Review: 8091 Republic Swamp Speeder

Set ID: 8091 Republic Swamp Speeder

Number of Pieces: 176

Year of Release: 2010

Minifigs: 5

Purchased Price: About SGD83

I always like to do a little research before I write a review entry, watching the parts of the movie where the vehicle or scene appeared in, looking for pictures of the "real" thing etc. This set has posed a huge challenge for me in these aspects. Forget about looking for it in the movie as they are in the blink-and-you-miss battle actions in the movie and the only pictures I can find are those of Hasbro's toy series. With the limited information, I can only conclude that this is not a really popular or classic vehicle in Star Wars.

Different sources of web search and fan sites pointed to different installment of the movie where this vehicle appeared. Some said Episode 2, some said Episode 3 and some saw it in Clone War cartoon. As I am not a fan nor collector of the Clone War series, it took me some time to consider parting with my hard earned money for this set. In the end, I relented to add this to my collection for the sole reason that the minifigs are more "Star War-ish" than "Clone War-ish. 

Propeller fan 

The completed set bears some resemblance to the Hasbro toys I saw on the internet. Judging from the design (and the name), it seems to operate the same way as the common swamp buggy that we see on Discovery Channel documentaries, propelled by the huge fan on the rear of the vehicle. The fan in this vehicle is much smaller but I guess with future technologies, this mini fan can be much more efficient that those big-ass ones found on the swamp buggies. 

Size size, I was misled by the box art to believe that this is a much larger vehicle, only to find out that it is only about the size of an adult's palm when completed. The first clue of its modest stature surfaced when I realised that the box was only half (or less than that) filled with bricks. At that moment, the 176 brick count started to make sense to me.The vehicle is driven by two pilots sitting on each side of the fan, and each of them has their own control panel printed on the bricks. The only weapon found on board are the four flick missiles located at the front of the speeder. 

Drive or fly? 

The most interesting part of this vehicle is that it comes with a very meticulously designed, yet simple, steering mechanism. As a "swamp" speeder, I suppose it is designed to float or levitate on the swamp when in motion. To simulate this, the LEGO designer has put in a couple of sets of wheels at its undercarriage, including the steerable front wheels not unlike those found in a Go-Kart. But without any rubber traction on the wheels, they are in fact quite difficult to steer, especially on the well-polished ceramic tiles at my place. Nonetheless, it is a nice touch to an otherwise boring set.

Building Experience

As mentioned earlier, I was greeted with a half empty box when I first opened the box. God knows why LEGO needs such a big box for a 176 brick count set. One possible logical explanation can be to justify the price. When I poured all the content out on the floor, my first question in mind was "That's it?" All in all, three small packet of bricks, one sticker sheet and an instruction booklet. 

That's all???

There is a wide use of Technic parts for the steering mechanism so some more refined building techniques can be expected. Not difficult though. I resisted the temptation to apply the stickers knowing that in due time, they will start to peel, especially on the curved surface. Having said that, the stickers will indeed add some realism to the vehicle if you apply them. I have to say I do like the one-piece fan propeller brick, also found in some engines of the airplane sets in the City range. 

Anyways, why are there two pilot seats when there is only one Clone Trooper included in this set? Hmmm...

Minifigs

The two "common" battle droids are the ones with a straight arm, allowing them to hold the laser guns in an upright position. Recently when I was dismantling some older sets, I realised that the head piece of these droids do become loose over time and the heads will not be able to keep upright by themselves. At a dime a dozen, I guess we can always purchase additional ones to replace when that happens.

The Super Battle Droid has much details in its design but I seemed to have some challenges locking the arms onto the torso when putting it together. The Clone Trooper has a totally black head piece and details printed on both sides of the torso. 

Barriss Offee is the Jedi Knight included in the set and the tattoo on her head piece is a nice touch of details to reflect that of the character in the movie. She carries a blue light saber and don a black cape to with hood. The Barriss Offee minifig found in the Clone War series comes with a more "cartoonish" face and a blue hood. This distinction between them settles the internal debate inside me of whether this is a Star Wars set or a Clone War set. 

Conclusion

Not a set that many will remember in the years to come. Even for a seasoned Star Wars fan, this set will hardly strike a chord. A space-filler on the shelf definitely, and not a cheap one.  

Review: 75005 Rancor Pit

Set ID: 75005 Rancor Pit

Number of Pieces: 380

Year of Release: 2013

Minifigs: 4 (including the skelton)
Superfig: 1 (Rancor himself)
Purchased Price: About SGD115

I have been rather distracted lately by the collection and building of the LOTR series sets and popping into multiple LEGO fan websites to checkout the upcoming launches in summer. I must say it is certainly a much more exciting (and pocket hurting) season if you are into collecting the Star Wars or the LOTR range. (I might now start another series on reviewing LOTR set ... wait, first thing first)

Back to this set, the Rancor Pit. In a nutshell, this is a humongous cage custome-made for Rancor, the monster beast. In the movie, he lies waiting in the pit for his daily snack, which comes in the form of prisoners of Jabba the Hutt. As he is not very selective about his diet, Rancor does occasionally munch on the unlucky Gamorrean Guard on duty. Regardless, Rancor has a few candidates included in this set for his selection, depending on how you want to write your plot.

