Vandor Playset

[Tigersith]

Price should be a little lower, but love the retro feel of this set!

 

[Nerfherder]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm likely going to put my amateur model making skills to the test again and maybe make create a plug for that hole ('wormhole') on the side of the mountain and make it blend in. The feature is cool and everything, but I can't help unthink those images of the old ILM matte paintings with the hole in the middle for the live-action composites.

You punch that hole out when you put together the cardboard, so you could just leave it in there. It's the same colors as each side of the playset.

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

That's what I thought, thanks. I'm probably thinking about creating/adding another Hoth-like background layer just like on the box to create a really nice layered effect. The thing I don't like is the sky, particularly by the AT-Hauler which almost shows a night sky. I'm likely thinking about creating my own custom slip-in 'cover' to mask out that part of the background w/o actually ruining it. ​

 

[Hitek_Lonoshcin]

Can this be disassembled and put back in the box for storing after having it out for a while?

 

[R1G4R3PO]

Anyone that's planning to pick this up but isn't interested in 5 POA, I'll buy / trade for the Chewie figure.

not my listing but I did see the loose chewie fig on ebay this morning

 

[ILoveSlaveLeia]

not my listing but I did see the loose chewie fig on ebay this morning

I saw that listing as well. Looks like the seller removed it.

 

[DarthPete]

Saw this at Target today. I love the idea of these and the execution... just waiting for a theme that strikes a chord with me. It did look nice though.

 

[CHEWIE]

Make the dio look 100% better! A figure that could crouch on the train looks better than standing straight up.

Bingo... articulation is a major incentive for both play and display.

 

[R1G4R3PO]

Bingo... articulation is a major incentive for both play and display.

In theory..Yes. But in reality...hasbro's upscaled at-st.

 

[Masterfett]

What I'd really be interested in, is Docking Bay 94 for the BMF! HasLAb that!!

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

Oh joy, now we get to recreate tail-stepping Solo. And BTW, we don't have '2004' Jabba yet, IIRC.

 

[Masterfett]

That's not likely ever going to happen, similar to unmasked Kenny Baker or Anthony Daniels etc. Possibly a box set Exclusive if there was enough interest.

 

[DarkManX]

Oh joy, now we get to recreate tail-stepping Solo. And BTW, we don't have '2004' Jabba yet, IIRC.

What we need is the Special Special Edition of A New Hope. Special effects are at the point where they could fix Han's line of sight and put in a good Jabba. Han shoots first. And for poops and giggles, a group of tusken warriors fighting and decimating a stormtrooper patrol that had spotted Luke's speeder racing back to the Lars Homestead.

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

The only (major) things I still want fixed in the ANH:SE are the front Falcon cockpit window....still showing 3 window panels instead of 4 in the cockpit scenes (dagnabbit), and the Falcon's missing dish during the 'first reveal' in Docking Bay 94. They fixed Piett's badge in ESB:SE, so how were those NOT obvious? And the flop shot of Artoo waddling on Yavin is still annoying to me.

IIRC, I made these same comments when I first joined here.....16+ YEARS ago....and still not addressed. ​

 

[Masterfett]

I'm sure it was a very arduous task of restoring the originals and converting them to Digital HD quality as it is. Let alone fixing all old FX shots as well as the so-called mistakes. And that was in 2011, things have only improved in CG quality today. So one might assume a better fix is much easier now, if they felt compelled to do so.
But I imagine that it's still a very time consuming task to catch every little detail.

Also have to realize that GL was in charge back then, on what actually was deemed necessary to fix and what he felt was added materiel needed. I seriously doubt that Disney even cares enough to worry about restoring or upgrading anything with the OT. Especially if most of those fans are offering so much scorn on their versions. lol

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

As a long time Trek fan too, I guess I had the same expectations for Star Wars in lieu of the restorations, improvements, fixes and what-have-not for the remastered Original Series and Next Generation. Granted, we're also talking small screen vs. big screen in that sense, I just wish there was someone at Disney as somewhat cool and caring as Mike Okuda. ​

Anyways, time to get back on track....B)

 

[Daigo_Bah]

Luke's speeder racing back to the Lars Homestead.

What I always found funny about that scene was that Luke appeared to turn a corner when he stopped and spotted the homestead on fire. When you could actually see the smoke for miles

 

[JediDelight]

I always saw it as Luke sort of turns a corner and sees his Aunt and Uncle dead. That's more what he's reacting to than the Homestead on Fire.

 

[HothHan]

Put mine together today. I think it's great but a bit overpriced at damn near $50 after tax. My kids are having a blast with it and that is what is most important. It turns out pretty much every Jurassic World dinosaur also inhabited Vandor-1 lol

My only real complaint (cause I have to have at least ONE) is that the train should have been thicker cardstock or incorporated more plastic in the design.

