Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron Series 8

2022 Jazwares Action Fleet-inspired line

Series 8 seems like a mostly-repaint heavy wave with some Jedi Fighters, the CIS AAT, and a beautiful new Slave I with Carbonite Han. Yet, they also dropped the TIE Striker, Z-95 Headhunter, non-Vault V-19 and TIE Silencer. Plus, this marks the first Andor release, as well as a BARC with sidecar.

This is from DC's Ultimate Unofficial Guide. All thanks go to him.

Series 8 Blind Boxes

 

Features:

  • Undicur Jumpspeeder - Sabine Wren
  • 57-D Speeder Bike - Cassian Andor
  • Inquisitor's AvA Speeder Bike - Seventh Sister
  • Wheel Bike - General Grievous
  • BARC with Sidecar (Rancor Deco) - Ahsoka Tano
  • Sith Speeder (Holographic) - Darth Maul

This was a really good release of Blinds with a little for everyone from Clone Wars to Andor. I love the Aurabesh on Sabine's Speeder that says "Lothal". The printing on all of them are fantastic, but the Rancor deco on the BARC's sidecar is truly amazing.

TIE Striker

Bandai vs MGS

 

Features:

  • rotating wings (2)
  • opening cockpit
  • opening rear hatch
  • low flight stand
  • poseable TIE Pilot

So I really love the TIE Striker design, but I have some issues with this one. The wings that pop on very lose, and I had to glue them on. Also, the wings are very thick. I think they could have done better. However, I love the interior. You can even see the proton bombs ready to be launched.

Z-95 Headhunter (Clone Pilot)

 

Features:

  • retractable landing gear (3)
  • removable nose panel
  • removable rear panel
  • opening cockpit
  • flight stand
  • poseable Clone Pilot Warthog

Ok, so I really love this model. It's based on the Jedi: Survivor game, which is a strange amalgamation of the Legends Z-95, the Fantasy Flight Z-95, and the Clone Wars Z-95. It has the classic hull shape, but with the wings of the Fantasy Flight version. Yet, it has the single engine intakes and thrusters like the Clone Wars variant. And for some strange reason, I love this version of the Z-95 the best. Also, Warthog looks amazing.

Droid Tri-Fighter

 

Features:

  • opening cockpit
  • removable missiles (2)
  • flight stand
  • poseable Battle Droid

Now, I really like the detail, but why does it have a cockpit? IT's a droid. It doesn't need a cockpit. And the cockpit makes the sphere bulge out on one side. The missiles look good though. Note: it's easier to slide the missiles out than try and pop them out.

Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter

 

Features:

  • opening cockpit
  • retractable landing gear (3)
  • underside button pops up R2 unit
  • poseable Mace Windu & R8-B7

It's not the shiniest paint job, but I really like it. The dark green stripes look great. However, the standout here is definitely R8-B7. They did great on that droid.

AAT (CIS)

 

Features:

  • opening cockpit
  • opening top hatch
  • rotating/rising main gun
  • rotating side blasters
  • clear rolling wheels on bottom
  • poseable B1 Battle Droid Commander

I really like the blue tones for the CIS version. It looks a lot better than the Series 2 scheme. The only issue I had was the wash made the main gun stuck a little, but it seemed to loosen up over time. The B1 Droid is a commander with backpack.

V-19 Torrent (Armada)

 

Features:

  • same features as Vault release
  • missing blue & grey panels
  • has 5 red stripes instead of 3 white
  • unpainted cockpit
  • missing weathering/chipping effects
  • lower wing thruster painted blue
  • thrusters have no weathering
  • broken yellow area underneath
  • pilot is missing black markings in legs and arms
  • Republic roundel moved

This is a more proper Armada release. It isn't as good as the Vault, but it offers some new markings that make it just a little more desirable to collectors.