It will make absolutely no sense (at least to me) to purchase this set without first procuring the latest Jabba's Palace (9516). Those who did probably bought this set for the Rancor "minifig". On a side note, I just saw a Rancor on sale in a LEGO shop in Singapore, at a whopping price of SGD 70! Considering that this set cost around SGD115, you can certainly see where most of the price goes to. That's quite a good reason to invest in this set then. I will leave Rancor to the later part of this review as it definitely deserves a chapter by itself.

Anyway, this scene set does look like a boring cell with a huge gate to house Rancor. There are a few playable features such as the secret compartment that can be opened with an attached skeleton head (very clever indeed), revealing a bone and a key inside. One of the pillars does open up with enough space for Luke to hide while contemplating his escape strategy. A side gate allows Malakili, the Rancor's keeper, to access the pit. The pitchfork and pail probably helps him to upkeep the cleanliness and comfort of Rancor (if there is a need at all). Just a thought.

A much larger gate keeps Rancor in its place and it slides effortlessly through two columns of bricks with groove. To break the monotony of a "square structure with four columns", the panel with the huge gate is allowed to swing open 90 degrees for a more pose-friendly set up (as can be seen on the front of the box art).

When two becomes, well, two

Not so much a looker by itself, I have to say combining this set with Jabba's Palace is certainly a wise move. Provisions have already been made in Jabba's Palace to accommodate the Rancor's pit below it. Four shallow "holes" were created at the bottom of the Palace to lock onto the four pillars of the pit. There are no attachment of studs between the two sets so separation will never be a messy affair. It should also be reminded that the tower side of the Palace set will need to be detached first before the Palace can be placed onto the pit. Once combined, the main structure does look majestic and intimidating. The trapdoor now makes more sense as Luke will be able to free fall for a split second more into the arms of Rancor.

The combined set

Then its downhill from here. There are a number of design flaws that I thought are unforgivable, given LEGO's meticulous nature. First, the orientation of the pit. I will expect that the main gate of the pit should be in line with the front / back of the palace. Instead it is facing the side (or right if you are looking into the palace. This leads to the 2nd design flaw. Once the palace sits on the pit, there is no way to draw up the gate anymore.

One more complaint. Price. I recently read an article (re-posted by brickset.com) written by some financial expert analysing the price trend of LEGO over the years, and rightly debunk the myth that LEGO is getting more expensive in recent times. Taking into consideration the inflation and other variables, LEGO is not way more expensive than the time when I was a kid. I agree with the report and believe that it is indeed the case. But price-per-piece for this set, well, brought me down to earth once more. Collectors seldom complain about price and in this set, the premium is well forgiven once the Rancor comes into the picture.

Building Experience

Opening Ceremony

At only 380 brick count, building this set will never be close to the effort of scaling Everest. The first packet of bricks made up the gate panel, followed by the base, the pillars and finished by the 4-sided ceiling beams. My initial fear that this will be a boring repetitive build was quickly dismissed once I embarked on the construction. All the four pillars are unique in design with some common bricks and colour between them. There are hardly any difficult moments except for the rare occasion when the columns disintegrated when I accidentally lift the set by its ceiling beam when the construction was done. An hour of effort is more than enough to see the finished product.

Minifig (Rancor)

It is really an insult to Rancor of this set by calling it a "minifig". To begin with, its size itself would have put him in a different league totally. Standing at more than3 times the height of a minifig (not Hobitty-type), it commands your attention when you place it anywhere in sight. Just when I thought Jabba is big, Rancor essentially dwarfed Jabba into submission!

Lunch!

A lot of credit must go to the LEGO designer for putting in so much details for Rancor. From the scales on its back to the menacing facial expression, it bears close resemblance to the actual movie character. There are many articulated parts in Rancor, including the huge detachable jaw that can open the mouth to fit a minifig inside. Both Rancor's claws are made up by moving digits, enabling it to hold his victim in various positions. The only downside is the legs which are fixed in a front-back position, creating a tendency for Rancor to tip over easily on its side.

Minifigs (The others)

The hero in the Rancor Pit scene is Luke who, for obvious reason, was missing from the Palace set (otherwise there will be 2 Luke's) In this set, Luke comes with a 2 sided head piece of different expressions. I did notice that the hair piece is not able to cover the other face totally when seen from the back, exposing a little of the chin. Not a big deal but it's all about details here. Luke possess a huge bone for him to battle Rancor and judging from the size of the bone, its probably from Rancor's close relative.

