(If this review is out of place, feel free to change it from the reviews section and lemme know)
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¿Remember what I said about this ship on the "Disney's Vic Viper" review? You'll probably remember that I've compared it with the Lord British from Gradius/Lifeforce. After having this toy in my hands I've discovered more than just a Gradius reference. At first, for any sci-fi fan, the XL-01 might be another spaceship of the bunch. But from a shmupper perspective, it shares some similarities with a Gradius ship. In this case is the Lord British which made a debut on Salamander. Like with the XL-07, Disney-Pixar (and Mattel) took liberties on the design, and unknown to them, they also threw another ship to the XL-01's design: The Fire LEO-02 Exceliza from Thunder Force II, it also kinda looks like a modern-day, stealth fighter-esque version of it. Speaking of design, the XL-01 ditches the pseudo-chibi Parodius-esque look of the XL-07 and went to a more sleek, serious look by making a sharper frame and over saturating it with detailings, mostly on the main body of the ship and changed the red colors of both Exceliza and Lord British and painted the ship in a blue-white color combination. So we can say this is a Lord British on Vic Viper colors. While all the ship is cast in hard plastic, the nose tip is made of a soft rubbery-like plastic due to the thin sensor array-like thing on the left side of the nosecone, making the airframe look a little asymetric unlike the XL-07. Like all the Star Command ships from the HyperSpeed Series, it has a hole on the bottom that works for plugging a missile launcher that was only included with the XL-01 & XL-15 2-Pack.
There's some Raiden-esque reminiscence in this Fire LEO/Lord British mash-up.
Like the XL-07, the XL-01 can stand vertically, and when we see the ship vertically, we will also notice that the design borrows a little of another ship, the Azuma from Raiden V. The XL-01 shares a very similar delta-wing configuration and overdetailing on the main body and engine sections. Only the nose part of the ship is quite of an original design, along with the small boosters on the side of each engine.
Detailed interior also adds points to the overall look.
The ships from the HyperSpeed Series are manned, so they have canopies that can be opened so we can put Buzz and Zurg on the cockpit of their fighters.
The XL-01 is no exception and while its a little tricky to put the pilot inside, it doesn't rattle too much like in the XL-07.
I'm Buzz Lightyear, E.D.A.F. pilot.
The XL-01, like the rest of the XL ships in the HyperSpeed Series, comes with a Buzz Lightyear figure. The XL-01 has the Space Ranger in a white spacesuit, a recolor of the XL-07 Buzz. If that one was very reminiscent of Ken Thomas from Airforce Delta Strike, this one kinda nods the former OCC pilot Ellen McNichol when she's unlocked as playable character as the new Element 1 pilot. Seems like the "House of the Mouse" really likes both Gradius and Airforce Delta series.
The protagonists of Disney-Pixar's Salamander
Even if you're not a Disney-Pixar fan, the XL-01 is shmup-enough for any enthusiast of this game genre. If your hobby is to customize and repaint toys you might consider to get three XL-01s. One as the regular XL-01, paint one in red like the Lord British and a third one in the Exceliza's light-gray and red colors. They will go A-OK with your Gradius and Thunder Force collections. The only thing left is to make a CLAW and a few Options for the ships.
No need to say this is a must have.