Background

We were lucky enough to get our paws on one of Rocket World’s I.W.G. Mini Rocket Ships.  With 3 versions available – Classic Galactic Silver, Future Eco-Green and Covert Black Limited Edition – you’ll need to pick one up for your mini I.W.G. figures.  Produced by STRANGEco, the official Launch Party will take place March 9th at the Rocket World Gallery in San Francisco.

The story behind the rocket ship goes something like this:  The Astral Overseers gave the Insurgents Wilderness Gruppo a fleet of rocket ships to help fight the bad human poachers.  The rockets are fueled on ordinary garbage (with zero-pollutant emission…Al Gore would be proud).  Each of the rockets hold at least one mini figure (as well as human bones).

Packaging

One word describes the box each and every I.W.G. Mini Rocket Ship is packaged in: retro.  From the font to the drawings to the style of the box…everything screams retro.

The rocket and mini figure are packaged in a plastic tray within the heavy cardboard box.  It does a good job protecting what is a somewhat delicate piece.

The Rocket

The rocket ship we are reviewing is the Future Eco-Green version.  All of the rockets are the same, except for their paint schemes.  There is another difference that might sway which you pick up.  The green rocket (450 pieces) is shipped with a mini Taharka the black rhino, the silver (450 pieces) includes a mini Huey the panther, and the black rocket (150 pieces) is packaged with both figures.  All rockets include an I.W.G. Rocket Cadet Patch.

The I.W.G. Rocket Ship is a massive 17” in height and is designed to carry your favorite I.W.G. figures (or Kubricks or other mini figs). The main hatch opens to reveal the inner workings of the cockpit.  You can check out all of the controls and the steering wheel actually moves.   There is also space underneath to stow human bones (a set comes included) or weapons.

If you check out the outside of the rocket ship…you’ll see the 3 magnetic laser cannons that are mounted on the landing apparatus.  The antennae doubles to turn the cockpit light on and off.  Yup…you just twist the antennae to activate the red LED cockpit light.

Our Opinion

I think it was Tom Petty who sang, “The waiting is the hardest part”. Collectors got their first glimpse of the prototype at San Diego Comic Con 2005.  But we’d rather have it a little later and be perfect than be early and below the standards of STRANGEco and Rocket World.

The I.W.G. Rocket Ship is everything that we wished it would be.  It’s high quality and has all of the bells and whistles.  The red LED cockpit light is pretty impressive, even if it took us a little while to get working.  We just didn’t want to snap off the antennae.  You’ll want to twist it about a quarter turn counterclockwise.

As a youngster, I remember having a big cardboard rocket ship. I would climb into that thing and pretend to pilot it to far off, exotic places…like Jersey.  It’s probably a normal phenomenon for kids to be enamored with flight, especially space flight.  While it might not be a wise investment for a child to play with, us adults can relive our childhoods with the rocket we always wanted.

I.W.G. Mini Rocket Ship Grades:

Quality: 10/10
Paint: 9/10
Durability: 7/10
Hype: 10/10
Fun Factor: 10/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: 9.5/10