This is a fun build and a impulse buy for me. It is done is some Chibi style and among all of the current wave, I think this is the most cute and cool one.
The build was quick and easy and one of the nice part about is is that it can switch between flight mode and attack mode just like the "real" X-Wings.
Looking at the rear you can see the astromech's head. The full droid is not given in this set and is understandable given how small the build is, no way you can put one in.
Overall, a fun impulse buy which I intend to put on top of my Lego 10188 Death Star as it make its attack run on it. Is it worth getting the others? I think this Microfighters is either you like it or not, no 2 ways about it. Each Microfighter build and design is radically different from what a standard Lego Star Wars set would be hence I do not think it is for everyone.
I had been waiting for the Metro Sale to get this on a 20% discount off retail price but in the end I could not wait. If you have the Lego 10188 Death Star, then I think this would be a nice addition to the set as it features the 2 imperial baddies that you want to get loads of to make armies other than the stormtroopers.
I know that it shoes the funny looking big gun artillery in there but really this is just an army builder set and the gun piece is just some filler. The new blaster piece will be an interesting thing to look at later and is set to be put into the little hand of every army-like unit in the Lego world.
Like all small sets, it comes with an instruction pamphlet and couple of polybags, one for small parts, the other for the rest. As you can see they gave plenty of the trans red round 1x1 pieces for the blasters as they are confident that children will lose some of them. We shall see if their confidence is misplaced or not.
The Lego Star Wars logo for this wave feature Darth Vader reaching out to touch someone. Very weird..."Luke, I am your father" perhaps is what he is trying to express?
Here is a shot of the set when fully assembled. Notice that the royal guards have capes with 2 colours, a darker red inner side and the bright red one on the outside. Other than that, the royal guards are pretty much okay.
Okay so really this is a battle pack set so the main focus for most people would be the 4 minifigures but honestly it feels like Lego is not even trying...the flick fire feature seriously needs to be upgraded and replaced to those new 2014 spring firing mechanisms pronto. The flick fire for this case can barely fly past the cannons below it. Overall the part in it are not that interesting either.
As for the Death Star gunners, the nice part is that they come with 2 different faces instead of looking like twins.
Upon closer inspection, one will notice the helmets have a red and a blue dot on the left side of the helmet which can easily go unnoticed. Not sure if that denotes a rank or is just some LED light blinking on the helmet side. If it is just LEDs, one wonder why they would need it...
The new blasters were tested and yes, the shooting pieces shoot quite well though the blasters look quite bulky which I think is pretty much unavoidable as 1x1 round plates are already at one stud size. They do look like they are carrying speed guns though which is quite funny.
Overall the set is average and is a good addition for anyone with the Lego 10188 Death Star, which was the primary reason for me getting it. If you do not have the Death Star, I think you can skip this battle pack without missing much.
Amazing, my sister came back from the States with a Star Wars Ice Cube Tray. It makes ice cubes the shape of a YT-1300 light freighter, YT-1300 492727ZED. That is the Millenium Falcon lah!
It is made by a Japanese company that does a lot of Sci Fi stuff, Kotobukiya. As you can see below how, they make a very good packaging artwork too and definitely creates quality products.
So how does the ice looks like. Bascially it is quite detailed for something rather small but bigger than your normal ice cubes. One definitely recognises it as the Millennium Falcon. I love this ice cube maker and must say it is probably one of the coolest Star Wars franchise product I own. Right now I am going to try to make a bunch of them and try to take a picture of it. Trouble is, it is quite hard to see the details as they are semi transparent but will give it a shot and see how it goes.
R2-D2 Sweets
My sister has bought me some sweets and it is packaged in a R2-D2 metal can. Okay for those non-Star Wars fans this probably looks like a stylised rubbish can.
Here are side shots in 4 angles of the can. It is generally well detailed and the printing is well done and clear. And Shiny!
Opening up the shiny dome, we can see the sweets stored inside in a polybag.
Close up of the sweets shows that they look like baby teeth (probably due to the slight off white-yellowish colour) but actually the sweet manufacturer tried to make the shape of the pellet look like R2-D2...
Not sure if this is a fail for the manufacturer and I do wonder what went through the minds of those who approved this franchise...
Prologue
This
is truly an iconic starfighter together with the X-Wing Starfighter. Below is a
cover
art of the set. Like most Lego Star Wars sets, it features minifigures
galore that are stuffed in sometimes with no reason at all. There is only a cockpit for the TIE Fighter but we get 4 minifigures as well like the X-Wing.
The Complete Build
The
build was not tedious and repetitive, the whole fighter consists both sets of the wings and the centre piece with the cockpit. Here is the full frontal view of the set.
Here it is with the cockpit raised where a cramp cockpit houses the TIE pilot. The fighter console is sadly not realistic at all and just consists of a red translucent flat grille tile. The top printed piece is a nice addition to an other wise quite featureless TIE Fighter.
