Would You Buy This Tantive IV?
Our friend, Darth Chuck (Twitter: @DarthChuckMc), posted a photo for a Tantive IV playset that would be scaled up for the 3.75″ action figures, and it’s pretty damn good.
He hits the highlights of the ship; hallway for Vader and the Stormtroopers to enter, maintenance room to capture Princess Leia, escape pod for the Droids and even a conference room for a Revenge of the Sith type meeting of Obi-Wan and Yoda. Lights, sounds, a cockpit and even some cannons on the outside. Take a look at the design photo and read Chuck’s summary below. What do you think, Hasbro? I’d buy it.
I watched ANH last night, and found myself wishing I had a Rebel Blockade Runner to display all of my TVC Stormtroopers and Rebel Fleet Troopers. I had the day off today, so I decided to kill some time designing my own Tantive IV playset.
The total size is 38 inches long, 8 inches tall, and 17 inches wide.
The cockpit is 4 inches in diameter and 6 inches wide and 8 inches long. It has a hinged cover, two rotating pilot seats and a light up center console. The “neck” houses the battery compartment for the electronics. It snaps into the cabin.
The cabin is 9 inches wide from port to starboard. The roof is removable to reveal the cabin’s play features.
The “J” shaped hallway for the battle is 4 inches wide and 16 inches long. The end of the “J” curves around to the airlock the Stormtroopers and Vader make their entrance.
The hall to the Escape Pod is 4 inches by 5 inches, with a spring loaded door and LED light above it. It opens into the 4 inch by 3 1/2 inch Escape Pod bay. The Pod is 5 inches tall, and 3 inches in diameter. It opens in half, to place the Droids inside. It is held in place by spring loaded latches that release to “launch” the Pod upward.
There is another 4 inch by 5 inch hall for Leia to ambush the Stormtroopers.
At the end of the “J” hall, there is a door that leads into a conference room. The room has a table and 6 chairs for Yoda, Obi-Wan and Senator Organa to discuss what to do with the Skywalker twins (since, according to GL, this is the same Blockade Runner in IV & III). The conference room is 4 inches by 7 inches.
The engines are the bulky part of the toy. The middle 3 engines are part of the cabin (containing half of the conference rooms space. The upper and lower 4 engines snap into place.
Each hall has a button for sound fx.
The Escape Pod hall plays the Pod launch fx, some R2 chirps and 3PO lines.
Leia’s hall plays her blaster sound fx, stormtrooper dialogue, and stun gun sound fx.
The main hall has a button at the airlock that plays the Stormtroopers break thru, and fire fight and a button in the conference room plays the emergency alarm and engine sounds.
The roof has a rotating twin cannon, 4 rotation single cannons and a rotating “exploding” radar dish. The undercarriage has a rotating twin cannon and pop down center landing foot.
This is my idea for a decent size ship, while still being an active style playset that features a few key movie scenes.
I haven’t decided what to use for building supplies yet…hopefully Hasbro will see it build it for me instead 😀
DarthChuckMc