By Joseph Brown - images & text © 2006

Scale: Mixed

Parts: 2 per package (ship plus stand)

Instructions: N/A

Decals: N/A

Molding Quality: 8.5 - die cast

Detail: 8.5 - great for the scale

Accuracy: 8.5 - seems spot on to me

MSRP: $4.99 USD (~$5.62 CAN/ € 3.93 EUR) available from many retailers and Hasbro online

Overall Rating: 9 - cool toys!

The new Battlestar Galactica TV series is a refreshing reinvention of the 1970s story, and some of the most exquisitely done television that I have seen in a long time. And, it's nice to see some product support from Hasbro!

Something worth noting: the Mark II Viper that you get is in the package for the Mark VII, making me wonder who messed up where. The short 'history' text on the back seems to be indicating the newer Viper as well The Viper does have retractable landing gear that works, but it looks so much cooler on the stand that I'm probably not going to be using the gear much.

What You Get

Secure in their individual armored packages, you get the Galactica, the new Raider, and the Viper (Since Joe wrote this, the Viper Mk VII, Raptor and Colonial One have been added to the line- Ed.). Each of them has a simple but functional stand. The mounting hole for the Galactica is way in the rear, near the beginning of the engine pods. Why there? When you see the disassembled view, you will observe that the more logical center area is taken up by the way the hanger pods retainers are installed. Could they have done a better job? Perhaps, but there is not much room to play with there. Hard-core gamers (or modelers) can easily solve this issue with a simple modification.

As you can see, t6he scale of these is "mixed". If the 'real' Galactica is 1438.5m, and the mini is 94mm, the resulting scale is: 1/15,303. Similiarly. the Viper Mk II is 8.4m, the mini is 75mm, and resulting scale is 1/112. The Raider is 8.94m, the mini is 81mm, and the resulting scale is 1/110.

I've included some comparison images of the ships with the applicable Konami 'candy-toy' ships that came out in 2005. While I did not whip out my micrometer, plainly the sizes are very close to matching. In other words, they all look good on the shelf (or gaming table) together. And, because someone is sure to ask, I also included shots of Studio Bergstrom's gaming miniature of the new Galactica and the Alliance's resin Galactica.

Assembly and Finish

Assembly doesn't really apply here. You take the toys from their packaging and set them on their stands. Done. Many people have commented that the hanger pods on the Galactica don't want to extend fully, and that is true. But, an easy fix is to flip the ship over, unscrew the two Phillips screws, and then carefully shave away at the parts that function as stops. I carved away almost 2 mm of the applicable areas on mine, and that seems to have essentially solved this issue. (See the circled areas of the ship's innards.) Just reassemble the ship, and test to see if you are happy.

Overall, the paint scheme is acceptable. If you don't care for it, modification would be easy. Enamel or acrylic paints can be used to create any color variations that you desire. I'll probably try toning down the purples on the Raider first!

Conclusions

Recommended!

Many thanks to Joe's wallet for providing the review samples. Manufacturers and retailers, interested in getting your wares reviewed and publicized on a site averaging 3500+ readers a day? Contact us!