Review: 75099 Rey's Speeder

Set ID: 75099 Rey's Speeder

Number of Pieces: 193

Year of Release: 2015

Minifigs: 2

Purchased Price: About SGD 50

The Force Awakens. And that also awoke (or rather, shook) the world into another wave of Star Wars frenzy exactly 10 years after the Revenge of the Sith. Hollywood blockbusters have started to adopt a trilogy approach in telling their stories and Star Wars, being one of the largest and most successful franchise of all times, did two better. First with the 3 episode prequel, and now, the other 3 ermm, post-quel? Regardless, I can almost hear the cash register at Disney going kerrr- ching-kerr-ching already.

Having acquired almost all the TFA sets at the end of 2015, I was resisting the temptation to build any of them until I have watched the movie itself. It is not a superstition or anything along that line, but the appreciation of details that could be found in some of the sets, and would not be fully appreciated if I have not seen the movie. It also form a basis for comparison on accuracy, or lack of. Now that the cinema visit is out of the way (I love the movie anyway!), I can start the build. And in consideration that I am also building the Sandcrawler in tandem, I would have to choose a smaller set to start with.

I am not going to talk too much Rey's Speeder in the movie as it may contain spoilers for some. However, I can say it did have quite a fair bit of air time in the movie, and from the way it was featured, constantly reminded me of the Land Speeder that Luke was zipping around with. But that's as far as the similarity is concerned as this Speeder is more "bike-ish" than "car-ish", thereby restricting it's ability to carry cargoes and people. As a junk collector, Rey might seriously consider a career or vehicle switch. (Spoiler alert: She did the former, eventually)

The Speeder

This is the smaller vehicle set released under the first wave of the TFA theme. For some reasons, it was also rather popular here as I often found it being re-stocked in the stores. I guess the lower price point (yes, "low" in a relative way in comparison to the other sets) and Rey's role as the heroine did help this cause.

A little too "compressed" for my liking

The completed Speeder looks a little shorter than I thought it should be. It is highly recognisable with its oversized front engine and the primarily red coloured body. The engine compartment also acts as a storage where I kept some of the red studs used as ammunition in this version of the Speeder. I do like the opening mechanism of this compartment as it can be accessed through a twist of the exhaust knob at the rear. Simple but yet efficient way especially in a small vehicle like this.


A few clips can be found on the left of the engine, where Rey's equipment such as at the binoculars and saw (both rather useful for scavenging) However, this part was mostly featured in the movie where Rey hangs her junk using a cargo net. Guess that might be difficult to replicate in a LEGO version.

Cockpit view

The cockpit sits (or stand) one comfortably with a 3D perspective stickered control panel. Play feature also includes a pair of stud firing weapons found on the front of the Speeder, although I believe those are exclusive to the LEGO version and not the movie one. Hovering effect is half achieved by the transparent 2X2 and SNOT grey bricks at the bottom of the Speeder.


Building Experience

The box is appropriately sized for a small set and limited contents, which can be put together in under 20 minutes.

There are a few stickers to be applied to add some details to the exterior of the Speeder. Given the limited size for details to be added, I have no complaint over these decals.

Minifigs

Something tells me that Rey will be playing a bigger part in the upcoming 2 instalments, and TFA pretty much left the plot at the right moment to whet the appetite of the fans by not revealing too much of her past nor her future, essentially subtitling the conclusion of TFA with "If you want to find out more, come back for it ..." That also mean that we can expect her minifig to appear in many other future sets, in different variations and costumes. This version should therefore be regarded as the pioneering Rey's minifig, something worth collecting.

Rey hair piece is unique to her and I am glad it is so accurate to the movie version. My daughter commented it was an "upgrade" from Princess Leia's 2 buns, to Rey's 3. LOL. She also comes with alt faces, albeit with very little difference between them. The details of he double sided torso prints and leg prints are also very faithful to that in the movie, down to even the sling bag that Rey is often seen carrying around with. To help Rey brave the sandy condition of the desert during her ride on the Speeder, she is also equipped with a Tuskan Raider- looking mask, which is slightly oversized. However, this is my preferred look of Rey as it exude an air of mystery that befits her identity and background.