Malakili is exclusive to this set as he is the keeper of Rancor. The painted chest hair and belly line on the torso do brought a smile to my face every time I see him. He also comes with 2 faces, one of seriousness and the other of despair. Probably a result of seeing the demise of his pet towards the end of the scene.

The Gamorrean Guard is the same as that in Jabba's Palace, sans the weapon. He wouldn't need one though, as his role in this set is purely, gastronomic. The skeleton minifig did not get a credit on the box art but I like to recognise it for giving the set a sense of comic relief.

Conclusion

Get this set for 2 reasons. (1) You need something to elevate the Jabba Palace to provide more vertical presence in your display and (2) Rancor.

P.S. This is the first review that I am using my brand new iPhone 5 as I noticed my zooming function in the its predecessor was failing, resulting in blurred images of the minifigs when I close up too much. Am happy with how it turns out!

Review: 75003 A-Wing Starfighter

Set ID: 75003 A-Wing Starfighter

Number of Pieces: 177

Year of Release: 2013

Minifigs: 3

Purchased Price: About SGD45

Including this latest version, LEGO has released three versions of the A-Wing Starfighter since 2000 - Set 7134 in 2000, Set 6207 in 2006 and then this. Without the two earlier versions with me, I have to depend on the online pictures of these sets to be able to tell what exactly have been changed in the design of this small vehicle, and I have to say, quite a bit. It is quite difficult to tell the "A" shape of the wings (as the name implied) in the earlier versions but this latest edition has a much pointed nose to accentuate the pinnacle of the letter "A". Look wise, this is definitely a sleeker and streamlined improvement over its predecessors.

This year (2013), LEGO has revised the set codes from four to five digits. This is a sign that the company has produced too many themes and sets over the years and that warrant a longer set code, considering that all the sets in lego, regardless of theme and type, have their own unique codes. The box design (for Star Wars theme) has also been revised, with a green hue and a light saber wielding Yoda on the box. While I like the inclusion of Yoda, I cannot say the same for the green coloured theme. But I guess it goes well with the complexion of Yoda. Just my guess. Another subtle change to the box art is the way the minifigs are positioned - tilting a little to the side instead of the front facing posture in the previous versions. Any way, this A-Wing is officially my FIRST 2013 to be opened and built. Rancor Pit will follow soon ...

More "posey" minifigs design on the box

The A-Wing has evolved from a red-grey colour tone to the current red-white one. With these colours, it does remind me of the Jedi Starfighter, albeit being shorter and chunkier. As compared to the two earlier versions, this one has a much longer nose (around 10 studs long) to give it a more sleek looking profile.

The cockpit comes with a control panel (stickered!) and a sloping backrest that allows the pilot to recline slightly. Behind the cockpit is a removable "package" which I cannot determine the purpose. 

The front undercarriage can be retracted and tucked away seamlessly when the A-Wing is in flight. As a starfighter, the armoury include a pair of side-winding flick missiles on each of the wing. They certainly look more menacing than the missile designs seen in the earlier versions. 

"A" Sticker nightmare!

At 177 brick count, this A-wing should not take more than 30 minutes for an experienced builder. HOWEVER, if you factor in the time taken to apply the stickers, that could easily set you back by another 10 minutes or so.

For a small set, it is astonishing to find so many stickers in this set! Some of them are not easy to apply, especially those found on the tapering nose of the vehicle. The stickers are also not symmetrical, i.e. those on the right are not the same as those on the left, so extra attention will have to be given when applying them. To help identify the right stickers to apply, LEGO has designed the sticker sheet in such a way that all the stickers are printed relative to their positions on the vehicle. By doing this, it is easier for the builder (or paster ...) to remove the right stickers from the sticker sheet. Clever design, but still, I hate the stickers.

Godspeed!!

Minifigs

With every revision, the amount of details on the minifigs just get better and better. The improvement is epitomised by the new A-Wing pilot in this set. Nowadays, the printing on the minifigs are no longer limited to the torso piece. For the A-Wing pilot, the leg piece is also printed with dangling tubes and wire to reflect that of a real pilot suit. The helmet design is brand new and unique for this set and the amount of details on it are to die for! There is simply no contest if I pit it against the pilot helmets of the two earlier versions. The pilot head piece comes with two faces, one calm looking and the other a little flustered. Not sure what is he panicking about though?? He is also accessorised with a spanner, which is useful when he does his own A-Wing servicing upon return to base.

Admiral Ackbar first appeared in 2009 in the Home One set (7754), so no new surprises here. Not sure why does he have a beer mug in hand. Guess he is toasting to the safe return of the A-Wing?!? Hans Solo retains his smirk on the face and with more detailed torso and leg pieces. 

Conclusion

While I am pleased about the general improvements to this A-Wing, the downside to this set is undoubtedly, the stickers. With a more exciting summer coming up for collectors like me, this A-Wing will likely be relegated to a peripheral collection once the big players surface in a few months' time.