All in all though it's a real nice little set that is heads and shoulders above what that billion dollar BB-8 playset is/was.

 

[HothHan]

I'm obviously no photographer but now that I've had some time to mess around with this playset I'll say that it's quite versatile.

 

[SaberSonic83]

Great shots HothHan thanks for posting with the articulated figures, it gives us all a really good idea of the future potential of this set once the SOLO TVC figures finally start hitting. All the areas look very cool with your stagings, just wish they could have somehow painted the edges of the cardboard so they weren't so obvious.

 

[SaberSonic83]

The only (major) things I still want fixed in the ANH:SE are the front Falcon cockpit window....still showing 3 window panels instead of 4 in the cockpit scenes (dagnabbit), and the Falcon's missing dish during the 'first reveal' in Docking Bay 94. They fixed Piett's badge in ESB:SE, so how were those NOT obvious? And the flop shot of Artoo waddling on Yavin is still annoying to me.

IIRC, I made these same comments when I first joined here.....16+ YEARS ago....and still not addressed. ​

I would love most of those changes, I always thought it was very cool that at least the Han/Jabba scene was original. I think all the other CGI needs to stay out. They could crush it with a new Jabba and a better rendering of Han that isn't so jerky. I also think they should reinstitute a version with all the deleted scenes, but with them cleaned up and digitized in the best quality possible. The Biggs scene alone is one of my favorite of the deleted scenes. Sure, it makes Luke look even more cheesy, but it gives a great dynamic and essential background on their friendship and how it seems everybody doubts him. Biggs' outfit in Tatooine is 100% Star Wars. He was rocking capes like a boss before Lando! (and I love me some Lando). Would be cool to incorporate more of the Cantina aliens and Han's gf Jenny. Again, would just like their to be 2 versions, the original Lucas cut and the restored deleted scenes cut.

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

I like the use of the Hoth soldiers....kind of reminds me of Rebel cold weather commando squad. I'm thinking of putting my Imperial Attack Base next to it to simulate a sort of Conveyex defense outpost.

 

[HothHan]

I like the use of the Hoth soldiers....kind of reminds me of Rebel cold weather commando squad. I'm thinking of putting my Imperial Attack Base next to it to simulate a sort of Conveyex defense outpost.

That's kind of what I was thinking. I assume Hoth wasn't the ONLY cold weather system that the Rebels/Imps would have fought on lol

 

[Nerfherder]

What I always found funny about that scene was that Luke appeared to turn a corner when he stopped and spotted the homestead on fire. When you could actually see the smoke for miles

Not to go off the rails too much in this thread, but there is behind the scenes footage of the landspeeder stopping. It's actually on a turnstile type of device, so it is indeed going around in a circle with someone off camera stopping it. I guess they used that to make it look like it was floating when people were getting in and out of it, or touching it.

 

[DarthPete]

The art on the stairs does a great forced perspective kind of thing. They really look like individual steps even though it's just a 'ramp'.

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

Not to go off the rails too much in this thread, but there is behind the scenes footage of the landspeeder stopping. It's actually on a turnstile type of device, so it is indeed going around in a circle with someone off camera stopping it. I guess they used that to make it look like it was floating when people were getting in and out of it, or touching it.

I'll quickly chime in and say that Luke was probably go around the last vaporator lining the homestead before stopping. Sure, he could have made a straight line course on the speeder's computer, but his mind could have been going a million parsecs the whole trip.

Anyway, just to get back on track a bit, I'll probably end up renaming my Imperial Attack Base as 'Vandor Defense Outpost'. Back then, I could never reconcile why the Empire would set up a non-mobile attack outpost on Hoth unless there was an occupation post-battle, and a Wampa could pretty much hit that outpost from the turret's blindside unless there was a 24/7 watch. Well after 38 years, I've found my reconciliation..... ​

 

[HothHan]

This is why playsets are awesome.

My 4 year old took his Jurassic World dinosaurs, a 5POA Boba Fett, Shore Trooper, Death Trooper, TIE Pilot and Moloch and played for hours. No iPad, no cell phone games, no Disney Junior channel. Just some action figures, 2 chairs that I think he was using as caves for his dinosaurs and he was entertained for a long time. He was so into his own little world that when I offered him some of my smaller vehicles (a small Slave 1 and a FO TIE) he wasn't interested.

Apparently Moloch and Boba Fett are buddies and they recruited T-Rex and Blue the Raptor to their cause. The Imperials had that Indoraptor...

 

[Tyranusspotting]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing.
I really hope Hasbro will go all out on cardboard playsets in the future to test the waters and know which ones are so popular they should be turned into elaborate plastic Haslab sets.

Playsets I want to see the most:

-Trade Federation Droid Control Ship
-Theed Palace (Throne Room, Hangar, Generator)
-Jedi Temple
-Kamino
-Geonosis Arena
-The Invisible Hand
-Utapau
-Order 66 Montage
-Mustafar
-Star Destroyer Bridge
-Cloud City
-Death Star II

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

You didn't like this Geonosis Arena?

