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canofhumdingers said:
Perhaps the old x-wings were already just that - old - at the battle of Yavin? It would make sense that a rag tag band of rebels fighting the government doesn't have access to the latest and greatest military technology and instead has to scrounge whatever old junk they can get their hands on.
According to "Wookieepedia", the X-wing was first used at the "Battle of Turkana", the year before the events of the original Star Wars movie ("1 BBY"), after stealing X-wing prototypes at the "Battle of Fresia" (also in "1 BBY"). "Wookieepedia" also says that the X-wing remained in use for over 40 years.
I don't know where any of that information actually comes from (and it is all new to me as of a few minutes ago), but even just going by the movies, the X-wing seems to have been introduced at some point between Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars, because we don't see any X-wings at all in RotS, but we do see a precursor to the X-wing.
Also, it doesn't matter how old they were, because they were on par with the Empire's TIE fighters, and more advanced in some respects. It wasn't a case of Rebel biplanes vs. Empire fighter jets. This indicates that the OT X-wings represented the current state of performance/capabilities/technology, unless the Empire didn't have access to the "latest and greatest military technology" either, which would raise the question: Who did have access to the latest and greatest military technology, if not the Empire or the Rebels?
I'm not disagreeing with you in the fact that I, too, would love to see the classic x-wings in some capacity alongside the new ones. I'm just pointing out that there are some very valid counter arguments to your reasoning and that the new x wings do have a reasonable explanation using "real world" logic.
I never claimed that there is no reasonable explanation using "real world" logic for the new X-wings in the upcoming movie. I maintain that there would be nothing out of place with them still using OT-style X-wings, as opposed to the idea that everything should look different simply because it is 30 years later. In the real world, that idea tends to be true for many things, but it tends to be more true for consumer goods and fashion than it is for commercial and military stuff. It makes logistical and financial sense for the military and the commercial/industrial sector to stick with "tried and true" hardware (which they often own in multiples of hundreds or thousands, making it a much bigger ordeal to switch to something new than it is for a consumer who wants e.g. a new car), only going to newer designs when the older designs can no longer meet their needs.
You seem to be saying that their appearance should remain unchanged in the thirty or so years between the OT and episode 7 b/c that's what happens to aircraft in the real world. I'm saying that, one: that's not entirely accurate and aircraft (commercial and military) DO have significant modifications to their appearance over time - even if the old models are still hanging around when the new ones come out;
See above.
and two: you're implying by your first assumption that the rebels' ships in the OT were relatively new which I think is a very poor and illogical assumption for the reasons I already stated and this is backed up by the fact that they look freaking old, beat up, and worn out already at the battle of Yavin.
See above. And also, looking "freaking old, beat up, and worn out" is irrelevant. They were still functioning properly, which means they weren't "beat up" or "worn out" in any meaningful way. They were just dirty and/or had "carbon scoring", which is to be expected of ships that are used in battles. The only thing which can logically be gleaned from that is that the Rebels didn't place a high priority on washing and waxing their ships.
