Don’t Call It a Comeback: A-Wings to Return in Episode VIII Some extra nerdy Star Wars news for you. by Jessica Lachenal | 4:19 pm, April 20th, 2016 The A-wing is coming back, friends. In a bit of news that may excite some of the Star Wars fans amongst us (myself included, obviously), apparently we can expect the A-wing to make a glorious, speedy return in Star Wars: Episode VIII. The proof is in a set of tweeted photos (via ScreenRant) of Prince Harry’s visit to the set of Episode VIII. There’s one where he’s sitting in a cockpit of a ship that looks to have the A-wing’s unique ship profile, and seems to be painted in the A-wing’s unique color scheme. There aren’t any details as to just how it’ll come roaring back into the galaxy, just that it will. As someone who’s gone on record in the past to say she’s dreamt of being in Rogue Squadron, I fully believe that X-wings are the superior fighter choice (come at me). But I will also say that A-wings definitely got a raw deal and a bit of a bum rap.
One of the most prominent ones you happen to see during Return of the Jedi goes crashing into a Star Destroyer. Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing, considering it took out the entire bridge (and thus, the ship). Fun fact: one of the most prominent examples of a current canon A-wing fighter pilot is Shara Bey, who just so happens to be Poe Dameron’s mother. According to canon, she used to take Poe out on her lap when she’d go flying, which sounds so gosh darn cute I don’t even know what to do with myself. I think it’d be a neat wrinkle in the story to see Poe fly an A-wing instead of his preferred X-wing. Sudden flashbacks to the moms, perhaps? (via Nerdist, featured image via Marvel) —The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.— Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.The Y-wing starfighter (officially known as the BTL Y-wing starfighter) is an assault bomber that appeared in the Star Wars universe.
Used by the Rebel Alliance, These fighters had a reputation for durability, and were in used at countless Rebel bases. Their limitations were made abundantly clear at the Battle of Yavin: only one fighter from Gold Squadron (piloted by Keyan Farlander) survived the battle. The Y-Wing is easily recgonized by its distinctive narrow central hull section and two large engines set far away from the body. Before the superior X-Wing was introduced, Y-Wings were the flagship fighters of the Rebel Alliance. They played a prominent role in the Battle of Vnas at Duro and the First Battle of Ord Biniir. Rebel Alliance Y-Wings saved thousands of lives by holding off Imperial TIE Bombers during the Siege of Ank Ki'Shor. Two squadrons of Y-Wings were used at the Battle of Yavin, where the first Death Star was destroyed. As the Alliance got more X-Wings, Y-Wing fighters were increasingly being used for raids on Imperial convoys, rather than engagements with TIE Fighters. The Y-Wing is a multipurpose vessel with secondary mission profile as a light bomber.
Y-Wings are devastating in close-quarters combat, where their durability allows them to withstand several blasts. It isn't uncommon for a Y-Wing to be stripped down for assault runs against Imperial convoy, only to be refitted for heavy bombing attack on an Imperial base. Y-Wings are also used on diplomatic escort missions, while the BTL-A4 Y-Wing (LP), or Longprobe, has extra provisions and more powerful sensors for long-range patrol duty. The Y-Wing has three main components. The forward cockpit module is armored and houses the pilot's station and the weapons systems. A reinforced central spar stretches back from the cockpit module; the Y-Wing's Novaldex power generator and Koensayr R300-H hyperdrive unit are crammed into this narrow frame. A cross-wing houses the Thiodyne 03-R cryogenic power cells, with two powerful Koensayr R200 ion jet sublight drives on either end of the cross-wing. Twin fabritech ANx-y long-range sensor arrays placed ahead of the engines feed data into the primary sensor array and targeting computer located between the laser cannons in the nose of the ship.
The pilot controls a pair of Taim & Bak IX4 laser cannons and twin Arakyd Flex Tube proton-torpedo launchers; a magazine of eight torpedoes can be fired from either launcher. In the BTL-S3, the most common Y-Wing configuration, an ArMek SW-4 ion cannon turret sits directly behind the pilot and is normally handled by a weapons officer. The BTL-A4, an alternative Y-Wing configuration, has only the pilot, with the ion cannon fixed directly fore or aft, to discourage close pursuit. As in the X-Wing, an R-series astromech droid fits snugly into the droid socket behind the cockpit and monitors all flight, navigation, and power systems. The droid also can handle fire control, perform in-flight maintenance, reroute power as needed, and stores hyperspace jump coordinates.February 19th, 2017 | LEGO Star Wars, Sales News March Sets Now Available Through LEGO LEGO [email protected] and Brand Retail stores are now carrying most if not all of the March assortment. I listed Star Wars, Marvel Super Heroes and Brickheadz.
