Kenner POTF A-Wing Pilot

 Return of the Jedi debuted 2 cool new Rebel starfighters. But have you wondered how they got their names A-Wing and B-Wing? Well in pre-production George Lucas saw the designs and said well here is A Fighter & B Fighter. The rest is history. So that's how the A-Wing & B-Wing fighters came to be!

Now, the A-Wing fighter only came on a Droids box, not a ROTJ one. So naturally you would think that the A-Wing Pilot would come out on a Droids card, but no. Instead he comes in the POTF line. Why? Nobody really knows why.

At this time in Kenner's run, they did a better job in sculpting and painting. You can see the details on the pilot's uniform stand out, as does the back of the figure. His 5 POA (head, 2 arms and 2 legs) easily move and can fit in not only the A-Wing but all other vehicles made at that time. The paint apps are also fairly clean. If there is a gripe it's that the helmet seems smaller than it should be, but I'll chalk it up to the limitations of the time. Which I can forgive since A-Wing pilots have unusual looking helmets. 

His only accessory is a small blaster pistol which can easily get lost. But honestly he doesn't really need it. I don't recall A-Wing pilots crashing down on Endor and getting into gun fights with Biker Scouts or Stormtroopers. At worst, you have a spare blaster for Endor Leia.

Now is he essential? Well, only if you have the A-Wing. If not he isn't really needed in your collection. But if you have to have them all, only then is he needed. Also there is no modern VC version of this pilot and I don't see one coming unless Hasbro shocks us all and makes a VC A-Wing with a carded pilot figure. Overall, this isn't a bad Kenner era figure. But if you don't have his fighter, you don't need him. Loose prices start at $10 with his on card max being $800. So if you kept this on card you have something worth quite a bit of cash! Pictures are from Galactic Figures dot com, and as always, thanks for reading!

 

Picture Key:

1. Simple shot of the pilot. Not bad for its time.

2. Head shot. Good detail, but the helmet looks more like Jan Orrs and Dr Aphra's "hat" than it does for a pilot's helmet. 

3. Back view. Good details, especially on the vest.