Presenting the Star Wars Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon - one of the largest Star Wars playsets in the Dungeon.Luke Skywalker called the Falcon a piece of Junk. Princess Leia called it a bucket of bolts. Lando Calrissian, the Millennium Falcon's former owner called it the "fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy."
Just what did the Millennium Falcon do to deserve such a decrepit reputation?
Well it's old.
Just how old?
YT-1300 492727ZED - the original name of the Millennium Falcon, was built in 60BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin - where we all know the Millennium Falcon flew).
Obi-Wan Kenobi was born 57 BBY. Han Solo was born 29 BBY. Between 60BBY and Han Solo's winning the Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a Sabbac game, the Falcon was renamed a total of nine times. It was also known as the Corell's Pride,
Fickle Flyer, Meetyl's Misery, Jackpot, Hardwired, Wayward Son, and the Stellar Envoy. The Stellar Envoy was destroyed in a collission with another ship and was rebuilt as the Second Chance, It was later renamed: Gone to Pieces.
It was named the Millennium Falcon by a thief who stole it named Zenn Bien who used it in service of the Rebellion in the Galactic Civil War. It eventually ended up with Lando Calrissian who used the ship for smuggling purposes. Calrissian would lose the Falcon in a Sabbac game to Han Solo.
Modified YT-1300? Yeah right.
Han Solo and Chewbacca of course used the Falcon for smuggling purposes and added several aliases to the Falcon's illustrious career, including: Close Shave; Sunfighter Franchise; Victory Ring; Longshot; Regina Galas; Sunlight Franchise; Sweet Surprise; Shadow Bird; Princess of Blood; Star Princess; Star Tripper and Naboo Duckling.The Star Wars Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon's blister pack reads "The fastest ship in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon has amazing speed and firepower that have helped the Rebel Alliance defeat the Empire in numerous battles including Yavin and Endor.
Piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca, the Falcon packs powerful secrets and special modifications inside and out - and they all came in handy on that fateful day when Han and Chewie agreed to fly Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wa Kenobi, R2-D2 and C-3PO to Alderaan and ended up battling the evil Empire for the first time. As Han Solo says, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid"
What's to like about the STAR WARS Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon?
FIRST: The Star Wars Legacy Millennium Falcon is currently the largest, most accurate replica of the Millennium Falcon ever to be released into the market. It measures in at 32 inches (2.6 feet) from the front fork to the Falcon's stern, and; 25 inches (A little over 2 feet) from the widest parts of port to starboard, and; stands a little over 9 inches with the landing gear deployed. Amazon weighs in the Star Wars Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon at a very hefty 19.9 lbs. It also comes with a Han Solo and Chewbacca action figures, and attack craft/escape shuttle in the same way that the Ghost has the Phantom.
SECOND: The Star Wars Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon is also a playset - which is both a boon and a bane for collectors. Some people we've noticed have found the lights and sounds gimmicks funny and childish; While others find that part of the fun is setting off those gimmicks in order to get that feeling of nostalgia going. Personally, we wish there was a way to set off the lights portion of the sound effects so that they can stay on as long as you want them to stay on - for display purposes.
Here's a rundown of the sound/Light/effects:
Cockpit: The Millennium Falcon's cockpit's Sound and Light effects are tied to the engine of the craft. As you can see it sits four, just like the cinema Millennium Falcon does, and the cockpit is finely detailed thanks to a plethora of stickers and widgets. The seats do rotate, but the movement is limited.
Yes, it is spacious enough to take in a full grown Wookie. The Han Solo and Chewbacca action figures are the figures that came with the Star Wars Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon.
There's a small button right behind the cockpit that activates the sound/Light effects:
Here are the corresponding effects from the engine:
Turrets: The Millennium Falcon comes armed with a pair of AG-2G Quad Lasers - these would eventually be replaced with Light Turbo Lasers after the Falcon was nearly destroyed by Anakin Skywalker. Anyway, unlike the real Falcon, dorsal and ventral AG-2G Quad Lasers cannot do a complete 360 degree turn. They are limited to a more or less 45 degree angle from left to right plus a vertical tilt. Also unlike the regular Falcon, there is only room for one gunner and he is stuck in the central shaft rather than in the dorsal or ventral gunbays.