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

...there some wasted space on the other half of the case due to the size, but maybe some cardboard attachment would have help to convert into a better wiz-bang playset...perhaps backgrounds of the hanger where the heroes stowaway on board one of the landing craft.

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

Sorry, I meant to post the R2-D2 carrying case image, but you get the idea. And I'm assuming everyone remember the Theed Hanger playset as well.

 

[SaberSonic83]

You didn't like this Geonosis Arena?

I gotta say, when I was in high school and saw this, I couldn't believe they were still making awesome playsets. This is such an underrated gem, from pile of dung movie. It's such a shame that this type of playset isn't still being made today. That is epic, I think this playset actually makes me like the movie more haha. Just for it's sheer existence, scale and really decent accuracy. Hasbro just never got the idea that the new media never sells like the OT. If they make a Hoth set like this, a Dagobah one, a Mos Eisley one, etc. they would FLY off the shelves. They might not eve TOUCH the shelves. Very cool to see it again in all it's glory though on Geonosis.

 

[SaberSonic83]

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing.
I really hope Hasbro will go all out on cardboard playsets in the future to test the waters and know which ones are so popular they should be turned into elaborate plastic Haslab sets.

Playsets I want to see the most:

-Trade Federation Droid Control Ship
-Theed Palace (Throne Room, Hangar, Generator)
-Jedi Temple
-Kamino
-Geonosis Arena
-The Invisible Hand
-Utapau
-Order 66 Montage
-Mustafar
-Star Destroyer Bridge
-Cloud City
-Death Star II

These ARE cool (the new sets), but I really would never want to see any OT area done without full plastic. Although a great nod to the past, the quality of figures today in TVC demand the finest of environments. For 5POA, I get that it kind of works, but I just feel like they'll get lazy if they ever do OT and say here are your playsets you've been asking for!

 

[Nerfherder]

The Saga 02-04 line did alot of stuff like this - taking small bits of scenes that came with figures and the ability to combine them. That bit in the front is meant to attach to a deluxe set environment where Yoda and Dooku fight. And there was a droid factory production line set that attached to the Super Battle Droid maker deluxe set. It was all interactive and pretty amazing stuff.

 

[darth_sidious]

I wish they'd start coordinating figure accessories with the deluxe line, playsets, and vehicles. The Geonosis playset was just about as good as it gets - it interacted with everything. Some of my favorite figures from that era were ones like Wat Tambor, that had pieces that were coordinated with the playset and the screen scenes:

http://www.rebelscum.com/sw0323wattambor.asp

I wish they'd start doing this again, and ditch the Force Link.

 

[DarkArtist]

I wish they'd start coordinating figure accessories with the deluxe line, playsets, and vehicles. The Geonosis playset was just about as good as it gets - it interacted with everything. Some of my favorite figures from that era were ones like Wat Tambor, that had pieces that were coordinated with the playset and the screen scenes:

http://www.rebelscum.com/sw0323wattambor.asp

I wish they'd start doing this again, and ditch the Force Link.

I'd be all for environment pieces and stands to be repacked in the figures too. Wat Tambor was just a great figure and had a great accessory to boot. I'd even love to see a return of the 3 packs like the Screen Scenes figures:

http://www.rebelscum.com/sw03ssGWR1.asp

these were awesome and the holo table was a great piece

 

[SaberSonic83]

The Saga 02-04 line did alot of stuff like this - taking small bits of scenes that came with figures and the ability to combine them. That bit in the front is meant to attach to a deluxe set environment where Yoda and Dooku fight. And there was a droid factory production line set that attached to the Super Battle Droid maker deluxe set. It was all interactive and pretty amazing stuff.

I didn't know so much stuff interacted with this playset and could be added on. Def. a sleeper in the collection of Star Wars toys. I know many love the prequels, but this particular one was the worst for me. The cheesy dialogue and terrible CGI made it a dud, probably why I didn't collect any of the figures from it or this fantastic playset.

 

[Glitch]

Definitely like this concept, and I LOVE how the material used to make the playlet has that Palitoy Death Star thickness.

However…. Give us a location we actually care about (Death Star, Cantina, Cloud City, Hoth Rebel Base, Jabba's Palace, Emperor's Throne Room, etc…)

 

[Deak_Starkiller]

Give us a location we actually care about (Death Star, Cantina, Cloud City, Hoth Rebel Base, Jabba's Palace, Emperor's Throne Room, etc…)

These locations are either 'enclosed' locations or locations attached to large exteriors...in other words, playsets which Hasbro seems to be hands off up to this point, but already done in some form by others such as Galoob, Mattel or MPC (Model Products Corporation).