The Brickheadz are also available but limited to VIP members. Once you sign into your account you should be able to add to your bag. I didn’t list any Speed Champions because I wasn’t sure if they were new for March 1 or if they were available since January 1. And remember, if you order by February 28th, you can still get the promotional Disco Batman and Tears of Batman two-figure promotional polybag set as ANY LEGO purchase over $75 qualifies; it’s not tied to just The LEGO Batman Movie sets. 75160 U-Wing Microfighter $9.99 75161 TIE Striker Microfighter $9.99 75162 Y-Wing Microfighter $9.99 75163 Krennic’s Imperial Shuttle Microfighter $9.99 75164 Rebel Trooper Battle Pack $14.99 75165 Imperial Trooper Battle Pack $14.99 75168 Yoda’s Jedi Starfighter $24.99 75169 Duel on Naboo $24.99 75170 The Phantom $29.99 75171 Battle on Scarif $49.99 75172 Y-Wing Starfighter $59.99 75173 Luke’s Landspeeder $19.99 75174 Desert Skiff Escape $29.99
75175 A-Wing Starfighter $39.99 75523 Scarif Stormtrooper $24.99 75524 Chirrut Îmwe $24.99 75525 Baze Malbus $24.99 76076 Captain America Jet Pursuit $19.99 76078 Hulk vs. Red Hulk $59.99 76079 Ravager Attack $19.99 76080 Ayesha’s Revenge $29.99 76081 The Milano vs. The Abilisk $49.99 41588 The Joker $9.99 41590 Iron Man $9.99 41591 Black Widow $9.99 41592 The Hulk $9.99 Toy Fair 2017 Final Thoughts Now that this year’s Toy Fair is done and some time has passed, I thought I’d give a brief impression of my thoughts for what LEGO has to offer the rest of the year.February 18th, 2017 | LEGO Super Heroes, Marvel Comics, NewsLEGO Marvel Super Heroes Videos These are the last couple of videos and they are for Marvel Super Heroes. Ms. Marvel is the one thing I am most excited for out of this theme and, like Nick, will buy at least two copies to make a regular version and arms extendo version. I have a whole video for just her, seen above, but you should see the neat GOTG sets too, seen below, and a bonus video showcasing the new minifigure firing mechanism.
LEGO Star Wars, NewsLEGO Star Wars Sets Videos Here are a few more videos. To be honest the Star Wars line feels a little lacking. It could be because there are four current properties to draw from as well as the Original and Prequel Trilogies as well. That and the focus seems to be promoting the hell out of The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Ah well, at least I got my Quadjumper! Above is 75172 Y Wing Starfighter, the rest of the Star Wars sets are below the fold.News, The LEGO Batman MovieVideos of the LEGO Movie Batman sets in Action These videos wrap up the coverage of LEGO stuff coming out of New York Toy Fair 2017, but wow, looking at the play features for 70917 The Ultimate Batmobile, and this set went from pretty awesome to shut up and take my money for me. That little moment where Robin just pops into the back, behind Batman? That’s a stroke of genius right there. Above is the 70917 The Ultimate Batmobile set, and you can check out the rest of the videos after the click.
All of these sets will be available starting June 1, 2017. [Toy Fair 2017] 75167 Bounty Hunter Speeder Bike Battle Pack Sorry about the blurriness on this one… I missed it before the event was done, and didn’t have a chance to get a message back to Ace. It’s obviously an early prototype (odd for a set that comes out in June), but there’s an important thing to note here. We are finally getting a 4LOM figure, which means that after 18 years, it’s now official that Zuckuss is the bounty hunter that LEGO hates the most. Seriously LEGO, how long must we wait to do our full bounty hunter scum scene? 75167 Bounty Hunter Speeder Bike Battle Pack comes in at $14.99 and 122 pieces, and manages to tuck four hunters not named Boba Fett into our collections. It seems strange that, given the near bottomless depths of the Disney Princess line in general, that we are already revisiting some of the initial sets… but luckily they were two good sets, and both have some real improvements.
I always welcome more gold parts entering the market. 41146 Cinderella’s Enchanted Evening (SRP $39.99, 350 parts) I’m actually okay with this set showing up again. When I bought it the first time, it got parted out for the gold wheels. This time, it’ll be something for my daughter and I to build together, and then her immediately breaking it down to try and put a rocket on it. It makes an AFOL dad proud… 41145 Ariel and the Magical Spell (SRP $29.99, 222 parts)The Little Mermaid is far and away my favorite Disney movie. I have all of the songs memorized, as well as the lines in general. And, with that framing… WHY DOES URSULA LOOK LIKE THIS! I’m glad a proper version of her was in the Disney line, but now I’ll need to buy an extra to sneak into the set when I pick this one up for us to share. [Toy Fair 2017] 76081 The Milano vs. The Abilisk These pictures got over to me a bit later than the other Marvel sets, which is why they’re in their own post.
I share the general sentiment of “I’m really glad I have the original Milano,” a set that I quite liked but took me down memory lane into jokes about Tony Danza. That being said, 76081 The Milano vs. the Sarlacc The Abilisk at least manages to come in at $49.99 for the reduced piece count and size. The big problem is htat nothing in the set is brand new… it’s just different outfits for characters we got before. Of the ones I’ve seen thus far, this is the hardest one to convince myself on. I have some friends that just adore the Architecture Line, and you can’t deny how nice these look as display pieces. 21036 Arc de Triomphe has my attention for the little statues in white, and it comes in at 386 pieces and a somewhat hefty $39.99 price tag. Available starting on August 1st.DC Universe, LEGO DC Super Hero Girls, LEGO Super Heroes, NewsLEGO DC Super Hero Girls Next up is the next wave of LEGO DC Super Heroes Girls. Hopefully these are turning out to be a hit, because they’ve been marketed so oddly by LEGO thus far.