Toy Review: Bandai 004 Star Wars First Order TIE Fighter Set

The next model(s) in my Bandai Star Wars colllection is the First Order TIE Fighter Set. The set is composed of two ships, the standard TIE Fighter and the newly introduced TIE Special Forces Fighter. Both ships debuted in 2015's Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, and future appearances in the new trilogy are very likely.

Pertaining to Star Wars canon, the standard TIE Fighter design was adopted by the First Order from the former Galactic Empire with its systems upgraded to modern combat specifications. Differentiating it from its Imperial predecessor, the First Order employed a black main body color for its fighters.

The second ship, the TIE Special Forces Fighter, is the advanced variant of the TIE Fighter. While mostly sharing the design principles of the standard fighter, there are some additional features hence, for use by the special forces of the First Order. The two beams connecting the cockpit to its twin panels are surrounded by protrusions from the panels arranged in a circular fashion. The Special Forces Fighter has two-man seats, one for the pilot and another for the gunman, who is positioned at the rear of the pilot. The gunman controls a 360-degree swivel turret located on the underside of the cockpit that fires dual lasers and mag pulses. There are rear windows for the gunman, The fighter utilizes two ion engine exhausts at the rear instead of the standard one, positioned near the edges of the rear window. Besides the improved weapons and defenses, the Special Forces Fighter is equipped with a hyperdrive.

The assembly pieces are snap-on (no glue needed) and are all colored black, requiring some paint application. I used white model color to paint the panels. Unlike the Star Destroyer from my previous review. this set includes decals with instructions printed on the box. The decals require delicate handling.

The display stand is designed to carry both models and can be rotated. In my model, the round peg became tight and it broke when I tried to rotate it. I used super glue to put it back.

Like the Star Destroyer, the set costs $8.

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