The rear looks slightly funny, like a bee's bum but I think we can let that one get away. Maybe they could have used a dome piece instead.
Here is a side shot of the TIE Fighter. The wing panels look quite awesome.
Finally here is a scan of one of
the last few pages of the instruction manual showing notable features
of this set. Which is not too much I am afraid. It is the TIE Fighter after all. Just 2 wing panels jammed into the cockpit sides flown with an expendable TIE pilot.
Final Thoughts
This
set was bought when Bricksworld had their annual 20% discount on sets
together with the Lego 9493 X-Wing Starfighter. It is not as exciting a set as the Lego 9493 X-Wing Starfighter. So the question then comes, is it
worth buying? I have looked around the internet on the reviews for the other revisions and I must say this is really a significant improvement
over them. The only weakness of this set is that at a certain angle there is a gap between grey and the black edge of the wing panel. I think if budget
allows, get this to complement the 9493 X-Wing. The colour scheme in this set are
more representative of the TIE Fighter as well, instead of the black and blue of the previous version. I leave this review with a 3/4 view picture
of the whole set.
Prologue
This is truly an iconic starfighter together with the TIE fighter. Below is a cover
art of the set. Like most Lego Star Wars sets, it features minifigures galore that are stuffed in sometimes with no reason at all. I mean come on, this one has 4! There is only a cockpit and a droid bay on this starfighter. Of course some would not complain since the minifigures are usually very detailed and well done though somehow one cannot shake the feeling that they are throwing them in to simply jack up the price of a set.
The Complete Build
The build was not tedious and repetitive although both sets of the wings need to be build in mirror image of themselves. Here is a 3/4 view of it in the attack mode. Had to perch it on a box to show it in this mode.
Here is a frontal view of the set. The overall design is quite good considering that Lego bricks are generally quite angular whereas the X-Wing Starfighter has some subtle angle here and there. I do love how the engines and lasers look. The front of the starfighter is not too badly recreated in this set as well.
Here is a close up of the inner wing and cockpit. The mechanism to open apart the wings is not too noticeable except it is rather colourful.
The mechanism used to close the wings are by means of 2 sets of rubber bands. That kind of spoils the overall profile of the X-Wing but I guess for such a small set, there is no better way to do it effectively. The X-piece is turned in order to open up the wings.
Finally here is a scan of one of the last few pages of the instruction manual showing notable features of this set. Which is not too much I am afraid.
Final Thoughts
This
set was bought when Bricksworld had their annual 20% discount on sets together with the Lego 9492 TIE Fighter. It
is a fun set to own and certainly a person would want to hold it in attack mode and swoosh it around. So the question then comes, is it worth buying? I have looked around the internet on the reviews for the 2 other revisions and I must say this is really a significant improvement over them. Even if you own the previous 2 versions, I think if budget allows, it is justifiable get this set together with the TIE Fighters to do aerial combat with each other. The colour scheme in this set are more representative of the X-Wings, it is the core of the Star Wars franchise and most of all, it looks quite good on its own as a display set as well. I leave this review with more pictures
of the whole set in swoosh poses no less.
Build - Level 2
The heavy building starts and boy did I look forward to it. It starts off with making the floor of the next level. This was solidly made with 3 layers of plate as shown below. Pretty much like a kueh lapis cake.
The floor has one quadrant empty and is ringed by a bunch of bricks attached in a SNOT. I have a tendency to keep knocking into the 3-piece sucker all the time breaking it off since it is attached simply by studs.
Next up are the different quadrants on this level. Actually not really quadrants as there are 5 sections to this level but some really take up a quadrant. The first one I want to focus is one that is empty. I guess this represents the unfinished part of the Death Star before the rebels blew it to kingdom come. It looks very spacious indeed.
Next up is the all famous trash compactor scene. The wall of this closes up together but not in parallel but more like from a V-shape position to parallel by means of technic elements. You can see on the upper left the rod to pull to close the walls.
Here is a shot with the door closed and the trash thrown in. At this stage the Dianoga is not in there yet.
Some people may not remember this scene but before Obi Wan confronted Darth man, he went to power down the tractor beam. This replicates the scene. The blue round 2x2 bricks are inverted and represent the "beam of power".
Now when we pull one of the levers, it falls down and the tractor beam is offline. This is a fun play feature.
Next is this area which I am not sure what it represents but it features a cannon that actually fires. It is spring loaded making it one of the more powerful ones out there. Lego has a tendency to make those flick fire missiles which are kind of weak. Give me this or the cannons any day.
Not sure what this quadrant represents but it looks like some repair bay. To make up for its less than interesting Star Wars background, the lift in the foreground is down...
and when you crank the handle in the middle right of the picture, it goes up! Up, to the next level and where our review continues!
Next: Stay Tuned!
Back: Prologue & Build - Level 1
