At the beginning of the year, right after this E-Wing was revealed, Chris wrote THIS about it.  I generally agree with his feelings that vehicles are essentially the reason why 3.75” is the One True Scale.  Vehicles, probably more than the figures themselves, were probably what made the Kenner line fun for me as a kid.  Today, I probably lean more towards environments and “playsets”, because I think those do more to elevate a display, while vehicles tend to take up a lot of space.  Unless they are playsets in and of themselves, like the Millennium Falcon or the Khetanna, I tend to wince a little whenever a new large vehicle is announced because of the amount of real estate it takes up, usually without returning the favor by providing a place to display a bunch of figures.

The E-Wing is in that category - it’s big (but not too big). It’s almost identical to the modern X-Wing (as you can see in the comparison photos above), falling just a nose short in length, and a bit shy of the wingspan (while also missing the extra-large wingtip laser cannons).  And it only holds a pilot and an astromech.  It’s basically a stubbier/stockier X-Wing as far as size goes.  As Chris says, this also probably would have missed my list of top 25 (if I could even think of that many) ships I’d want to see in TVC.  But now that I have it, I’m happy it exists for the most part.

My main enjoyment comes from the fact that this vehicle is obviously intended to honor Patrick Ewing.  In the spirit of the A-T-A-T vs. @@ debate that collectors often have, my problem here is that while the spelling of this vehicle is the same as Patrick’s last name, when you pronounce it out loud, it’s “EEE Wing”.  In that sense, it would seem that the Rogue One-era U-Wing, is the proper tribute to this Man of Tremendous Stature.  While the spelling is different, it’s pronounced properly.  So I choose to believe that LFL is so enamored with Knicks #33, that they essentially named not one, but TWO starfighters after him.  I don’t think a single ship in the Galaxy Far Far Away is named after that bum Michael Jordan.  He can have his 6 rings.  Patrick will take these two ships.

Okay, back to business.

The E-Wing is clearly some evolution of the X-Wing.  Instead of adjustable foils, it has fixed wings.  It’s also bulkier in shape, but otherwise, is quite similar in design.  The only time this starship appeared on screen as of this writing is in the first episode of Ahsoka.  There were two, flown by Captain Porter (Spectre Two-One) and LT Callahan (no callsign indicated).  I found the use of “spectre” interesting, since it was the name of the Ghost crew, but I haven’t found any link between two stated anywhere on the internet.  This release of the E-Wing includes a carded KE4-N4 astromech, but no pilot.  LT. Callahan was recently revealed and is currently available for preorder [sponsored], but isn’t scheduled for release until June 2025 (no word on Porter).

The ship is pretty nice, but quite simple.  There are few interesting things of note.  The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s perfectly clean.  Unlike most vehicles released in TVC, there is no wash, wear, or battle damage on the ship, making it feel a bit more like a toy and less like a collectible.  The ships appear fairly clean in Ahsoka, so maybe they’re new, or not yet battle-tested.  I’m sure most collectors will find this a bit of a detractor, and that’s fair.

The next thing I noticed was that there are no launching projectiles.  I’m not upset about this at all, as I find them to just be another piece to lose, and I certainly don’t play with my toys and fire missiles like some kind of animal.  But there’s definitely something odd about their lack of inclusion - almost like we’ve turned another page in the conversion of the line from toy to collectible (ironically, I write this on the heels of the previous paragraph). 

The best thing about the vehicle is the landing gear, which deploy similarly to Poe’s X-Wing, but ditch the excess of complicated removable pieces in favor a good old fashioned swivel goodness.  They open easily, and lock into place securely - something that often misses the mark in a lot of TVC vehicles.  Also different from the X-Wing is the sliding canopy, which is more like the Naboo Starfighter.  Finally, there is a removable hatch on the back of the fuselage behind the cockpit that opens to accommodate an astromech, and has an extra space for whatnots, including KE4-N4’s third leg, which must be removed to fit properly in the socket. 

Included is KE4-N4.  I love this guy, and along with probably a gazillion old collectors, immediately recognized the style of the droid the instant it was on screen, as an homage to the original Kenner R2-D2.  The dome has the distinctive dual teardrop shaped notches to the right of the large circular eye.  Filoni saw an opportunity to hit the nostalgia strings with a subtle nod, and he did it right.  Even the name, KE4-N4, is basically “Kenner”.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Callahan calls the droid “Kenner” as his nickname.  I’m not a carded collector, but I definitely paused before tearing open the bubble on this one.

So the ship doesn’t have much context, which is a bit of a problem, but you can just add it to your Alliance fleet and be done with it.  For the gallery I used the Ahsoka-era Sabine Wren figure, which is incorrect because in the scene she is wearing casual clothing and a speeder helmet, not her Mandalorian Armor.  The speeder itself is the correct model, sourced to Rebels, but this live action scene has it painted up in typical Sabine fashion with bold colors all over.  As we don’t have a Callahan or Porter (or Porter’s just-off-screen droid), there’s really not much you can do that is screen accurate, but nevertheless here we are.  Hopefully these starships show up in greater numbers in future media, and maybe do some cool starshippy things.

Overall, I’m happy to have it, although as I said, it wasn’t on the top of my list.  It’s kind of like the Shriek-Hawk Team in that regard.  Sometimes Hasbro gives me something that I like, even thought I didn’t really want it in the first place.  The lack of weathering is a bit off-putting, but otherwise it’s a fine ship, and the set is highlighted by the adorable KE4-N4.  Looking forward to “completing the crew” with the upcoming LT Callahan.