SPECIAL REVIEW:  Mission Fleet T-6 Jedi Shuttle

This product was sent to Bantha Skull by Hasbro for free.

Images at the bottom of the review.

When the Ahsoka media kit arrived, I was naturally most excited about the Vintage Collection Deluxe Sabine Wren. The thing I was next most excited for was this Mission Fleet: T-6 Jedi Shuttle. It's not because I particularly wanted to own a Mission Fleet vehicle. Instead, it's because I have always been curious about this product line, but have been too miserly to buy any previous offerings merely to indulge that curiosity. The closest I came was to the baby Razor Crest that was offered a year or so ago. Finally, thanks to this media kit, I can satisfy my inquisitiveness:


I have to say that this Mission Fleet T-6 Jedi Shuttle is definitely better than the vehicles we were getting toward the end of the kid-focused 3.75" vehicle line when we were getting Nerf-laden miracles such as Hera's A-Wing. When adjusted for inflation, this T-6 ($44.99) isn't that much more expensive than that A-Wing ($38.38 adjusted), but it represents a better toy. Of course this is achieved because Hasbro gave up on trying to value price 3.75" vehicles. Instead of continuing to shrink and otherwise reduce the amount of plastics in the 3.75" ships to chase a price point, Hasbro shrank the figures. These Mission Fleet vehicles interact with 2.5" figures which are offered as pack-ins. This T-6 comes with an Ahsoka Tano figure.

As is to be expected for a kid line, while the figure is 1:28 scale, the corresponding vehicle is probably scaled and additional 75% on top of that (i.e. it's only 25% of the size it would be if it were truly 1:28 scale). This is exactly how Kenner treated the vehicles during the vintage era. While the on-screen T-6 sees Ahsoka, Sabine and Huyang all occupying the cockpit with room to spare, this Mission Fleet T-6 only accommodates one figure, and that figure interacts with the cockpit the same way it would interact with a piece of Tupperware. The figure merely stores inside. Instead of the roomy interior where the character can eat off the table that they were walking on five minutes prior, this T-6 has a compartment in the rear that can hold an additional figure (not included). Of course, these kind of compromises that are necessary for a kid line. A truly 1:28 scale T-6 would be both too expensive and unwieldy for any kid to play with.

For play features, Ahsoka's ride comes with two spring loaded missile launchers. They can either affix to the rear of the wings or the front, and can rotate 360 degrees. They are removable, so if your child is prematurely serious, he or she can forgo installing them to preserve the on-screen aesthetic. The cockpit rotates to recreate flight mode of the T-6. This feature is well engineered. The retractable landing gear, on the other hand, doesn't have the same degree of engineering we expect on collector-grade vehicles. The rear landing gears don't lock into an open position, and can be over rotated. With ball jointed shoulders, swivel wrists, head and hips, the included Ahsoka sports seven points of articulation, which is frustratingly only one less than the upcoming Vintage Collection 8D8.

Overall, I think this Mission Fleet T-6 perfectly fills its target niche. It gets a Star Wars vehicle into the hands of kids without incurring the massive costs associated with satisfying the maniacal demands of collectors. When these kids graduate to adult collectors, they will choose the only collector scale that makes vehicles possible. I'm glad I finally got to interact with one of these Mission Fleet vehicles. While they are not something I'll ever collect, I think they're neat for their intended purpose.

This Mission Fleet T-6 Jedi Shuttle can be preordered from site sponsor Entertainment Earth BY CLICKING HERE.

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