Estes Star Wars Collection Complete

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The Death Star, the smaller Artoo and Darth Vader TIE Fighter were '97 releases. The catalog also listed Shuttle Tydirium, Star Destroyer and Millennium Falcon, but I've never seen them, built or unbuilt. If anyone can provide insight, that would be great. Pictures would be ever greater.
 
PhlAsh said:
The Death Star, the smaller Artoo and Darth Vader TIE Fighter were '97 releases. The catalog also listed Shuttle Tydirium, Star Destroyer and Millennium Falcon, but I've never seen them, built or unbuilt. If anyone can provide insight, that would be great. Pictures would be ever greater.
Click to expand...

I have a boxed Star Destroyer packed away somewhere.
It is made of foam with a long tube/probe used for stability when flying.
I saw one of these Star Destroyers flown with a D12. It worked.

I always thought that the late 1990s Estes Star Wars kits should have been named "Probe Rocket with Star Wars (XYZ) Model Included". :wink:
 
Initiator001 said:
I have a boxed Star Destroyer packed away somewhere.
It is made of foam with a long tube/probe used for stability when flying.
I saw one of these Star Destroyers flown with a D12. It worked.

I always thought that the late 1990s Estes Star Wars kits should have been named "Probe Rocket with Star Wars (XYZ) Model Included". :wink:
Click to expand...

I have the Star Destroyer rocket that I purchased at half-price during a close-out sale. It is surprisingly well-designed. Yes, it needs a launch probe as well, but credit where it is due, Estes made this display-ready too. It is a rigid and heavy plastic. The wedge-shaped design of the ship helps out with the aerodynamics. The only other issues I have with the Star Destroyer is the hollowed out bridge that works as a fin unit and two small fins on the bottom which also work as part of the display stand.

It has a lot of potential as a model if you paint it right. It is more of a "flying display piece" as opposed to an actual rocket. You will never get any real altitude from it, but it is still a great crowd pleaser.

Bottom line, I like it for the price I paid. It looks cool and is worth the money as long as you don't have any unreasonable expectations.
 
Sorry, I knew that. I have two of the Star Destroyers, one I bought built and the other still in the box. I meant the Shuttle Tydirium and Millennium Falcon weren't produced. 001.jpg002.jpg003.jpg
 
Nice, I have to dig mine out of storage now. :)
I always want to get a micro-machine "Rebel Blockade Runner" and glue it to the tip of the nose cone.
They make a small plastic model of the Tyderium now, I wonder how hard it should be to convert it. The fins would work great, but you'll still need a launch probe, LOL!
 
I flew the Darth Vader Tie Fighter last year. It came apart mid flight. That blue tube glue is garbage. I've also got a couple of R2D2s, an original and a medium sized one, the Death Star, and a Y-Wing. I'm going to reglue the Vader ship and try again this year. To date it's the only one that didn't fly well.
 
The first rocket i ever flew was a Estes TIE Fighter.

i have some of the smaller plastic R2D2 but cant fly them because i broke or lost the fins. Have a bigger one in the kit pile .

Have a small x-wing and TIE fighter in the build pile too..would love a Maxi XWing .. cant wait til the 3d guys can print a duplicate. .will get an upscale Eagle 1 also.

Kenny
 
KenRico said:
The first rocket i ever flew was a Estes TIE Fighter.

i have some of the smaller plastic R2D2 but cant fly them because i broke or lost the fins. Have a bigger one in the kit pile .

Have a small x-wing and TIE fighter in the build pile too..would love a Maxi XWing .. cant wait til the 3d guys can print a duplicate. .will get an upscale Eagle 1 also.

Kenny
Click to expand...

My first rocket was the "Star Wars Proton Torpedo." I have an unbuilt Centuri "Space 1999 Eagle 1" and am looking for a way to clone it. I was thinking of making a mold for it, except resin would be too heavy and brittle. Looking for alternatives.
I also have the "Buck Rogers Laser Torpedo" and want to clone the nose cone for that.
IMG_0422.JPG
 
r2-D2 rocks with a D10 or D13! Oh and short delay.
 
Has anyone else had the problem where you want to get started on building your kit, but the Death Star plans are not in the main computer?

It makes me so mad, I could just strangle somebody!
 
ThirstyBarbarian said:
Has anyone else had the problem where you want to get started on building your kit, but the Death Star plans are not in the main computer?

It makes me so mad, I could just strangle somebody!
Click to expand...

That happened to me once, I sent a detachment down to retrieve them. Didn't turn out too well, someone stopped me that time.
 
[video=youtube;3F1d3QWsyk0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F1d3QWsyk0[/video]
 
ThirstyBarbarian said:
Has anyone else had the problem where you want to get started on building your kit, but the Death Star plans are not in the main computer?

It makes me so mad, I could just strangle somebody!
Click to expand...

Man you have cost me at least two cups of coffee and almost a monitor lol
 
I'm missing the X-Wing and Proton Torpedo. I have R2-D2 and the Tie Fighter in the build pile. I have the more recent Death Star and I believe Darth Vader's Tie Fighter. The X-Wing continues to elude me.

Did you happen to scan the decals before applying them?
 
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To original poster, that is a REALLY COOL collection! I had that "1979 Model Rocketry Catalog" also!
 
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VERY NICE. I've always wanted that Maxi-Brute, but never could swing one back then. I DID have the "regular" X-wing. I had a great time putting it together, and I flew the absolute snot out of it, only limited by my budget for C6-3s. Great flights on that engine, and a real crowd-pleaser. Every so often one the upper or lower wing would pop off of the fuselage on landing. I was OK with that, because it beat the heck out of breaking and fixing wings or laser pods. That model lent itself to making the wing very strong and leaving the wing/fuselage joint a little less strong to facilitate that (well, model cement helped too :) ). And then, like so many rockets, one day it had a landing Luke couldn't walk away from :( (I mean, that I couldn't repair the damage from...)

I'd love to build another just to try a single-use D10-3W or a D21-4T.
 
Any word on Estes (or anyone else) entering a licensing agreement for Episode 7 rockets?
 
PhlAsh said:
Any word on Estes (or anyone else) entering a licensing agreement for Episode 7 rockets?
Click to expand...

No.

It's very unlikely that Estes would get involved with the new Star Wars movies after the fiasco with their previous product releases.

No other hobby rocketry company has the resources to do it.
 
Initiator001 said:
No.

It's very unlikely that Estes would get involved with the new Star Wars movies after the fiasco with their previous product releases.

No other hobby rocketry company has the resources to do it.
Click to expand...

It was a fiasco because Estes decided to make all of the rockets RTF that didn't F all that well. I think that they tried to market them as "toys" rather than "model rockets". I wish they would take a look at how to have buildable models for the SW universe and they could do something good, but I agree they won't bother with it as I suspect they can't get their return on the licensing fees.
 
jsargevt said:
It was a fiasco because Estes decided to make all of the rockets RTF that didn't F all that well. I think that they tried to market them as "toys" rather than "model rockets". I wish they would take a look at how to have buildable models for the SW universe and they could do something good, but I agree they won't bother with it as I suspect they can't get their return on the licensing fees.
Click to expand...

Sales of merchandise from the 'newer' Star Wars movies was much less than many companies expected. The market was over-saturated with product.

Estes was loosing it's shirt over their investment in these products. There was a 'buy-out' clause in the contract with Lucasfilms and the Estes management used it.
Only cost $17M!

I think the product being RTF instead of builders kits actually helped with sales but not enough.
 

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