way to get it to actually float. Short of that, this is pretty much perfect, right down to the pop-open hood with a sticker engine inside. It's a wonderful upgrade of a classic toy that it's almost a shame that not all fans grabbed on to. It's also notable in that it just seemed a weird fit in the original Star Wars as vehicles go, but well, that's part of the fun of the whole "used" Universe-- old, weird, and crappy can be in use alongside the new and refined. It's a fun vehicle and functions well as a toy with its rolling wheels and capacity to actually hold figures.

Collector's Notes: This ship was in circulation until about 2005 or 2006, mostly due to the fact online store Entertainment Earth had a cache of them that lasted years beyond their initial release. Because of this, it could be bought for about $9.99 or so for many years after it exited the market. It fits most figures fairly well, and if you want it, you can snag one off of eBay for about $4 or so out of the box, and $10-$15 in. It's cheap, get two. ( MORE IMAGES )

--Adam Pawlus

Day 733: May 8, 2008