V-wing (Armada)

 

Features:

  • same features as Series 3 release
  • more tan weathering
  • no grey stripe underneath
  • Astromech has better paint job/individual panels on dome instead of paint blob

Unlike the initial pics, I feel like this one was a let down. I was hoping for some darker greys and deeper reds, but I don't see really any differences apart from the missing grey stripe and the updated droid deco. I'd pass on this one.

 

TIE Silencer (standard)

 

Features:

  • same features as Vault release
  • Kylo figure looks the same
  • slightly bluer hull color plastic
  • no green laser tips
  • no metallic wing tips
  • no silver areas on top or underside
  • only silver on internal engine (no different colors)

If you have the Vault, keep the Vault. If you don't, this one isn't bad.

Obi-Wan vs General Grievous Battle Pack

 

Features:

  • same features as Series 3 releases
  • Grievous' Starfighter has a different blue mold, less bright gold, new silver weathering, and non-metallic tail fin
  • Grievous painted in much whiter with a rust orange inner cloak
  • poseable Obi-Wan Kenobi, R4-G9, & General Grievous (removable cloak)

I love getting Obi-Wan's blue Interceptor. It has some nice weathering marks that will probably be absent from a forthcoming single release. Grievous' Starfighter is different too, so collectors that like everything should grab it. Grievous himself looks off with looking way too white IMO. I didn't have Obi on hand to do comparisons. R4-G9 on the other hand was originally Aayla's droid but later served Obi-Wan, replacing R4-P17.

A rare variant exists with a thin stripe toward the front - see the photo.

Slave I (The Empire Strikes Back)

 

Features:

  • opening canopy
  • opening rear seismic charge hatch
  • rotating front blasters (2)
  • weighted wings rotate with cockpit
  • cockpit holds 3 figures
  • pop-up door and slide-out ramp
  • opening side panel reveals interior
  • rotating weapons rack or Carbonite block
  • poseable Boba Fett, Stormtrooper, Carbonite Han with stand

For a repaint, this one looks great. The color variations are much closer to the original ILM paint job, albeit very bright. If this was a studio scale model, you would next do different mist coats to tone down the colors. The figures are exceptional. Boba has his cape molded to the jetpack, which pops off. Carbonite Han looks pretty nice and accurate as well. Like the weapon rack, the Carbonite block can connect inside the ship in 2 ways.

You can see the differences in the last few pics. Of note, the new jetpack does NOT fit in the weapons rack. AND the weapons rack is much smaller than the original release. You cannot swap the original into this ship.

51 Comments

    • I would love if they made a few large scale ships. The old Action Fleet series did a Star Destroyer, a Blockade Runner, and a Super Star Destroyer (the only one missing from my Action Fleet collection, darn it). So I would very relish the opportunity to buy capital ships.

      • Actually those are “Collector’s Fleet” models from Hasbro/Kenner. There were pretty cool, just not Action Fleet.

    • Just got the retail Silencer, which suits me fine, Amazon has the Striker and Tri Droid up for pre order. Not very pleased the Z-95 is a rare…however overjoyed at dreadnaught class Reaper and the ARC-170.

  3. Oh man, I want both versions of the Onyx Cinder so badly! I expect we would get the pirate version first though, since I’m sure the sleek version was kept heavily under wraps until the show aired (at least it wasn’t spoiled by the Lego set like in the past). I’m really hoping we get a good interior to rival the Ghost as well.

      • That would be a huge one, and I don’t think it would sell as good as the more combat-oriented ships. Still I’d love one.

        • I have mentioned this in a couple other places before but the battle pack opportunities for a Sandcrawler, not to mention the figure opportunities would be off the charts.

          Sandcrawler, Landspeeder & Escape pod scout
          Figures
          R2/3PO, 2 Jawas, Luke and Obi-Wan

          I would kill to have a bunch of droids including gonk and R5 but they don’t tend to include too many figures with battle packs. I hope they branch out and do figure packs in the future like Micro Machines did.

