Updating POTF2: Vehicles, Playsets, and More - Part I

We've recently taken a look at POTF2 figures that have stuck around for one reason or another, and still find places in modern dioramas. Now we'll see what's up with the vehicles, beasts, playsets, and other stuff from POTF2 that also won't die...

The folks at Hasbro not only realized that 3.75" Star Wars were a huge hit, but that a major part of their success was world-building. As such, The POTF2 line included a large amount of releases in support. This not only meant lots of vehicles, beasts, and playsets, but also a bunch of other "expressions" that sought to either help buyers build their interactive displays, or just find alternate ways to take advantage of the hype. Most of these attempts were just sideshows to capitalize on the collecting frenzy or to fill insatiable demand for more product that almost always offered little newness, but an occasional oddity offered some unique character or feature that was worth holding on to.

Here is a breakdown of some POTF2 items beyond the action figures we already covered (ANH, ESB/ROTJ, and EU) which continue to take up real estate in my modern displays, mostly because nothing better has replaced them.

This is Part I, and Part II will follow soon. I originally had it as a longer article, but decided to do a cash grab like Harry Potter 7 Part 1 and 2.





1. Dash Rendar's Outrider: Like Dash Rendar's figure, this seems to have some bit of traction in the community. I'm not a particular fan myself, as there are tons more I'd prefer to see, but it would be a nice throwback to the early days of modern collecting if Hasbro managed to update this ship with the TVC treatment. The POTF2 ship is neat for what it is, but was smaller and simpler than it really should have been. The Outrider survived the Disney canon purge because of its brief background appearance in the skies of Tatooine during the edits made in the Special Edition of ANH. It later appeared (allegedly) in the Resistance fleet over Exegol at the end of TROS. In between, other YT-2400 light freighters made multiple new canon appearances throughout various media, including Rebels. This ship has no other releases to replace it. So it stays.

2. Luke's T-16 Skyhopper: This was released in 1997, and already Hasbro was digging deep for world-building opportunities. The ship is mentioned by Luke while he's bragging about his piloting exploits, and it can be seen in the back of the garage at the Lars homestead - as well has him having a toy model to play with, which Obi-Wan gave him when he was a kid! This is a pretty deep cut ship, especially for the line that was still more or less in its infancy. As with the Outrider, it was never updated, so this is the one and only. I have mine on a shelf behind the Lars Homestead as the Sandcrawler stops by.

3. Cloud Car: The Cloud Car was based on some concept art sketches by Ralph McQuarrie. While this design didn't make the cut, it morphed into the final twin-pod cloud car that we are familiar with. It's never been redone. While I could argue that it's just a nonsense ship and was replaced by the final design that was most recently released in SOTDS, but I look at it as just another model in the Cloud City security fleet, so it sits on my Bespin shelf. (As Chris is championed before, they really should re-release the Twin-Pod Cloud Car in TVC.)

4. Swoop: This was sourced to Shadows of the Empire during Hasbro's participation in the 1996 multimedia blitz. It was never redone. Personally, I think it makes a great rando backgrounder, but I actually use it in my streets of Mos Eisley display as the jerk that upsets the Ronto and shaves a few years of that Jawa rider's life. I also have a second one for some reason, but it broke, so I often scatter the parts as junk in my scenes - sometimes making their way into our photo shoots.

5. Airspeeder: Like the Cloud Car, this was derived from McQuarrie concept art. And I treat it the same. I use it as a background piece in the Hoth hanger. Both vehicles can pass for "mini-rig" versions of their film counterparts. In that sense, they do differ from the Kenner mini-rigs in that I believe most of those were made up by Kenner designers and had little to no connection with anything LFL designed.

6. Cruisemissile Trooper: This would be a candidate for weirdest release ever by Hasbro. First of all, in true mini-rig tradition, and unlike the Airspeeder and Cloud Car above, this seems to be a pure Hasbro construct. It's weird for many reasons. First off is the name, "Trooper". Does that mean the star of the set is the pilot of the ship? Or is that the name of the ship because it's actually some bizarre cyborg-hybrid type thing where the trooper is actually part of the ship? I mean, the pilot is non-removable, and only has a head, torso, and arms. It's almost like the he's part of the ship. Forget clones and the Decraniated, this is a new level of bizarreness. Well, it probably is just a separate pilot in "real life", but it suffered from cost-cutting. See? Hasbro was cutting corners for POTF2, too. Anyway, this thing has no real place in my collection, other than for completist purposes. It's never been updated, and most certainly never will be. I can stick it in an Imperial Hangar, or I can just put it in my "retired" section.

7. Complete Galaxy: Dagobah with Yoda: Here's another weird "expression" that was introduced in POTF2. There were 4 of these released, including Dagobah, Death Star, Tatooine, and Endor - with Hoth being unreleased. They each included a figure. The planet was a ball that served as a small globe, highlighting points of cartographical interest on the surface. It opened up to reveal a tiny diorama of the planet surface from the film. For Dagobah, Yoda was pretty much identical to the mainline release, but the interesting part here is the Bogwing, which is glued to the interior. I've considered removing it and adding it to my Dagobah display, but I don't have the heart to do it. I think the glue is getting distressed/dried out, so it's possible nature will make that call soon. I'd love a Bogwing added to the line somewhere along the way. Other than the novelty of this odd series, the Bogwing is the reason I would keep it around.

8. Complete Galaxy: Endor with Ewok: This one included a unique Ewok figure that attached to a glider/harness assembly which was part of the Endor globe. As with the Bogwing, I had once wanted to remove the glider and use it to display in an Endor diorama, but again, I didn't have the heart to do it. While we have since gotten some nice hang glider ewoks in the line, this particular unnamed guy has no name, and is painted in a way that makes him distinctive from every other in the line. As such, I keep him around, even though he's a terrible figure.

9. Dewback: Here's an interesting one. The dewback was most definitely updated later in the line, when it was released in 2009. However, that one was specifically meant to represent the Special Edition CGI version of the dewback, which was significantly different from the practical model used on the set of ANH. So in reality, especially if you're an old school Star Wars fan, you probably prefer The POTF2 version, even though everything about it, except for the source, is objectively inferior to the 2009 version. As such, I have both in my dioramas. You can never have enough Dewbacks.

10. Ronto: Here's a beast that I absolutely loved when I first got it in the early days of my collecting. It was from the Special Edition, yes, but I enjoyed that it was ridden by a Jawa. Like it or not, this is the only Ronto we've ever gotten. It's pretty terrible by today's standards. I'm sure there isn't much of a groundswell of support for a new one. Given its minor role, I'm content with it. For now.

11. Electronic FX: R2-D2: This is honestly one of my favorite POTF2 items. I absolutely loved the R2 that emitted beeps and blips, with his eye lighting up, at the push of a button. He has a magnet in his foot, which allows you to move him "magically" using the magnetic wand attached to the back of the desert/rock base. Hasbro revisited "talking" R2-D2's a few time in the 3.75" scale over the years, with 2012 being the most recent, if I'm not mistaken. And magnets were all the rage during the 2002/2003 AOTC blitz. But my favorite part of the set is the Tatooine rock outcropping. It's nice, albeit tiny, bit of environmental world-building. I wish we had more desert scenery, even if it doesn't exactly inspire a ton of excitement.

Part II will follow, in the meantime, let us know how you feel about these items. Do you display them? Do you want any TVC updates?

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