The J-Type 327 Nubian Royal Starship you see zooming through space in the above image is part of the Star Wars Titanium Series I purchased several years ago. This is the model I used to illustrate the pirate attack against the Tarsan ambassador, while on board the Tangletree Envoy.
Since then, I've felt I a growing need for a larger version of this vessel to use with my 34mm Star Wars Miniatures. I already have a Millennium Falcon playset on long-term loan from my friend Joe. This has been used as the player character's (PC's) transport, Gadnek Survivor, earlier in this campaign.
Back in January, while looking for the The Panzer Depot, I stumbled across Amazing Heroes next door. Venturing inside, I discovered they had a Star Wars Episode 1 Electronic Naboo Royal Starship Blockade Cruiser Playset.
I didn't buy it then, because I had my doubts: Do I really need such a ship? Where will I store it? Is it worth spending nearly $100 on?
Over the past several months, I thought about the Nubian Royal Starship--a lot.
Then a few weeks ago, I happened to be in the Kirkland area, so I swung by Amazing Heroes, hoping they'd still have the playset. They had two. One brand new, still sealed in the box, and one used with no box (and $50 cheaper).
I decided to go with the used ship for a couple of reasons. One, was to save money. But more importantly, I'm not planning on using the original action figures at any time during this campaign, so I didn't want to deny a true collector the chance of owning an unopened version.
An inspection of the Nubian Royal Starship
Look at the size of that thing!:
Yup. As advertised, it's over 3 feet long. (By comparison, my micro-machine version is just over 3.5 inches in length).
The ship's size, however, is a proverbial double-edged light saber.
On the dark-side, the ship is technically much too big for my 34mm Star Wars Miniatures...
...seen to the right of the standard (3.75 inch) action figures the playset comes with. I may even have trouble taking pictures of the entire ship, while still maintaining scene integrity.
This is fine by me. I'll merely make this a J-Type 327 "Super Deluxe Model." Starships are suppose to be big anyway. Right?
Which means there's some light-side aspect of the ship's size. Looking "under the hood," there's ample space for the lots of 34mm figures.
Here's an image of Ambassador Heraud (a Mon Mothma figure), standing next to one of the original seats:
With all the seats removed, there's enough room to place several bridge crew figures, and the control panels still look relatively normal. I'll just have to use some judicious photo-editing to block out the seat tabs.
Not only is there a large "hatch" to expose the bridge, but the ship slides apart to reveal the lower deck.
Plenty of room to stage boarding actions, like this:
There are three entry points on the Naboo Royal Cruiser. The first two through what's normally the Astromech Elevator. Crewmembers can go up topside...
...or down dirtside.
Then there's the Grand Boarding Ramp...
No mention is made anywhere within Star Wars canon of the Royal Naboo Cruiser carrying other vehicles.
However, this didn't stop the folks at Hasbro from including one.
Originally made for a humanoid pilot and astro-mech action figure, it makes a passable shuttle craft for my 25-34mm figures.
Provided, that is, I figure out a way to plug the giant astro-mech hole.
Since this is an electronic toy, the Naboo Royal Cruiser Playset also comes with a droid fighter mounted on a pistol grip. Once the batteries are inserted, both ship and fighter emit all sorts of sound effects, which I haven't gotten around to...playing with...testing.
Some panels also come off as battle damage and exposes portions of the ship's circuitry.
If you're interested in acquiring such a beauty, new and used models can still be found, even though the playset has been long out of production.
There's pros and cons to both.
Buying one new, still in the unopened box, it should be guaranteed that all the pieces are included, they fit, and aren't broken. During my research for this post, I discovered my set is missing all but two of the action figures, a throne and a hyperdrive block (which is placed along the right-side of the lower corridor).
Fortunately, I don't have any plans for most of the pieces. Other than the hyperdrive block, I won't miss them. If I ever sell this, I'll be sure to inform any perspective buyers of the set's shortcomings.
A new set is also likely to have an owner's manual. ("Congratulations on your new purchase....").
Mine was lost in space somewhere, so it took me several days to figure out how to discombobulate the ship--without breaking it.
While I might miss having an owner's manual, what I won't miss is having to apply all the stickers the ship needs.
Remember the interior shots I included in this post?
Take a look again. See all the nifty deck and bulkhead colors, along with the control panels?
Yup. Those are all stickers. The ship has lots and lots of them. Over 90.
The previous owner did a great job of applying them on my model. There's only a couple of spots where the adhesive has worn off. Hopefully some glue will remedy that.
Unlike my small die-cast model, or the Millennium Falcon Playset, the landing gears on this super-sized version don't retract. Since I plan on using this for interior shots, and or planetary landings, this should only be a minor inconvenience.
From what I've seen, prices vary between $75--250. A "bargain" compared to the playset for the "fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy" is going for twice as much--or more.
Ratings
Since the Naboo Royal Cruiser Playset came out, reviews range from 3 to 5 stars. One of the most common complaints is that the panels are thin, don't close all the way, or are too loose. From what I've seen so far, the reviewers are correct on this score. But I'm not planning on rough-housing with it the way a kid (the playset's original demographic) would.
Despite the, semi-flimsy panels, missing action figures and equipment; I'm happy with my purchase, and give it a 4-star rating. If I bought a new set, I'd probably rate it 5-stars.
If you're interested in what a still-in-the-box version looks like, here's a YouTube video, which displays a complete set.
