Our own Adam Pawlus got an early sample of some new toys. Rather than put together a well-thought-out feature, here are some quick and dirty pictures from Adam's kitchen, and some early impressions. First up: The Cloud Car!
The last attempt at an action figure-sized Bespin Cloud Car was when Kenner made theirs. How long ago was that? Well, there were only two Star Wars films and the last we've seen of Han Solo was in a frozen block of metal.
So, after years of saying "never, never, ever" the boys and girls from Hasbro gave us this new model. How is it?
The Really Short Review
Excellent. Replaces the 1980s original with significantly better play features, but is slightly smaller. 4 firing cannons, seats 2 pilots with minimal fuss. Not buying this means that you hate fun.
Figure Compatibility
While my 2004 Original Trilogy Collection Cloud Car Pilot is in a box after my recent move, I was fortunate enough to get the 2010 model along with the ship. While the figure cannot bend a perfect 90 degrees at the waist, the ship compensates for this. The figure in the image above is seated inside without any stress placed on the plastic covering his hip joints, so they are not bent out of shape or anything. In other words, a great toy engineering job about which we cannot complain. And if you read this site, you know we love to complain.
Deco
It's orange! While it lacks the strange lettering seen in some illustrations of the ship, there are varying shades of orange and brown, plus a little bit of paint in the interior of the cockpit. The windows are molded clear with painted orange surrounding them, and the color matches the plastic with no obvious breaks. Even the landing gear has some paint in it, giving it the illusion of sporting a flip-down blaster beneath each half of the ship. The engines have a little bit of paint on them as well, bringing the ship to life in a way that a simple sticker never really could.
There are no labels to apply, so everything you see is painted on or molded. Given how little room there is to improve on a fairly basic design, it's good to see Hasbro managed to include more than just orange to bring the ship to life.
Mechanisms
The Landing Gear is incredibly simple. Pull it down. That's it. Each individual pod has a skid that folds down, but when separated the ships do not easily balance on them. As such, you'll probably want to display the ship in its fully-assembled state. It works, so let's move on.
While the original was a clearly peaceful vehicle as toys go, the modern equivalent can take a potshot at the Millennium Falcon just like it should with its four spring-loaded blasters. In its movie configuration, the central engine block has two concealed rocket launchers. You may elect to use these, or leave out the projectiles to give it a clean movie-accurate look. The buttons were integrated well, so they shouldn't be an eyesore. If you want more firepower, simply squeeze the pods together for a battle mode-- the pods slide toward the middle, revealing two exterior blasters with missiles. Personally, I think the toy would be better served were those the only firing weapons, but the central launchers don't hurt the vehicle's look and feel.
While those are all well and good, the most talked about feature on this ship was the ability to split in two separate vehicles, giving each an appearance similar to the 1998 Expanded Universe Concept Art Cloud Car. The connecters hold together snuggly, and a little excessive force may be needed to pry them apart. This may be a fun feature for the kids, but as each individual pod cannot stand on its own, I assume you'll want to keep them together.
The last feature Hasbro built in to this toy-- which means it does more than almost anything else in its size class-- are opening hoods on the front of each pod. You can see the engine, and store some things inside-- just like the 1978 and the 1995 releases of the Landspeeder. Unfortunately, these pockets are not large enough to store unused rockets, but odds are any blasters, weapons, or helmets you'd like to cram inside will indeed fit.
Verdict
Buy the damn thing. Fans have been demanding this ship for years, particularly since Hasbro made a "concept art" version in 1998 and taunted us yet again with a pilot figure in 2004. Here it is, and it's way, way better than the original toy. It looks better. It does more. It's beautiful and fun, so get it when you see it.
--Adam Pawlus, June 28 2010
