Jazwares Star Wars: Micro Galaxy Squadron: Millennium Falcon Mini Playset Review

Being a Star Wars fan, I didn't think it would take long before I'd end up buying one of these for the collection. I've been eyeballing this Millennium Falcon for quite a while, hoping it would go on sale and then... it happened! I ended up getting it on Amazon and will discuss pricing later in the review, suffice it to say, I got one heck of a deal on this! Thanks for stopping by Dan's ToyBox for another review as today we are looking at the Jazwares Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron Millennium Falcon.

"Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?"

- Han Solo

The YT-1300 series freighter ship was a workhorse for honest freighter pilots, trying to make a living in the galaxy. Built solid and sturdy, the vessel was designed for everything from hauling cargo to pushing enormous cargo tugs, with the use of her bow mandible mounted tractor beams. When Lando Calrissian first acquired the Falcon, he made a number of modifications to turn her into somewhat of a luxury vessel for himself. He originally equipped her with a bow mandible mounted escape pod, which was lost in the ship's desperate escape from the Maw during her infamous Kessel Run. After winning the Falcon from Lando, Han Solo added a considerable amount of "extras" to the vessel, which included military grade sensors, deflectors, and quad turret cannons. The cannons were mounted on both dorsal and ventral sides of the ship, offering overlapping fields of fire around her "Y" axis. Additionally, Solo built hidden smuggling compartments under the deck plates. These modifications eventually caused Solo to run into some trouble with the Corporate Sector Authority as the ship violated their vessel codes a number of ways. Solo would have to show that his ship appeared on the Corporate Authority waiver list, as being permitted to have the extra modifications or he'd have to retrofit her to original specs. As I'm sure you can guess, Solo wasn't about to let a little thing like the rules get in his way. So, after an incredible adventure which ultimately led him into a daring rescue mission at the Corporate Sector Authority's notorious prison base, Star's End, Solo got his hands on a forged set of waiver credentials. This guaranteed that his ship wouldn't attract any further unwanted attention as he and Chewbacca embarked on numerous adventures throughout the Sector before ultimately returning to Imperial space. Back in familiar territory, the pair of smugglers took on a spice run for Jabba the Hutt, but during an encounter with Imperial vessels, Han was forced to dump his cargo and make a run for it. Enraged, Jabba sends out his muscle to capture Han. A small-time thug, Greedo the Rodian, came across Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina and, after making the fatal mistake of allowing Han to get his gun hand under cover, is reduced to a smoking mess courtesy of a well-placed blaster bolt. Solo sees Jabba at Docking Bay 94 and tells the gangster about his easy charter trip and promises to pay Jabba when he returns. Jabba promises that if Han fails to pay him, he'll put a bounty on the Smuggler's head so large he'll never be able to go anywhere near a civilized planet again.

There are so many more adventures we could share about Han, Chewie, and the Falcon... but that's not why we're here. Nope, we're going to talk about accessories, appearance, articulation, and affordability before giving this ship an overall grade of zero to ten toyboxes! Without further ado, let's jump to hyperspace and look over the Millennium Falcon.

ACCESSORIES

The Jazwares Micro Galaxy Squadron Millennium Falcon comes with four miniature figures: Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and Ben Kenobi. There is a removable floor panel to show the smuggling compartments and detachable sensor dish and upper quad cannon. My major complaint is the choice of figures. At no point in Star Wars IV did Leia and Ben ever appear together within the Falcon. Why Luke Skywalker wasn't substituted for one of those two figures is baffling to me. He would have made a lot more sense but, at this point it is what it is. I will say that the odd choice though is going to knock the score down a bit. Admittedly, the sensor dish and cannon are technically part of the ship, so they really shouldn't be considered accessories but, because they are removable, re-enacting the damage the ship took at the end of Return of the Jedi becomes a possibility. While the four mini figures are really cool, I'm irrationally annoyed at the poor choices. I'm going to give this a very generous 6 out of 10, but only because of how good the figures look.

APPEARANCE

I'm going to start with the mini figures first. I was very impressed with the amount of work that went into painting these one-inch-tall figures. Based on their appearances in Episode IV, each character is rendered in really amazing detail. From the off-white of Solo's shirt to the silver belt around Leia's waist, there is a lot of attention paid to getting the look right. Even such minute details as the silver belt buckle on Han's gunbelt right down to Ben Kenobi's lightsaber, not much is missed at all. Even more surprising is how cleanly the paints are applied to each of these tiny characters. Hats off to the team at Jazwares, these figures really look sharp. The ship, herself, has that used/weathered beat-up look that Lucas was going for in the Star Wars universe. Though I will admit that the rust brown details, the weathering, and the wash over the Falcon look fantastic, there was a lot of detail omitted. There are darker and lighter gray panels scattered throughout the ship's armor plating as well as some lighter browns and even some red highlights that could have been added. To be honest, I kind of feel like the care was taken on the figures and the Falcon was left fairly monochromatic. I would have liked to have seen the cockpit painted a bit darker and certainly, the holo-table could have used some highlights.

While the wash does give it that dirty, lived in look, more color could have been applied to break up the monotony of the gray. I have to confess that this was kind of a big disappointment for me, given how nice the figures themselves look. They save the overall appearance rating as the Falcon as a whole set gets a 7 out of 10. (The ship itself is so bland and would have maybe earned a four or five alone.) I'm not generally someone who customizes his stuff, but I might do some touch up painting and detail addition to the Falcon.

ARTICULATION

Yes, astonishingly, there is articulation, both with the ship and the figures. Each of the four figures have legs and arms that can swing forward and backward, which helps put them in sitting positions in the cockpit or around the holo-table. The ship has a swing open canopy, the landing ramp lowers and raises, the sensor dish and upper turret can rotate and the landing gear can swing up and down for flight and landing modes. The only real issue is that the hinges are a bit loose, which leads to the landing gear folding easily on one side. Best of all though, at the press of a button, we are treated to cannon firing sound effects and by pressing the other button (both concealed in the dorsal heat vents) the engines can light up and feature sound effects. What is even more impressive though is that the sound effects for the engine can be controlled simply by moving the ship. Pitching the ship left or right will cause a different engine sound to play as will tilting it up and down. For something this small, the fact that those type of effects are included make for an excellent play experience. The moving parts, lights, and sound effects are absolutely terrific and earn this an easy 9 out of 10.

AFFORDABILITY

The Jazwares Micro Galaxy Squadron Millennium Falcon can be found at most big box stores for the retail price of $44.99. As I mentioned, I bought mine online at Amazon and was both pleased with the fact it was on sale for almost 46%, which brought the price down to $24.99, upon which I was also able to apply an additional savings of $8.82 in rewards points. So, total with tax I paid a whopping: $18.17 for a $45 toy! Now, I have to give a rating based on the suggested retail price and to be honest, I passed on this in stores because I feel that nearly $45 is just way too much, even with the electronics. I could see this in the mid $30 range perhaps. If it hadn't been on sale, I likely wouldn't have bought it. so, for the base retail price of $44.99, the Jazwares Millennium Falcon gets a 3 out of 10 for affordability.

Overall, the figure detail and the electronics give this a much-needed boost in scoring. Even with that though, the Jazwares Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron Millennium Falcon earns:

6 out of 10 ToyBoxes.

As I mentioned, were it not on sale, I'd have likely not ended up buying this. It has some redeeming qualities, but overall, it's just a bit above average and the choice to omit a Luke figure just really blows my mind. Thanks again for supporting Dan's ToyBox with your visits and until next time... GEEK OUT!!!