Toys : Hasbro Star Wars Transformers - Vader and Tie Fighter

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Rating:

- Darth Vader Transformer
Typical plastic toy that cost far too much, but it's what my son wanted. My son, who is 5 1/2 years old found this transformer far too difficult to put together. Also, it wasn't made well enough to withstand playtime, now many of the pieces that broke off are lost. Not a good toy for a younger child.

Rating:

- Cool Toy
My son is really into these Star Wars transformers. I'm not sure if it's an age appropriate toy (he's 5), but after about 10 minutes working with him on it, he is busy changing it back and forth.

This one is really easy to transform, and it appears that the child labor in China didn't overuse the superglue on the foot of this one like they did on the Obi-Wan transformer (no worries - five minutes of prying with a small screwdriver did the trick).

Yeah, the pieces come apart, but you can easily put them back on. It's also an opportunity for me to interact with my son. I'm just amazed at how quickly he catches on to how the stuff goes together. Not that it's that difficult, or anything, but he's really into it.

Rating:

- Why can't Hasbro make a durable Star Wars Toy?????
If I could I would give this product zero stars. Every cent we spent on this product was a waste. My son just received 5 different Star Wars Transformers for his birthday (Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Obi Wan, Jango Fett, and the Han Solo/Chewbacca sets). I am so tired of Hasbro selling cheap pieces of junk that do NOT hold together for 5 minutes. My son is beyond frustrated and I am tired of continually trying to put the things back together. We had this same problem last Christmas with Hasbro Star Wars figures. My child is not hard on his toys, but within 24 hours a couple of figures had already lost arms! The thing that drives me nuts is that we still have the Kenner figures that belonged to my husband in the 70's and early 80's and they are still in perfect shape. Why can't Hasbro figure out how to copy those designs and create a quality product?!? The bottom line is that they won't as long as consumers continue to buy this junk and not complain. I have contacted Hasbro customer service and I continually get the run-around. They simply seem to not care about the quality of these products.

Rating:

- Neat toy
I like this toy and my Son had a great time with it for a while. It didn't hold his attention as long as I had hoped.

Rating:

- More Than Meets the Dark Side
Just when I thought the Star Wars merchandising machine couldn't crank out anything more ridiculous than Mr. Potato Head as "Darth Tater" (www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/toys/B00061I4U6), Hasbro got the bright idea to do a crossover with the TransFormers line. `Course, seein' as how they merged Star Wars with the aforementioned Mr. Potato Head and an electronic version of the Battleship board game a few years back, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by this latest kit-bash. On the upside, I gotta admit that at least one of the results of this silly alliance is reasonably cool-lookin'. It doesn't hurt that two of my fave types of toys when I was a kid were Star Wars playsets and TransFormers `bots, giving this particular line a nostalgia factor that's off the charts.

Anyhoo, the best of this bunch by far is the Darth Vader TIE Fighter that converts into Vader himself... albeit a bit blockier than normal. Still, his look isn't nearly as blocky or oddly-proportioned as the other offerings in the Star Wars TransFormers line. For example, The "robot" form of the X-Wing/Luke Skywalker toy (www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000AX20RS) has these stubby arms. And Boba Fett, when converted from his vehicle configuration(www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000AYJ00M), has a bit of a beer gut goin'. And since I hated the prequels, I avoided the young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul toys altogether. And so should you, if you've any whit of self respect. I'm kinda hopin' they'll put out a Jar Jar Binks transformer that changes into a big steamin' pile of bantha pudu, though... if ya catch my drift.

Anyhoo, the Vader figure also has surprisingly extensive articulation (poseability), so you can put him in a fairly wide array of action poses. I also like how the solar-panel fin part covering his left arm resembles a large shield; this extra touch really ups the toy's coolness factor a few notches. I'm not too big on the "cape" made from the other solar-panel fin, though.

My only real gripe with this bad boy is the head, which is a bit small in proportion to the body. Also, the head's relatively normal look clashes a bit with the blocky body. If it were up to me, I'd have had it match the body a bit better. Other than that, I wish the lightsaber accessories didn't fit in the hands so tightly. Overall, though, this is one merging of two beloved toy faves that I can really get behind!

Before I go, however, I gotta tell ya: this booger kinda makes me wonder if there might not be a Star Trek Transformers line comin' down the pike in the near future? I find such a prospect... fascinating.

`Late

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