Another "Pixar Viper" to the Gradius list.
For the previous "Disney's Vic Viper" reviews.
DISNEY'S VIC VIPER I: HyperSpeed Series XL-07
DISNEY'S VIC VIPER II: Happy Meal XL-07 by McDonalds
DISNEY'S VIC VIPER III: Lightyear XL-07 Test Launch
The new member of the XL-07 line-up.
Despite failing on the theatre, looks like Disney is really pushing Lightyear forward with the toyline, and Mattel's legendary die-cast vehicle toyline Hot Wheels was no exception as the initial wave has now become a full lineup, with newer ships on it, and believe it or not, the Not-Vic Viper XL-07 is in the line, giving us a new toy for our shmup/Gradius collection.
From three to eight models. That's really something.
Wave 1 which comprised the following vehicles:
1.- XL-15 (Not-G.I. Joe Conquest X-30)
2.- XL-01 (Not-Raiden V Azuma)
3.- Zurg Fighter Ship (Not-No Man's Sky ship-Ver'mith mix)
At the end of 2022-beginning of 2023, Mattel expanded the wave to a full line-up by adding new ships and a ground vehicle.
4.- Base utility vehicle (generic base truck)
5.- The Armadillo (Generic Power Up carrier ship)
6.- Zurg's Mothership (Bydo/BX-T Dantalius styled Crueltear's Cr'nBurn)
7.- XL-07 (Not-Vic Viper)
8.- XL-02 (Not-Star Soldier)
I think this was a great idea adding the Star Command vehicles to the line, although there's more models left to appear like the rest of the XL units (knowing how vast and complete are Hot Wheels vehicle collections), but only time will tell what would be Hot Wheels next move with Lightyear. But let's go with the review of the "Disney Viper".
Tom DuBois would be proud with the artwork.
The package art features the starry blue-purple space that predominates on Lightyear's setting, but the ship illustration is simply gorgeous, at the point that feels more like a hand-drawn game artwork rather than the CGI from Disney-Pixar's filmography. It can be easily compared with the art of Konami's artist Tom DuBois at the point you can kid yourself that this is Pseudo-Konami/Tom DuBois art. Its complete Gradius nostalgia since this is not the kiddy stuff from Pixar or the chibi look from Parodius.
https://i.imgur.com/wKfUqwh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/v2rxyPI.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/q4WLIFS.jpg
Here's the XL-07, which borrows the color scheme of the large XL-07 Test Launch that adds more blue minor details to the ship's frame, making it look closer to its Salamander 2 and Gradius Rebirth versions, while keeping the black intakes giving it a Gradius V look. It was interesting to see how the toy, given its small size, has a few more red lines painted on it, something that the larger toys lack of, adding more detailing. Instead of the solid gray painting, this vehicle utilizes metallic styled paint making the gray way more brightier. Unlike Matchbox/Hot Wheels large jets where the canopy is made of clear plastic, on the XL-07 and all of Lightyear's ships, it is painted plastic since it is one single piece for the main body of the vehicle. Unfortunately, we can't say "Screen Accuracy" in terms of coloring since the ship appeared for a few seconds in the movie in a "You snooze you lose" moment during Buzz's failed flights.
Although the toy is die-cast metal, the tail section of the ship is made of soft plastic, just like the XL-07 Test Launch vehicle. As a Hot Wheels vehicle, its chassis/frame is of die-cast, so we have a quite heavy toy despite of its small size,
Landing gear deployed, a Vic Viper on stand-by.
Seen from the bottom, we can notice the landing gear deployed just like the Matchbox jets (Top Gun Maverick line for example), which makes the ship look stationary rather than inflight like the Hot Wheels Armageddon Space Shuttle or some of the Star Wars vehicles (both Hot Wheels and Micro Machines).
It's on the ideal size for your Yujin shmup models.
The final question: ¿How big is this toy? Well, its on the same size as the Vic Viper from Yujin's Shooting Game Historica's collection, so its definitely quite small, but as great as any other shmup toy model.
The Vic Viper "Family".
Although we're already familiarized with Lightyear's shmup nods, it's still strange to see a Gradius nod outside of Konami's titles (Busou Shinki, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sky Girls, Contra Rogue Corps) due to obvious legal reasons, but I think Konami should officialize all of these XL-07's 'cos we're having some of the best Gradius toys not made by them. If you find this one, just pick it. You're not gonna regret it.
It's a "Perfect 10" for any scale.
"Atmospheric Burn" Pixar Viper.
Looks like we're gonna have even more of the XL-07 since the HyperSpeed Series will release the "Gamma Fusion" subline, and the first wave will include a new version the XL-07 (with "Airforce Delta Buzz").