Review: 9496 Desert Skiff

Set ID: 9496 Desert Skiff 

Number of Pieces: 213

Year of Release: 2012

Minifigs: 4

Purchased Price: About SGD48

The desert skiff is a hovering craft which often forms part of the entourage of Jabba the Hutt. In a classic scene in Episode 4, Luke was held captive by Jabba and was about to be sacrificed to the gapping beak of Sarlacc in the sand pit, before he was rescued by Lando Calrissian and his timely use of the "Force". This set attempts to recreate the scene, less the majestic Sail Barge, and plenty of sand.

The desert skiff is not new to the Star Wars range, making its debut in 2000 with the very simple Desert Skiff (7104) and as part of the Jabba's Sail Barge set, launched in 2006. With every revision, the skiff is always improving in details (and size) and this latest addition is of no exception. Longer and wider (by a width of 2 studs), this new desert skiff can accommodate the minifigs more comfortably, even offering space for a dedicated cockpit. The luxury of space even allows a storage to be built in in the middle of the skiff to safe keep a couple of laser guns belonging to the guards.

Hidden storage onboard

Retractable plank

Luke was supposed to walk the plank, which swivels out from the bottom of the skiff and can be tucked neatly away when not in use. It is stud-less for most part of the plank except for 2 studs near the edge of it, where Luke stands and look down at the sand pit. Underneath the skiff, you can also find a flick missile and a number of transparent 2X2 round bricks to prop up the skiff, simulating the hovering effect.

Sarlacc having lunch

In the movie, much of Sarlacc was concealed in the sand and all I could see was a tenacious looking mouth with sweeping tentacles around it. This new Sarlacc is definitely a more improved version, with larger beaks and a pair of tentacles that can be posed in various directions. In fact the beak is so large you can place a minifig in it with room to spare! With a mouth like this, I wonder why is there a need for Sarlacc to chew his food at all. A row of teeth around the edge of the creature completes its menacing look.

Building Experience

View from cockpit

I cannot even qualify building this set as building experience. You can almost finish building this within 3 commercial breaks of a typical soap drama on TV. 30 min should be the maximum time you need to spend on completing the 3 packets of bricks. Packet 1 is solely for Sarlacc and the other 2 are dedicated to the skiff. There is only 1 booklet of building instruction included in this set.


















Minifigs

Luke carries his green light saber in this set. He now wears a grey vest as compared to the full black outfit in the last 2 desert skiff sets. On first sight, Boba seems to be the same old design so I was struggling to figure out what the "new" features are. Not being able to locate the minifigs of the older versions of Boba, I made some quick references on the net and finally found the subtle difference that makes this new Boba unique. Guess what? He actually has a pair of painted toe caps! Nice touch!

If I have not mistaken, Kithaba should be making his debut in this set. Being partner in crime with Boba and operating under the leadership of Jabba (it rhymes!), Kithaba comes with a very menacing expression and a stretch of ammo pouches across painted across his chest. He has his own blaster pistol but he is also free to choose from other weapons tucked in the storage compartment in the middle of the Skiff. Lando attempts to conceal his identity by dressing up as one of the skiff guards. The very detailed full face helmet does help to achieve this objective. I do like the silvery part on the chin strap of the helmet, which gives a more metallic feel to it.

Conclusion

The desert skiff can never be considered a well recognised classic Star Wars vehicle, especially if you pit it against the other high tech war machines featured in the films. As such, do not expect this set to appreciate too much over the years with the luke warm demand. Off hand, I cannot even think of a good excuse to collect this set unless you are a die-hard fan or have space to spare on your display shelf.

Review: 9516 Jabba's Palace

Set ID: 9516 Jabba's Palace 

Number of Pieces: 716

Year of Release: 2012

Minifigs: 9!!!!!

Purchased Price: About SGD220

It's raining minifigs! (strictly speaking it should be 8, if we disregard the B'Omarr Monk, which is made up of bricks rather than a minifig)

Bad guys

Many boys (and now men) will remember the Jabba's Palace in the movie for a sole reason - Princess Leia in golden bikini. That is probably the raunchiest outfit in the entire movie and I must say Carrie Fisher carried it well. As such, she was invited to be part of the 1st LEGO Jabba's Palace set (4480) released in 2003. At that time, the minifigs still come with the traditional yellow faces and "double dot" eyes. My hope that there will be an improved and more detailed version of Leia did not materialise in this new release. 9 years later, LEGO actually decided to relaunch this classic scene set WITHOUT Princess Leia? What were they thinking? To be fair, Princess Leia does come in another form in this set, disguised as Boushh the bounty hunter, prior to being unmasked by Jabba.

Good guys

This new release is 3 times the brick count and 4 times the price of the 2003 version. A quick look at the box art immediately reveals where those extra bricks went to. Comparing to the rather simple and skeletal set in 2003, LEGO has almost totally re-design this new set. There are many more details being included, and it seems like this new Jabba has the resources to upgrade his previous palace to this pretty posh one.

Jabba now has a proper roof above his head (as compared to the umbrella-like shelter in the old set) to screen him away from the elements. The huge round roof even comes with a flick missile to defend it against any possible invaders. While the bigger roof makes is aesthetically more pleasing to the eyes, it does hamper your hand movement when you try to manuevre Jabba on his sliding day bed. As the roof is not fixed to the main building structure, it can therefore be easily removed should you want to relive the scene of Luke Skywalker falling through the trap door.

