Prepare to bring the galaxy far, far away a little closer to home because you will soon be able to pilot miniature Star Wars spaceships around your backyard and beyond. Bandai Namco/CCP has three miniature remote controlled Star Wars-themed helicopters on the horizon, and they include the Millennium Falcon, a X-wing, and a TIE fighter. They’re sort of chubby, chibi versions of the ships–they actually remind me of the line of Star Wars plush vehicles–and I want to hug and fly them all. No, I don’t care if plastic helicopter blades aren’t huggable.
You don’t have to be a skilled pilot like Han Solo to make these little ships take flight. But, if you’re inexperienced with using a remote control navigation system, maybe try a test flight on something less awesome than the Millennium Falcon? It would be a pity to crash any of these ships into a tree. Similarly, I don’t recommend simulating a space battle–or any battle–with the X-wing and TIE fighter.
The spaceships run on a rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery that takes about 30 minutes to charge. As far as I can tell, a fully charged battery should give you four minutes of flight time. You’ll have about 16 foot range so it should be pretty easy to keep the ships in sight.
The helicopter-spaceships will be released on August 1 (more photos in the below gallery!) and are priced at about $48 each. Do you plan on hiring Boba Fett to track them down? Let me know in the comments.
HT: Laughing Squid, images via Toy People