Disney's Lord British 2.0: Lightyear HyperSpeed XL-14

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Sturmvogel Prime
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Disney's Lord British 2.0: Lightyear HyperSpeed XL-14

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Keeping up with the reviews of Lightyear's shmup-esque ships, here's another of the original Wave 2 ships from the HyperSpeed Series.
This time is the XL-14 (with Buzz Lightyear).


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https://i.imgur.com/GUY11kl.jpg

Why I called this review "Lord British 2.0"?, 'cos this is the second take on the ship from Salamander/Lifeforce. Just when I've thought that was the XL-01, it turned out to be a clone of the Azuma from Raiden V with brief nods to the Lord British and the Exceliza from Thunder Force II.



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More shmup-nodding than the previous one!!

The second wave of the HyperSpeed series borrows even more shmup nods than Wave 1, and they go beyond nodding Gradius and Raiden. On the back of the package we can see the lineup like this: XL-12 (Aleste), XL-09 (Time Pilot), XL-15 "Battle Damage" (Galaxy Rangers Ranger-1/G.I. Joe Conquest X-30), XL-14 (Salamander) and XL-03 (Time Pilot). ¿We will see a Wave 3 featuring the XL-04, XL-05, XL-06, XL-08, XL-10, XL-11 and XL-13? Mattel has a few gaps to fill.



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https://i.imgur.com/crTU5AA.jpg
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https://i.imgur.com/DGQqMY6.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/S5md12r.jpg

The XL-14 is an arrow-head shaped ship with a colorscheme that breaks the common pattern of "more white than blue" present in all the Star Command ships, making this ship unique.
However, for veteran shmup fans, the ship design is very reminiscent of one of the ships from the Gradius universe: The Lord British, player 2's ship from Salamander (Lifeforce), but depicted in a more Vic Viper like coloring. Aside from the colors, Disney-Pixar and Mattel took liberties on the design by adding additional tails. While the Lord British has a flat frame, the XL-14 is slightly "Arched", you can notice it on the wings when the ship is seen from a front view. While in the top view the blue colors are dominating the ship's colorscheme, from the bottom view it is completely white. Just very few blue details are what break the monotony of the unpainted white plastic of the ship.

In terms of of combat capability, the Star Command's XL series weren't meant for combat but for Crystal Fuel-powered FTL testing. But in a twist of faite, there's nods to weaponry because we can see two red triangles close to the canopy that resembles the guns of any fighter aircraft.



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It can hold 5mm weapons, including Decepticon laser guns.
(Titan Master Scourge's laser weapon used as reference)


Like all the HyperSpeed XL ships, it has a 5mm hole to plug the cannon from the exclusive XL-01-XL-15 2-Pack, but you can plug anything from a laser gun to a stand for make it look like its flying (3D printing fans, prepare your equipment to make custom stands for these ships).



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Featuring a compact, more simplier pilot interface!

While the cockpits of the XL series are very detailed despite being unpainted, the XL-14 is the weakest of all since the dashboard is very simplified. Combine that with unpainted plastic and is a disappointment in that aspect.



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https://i.imgur.com/KNg3c4c.jpg

Here's the Buzz Lightyear figure that comes with the ship. Unlike the rest, his spacesuit is more bulky and less compatible with the other ships. When he's placed on this ship, he won't rattle like let's say the XL-01 and XL-03. The reason of only including Buzz in these ships is because they also released ground vehicles where the drivers are his partners.



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Someone at Mattel and Disney was drunk and messed the numbers.

Anyone who saw the movie will probably noticed that the XL-07 and the XL-14 have the numbers AND the pilot suits reversed.



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Fixing Disney-Pixar's screw-up.

I've tried to swap the pilots to fix that a bit, but the XL-14 Buzz barely fits on the "Not Vic Viper" cockpit while the XL-07's "Airforce Delta Buzz" simply rattles even more than when its placed on his respective ship.



XL-14's CURIOSITIES

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Disney-Pixar's XL Numbering Crisis

- The first concept art of the ship was depicted as XL-12, which as we all know it was finall re-assigned to the Aleste-like ship.
- For those who already have the XL-07 Test Launch, check this out: There's plans for a larger XL-14 ship for 5'5 figures as part of the upcoming Universe Protection Elite Unit subline under the name "Capture & Protect Mission Ship". The possible reason of its number removal might be because they've noticed the error
(Better late than never).



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And now, at last, the Salamander team is complete.

For those who are fans of Gradius and Konami, this toy is a must-have for those who want more merchandise of the classic Salamander games since this is the closest thing to a Gradius/Lifeforce toy without Konami's license. Someone really needs to tell them to license this and the XL-07. We don't know what else the Lightyear toyline will throw at us in the future since Mattel is pushing the franchise forward despite its failure on the big screen. We can only wait and see.


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