The A-Wing is yet another familiar ship from the sequel trilogy. 

I very much like this version.  while familiar, it’s a bit different than previous Hasbro offerings.  Unknown if it’s a feature of the toy, or of the film version, the A-Wing has a single landing gear towards the front of the ship.  It is manually deployed, and along with the two lower tail fins, serves to stabilize the vehicle when grounded.  The ship has spring loaded missiles on each wing, which travel a decent 4 or 5 feet.  I am happy to report that these plastic missiles have replaced the Nerf versions that plagued the TFA toys.

The cockpit opens to fit the included Tallie pilot figure.  She fits well without much difficulty.

Tallie is a nicely sculpted figure.  It’s a bummer that the helmet is not removable, particularly since the basic figs seem to be trending that way.  Unlike many older Hasbro figures, especially some vehicle pack-ins, Tallie’s helmet is very well sculpted and painted, and at first glance does look like it’s a separate and removable piece.  The visor is well executed.  But regardless, the fact that this is a 5POA figure makes me not care as much about that.  Tallie holds the pistol tightly.  This is necessary since she doesn’t have a holster.  It would be nice if there was some place to store this tiny accessory.  Although Tallie has a permanent helmet, her facial features look pretty good straight on, but as you can see in the images, when you are looking upward, her eyes bug out and she has exaggerated lips. 

As with all the TLJ toys so far, the vehicle and figure each interact with the Force Link Activator.  Phrases and sounds can be seen in the image above.

As you can see from the last 3 images, the TLJ A-Wing is sleeker, thinner, and a bit longer than the ROTJ-era ship.  We’ll need more information to determine if Hasbro simply chinzed out on the size, or if the A-Wing underwent some design changes over the 30 years of service since ROTJ.  It appears to be a slightly different shape with the wings having an extra angle near the missile launcher that was absent previously.  This may indicate that, indeed, this is a more modern A-Wing.

Overall, this vehicle should please both old and new fans.  I’ll give it an 8, docking it for the 5POA pilot, which is otherwise a nice pack-in figure.