          • I too wish they would do some figure packs. Those would sell like crazy. Unfortunately, as I understand it, they only have rights to release ships with added figures, not figure packs like Hasbro. Some kind of licensing issue.

  5. Man I stay waiting patiently for Crosshair to ever get a release with the rest of the Batch. Two Marauders with matching updated armor but no Cross yet. Crossing my fingers we get him in the blind box this spring

  6. For capital ships, a Gozanti class with docking clamps and flight officer could be do able. Big but not overly huge. If you can keep it under $150 dollar range. I’m a huge Imperial collector, and would also look great against the ghost and other rebel ships.

  8. Ah ha! 7th Sister’s speeder is what the peg in the Scythe will be for. Since Series 3 I’ve been waiting for something to put in there.

  9. I’d love to see a pack with a few speeders – the Flash Speeder, Anakin’s Coruscant chase air speeder, the land speeder from Solo: A Star Wars Story etc.

  10. Kind of upset the 7th Sister bike doesn’t fit on the peg in the Inquisitor Transport Scythe, well at least mine doesn’t.

  11. Thanks for all the updates. Really excited for the Z-95, I hope we all can find one someday.
    Love your website, it’s my go-to for Star Wars scales.

    • Thank you for the comment. IT means a lot. I should have my Z-95 soon, so I can do some photos and maybe a video review of it.

  12. Hate the Z-95 is the rare. Going for too much on eBay for me to afford. I’d rather the rare and chases being just variants and not different ships.

  13. Regarding the Z-95. It’s the version from Jedi Fallen Order, which personally I don’t like, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. The Bode Akuna one was probably the prototype and will be released soon and same deal as the A-wing, they’re just reusing models and painting them differently, despite inaccuracy. Also, I really wish it was clone pilot Hawk that came with this for several reasons. Both characters are the only named pilots of a Z-95, but Warthog also flies a V-19, and could have been the limited edition clone in that version of the Torrent Starfighter. Also, the only thing Warthog ever does when on screen is almost get shot down. Hawk flies a multitude of ships, and is pretty good in each. He flies a Z-95 in season 6 and shoots down the vulture droid that crashed into the banking clan office. I’d argue he technically gets the kill credit for Rush Clovis. Sorry for nerding out there.

    • YES, Hawk would have been much better. Warthog would have been better with the other Clone helmet style. Also, yes I had a friend point out that this was the Jedi Survivor version with added canard wings on the nose. I do hope we get more than just the Bode version coming later.

  15. What kind of glue did you use for the TIE striker’s wings? I have Testors liquid cement that I use for most model kits I’ve done, and I even used it to fix a section of a broken V-Wing fin. Just wondering because I had a feeling I would need to glue the wings in place with the striker!

    • I just used superglue for a quick fix. I’m getting another in and will probably go the model cement route, which is what I used when I fixed my B-wing and shortened the wings.

      • So I thought the right wing was drooping… well I used the liquid plastic cement to secure everything in place, and what’s actually happening is that the right wing is curved upward, whereas the left wing is straight. I’m going to try the hot water/cold water fix to bend the right wing a little bit to get rid of that subtle curve.

  16. Just an fyi: you have the blind boxes listed on this page as: Series 7 Blind Boxes
    Love the work you do for all of us fans. Thank you!

  17. I’m not sure why they give large droids a cockpit. The Vulture droid also has room for a figure. Even Hasbro does this, I guess its for playability, but seems redundant.

  19. I had placed an order on Amazon for the series 8 “Jazwares Style Number SWJ0469” which looked like a mystery box due to lack of any explanations or details. When I logged onto Amazon.com and clicked what looked like a “pause button” on the items mystery image, I was happily surprised to see that this mystery ship would be a “Tie Advance Prototype w/The Seventh Sister”.
    Now I am eagerly waiting for the other 3 “öystery items” to be revealed.
    Thought I should spread the word if anyone on here is interested.

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