One of the fantastic birthday presents I received this year was the 3 3/4" version of Rey's speeder from my parents. I'd had my eye on this set ever since Force Friday - but now that I've had a chance to see it up-close, I love it even more.
There've been two serious criticisms of the 3 3/4" vehicles from The Force Awakens: Firstly, that they're grossly underscaled; and secondly, that some parts are cast in inferior - and easily warped - plastic. I'm happy to say that neither of these concerns apply to Rey's speeder. A quick comparison with the first teaser trailer shows that the vehicle is perfectly in scale with figures in the 3 3/4" line. Further, the plastics used are incredibly sturdy. In fact, there's a robustness about this speeder that I haven't felt in a Hasbro vehicle in a long time. When I heft it in my hand, it reminds me fondly of the Shadows of the Empire Swoop - one of my favourite 3 3/4" Star Wars vehicles from the '90s. That swoop stood up to a lot of intense play, and it feels like Rey's speeder will easily do the same.
The central feature of this vehicle is the concealed cannon housed in the main body of the speeder. A half-press of the button on the side will cause the cannon to pop up on a spring-loaded mechanism, and a full-press will fire the 'missile'. Some of the action features fitted into these vehicles can come off gimmicky, but this one bucks the trend. The cannon - while presumably not a screen-used feature - doesn't feel at all out of place. There are also a couple of extra features that aren't immediately apparent. The steering vanes at the rear of the speeder pivot, and the netting on the side peels off to expose a range of salvage. They're minor touches - but they greatly increase the play-value of the whole vehicle. The set also comes with a brand new 'Jakku' version of Rey who sports the gloves, goggles, and head-covering seen in the theatrical trailer. You can see a comparison of this figure with the standard 'Starkiller Base' version of Rey below.
Of all the vehicles we've seen from The Force Awakens so far, this is by far my favourite. It's the epitome of the 'used universe' aesthetic of the original trilogy - and this version captures that design perfectly.
