Star Wars TFs...and their strange charm.

One of my favorite vehicles designed for the Revenge of the Sith movie was the Nimbus/V-Wing. It just looked awesome, and was yet another spacecraft, along with the Eta/Actis, designed to bridge the gap between Episode II's Aethersprite Jedi fighters and the TIE fighters of Episodes IV-VI. So naturally, when Hasbro unveiled sometime ago that they were using the Nimbus for a SWTF design (as one of the cool Ep III Shock Troopers, no less), I was pretty stoked.

However, when I eventually got it, I was a bit disappointed. True, most SWTF molds are not, generally, superb examples of engineering (usually because they have a strange alt mode they have to exactly replicate), but the Shock Trooper's toy had bent wings/solar panels and was a particularly wonky mold, especially in the arms. As a result, it sat in one of the storage tubs for a long while.

However, Hasbro recently released a repaint. Not strikingly different, this Nimbus represents those spacecraft used by the first starfighter pilots of the Empire, and thus is dominated by a grey color scheme, unlike the Republic red of the original. In short, it was different enough to convince me to want it, but not without getting rid of my lackluster older version. Luckily, I managed to pitch it on ebay for a decent price and recently picked up the new version.

I'm really glad I did, as this copy has perfectly aligned wings and a great color scheme (it lacks the very white plastic of the original's robot mode, which helps). Also, I've found renewed interest in the unofficial "hover" bot mode, which is extremely reminiscent of Beast Machines Jetstorm.