Unkar's Thug - Rey did have a brief encounter with a Unkar's thug and it is not as confrontational as seen on the box art. His air time was too brief for me to make a comparison to this LEGO version. There are also a fair bit of details printed on the 2 sides of the torso and leg piece. The patchy prints actually accentuate the rugged environment that the thugs operate in. His cape is the grey version of Emperor Palpatnie's and it conceals the rather mechanical looking face of the thug. I suspect there is a humanoid behind that face but there wasn't much I could find online to prove this. He comes with a crowbar, supposedly to help him with his scavenging and scaring other junk collectors off.

Conclusion

If we ignore some of the minor discrepancies in accuracy, this is actually a nice set to own. I would prefer a cheaper price point but who doesn't anyway?

+ Rey's minifg
+ Smallest and most economical amongst TFA sets (Easy to store, cheapest to buy)

- Dimension and details a little inaccurate

Review: 75091 Flash Speeder

Set ID: 75091 Flash Speeder

Number of Pieces: 312

Year of Release: 2015

Minifigs: 5

Purchased Price: About SGD 70

Over the years, almost all the sets in my LEGO Star Wars collection have been re-released. Some just once, others many. While many collectors lament on the lack of exclusivity due to the multiple re-releases, such decisions by LEGO are actually beneficial for those who have missed the earlier versions. Of course, it benefited LEGO's profit margin too. I am an avid collector of the movie series so I have to admit I will buy regardless of which version (unless of course if I go broke) So is there any joy in owning another re-release?

Yes. The joy comes in the form of:

1) Better brick selections
2) More detailed designs and movie accuracy
3) More interesting building techniques

Flash Speeder comes with doors!

For this Flash Speeder, it has been 15 years since the first version was released. As it does not enjoy as much air time in the movie as compared to, say, the Millennium Falcon, its popularity (or lack of) is clearly defined by a much delayed re-release of version 2. Despite its insignificance in the 2015 Spring lineup, I must say for a set of this size and this price, I was impressed by how it has evolved over the last 1.5 decades, partly due to the fact that the original version has set a pretty low benchmark.

The Completed Set

The Flash Speeder is primarily used for peace time patrol by the Naboo Security Forces. As such, it is not meant for hard core aggression nor does it require armoured plated type of protection. According to it's technical specs, the Flash Speeder should only have a mounted blaster behind the cockpit but in this LEGO version, it has the said blaster PLUS three menacing spring loaded missiles! The movie accuracy was compromised as soon as I realised that the 2 side missiles are positioned at where the engine cowlings are supposed to be. Guess it is a case of playability vs accuracy and the former prevails.

This version of Flash Speeder has already made significance improvement to streamline the nose and and bulk up the body a little. More curvatures can be found and proportions of various parts of the Flash Speeder are in better order too. The vehicle now seats four comfortably and I found the seat design pretty interesting.


For years, LEGO has also used the traditional 2X2 stud up design to keep the passengers in their seats. In recent years, there are also the Friend-inspired leg clamp and SNOT designs too. This one has a 2X1 stud up design and the studs are aligned to the centre of the seats, making the minifigs sitting slightly off-centred. I really wondered why this was the case until I start to populate the cockpit with the minifigs. The Eureka moment: Sitting off-centred prevents the hands of the minifig from getting into the way of the swinging cockpit door. With this design, the minifigs can also sit closer together, thus keeping the width of the vehicle narrower and sleek. Clever!

Additional storage spaces included

Transparent 2X2's for minimal hovering effect

Speaking of the door, this Flash Speeder comes with 2 upward-swinging doors to allow access for the passengers (think Mclaren MP4). Not that we need this to place the minifigs in as the cockpit is very open for easy access. The hovering effect of the vehicle is achieved through the use of 6 transparent 2X2 round bricks at the undercarriage. It is a good design intention, but the hovering effect is actually quite minimal.


Building Experience

This is one of the smallest set amongst its peers in the same wave of releases and the box is appropriately sized for the 300 bricks within. The box art in the front features the Flash Speeder in battle mode against the helpless Battle Droids. Captain Tarpals can also be seen joining the fray.

The bricks are distributed over 3 packs and the content also include 2 similar sticker sheets. Only one is used and the other is the extra. I am not too sure about this unusual gesture of generosity from LEGO but I guess they can afford to (there are only 2 decals on the sticker sheet anyway ...).

Although a straightforward built, the mixture of different techniques and brick assortment did make the whole 30min a little more "exciting".

