The high-end line of die-cast replicas from one of the most revered toy makers elevates the most famous starships in the Star Wars franchise to all new levels of collectibility.
The House the Mouse Built may have put a stop plug on the further development of any new films after the less than stellar reception from the recent release of Solo: A Star Wars Story adventure, the reviews for the young Han Solo feature starring xx were mostly warm, but that may not have been enough to fill seats at the multiplex, though demand for merchandise from a galaxy far, far away continues to command attention from collectors.
Since the acquisition of the Lucasfilm property by Disney collectors have benefited from the connectivity to that company’s long-time standing merchandise agreements across all spectrums whether from leading toy licensing with Hasbro, which continues to produce a near infinite amount of action figures and play sets based on the starships populating the expanding universe, to highly detailed, scaled models by Revell.
With the growing collectability of die-cast replicas, Disney has partnered with Hot Wheels to bring to the adult collector an all-new experience with the Hot Wheels Elite Series featuring the most popular starships in the Star Wars universe including the Millennium Falcon, Imperial TIE Fighter and Rebel X-Wing Fighter. Each model expertly modeled and highly detailed, with magnetically linked attachments and display stand, solidly packaged for long-time storage between play.
Millenium Falcon
Hot Wheels Elite release of the “fastest ship in the fleet” and the pride and joy of the rogue spacer Han Solo is a fitting replica of the Millennium Falcon and is perhaps the most highly detailed given it’s size — from stem to stern the die-cast starship model measures near 6” in length and weighs in at about 1 lb. featuring magnetically adaptable parts including landing gear and covers for displaying the ship in flight simulation on its transparent stand.
The model also is accurately detailed and war-torn given the mileage put upon it by its owners. There is an option to display the Millennium Falcon as it appeared throughout its legendary battles from the Original Trilogy, or the collector can remove the classic circular radar dish, for the rectangular version that appears in the latest episodes since being reunited with Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Compared to other die-cast collectibles of this size the Hot Wheels Elite release of the Falcon is among one of the most perfectly detailed and scaled replicas of its kind. The topside is even featured with the familiar quad-blaster canons used to defend the ship from enemy fire, and the cockpit can be magnetically released to reveal a glimpse of the ships infamous pilot and co-pilot at their stations at the flight controls.
Imperial TIE Fighter
Without a doubt the Imperial TIE Fighter is the most feared one-man assault craft in the galaxy. The Empire’s Navy is dependent on the oddly terrifying spherical killing machines are piloted by a single expert flyer, widely regarded as a singularly minded agent of destruction preparing the reign down chaos using the TIE Fighters twin precision blaster canons. Deployed from larger capital ships like Star Destroyers that carry a squadron of 72 TIE Fighters, the die-cast replica is great!
Particularly sturdy in its craftsmanship, the model is beautifully scaled and detailed; it’s fearsome solar panels captured and are strategically perched like a raptors wings. The model sits effortlessly on its display stand bearing the Imperial symbol of its allegiance and the top access panel opens to gather the tight compartment that houses the TIE pilot inside. The design and coloring of the ship is evocative of its appearance in the Original Trilogy and is a reminder of those space battles.
Also available as part of this line of collectible replicas is the Rebel X-Wing Fighter also from the Original Trilogy. The Hot Wheels Elite line of Star Wars collectibles kicks off its inaugural launch of the models with the most famous ships from the series. Given how quickly collectors are adding these to their shelves, hopefully Disney and Hot Wheels will be inspired to expand on the series and include replicas of the Imperial Star Destroyer and Rebel Blockade Runner as well.
Hot Wheels Elite featuring the ships from Star Wars are available now through Amazon.