IMPERIAL SHUTTLE TYDERIUM
 By Julian H. Betancourt
 All Images and Layouts © and ™ Sandtroopers.com, and cannot be reproduced without the express written permission of Sandtroopers.com. Sandtroopers.com exclusive pictures cannot be duplicated without proper consent. E-mail jason@sandtroopers.com with requests.

First appearing in Return of the Jedi and briefly in The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, the fantastically designed Lambda-class shuttle bears an elegant yet fearsome presence. Its huge wings, wide body and slenderly crafted cockpit makes this vehicle one of the most recognizable ones within the Star Wars Saga.

The Imperial Shuttle's first release took place around February of 1984, becoming part of the last line of vehicles that Kenner produced in ROJ packaging, along with other late releases, such as the B-wing and TIE Interceptor. The realistic design along with the scarcity of the toy, made the Shuttle one of the hardest and most highly priced vehicles in Star Wars collecting, present and past ... until now?

The new version of the vehicle have certainly made the older version compete with some new prices, but ... How new is the new version? How much improvement has the Shuttle accounted? and... Was the price of the new vehicle accordingly balanced to what it offers?

COMPARISON: OLD VS. NEW 

Retailing for around $40.00 and including battle laser sounds the Vintage Shuttle version wins the comparison battle by a nose as far as price and electronics are concerned. The new version, being just the same mold as its vintage counterpart, triples it in price (despite the difference in years), and lacks the always welcoming sound effects.

As far as realistic appearance, FAO's newer version of the craft is quite superior to the blunt look of the Vintage one. Its newly weathered, washed off look and dark tinted glass on the canopy's windshield come much closer to what we've seen in the films, authenticating the sculpt even further.

One more credit to give to this new version is the advantage of pre-applied stickers already placed where they belong; a certain relief for shaky hands.

SIZE AND WINGS' OPERATION

The Imperial Shuttle maintains its cumbersome status as the tallest ship ever offered by Kenner/Hasbro, standing at about 22 inches high (about two inches taller than the AT-AT) and having a wingspan of three feet.

 The wings on the Shuttle can be manually operated by a trigger conveniently placed on a handle located under the belly of the ship. This handle also serves as the vehicle's frontal landing gear, stabilizing it, if set to rest on a shelf.

LANDING POSE: If the vehicle has the wings unfolded, press on the handle's trigger and begin to raise the wings. Only one wing needs to be held; since they are connected through an internal ratchet system, the wings will move up simultaneously. Bring them up to a desired pose, release the trigger and they should remain locked in place.
FLYING POSE: While in the up position, press on the trigger again and lower the wings to a desired level. Release the trigger and the wings will lock in place. Keep doing this until the wings are completely unfolded.

The folding wings are a great advantage, mainly for those with limited amount of room. The ship can be displayed with minimal usage of space while still looking great.


A common problem found with the Vintage version was the independent movement of the wings which in turn made them drop down. This is due in great part to lowering and raising the wings incorrectly. My advice, keep the trigger pressed while executing these actions thus avoiding the problem.

RAMP

A retractable ramp, allowing to recreate the ominous arrival at the Death Star battle station is provided. Crafted out of two pieces, with the smaller one fitting into the larger one, the ramp can be lowered and extended. This process can be reversed and the ramp can be secured by making it slide under the small flap protruding at the edge of the ramp's opening beneath the ship.

CANOPY

The canopy flips open towards the nose of the ship, not towards the back as indicated by the yellow arrow on the box. Once opened, the cockpit offers a spacious sitting area with room for two figures. Although the seats are not ergonomically made for a figure's uncurled back, they provide enough room for the legs to go in the openings provided below the instruments panel. The figures can be accommodated in such way that the canopy can be closed without them being in the way.

 As mentioned earlier the instrumentation sticker, depicting buttons and flight gadgetry, has been pre-applied covering the entire center console. There is an opening behind the two seats reveling some of the ship's interior as well as the opening for the ramp. The new tinted windshield glass of the canopy, certainly gives the vehicle more realism as well as character.

LANDING GEAR

Wanna take off on an intergalactic cruise? That's easy; the retractable rear landing gear allows you to tuck in both of the legs without any difficulty and the grooves provided give your fingers enough room to pull them out should you decide to stop at a nearby planet. Of course, the frontal landing gear is non retractable since it is this piece, the handle where the ship should be grabbed by.