Minifigs

The new and unique minifigs are usually labelled with the wording "NEW" on the box art, but I found out that the box designer has instead use a different "glow" colour to represent the exclusivity of the minifigs. The new Naboo Security Officer and Captain Tarpals are featured in golden glow while the other 3 minifigs are covered in blue coloured glow.

Impressive minifig lineup

Captain Tarpals - This minifig shares the same head piece as Jar Jar Binks albeit in a different colour scheme. Tarpals does come with a purple hue around the eyes and wears a mask to match his brown outfit. A feature that is missing in the head piece is the drooping whiskers near his snout, a feature that sets him apart from the other Gungan warriors. Without the whiskers, this minifig could not fully exhibit the sense of seniority that he possesses in the movie. His torso are printed on both sides although the designs on his back can hardly be seen as his long ears have totally covered his rear. His leg piece is also printed with details which can't really be seen clearly against the dark brown colour.

Naboo Security Officer - A brand new minifig to add to the collection of the Naboo population. The NSO comes with a well designed cap with excellent details and level of accuracy. It is worn on a double printed head piece. I am especially impressed by the colour accuracy of this minifig and the details found on the torso and leg piece.

Naboo Security Guard - A rank below the NSO, the NSG was previously found in the latest MTT and can be distinguished by its signature yellow and brown uniform. His peak cap is lesser elaborate than that of NSO but accurate nonetheless. Insignia on the cap are printed rather than "pop-up"version on NSO's. Only one side of the head piece is printed as there is no way for the cap to conceal the alt face.

Battle Droids - The two common battle droids provide the little resistance to the Naboo platoon and also comic relief.

Conclusion

This is a set that will be forgotten before you can finish pronouncing "Star Wars". If you need a set that is easy to build, relatively cheap, and to appease your child who has no preference for any particular theme, this set will be a good candidate as a filler.

+ Helps to kill time, all 30 min of it
+ Interesting swinging door and seat design

- Movie inaccuracy: Since when is the Flash Speeder so heavily armed?
- Pricey for its size

Review: 75050 B-Wing

Set ID: 75050 B-Wing

Number of Pieces: 448

Year of Release: 2014

Minifigs: 3

Purchased Price: About SGD 100

There were a total of 3 B-wings produced since the year 2000 (UCS not included). Since its first appearance in 2000, the next variant showed up in 2006 with much better brick choices and sleeker design. And between that version and this, LEGO went ahead to launch the first, and only, UCS B-wing. Having built quite a number of B-wings over the year, the idea of building another, albeit a new one, was not quite appealing to me. As such, this set was tucked in a corner amongst my collection and pretty much forgotten. That was until my son pointed to its obscure location and asked me "What is that, dad?" (Cue a beam of light shining through the storeroom and setting it on the box, with dramatic music effect in the background ...)

B-wing, B-grade?

With less than 500 pieces, I have to manage my expectation of the finished product. B-Wing always pose 2 big challenges for designer and collectors.

(1) Lack of SNOT finishing on the dorsal wing, or all three wings, for that matter. Ideally, SNOT will be great to accentuate the sleekness of this vehicle. However, I would be happy to accept stud-up appearance on the wings, BUT on both sides of the wings. In a typical horizontal wings profile, the underside of the bricks will not be constantly exposed but for the dorsal wing of the B-wing, one side (in this case its left) will always be seen exposed. This does restrict the photo taking angles to just the right profile, reminding me of Mariah Carey's preference of her right sided profile. On that note, the 2006 version (set 6208) does pip this set in terms of its better use of the sloping bricks and SNOT approach.

(2) Given the "weird" shape, it is never easy to display the B-wing. Its flight mode is always the better looking profile but without a stand like that in the UCS version, it is never easy to keep it vertical on its own. Its landing stance is certainly more stable but honestly, it appears more like a door wedge to me than a lethal fighting machine that is is meant to be.


The cockpit of the B-wing is supposed to remain level regardless of the plane of travel, offering pilot who suffers from vertigo a chance to take flight. To do this, the cockpit is designed with 360 degree rotatable versatility. However, this gyroscopic property cannot be fully demonstrated in this set as the cockpit rotation design is actually quite stiff. As a result, it does not stay level as desired. This will not be a problem until you put a pilot in it. Why? The entire cockpit seat is entirely SNOT designed, i.e. the pilot will not be affixed to the seat at all. Unless the cockpit remains level, the pilot will better be equipped with some really strong seat belts to keep him safe. Air sickness bag will be a bonus.