Talking about Luke, why is he also not in this set? In the 2003 version, Jabba's throne room is elevated therefore Luke can actually fall into a cell below (although in the movie it is more of a cave than a cell) For this set, a more sophisticated looking sliding trap door is designed but (a) there is no Luke to fall through and (b) whoever falls through has nowhere else to go! This led me to suspect that this set is never intended to be a stand alone set, again. i.e. there will be a future set released to complement oradd-on to this.

Han Solo volunteered to test the trap door

LEGO has done this before with the old Jabba Palace. In 2003, 2 other small sets, Jabba's Message (4475) and Jabba's Prize (4476) were designed to flank the main Jabba's Palace as a combined set. As I am writing this review, I already knew that LEGO will be releasing a new set soon, forming a basement to this new Jabba's Palace. Will that be the only add-on set? Will have to wait to find out.

Back to this new set ...

Hinged rear backdrop

The set comes in 3 major components - the throne room, the removable roof above the room, and a guard tower. In addition, the throne room is built with a hinged backdrop where you will also find a sliding prod, used to push the day bed of Jabba forward. Once the day bed is moved, it will reveal a secret compartment where Jabba stashed his loot and weapon. On the left of the bed is a single clip that is used to hold the carbonited Han Solo, and that is also where you can find another sliding prod that opens the floor. With Jabba's wealth, he can easily afford all the luxuries that you will find here, including wine, food and smoking apparatus. You name it, he has it. Even Oola is included in this set to offer exotic dance to Jabba, so what do you expect?

The 3-storey high guard tower comes with a sliding castle gate, a pair of cannons above the gate and a Gamorrean Guard, taking his position at the top, equipped with a laser gun and binoculars. Upon construction, the guard tower can be easily attached to the throne room at the side. Alternatively, you can leave them as separate entities on display.

Building Experience

2 manuals and 7 packs of bricks made up this set. One interesting point though is that 1 of the manual is printed in 'portrait' format while the other opens up as 'landscape'?!? There must be a good reason for this but my limited intelligence could not find a convincing rationale behind it. Another observation is the inclusion of brick separators in many of the new sets nowadays. I have always raved about the usefulness of this little tool (which saved me many chipped fingernails) but having opened up quite a few sets already this year, I have already amassed a collection of 5 brick separators. What am I going to do with so many of them ...?

As expected, there are plenty of brown bricks in this set to reflect the sandy and desert-like environment Jabba operates in. I felt that distributing them into 7 packs is a little of an overkill. However, if you do not wish to finish the entire set in one swoop, having more packets will allow you to take regular breaks in between the construction. There are many movable parts such as hinges and sliding prods. Not a difficult set to build but I had my fair share of frustration when I accidentally destroyed some of the overhanging cantilevers while attempting to tighten the connections between the bricks. For an adult to complete this set, 2 hours of full attention should suffice.

If you intend to carry the Palace part around (for reasons I cannot explained), do try to hold it by its base rather than the pillars. During my photo shoot session, I managed to uproot the pillars a number of times when I tried to pose the set. Just a word of caution.

Minifigs

Since Jabba is the main star, let's begin by looking at him. This new generation Jabba is definitely more detailed than its predecessor and bear closer resemblance to the movie version. Those details come in the form of a dual-coloured torso with painted eyes, making this Jabba looks a little more evil as compared to the pure-green one in set 4480. Upon close examination, this Jabba even has a tattoo on his posable arm! Cool!

Han Solo has appeared in the 2010 Slave I (8097) before so there ain't too much surprise or excitement to talk about. He has a dual-face head piece, one side portraying his agonising expression and the other side - a blank look. He fits nicely into the carbonite block and can be locked into position by holding on the the hidden pegs.

Jabba's assistant - Bib Fortuna has only appeared once before in 2003 (Jabba message). This revision has a less friendly face (an understatement) and opened mouth, baring a row of sharp teeth. The Gamorrean Guard has seen most improvements over the last few years, with more colours and details added with every new version released. The head piece extends downwards with the shoulder pads and bulging torso. Great job by LEGO with this minifig!

Oola is a captured dancer performing for Jabba. I almost forgotten how she looked like in the movie until I did some research on the net. Pretty exotic I must say! This is Oola's first appearance in any LEGO set, and considering that she has limited cameo in the movie, I will not expect her to appear much in future launches. Treasure this one.

Leia appears in this set (sadly not with the golden bikini) in Boushh disguise. She dressed up as a bounty hunter to infiltrate Jabba's Palace and rescue the captured Hans Solo, no doubt with limited success. This is also a brand new minifig that comes with a lot of details painted on the torso (both sides!). Leia can choose to appear with her pony-tailed hair piece or Boushh helmet, which looks really cool and detailed.

Salacious Crumb is Jabba's adopted pet, making its debut in LEGO as well. It is a one-piece minifig with overhanging legs, making it only poseable sitting on Jabba's hand, or by the ledge of his day bed. Chewbacca is just ... the same old Chewbacca, in a pair of cuffs.

Last words...

I must admit this is an expensive set. But 2 main reasons made me part with my hard earned money. (1) It is a rare scenery set and is an improvement from its predecessor 9 years ago. It does provide the brief reprieve from the usual vehicle sets and the vertical presence on the display shelf. (2) Minifigs. Period.