Micro Galaxy Squadron – Outland TIE Fighter

Today’s unboxing and review features the Outland TIE Fighter from the Micro Galaxy Squadron collection. We are big fans of this range of scaled Star Wars vehicles and would love to add as many as we can to our collection.

We really enjoy The Mandalorian series, so it was very exciting to see several vehicles from the show included in wave 1 for the Micro Galaxy Squadron line. This particular Outland TIE Fighter comes with a Moff Gideon figure, and is one of the rare chase variant vehicles in wave 1 – the silver sticker notes 1 of 15,000.

The assortment number for this pack is SWJ0017-BC-US

Check out my full unboxing video –

The packaging for this ‘starfighter class’ vehicle is standard for this range – a big clear window bubble on a cardboard backing card. The lower front window insert has the name and number for this specific variant – Outland TIE Fighter #0017. The bubble has a silver foil circle sticker noting that is a rare chase variant – 1 in 15,000. As this vehicle is part of wave 1, there is also a gold foil ‘launch edition’ sticker on the top right hand corner of the backing card.

The backing card has colourful space battle artwork behind the bubble (the Razor Crest vs TIE Fighters), while the back has a blueprint style image of the vehicle, a few insert shots of moveable parts, and a collectible card that you can cut out if you want to – I will be leaving my backing card intact.

The Outland TIE Fighter is from the Disney + series The Mandalorian – as seen in season one. It is pretty much like a regular TIE Fighter, but with one major difference – the wings can fold down to lower the cockpit when landing. We see this used to dramatic effect when Moff Gideon arrives on Nevarro in The Mandalorian chapter 7.

Unlike the regular TIE Fighter vehicle from this wave, this variant includes a small stand to support the vehicle in a landing position. To be honest, I wish that all Micro Galaxy Squadron vehicles came with stands, but at least this one does, so it doesn’t put tension on the wings to display it in this landed position.

While of course we don’t see the Outland TIE Fighter use a stand in The Mandalorian, I appreciate the effort put into making the stand a little more interesting than just a clear plastic piece. There are three small upright struts to support the cockpick that are painted in matching Imperial grey. When in position, they almost look like landing gears (or little legs).

The wings move in and out of this folded position quite well – there are a few stages between folded down and fully straight, that can be felt as little ‘clicks’ when adjusting. They don’t feel loose, and hold the position quite well – but I’m not going to fold-and-straight repeatedly to test out how well they would hold up to frequent positioning or play.

The Outland TIE Fighter comes with a small Moff Gideon figure, complete with cape. As with other figures in this line, he is articulated at the shoulders and hips, so he can posed in a sitting down position to put inside the cockpit.

The small plastic cape is removable, thankfully, as it affects the ability to pose this figure sitting down – though there isn’t really a useful place to store his cape. If you worry about losing small accessories like I do, I think the best place to store his cape is in the little plastic bubble the figure was packaged in – though I guess you could just stick it inside the cockpit as well?

Now, let’s take a look at the TIE Fighter with the wings straightened out! This is of course how the Outland TIE Fighter appears when in flight – just like a classic TIE Fighter. This variant is in the ship class above the standard TIE Fighter, and so costs just a little bit more – but it does have that addition movement feature and bonus stand, so it makes sense.

The Outland TIE Fighter does end up looking like a regular TIE Fighter when clicked into its upright position, but then that is the proper idea. I don’t think I will display the Outland TIE like this though – if I want more regular looking TIE fighters for my collection, I can pick up a few standard edition vehicles. This is a chase variant and I want it to look like a chase variant alongside my other MGS vehicles.

I’m quite impressed with the execution of this design – the movement feature almost disappears when in flight mode, I was worried it might really stand out or show a gap between the two halves. Nope – the wings are nice and tight

The top cockpit hatch opens nicely, so you can fit a figure inside. Technically the front window allows you to see inside, but it’s very small and a bit dark, so I find it very hard to really make out the detail of a figure placed inside. Still, a lot better than if the window was painted opaque plastic.

It’s a little difficult to demonstrate in a photographs, but there is a simple push button mechanism on the underside of the cockpit, that basically raises the internal section. This helps you get any small figure back out of the cockpit, so you aren’t resorting to tweezers or shaking it upside down. A useful feature.

Overall, this is a fun TIE variant for the Micro Galaxy Squadron line. Wave 1 included three vehicles from The Mandalorian series, including the Mandalorian’s Razor Crest, so you can set up a neat chase scene on your collectible shelf.

We know realistically, with chase variant scarcity in the mix, it’s going to be hard or very expensive to be completionist with this range (as with so many Star Wars collection lines these days) so I was really happy to find this one instore ourselves.

Stay tuned for more reviews of Micro Galaxy Squadron vehicles coming soon – you can check out all of our reviews of our MGS collection so far here.

May the Force be with you!