This Solo: A Star Wars Story toy feature presented in collaboration between The Rock Father™ and Entertainment Earth…
As modern Star Wars fans, we’re pretty spoiled in that since 2015 we’ve been getting new films every year. We’ve seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and this year we’ve got Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). And, as J.J. Abrams preps to shoot the Untitled Episode IX (2019), there’s a new series of films from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, a new Trilogy from Rian Johnson and a live-action television series from Jon Favreau all starting to take shape on the horizon. With each new film comes a new range of toys and collectibles, and in recent years we’ve seen that skew largely toward grownups – the “big kids” who were once little kids when the Original Trilogy (1977-1983) was released, or even stranger to me – the kids who grew up on the Prequel Trilogy (1999-2005). Along the way, I think that sometimes what gets lost is the fact that while many Star Wars toys are being purchased by collectors, there’s always new generations who are just experiencing the Saga for the very first time. With that in mind, Hasbro is peppering the release of their new toys from Solo: A Star Wars Story with some new offerings from their Galactic Heroes line geared toward the youngest fans – ages 3-7. And like all the new product launches, there’s not only characters from the latest film, but also those from the the past… or “a long time ago… in a galaxy far, far away.” My friends at Entertainment Earth sent over one of those new toys – the Star Wars Galactic Heroes 2-in-1 Millennium Falcon, and we’re going hands-on in The Toy Testing Facility at Rock Father™ HQ!
If you’ve followed the Galactic Heroes line for a bit (I still think of it under its former Playskool branding), you might be thinking “they’ve done the Falcon before” – and you’d be right. Hasbro has released several versions of the Millennium Falcon under this line, but not like this. Taking a cue from what they did with 2017’s BB-8 Adventure Base, this new Falcon opens open into a full-blown Command Center playset, quickly collapsing back into vehicle form to head out on another adventure.
If you’ve seen the trailers (or the other toys), Solo features the Millennium Falcon in a sleeker form, with the Corellian Freighter bearing a much different look that we’re used to seeing. For this playset, however, it’s fully based on the classic “piece of junk” that audiences first fell in love with back in 1977, depicting the ship with its open panels and exposed wiring. There’s a ton of fun lights and sounds including quotes from the film. There’s a moveable blaster cannon and radar dish, a falling walkway, “secret escape route” and more. The ship includes Chewbacca with Power-up Arms and R2-D2. The odd thing here is that we have a Millennium Falcon that doesn’t include Han Solo, but does include R2-D2, so that’s a bit of a head-scratcher for an otherwise great set.
Elsewhere in the Galactic Heroes line is the new Solo: A Star Wars Story Smugglers & Scoundrels 5-pack. This new set features younger versions of Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca (looking great for 190 years old), along side a pair of new characters – Enfys Nest and the Imperial Range Trooper. You can pick that up from Entertainment Earth as well.
When my generation was little, we jumped right into the Kenner 3.75″ action figure collection, and Hasbro still offers that scale as well. But if your kids are a little younger, definitely give Galactic Heroes a look. There’s some really creative and fun sets out there, and they’re affordable, too!
