Review: 75016 Homing Spider Droid

Set ID: 75016 Homing Spider Droid

Number of Pieces: 295

Year of Release: 2013

Minifigs: 4

Purchased Price: About SGD 65

The Spider Droids are not new to the Star Wars range. The Dwarf Spider Droid made an appearance in the 2008 set 7670 besides the Hailfire Droid (in both Clone War and Classic Trilogy packaging), while the full size Spider Droid was launched in the same year in the set of 7681 (Separatist Spider Droid). There is little scope for the Dwarf Spider Droid to evolve much in this new release but the new Homing Spider Droid did come across as a much better representation of its movie counterpart. 

I am being anal here but strictly speaking, a spider is an arthropod with eight legs, so I will never totally agree with naming these Droids "Spider" Droids. Maybe in the era of Star Wars, spiders do exist with only four legs. You never know. Anyway, the completed Homing Spider Droid is made up of a spherical pod with four skinny legs. Two laser cannons can be found on the top and bottom of the sphere, responsible for annihilating enemies in the air and below it. On hind sight, the top laser cannon is actually a flick missile, which like most other flick missiles, will hardly be fired. A cluster of three "eyes" can be located on the rotating north hemisphere, allowing it to scan for targets 360 degree around.

The skinny legs of the Homing Spider Droid may look flimsy but their design seems to do wonder in keeping the Droid upright always. You can pose the four legs in any configuration and as long as their foot plates are on a flat surface, the Droid will NEVER topple. Give it a try if you don't believe me. As an engineer (ex-engineer actually), this feat will never be achieved by chance, but instead through meticulous calculation of the CG (center of gravity) and angle of inclination of the legs. Very impressed. Very.

Check this out! Impressive balance!

In comparison, the Dwarf Spider Droid is much less impressive (but "cuter"). Its body is also spherical with a free rotating sphere in its core. A 2X2 round transparent brick found at the bottom of the sphere seems a little redundant given that its four legs are stiff enough to support the body. A pair of red eyes mounted on the front completes its 'cute' look. Honestly, the completed Dwarf Spider Droid looks more like a pet than a menacing droid. 

Building Experience

This set comes in a box that is appropriate for a set of this magnitude. The artwork on the front of the box reflects the sandy battle scene where the Spider Droids were in full action. As for the back, the various graphics found there showcase the playable features of this set. There is one instruction booklet and the bricks can be found in three separate packages. A separate ring (used for the body of the Homing Spider Droid, same as that used for the cockpit construction of the UCS B-Wing) can also be found in the box.

Contrary to my initial belief, the construction is not as boring as I thought. Although there were a fair bit of "4X" moments, thanks to the legs of the droids, there were a few interesting techniques deployed when building the body of the droids. There are also parts that I have not seen in other sets before, including my personal favourite - the spring looking silver tube that are sleeved over the legs of the Homing Spider Droid. 45 minutes were all it took for me to complete the construction. There are quite a number of extra bricks included. Double checked the instructions but I am certain I did not missed out on any step. Not complaining though.

Minifigs

The minifigs in the new 2013 Star Wars range excite me. There are quite a number of brand new unique minifigs that have never appeared before in this range that are worth collecting. In this set, the Stass Allie minifig scores a perfect hit, a home run. Subtle details such as her utility belt, the Tholoth headdress that she dons and, check this out, the purple colour of her eyes! Her hair piece is made of rubber and was individually wrapped, presumed that it was manufactured out of the LEGO factories. Nonetheless, it will require a brand new mould that will unlikely be used for another minifig any time soon. By the way, Stass Allie comes with a green light saber.

The Clone Trooper (a dime a dozen) and two Super Battle Droids are included in this set. Whilst the Clone Trooper is nothing too special, his weapon was. Using the standard long laser blaster as a basic weapon, it has an extended muzzle which makes the overall length longer than a minifig itself. A sniper in modern warfare would have been proud of such armory. The Super Battle Droid looks good from the front, but from the back, it exposed the multiple voids in the torso piece (don't expect the torso to be solid though). Hopefully this will be addressed in future release.

Conclusion

The Spider Droid is really an ugly machine. This is no fault of LEGO as they are merely trying to emulate the actual droids found in the movie. But from engineering and design point of view, I am most impressed. Throw in an exclusive minifig in the form of Stass Allie and I am sold. 

+ + Special non toppling design of the Homing Spider Droid

+ Vertical presence of the Droid 

+ Nice, unique minifig - Stass Allie, with plenty of accurate details

- Can't think of any, but if I have to, then it will be the Dwarf Spider Droid.