Naboo Starfighter Comparison - 1999 Vs. 2012

9/8/2022

Here you can learn what the differences are between Hasbro's Naboo Starfighter for 3 3/4" figures which were released in 1999 and in 2012. For the release of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in May of 1999 Hasbro went all out and flooded the market with a ton of Star Wars products, and the N-1 Naboo Starfighter was among many new vehicles for Star Wars fans and collectors.

The N-1 Naboo Starfighter 1999

The N-1 Naboo Starfighter was released on Star Wars Midnight Madness on May 3rd, 1999 for $29.99. The vehicle has a functioning cockpit which can hold one 3 3/4" figure, a rotating R2-D2 dome and it features lights and sounds.

The N-1 Naboo Starfighter was part of the Episode 1 toy line in 1999

Parts List

• 1 Body
• 1 Tail
• 2 Jet Engines
• 1 Cockpit Canopy
• 1 Blue Torpedo
• 1 Sticker Sheet
• 1 Instruction Sheet
• 1 Episode 1 Toy Catalog

It's easy to put the N-1 Naboo Starfighter together, simply plug the engines onto the body, attach the tail and you are done. The inside of the cockpit has stickers preapplied but there are a few stickers which can be applied to the body. You'll find the battery compartment on the bottom, open it with a screw driver and place two AA batteries in it. 

Here are all the included parts plus the sticker and instruction sheets for the N-1 Naboo Starfighter

Here you can see the battery compartment and speaker on the bottom of the N-1 Naboo Starfighter from 1999

There are two small buttons behind the cockpit, the first one plays the fly-by sound and the second one plays the shooting sound and turns the green laser lights on the front on. You can listen to both sounds here (first plays the laser shooting sound, then the fly-by sound and then both combined)

The two small buttons trigger sounds and lights.

Once you have attached the engines and the tail it is possible to remove them again, but it will require a lot of force to pull them off. Unfortunately the droid socket behind the cockpit is non-functional, it only houses an already attached astromech dome which can be rotated, but there is no room to place a 3 3/4" droid on the inside of the ship. This 1999 version of the N-1 Naboo Starfighter doesn't have a landing gear so it'll lean forward and off to one side if you have it sitting on a shelf. The blue torpedo can be launched from underneath, lock it in place and press the small black button and it'll shoot out. 

The N-1 Naboo Starfighter 2012

This N-1 Naboo Starfighter was released in 2012 in Movie Heroes packaging for the release of The Phantom Menace 3D in movie theaters. Besides the $29.99 price tag the vehicle had nothing in common with the in 1999 released ship because it was newly designed from the ground up. 

Parts List

• 1 Body
• 1 Tail
• 2 Jet Engines
• 1 Cockpit Canopy
• 3 Blue Torpedos
• 1 Sticker Sheet
• 1 Instruction Sheet For The Stickers
• 1 Instruction Sheet For The Assembly

Assembly is easy, simply plug the engines onto the wings and attach the tail, this shouldn't take more than one minute to do. Each engine has a small door which can be opened to give you a glimpse underneath the hood.  There is a lever which lets you manually extend the outside of the engine which reveals the torpedo. By pressing a small button the torpedo shoots out with force. This N-1 Naboo Starfighter engine is much more detailed than what was released in 1999 with the first version. 

On the top left you can see the engine from the top with the torpedo ready to launch, on the right you can see the view from the bottom which also reveals a small part of the inner workings of the engine and you can see the lever how the torpedo can be revealed or hidden. The bottom image shows the engine from the top when it's closed.

The 2012 version of the N-1 Naboo Starfighter has a working astromech socket. You can lift the entire cockpit/droid socket up in order to place a figure and a droid inside the ship. It's a tight fit but it works. Unlike the 1999 vehicle you can now choose which droid will accompany your pilot into battle.

The original 1999 Naboo Starfighter came with one torpedo while the 2012 version came with three. The image below shows the different paint and shape between the torpedos.

As you can see below Hasbro didn't include electronics in the 2012 ship, but they added a small kick-stand which can be pulled out so that the Naboo Starfighter can be displayed on a shelf without leaning to one side.

There are no more electronics incorporated in the 2012 Naboo Starfighter, but Hasbro added a small kick-stand/landing gear so that it can be displayed better than the 1999 version

The Biggest Differences Between Both Naboo Starfighters

• 2012 is slightly larger than the 1999 ship
• 2012 has no electronics, the 1999 ship has lights and sounds
• 2012 has a kick-stand/landing gear while the 1999 Naboo Starfighter doesn't
• 2012 has a working droid socket where a droid can be placed into the ship, the 1999 version doesn't, it only has a droid dome which can be rotated
• 2012 has a movie accurate cockpit which slides forward and backwards, the cockpit on the 1999 version needs to be lifted up
• 2012 has room for 3 torpedos, the 1999 ship has room for 1
• 2012 has panels which can be opened on the wings, the 1999 version doesn't

The N-1 Naboo Starfighter which was released in 2012 out-does the 1999 version in every way, except when it comes to the lights and sounds. It's fun to take the 1999 vehicle for a spin and have the lasers light up while it makes fly-by and shooting sounds. If Hasbro ever re-releases the N-1 Naboo Starfighter it will hopefully have a vac-metallized paint application so that we get the very shiny look for the silver, but other than that both versions of the vehicle look great on display and are worthy of adding to the collection.