There is a switch on the port side of the ship - towards the back - that you can swing a few millimeters from side-to-side. It activates a swinging action in the dorsal turret and a series of sound effects. Pushing the switch all the way to one end of each viable direction will launch two spring loaded missiles from the lower quad-laser set.
There is a BlasTech Ax-108 "Ground Buzzer" surface-defense blaster cannon that can lower from behind the front pincers of the Millennium Falcon. This is the cannon that defends the Falcon in the Rebel Base on Hoth, while Captain Solo struggles to get the Falcon to start.
It fires one spring loaded missile and can pivot to pretty much cover the front of the Millennium Falcon.
The Falcon also comes with a bank of Concussion Missiles. The movie Falcon has four missiles. The Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon has only three. Pressing each button fires off a missile, but only the central button execute a sound-effect.
Moving on to the interior, press a button above the landing gear ramp and you will activate a pair of lights and the landing gear will come down:
The Interior: Walk up the ramp of the Star Wars Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon and remove the roof, and you're in the interior of the craft.
To the left is the entrance to the engine room - that you can't really enter. But it's nice to know where the door leads:
Next to the Engineering door is the medical bay that was shown towards the end of STAR WARS: The Empire Strikes Back, after Luke Skywalker loses his right hand to Darth Vader's lightsaber:
The bacta seal on Luke Skywalker's hand does not come with the Millennium Falcon and is actually from the Star Wars Saga Empire Strikes Back - Luke Skywalker Bespin Duel - action figure.
To the right of the landing pad is a weapon's rack and next to it is a smuggler's compartment - you can make out the lock on the floor:
The smuggler's compartment is a nice place to store loose weapons for figures that you may want to leave in the Falcon - such as Jacen Solo's lightsaber.
Continue down the corridor and you will find yourself in the main "living room" of the Millennium Falcon. Here you will find the Falcon's communications array, sofa and Dejarik board. The pieces can actually be removed from the Dejarik board and are held in place by pegs. The Jedi training sphere from Star Wars: A New Hope is also here - hanging by a string instead of floating in the air. A small gear on the exterior of the Millennium Falcon will swing the droid around and turn the radar dish on the exterior of the Falcon.
Since we're still chasing down that really rare Obi-Wan Kenobi in robes figure, we decided to feature the training of Jaina Solo under the watchful eye of her Master Mara Jade-Skywalker, while her uncle Luke watches and her mother works on the communications console.
There are also two buttons on the exterior of the craft that execute sound effects from Star Wars: A New Hope.
Note the spring loaded missile (Concussion missile) on the bottom of the YT-XC Starfighter and the extending Blaster Cannons on the port and starboard sides of this flying coffin.
What's NOT to like about the STAR WARS Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon?FIRST: We've already discussed the problem with the quad-turrets of the Star Wars Legacy Millennium Falcon, but the biggest problem with it is that - despite the size - it's still too small to be a scale replica of the Millennium Falcon. Simply go back and take a look at the landing ramp. The ramp should be wide enough to accommodate two characters going up the ramp side-by-side. It isn't that wide. It barely fits one and has difficulty accommodating wide figures like R2-D2.
The biggest indication that the Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon is too small is of course, the missing ventral turret bay - and the missing turret bay ladders.
SECOND: The Legacy Edition Millennium Falcon designer Mark Boudreaux is correct, the Falcon is really, really heavy. It would be nice if we could lift it with one hand and make swooshing sounds through the air. But no. It really is a playset - can't have both I suppose. It's sooo heavy that the landing gear falls off when you try to push/adjust its position on a shelf or table - well table in our case because it won't fit on any shelf we have (Which is I guess is the THIRD problem)
This particular Millennium Falcon set us back PhP 1,500 (US$ 33.34) as part of a barter agreement regarding old comic books that were worth nothing to us since the great upheaval in the Dungeon. It will set you back US$ 600 (Roughly PhP 27,000) on Amazon, and will be a bitch to ship.
For Dr. Achilles B. del Callar (July 6, 1933 - May 5, 2015)
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