I recall the day in early February 2011 when I first saw an unpainted sample of the new Starspeeder 1000 vehicle playset. I felt like I was six years old wishing for the newest Star Wars toy from Santa Claus. Now with the holidays around the corner, my wish is coming true. I recently visited Star Tours – The Adventures Continue with product developers Cody Hampton and Brad Schoeneberg, and artists Quynh Kimball and John Henselmeier to discuss the creation of this toy arriving in mid-December.
“The Starspeeder has been one of the most requested toys,” explained Cody. “With the launch of Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, we knew it was a perfect time for [the toy]. We worked closely with Tom Fitzgerald and many wonderful partners at Walt Disney Imagineering to make this vehicle as authentic as possible.”
The vehicle measures approximately 19 inches long, 7 inches wide and 7 inches tall. The details are most impressive; it is like the Starspeeder 1000 has been miniaturized!
“We made a few modifications to the seating,” continued Cody. “Unlike the attraction vehicle which can hold 40 passengers, this toy holds nine action figures and a pilot. It also comes with R2-D2 and the IC-360 camera droid. The R2 unit is removable and can be replaced with a different Astromech droid.”
The action figures introduced earlier this year complement the vehicle nicely (not that I have played with them of course). One cool feature is the interchangeable destination disks which picture four different scenes. When placed in the front screen of the vehicle, you can hear dialogue from the attraction.
“We used dialogue and sound effects directly from the attraction,” explained Brad. “Sounds are activated by inserting the destination disks, pressing R2-D2 or pushing buttons on the back of the vehicle. One sound we love is the boarding chimes that play when the doors are opened or closed.”
The vehicle also lights up and the Starspeeder’s laser cannons pop out of the front.
The Starspeeder 1000 vehicle playset will have a retail of $54.95 and will only be sold at Disney Parks including The Star Trader at Disneyland Resort, Tatooine Traders at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Once Upon a Toy at Downtown Disney Marketplace. Unfortunately, this playset will not be available via the Disney Parks online store.
I think I know what I am, I mean, my son is getting this holiday.
Comments
I got mine, and Im very impressed with it, BUT it did not come with the IC-360 droid, I need to return it because I want it to have everything.
Patrick—Thanks for the heads up! Picked up mine yesterday and three action sets to go with my neat StarSpeeder 1000! I got “Ambush at STAR TOURS”, “STSR TOURS Boarding Party” (limited edition), and “STAR TOURS Travel Agency”. If you haven’t experienced Star Tours since its reopening in May, you can’t appreciate these action figures.
Greetings from Southern California! Just wanted to say I spotted and picked up the StarSpeeder 1000 Playset tonight. I am BEYOND excited and pleased with how this thing turned out. I’ve been waiting for a StarSpeeder this size for probably…since I went on Star Tours for the first time when I was a kid. I gotta give props to WDI, Tom, and everyone who worked on this bad boy. It is AWESOME.
Side note: This thing is HUGE. Pictures don’t do it justice. I went into the park with the mindset of picking up two, but walked out with one, just because of the sheer size of it. Totally awesome, though. Thanks again!
I just ordered one of these using the phone number posted above. Thanks Steven!
I have a collection of Disney scale models which includes Disney characters, as well as diecasts and dioramas. My collection includes the recently introduced (at off-site Disney stores only) 1:18 scale Lightning McQueen, Tia and Mia set; a scale model of an early Disneyland sign signed by the artist; three of the large, heavy Disneyland dioramas (Tomorrowland, Main Street USA and Frontierland); and a finely detailed, diecast model of a Disneyland monorail train. I also have the smaller scale version of the Starspeeder 1000. This new one, with its added dialogue, sound effects, on-screen visuals and larger size sounds wonderful. Thank you Disney for creating it. I hope the description of this as being a “playset” does not make it overly toy-like, as opposed to something appropriate for adults to collect and display. Other questions I have are: when will it arrive in the stores and how limited will the supplies be? Also, is there a club or online group for collectors of such Disney memorabilia? Disney castmembers, if you monitor these comments will you answer these questions for this faithful annual premium passholder??? Thank you.
@Jan – First, thank you for being a premium passholder. It sounds like you have quite a collection. I believe that this Starspeeder 1000 would fit nicely as a display item in your collection.
As for when it will arrive, see responses above.
A great club to meet other Disney fans is D23 – http://www.d23.com
I’m not familiar with a specific club for collectors like yourself. An online search via social media tools or search engines may turn up some results. D23 may be a really good option for you to meet others as the D23 team holds events throughout the year – http://d23.disney.go.com/events/
As a kid, I dreamed of owning the Starspeeder. Sadly, the 90’s never produced anything. In my opinion, IT’S ABOUT TIME! Though I still wish and hope, along with my fingers crossed, that there will be a “ORIGINAL” or “CLASSIC” STAR TOURS Collection. I dream of a talking, posable Captain Rex! Hopefully in the future. Looking forward to more products for STAR TOURS. Being a robot aficionado, I want to see more droids!
The article says “arriving soon” how soon is soon? I will be there next week and I have a couple of people who have asked me to purchase them…will they be in stock?
@Cynthia – At Walt Disney World, the first shipment arrived today (Monday, December 5). I’d say they should be at either Tatooine Traders or Once Upon A Toy in the next few days. The shipment for Disneyland should also be arriving within the week. At the time I wrote the article, we didn’t have a confirmed arrival date.
Wow! We are going to WDW resort in 2012 for Star Wars Celebration VI. Hope there is another party like Last Tour to Endor.
Very very nice!!! I just walked in to the door tonight from WDW….so if this was on the shelf I must have missed it! Hope this is NOT a limited release so it will be still there to buy in January!
@Kim – Unfortunately, we are unable to offer this item via the online store. But you may try Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Merchandise Guest Services at 1-877-560-6477 or send an email to merchandiseguestservices@disney.go.com.
@Robert – This is not a limited edition item, so you may be able to find it during your visit. Our first shipment arrived at Walt Disney World today (Monday, December 5) and should be available this week. It should also be arriving at Disneyland within the week. We will have additional orders arriving in early 2012.
A wonderful toy but so sad that I can’t order online and send it to my grandson for Christmas. He visited WDW for the first time in Oct. and even made up a special Star Tours dance (he’s 4 yrs. old) Let me know when it’s available online…maybe a birthday gift?
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