Spring loaded missiles spoiling the profile of the B-wing

According to DK's Star Wars Complete Vehicle Guide, the B-wing is a formidable fighting machine, in the league of X and Y-wings. This is clearly reflected in large choices of the guns / cannons, especially those at the tips of the wings. For some unknown reasons, I do find the guns at the end of the dorsal wing a little too short for my liking. And for goodness sake, I can really do without the ugly spring loaded cannons for so-call "playability". I can accept this play feature IF the entire spring loaded brick is concealed and the long rear end of the cannon is not exposed. Not many sets managed to do this but it is possible. In this set, if LEGO does insist that the feature must be incorporated, then my suggestion is to compromise on the movie accuracy and embed one of those fearful cannons below the cockpit.

With the limited SNOT surfaces to apply stickers on, there is some saving grace that the limited stickers are only found where necessary.

Guns a little short at the tip

Building Experience

I have to admit that I always think there are only 2 ways to pose the wings in the B-wings, distinguished by 90 degree differences. It was when I was peering at the box art of this set that I realised the versatility of the wings to be quite impressive. In fact, the front box art illustrates the B-wing in flight mode with the the 2 side wings at 7- degree with the dorsal one. Nice angle to look at, but impossible to pose in real life.


The bricks can be found in 5 different packs. Minifigs are also found in different packs to keep you interested through the build process, which should be in the range of 45 min or so. Box content also include an instruction booklet and a small sticker sheet, crumpled in my case.

Same brick, different origin probably

Over the years, and most likely due to commercial reasons, LEGO has started moving manufacturing out of Denmark. The latest venture being in Asia (China to be specific) and that was greeted by jeers more than cheers. Price remains (inflated in fact) and quality, well ... Why am I mentioning this? In this set, I found evidence that QC is starting to a blind spot of my beloved toy brand. In this picture below, two 2X1 plates in the same set are actually "different" As subtle as it may seem, such difference does matter, at least to the brand it self. Yes, both serve the same purpose and should not compromise on the integrity of the built, but NO, they speaks volume of a brand that might be growing too big to pay much attention to such details, details that matter to fans around the world.

Minifigs

Nice minifigs included!

3 unique minifigs come with this set, and will certainly go down well with minifig collectors. Ten Numb is supposed to also fly a B-wing in Battle of Endor so I am a little confused who should actually command this ship, given that there is another unnamed pilot in the set? The clue lies in the red overall that Ten is wearing so I reckon his role here is more of a mechanic than the pilot. His wrench further confirm my suspicion.

Ten Numb - He is rare, appearing only once before in the 2006's B-wing set. Instead of dressing in white flight suit, this variant is in a red overall printed on both sides with high level of details. The breathing tubes printed on the front extends beyond his torso towards the leg piece too. Although not seamless, at least it is an effort to give a sense of continuation between the torso and leg pieces. Ten Numb has rather complex facial features, especially his frog-like eyes and wrinkled complexion. All these are nicely represented on both sides of his head piece, differentiated by a printed mouth piece that integrates with the helmet. Talking about the helmet, it is my favourite part of this minifig. Very impressed with its details and movie accuracy.

General Airen Cracken - Surprisingly, this minifig is only printed on one side of his head piece. His expression is intense and rightly reflect Airen's emotion during the Battle of Endor. Also printed is his microphone and ear piece used for his communication with the rest of his troop. Airen's torso is printed on both sides with details such as the wrinkles and badges on his vest. Leg piece is printed with utility pockets and more creases.

Gray Squadron Pilot - Although unnamed, this pilot is another "hero" in my opinion that epitomise how much research and details the minifig designers have invested in. His unique helmet comes with so much details that I believe it will be hard to recycle this helmet for other minifigs in the future. The full faced helmet is also very accurate with its colour especially when it is used in tandem with the visor-faced expression. The pink visor is very unique to this pilot as the visor printings in other minifigs are typically yellow or clear in colour. The other expression is one with a smirky smile, useful to reflect his more relaxed emotion when not in battle. Similar to Ten Numb, his flight suit is also printed on both sides with tremendous amount of details that extend to his leg piece.

Conclusion

+ This is hard. It adds to my B-wing collection??
+ Nice unique minifigs with accurate details

- Brick inconsistency within the same set. Not a structural problem, but a brand image one
- Uninspiring built
- Can do with more SNOT design on the wings
- Pilot cannot be secured in cockpit