My TVC Vehicle Pick:  Anakin’s ETA-2 Jedi Starfighter

Let me be perfectly clear and state that while I would very much like Anakin's Jedi Starfighter from the opening scene of Revenge of the Sith, it is not my most wanted vehicle. In fact, it's not in my top three which are the Y-Wing, Sandcrawler and Darth Vader's TIE Advanced X1. That is not the purpose of this article. Whenever I put forth a suggestion for The Vintage Collection, my primary concern is how well that item would sell. One of my biggest fears is that I campaign for something that ends up flopping, and thus damages the TVC brand. As I've said in the past, whenever any of us suggest something to Hasbro, we should be asking ourselves, "would I bet my job on this?" Because that's exactly what you're asking that Hasbro employee to do.

So, the purpose of this article is to pick a vehicle that I think would be a retail success, but there are two critical factors that play into it. When I wrote about Mando's N1 last week, I said that the recent Vintage Collection vehicles have transcended toys, and have become high-end replicas. I further stated that this transition presented the opportunity for Hasbro to make new sculpts of previous vehicles that tilted more toward the "toy" end of the spectrum. Enter 2005's Episode III Jedi Starfighter mold. It was fine for its day. I like it, but it definitely leans heavily toward the "kid conscious" side of the equation. Liberties are taken with the size and proportions. It has spring loaded missiles. Nothing about it feels high end. It is most decidedly a toy. Moreover, while many of you are likely thinking that the one you own is good enough, you must understand that we who have been collecting since at least 2005 are the exception, and not the norm in the hobby.

If feel like we first saw the shift from "toy" to "replica" with 2018's Imperial Combat Assault Tank and has been consistently advancing through the Razor Crest, and the upcoming Mando's N1 and The Ghost. Could you even imagine what the current design team could do with the ETA-2 Jedi Starfighter? It would look like it jumped off the screen. Even if not 100% 1:18 scale, the proportions would be correct. The silvers would be silver instead of cast in dark gray plastic. It would be a work of art.

The next factor is even more important, and it would have to borrow a pattern from the recent Boba Fett's Starship. As you recall, that ship came with a partially new Tusken Boba that was ultimately destined for main line. In the hobby, we call this a "pre-pack.” The same pattern would have to play out to make Anakin's ETA-2 Jedi Starfighter a retail success. It must come packed with an all new Episode III Anakin (#MakeTheMains), but with an additional wrinkle. The version packed with the ETA-2 should have a different head sculpt featuring the pilot headgear:


Then the bulk of the figure with the standard head sculpt could be reissued in main line (which is to where a majority of the tooling would be budgeted).

There are two more reasons for my faith in the retail viability of an all new ETA-2 Jedi Starfighter mold. The first is obvious: it can be "repainted" several times, as Hasbro did in the past, for other Jedi. Anakin and Obi-Wan each fly two differnt ETA-2 Starfighters over the course of Revenge of the Sith alone. The second factor is something I've been saying for a while: the kids who grew up with the PT are aging into their prime adult collecting years. Even if those fans owned the 2005 Anakin's Starfighter as kids, it was likely played with to within an inch of its life. As we older fans know, nothing recaptures your youth better than getting a new release of that Star Wars ship you wish you still owned. It's even better when they're upgraded. Playing with the "Big" Millennium Falcon in 2007 took me straight back to my sixth birthday.

If the two conditions of an all new and definitive ETA-1 Jedi Starfighter mold, and and all new Episode III Anakin are met, I have high confidence in the retail viability of a Vintage Collection Anakin's Jedi Starfighter.

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