SIDE WALL PANEL

The right side of the vehicle, right at the center of its body can be popped off, giving easy access to the white interior of the Shuttle.. An upper and lower level connected by a three step staircase is revealed. There is an instrument panel with pre-applied sticker at the higher level while the lower floor provides sitting along its left wall. On the opposite side of this lower area there are three pegs provided for figures. Worth noting is the fact the size of the pegs was kept to be compatible with vintage figures thus being too thick for the smaller size holes found under the feet of modern sculpts.

WEAPONRY

There are a total of five guns protecting the Shuttle from any unwanted encounters; a rear gun with double canons located right above the previous battery compartment which, by the way, still opens up and provides room for figures or anything you want to fit in there; two double laser cannons placed on each side of the front of the vehicle and two adjustable wing blaster cannons, which can be rotated up or down.

WEAPONRY: WHAT WENT WRONG?

The wing blaster cannons on this new version were assembled backwards. This is a huge mistake since they completely different from the ILM model, previous Shuttle, Action Fleet model and any other mold for that matter.


While the barrels of these cannons should be closer to the body of the vehicle once the wings are unfolded as well as to be able to rotate and point up when the wings fold up, the new version has them reversed. Trying to make the barrels of the cannons point up is impossible since the shape of the wings do not allow the movement.

This error can be easily corrected and I suggest you take a look at the pictures I have provided solving the dilemma. Basically these cannons are simply two connecting pieces, not glued. One piece is placed over the wing, one underneath it. Slide a flat, dull object such as a butter knife, under one of these two pieces and carefully create a separation; then just wiggle the pieces back and forward as you pull out on them; slowly but surely both pieces will come apart. You will notice two long pegs, one which is big and allows for the smaller one to fit into it. Reverse the pieces, press them together and that's it; you have just fixed the problem.

VEHICLE INFORMATION

Name of the Set: Imperial Shuttle
Size: Large
Vehicle "Supposed " Status: Limited 5,000 piece FAO Exclusive
Bar Code Digits: 7693032487
Accessories: None
Original Price Tag: $120.00 +

FINAL THOUGHT and FALLEN PRICE

Was this vehicle truly worth its original $120.00 price tag? (Not to mention tax and shipping when bought online, which drove it up to almost $150.00) Honestly I feel it was overpriced. The electronics are gone, the color scheme has been improved, yes, but that's it, its design wasn't even touched. We still get the same features out of it we did 20 years ago and even the once rumored figures to be included with the ship, were never added..

 So, what was the high price tag reflecting? Besides the logical price difference on products since 1984, it reflected an inflated amount on an item truly worth about half that price.

 In which way was the high price understandable? Size? ... Amount of plastic used? It's a huge vehicle with a superb design and was classified as a "limited run" toy but, what else was there to justify such an exorbitant amount on a toy lacking features other vehicles priced for much less offered? Take for instance the F/X X-Wing.

One thing was certain, the exclusive right to carry the Tyderium was given to a company which had always sold toys at very high prices. Should had this exclusive been given to a different retailer first, sure enough the original price would had been much less. Despite the price, apparently the ship sold out at FAO, but surprisingly reappeared at other retailers a while after ...

How this supposed to be FAO exclusive ended being not exclusive after all, remains somewhat unclear. The controversy seems to stem from FAO claiming the Shuttle as theirs, but neither Hasbro or Lucas ever mentioned it to be. A wrong impression was given by FAO's representatives whose claims made it seem as if the ship was a limited run of only 5000 units.

Around Dec. 2003, we eventually found out Hasbro had made more than 5000 Shuttles and had made them available to other merchants at discounted prices, due to FAO filing for bankruptcy and the need to move the frozen overstock. The Tyderium started popping up at KB.com where, including shipping and using a discount coupon, could be had for the mere amount of $53.00 It was also found at Sears.Com around Xmas time for around $60.00 and even EToys the KB affiliated website, carried them for half of its original price.

It seems at the end, the events accompanying the re-release of the Tyderium left behind a "pricey" story as well as an important moral to it:

Patience is virtue and good things come for those who know how to wait.

 Julian H. Betancourt
All Images and Layouts © and ™ Sandtroopers.com, and cannot be reproduced without the express written permission of Sandtroopers.com. Sandtroopers.com exclusive pictures cannot be duplicated without proper consent. E-mail jason@sandtroopers.com with requests.