Review: LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Here is another LEGO Star Wars set that I didn’t expect much from, but really enjoyed the build. The primary reason behind purchasing it was the minifigs, but I’m glad I have an X-Wing now so I can compare the scale to the UCS Millennium Falcon once I get that built.

So let’s take a look at set #9493: X-wing Starfighter.

It comes across as a fairly large set based on the box size alone:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

For a box of this size, I expected the tape seals, not push tabs:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

What you get when you open it up: 5 bags, a sticker sheet, and the manual:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Here is everything all put together, including spare parts:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Here is the new R5-D8 minifig:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

The coloring is nice, and it’s cool to see LEGO use this head shape in a few minifigs this season:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

From the back… surprised they still won’t do back-printing on astromech droids:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Another R2-D2 is included in this set. A comparison:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

They provide two X-Wing pilots: Luke Skywalker and new minifig: Jek Porkins. I like Jek’s helment a lot. His face is surprisingly unique compared to other X-Wing pilot minifigs. It’s a nice touch that if you get two X-Wing sets, you can have two pilot/droid combos.
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

The faces:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

The sticker sheet, which I won’t bother applying. These stickers could be used on a variety of sets or MOCs:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Always interesting to see how colorful the inner frame of sets can be. This is one of the MANY techniques LEGO has used to make the building process easier. Greater differentiation in color makes it easier to find parts and ensure they are in the right place as you read through the manual:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Here is the mechanism that let’s you open up the wings:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Very clever system:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

The completed X-Wing. It’s a nice size, and a nice likeness to the ship:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

With wings open:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Rubber bands are used as part of the mechanism that opens and closes the wings:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

In minifig scale:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

You can see where those stickers would go in the round engine areas:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Luke and R2 in the X-Wing:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

Jek pilots the ship:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

A closeup:
LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493

All in all, a fun build!

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon 10179

After many years of waiting, I finally added the LEGO Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon 10179 to my collection. It’s a used set, which is the only way I would want to buy it because a new set has so much value, I wouldn’t want to open it. So far, all looks good, everything looks to be in great shape.

This set has become legendary in the LEGO community, fetching incredible prices on the aftermarket. Mint in box sets sell for more than $1,800, and opened sets such as the one I received sell for somewhere above $1,000. I was lucky enough to not have to pay nearly that amount.

When this set was on store shelves, it went for $500. Evidently, LEGO had a hard time moving a set at that price, and discounted it to $375 on a number of occasions. From my understanding, this is the second largest set LEGO produced, at 5197 pieces. It seems to become more and more common for LEGO to put out large sets costing hundreds of dollars.

From the photos I have seen, the set is HUGE. I’m actually concerned about where I can display it. But, that’s a problem I welcome! In the coming weeks, I will post photos of the completed model, but for now, take a peak at what I received:

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon 10179

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon 10179

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon 10179

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon 10179

LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon 10179

Review: LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

Today we are taking a look at LEGO Star Wars set #9491, the Geonosian Cannon. Priced at $19.99, this is another set that feels like a battle pack with a few more pieces added in.

LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

The contents of the box:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

Clone Commander Gree. Nice green color, and nice to see more leg printing on the new 2012 minifigs:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

The usual clone face:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

Back printing:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

Barriss Offee. As usual, I’m not going to bother with the cape (or even the Geonosian Wings) as I don’t plan to display these characters:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

She doesn’t have a typically “flesh tone” head, it’s a lighter shade:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

The Geonosians, zombie and warrior. The heads look to be made in China, they came in separate little baggies. Very nice printing. The older versions of this minifig were pretty rare, so nice to see these in a set again:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

Back printing:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

The stare down:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

The cannon parts:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

Love this color:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

The retro gun on the left seems odd when compared to the typical Star Wars blaster:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

It’s sort of comical, one is very cartoonish:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

The cannon. A nice little set, lots of detail, very stable, and nice coloring:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

The rear:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

Doesn’t seem like a fair match:
LEGO Star Wars 9491 Geonosian Cannon

In all, a nice set. Good minifigs, a useful cannon, and a nice overall feel to the set. Easy to use this set with loads of other Clone Wars sets and have it fit right in.

Review: LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Today we are taking a look at Star Wars LEGO set #9492 TIE Fighter, This is yet ANOTHER TIE fighter added to the many others LEGO has produced. I haven’t owned many of them, so this review offers no basis for comparison. At $55 it seemed priced on the high end for only four minifigs and the size of the ship. That said, I REALLY like the minifigs. I got a good deal on two of them, so I will likely keep the minifigs, and sell off the TIE fighters.

LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Like most Star Wars sets, they are filled with black and gray pieces:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Here is the completed set, with everything in the box:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

The minifigs are the real highlight of the set (like many of the 2012 Star Wars sets. Here we have R5-J2, which features the new droid head. The detail on the head was less than I expected, but overall, I’m glad they went through the effort to produce this. To me, it feels as though the head doesn’t fit on the body 100% properly. Something just seems a bit off, but I can’t figure out why:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Here we compare the new astromech droid to others:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

I was excited about the new helmet design for the Death Star Trooper.
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Double-sided face:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Back of the helmet:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Compared to a similar minifig, the Imperial Trooper:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

TIE Fighter pilot:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

The new printed face:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

The new Imperial Officer. A favorite of mine:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Compared to other LEGO Imperial Officers:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

The TIE Fighter:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

A weird looking ship, which I overlook since I can only view it from the sentimental lens of childhood:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

The back of the ship:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Inside the cockpit:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

The front of the ship:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

There are lots of nice details in its construction.
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

A detail on one of the wings:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Comparing it size-wise to the UCS Y-Wing, it holds up pretty well:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

In hot pursuit:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

I’m not sure the official size comparison of these two vehicles, but I could reasonably see them not far off from this scale difference:
LEGO 9492 TIE Fighter

Overall a fine set with minfigs that I appreciate, but I don’t have the impression others will really be enamored with. I expect this set to be widely discounted later in 2012 and 2013.

Review: LEGO 9489 Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

Today I am taking a look at Star Wars LEGO set #9489 Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack. I was a big fan of the endor rebels in the larger Endor set, and was a bit surprised to see LEGO include them here. It seems a big part of the draw for the $100+ Endor set was the unique minifigs. Those figures now went from trading for $7+ on the aftermarket, down to about $3. But… this does mean that more kids will get their hands on these, which is nice.

I’ve already noticed that the Clone Battle pack is selling out quickly everywhere, but this set is moving pretty slowly. I suppose that is just the factor of the Clone Wars cartoon vs a movie that is nearly 30 years old. Unlike the Clone battle pack, this one includes what I would consider four proper minifigs.

LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

The contents of the box:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

I love these colors and pieces, lots of uses for them in a variety of theme:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

The endor rebels. The minifig on the left has a new face, but the body remains the same. These are a hot commodity because MOCers used them for army themed displays. The minifig on the right has a new torso. Both look really nice:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

Back printing. Hoodies are in:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

Scout trooper and the new Stormtrooper torso:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

Both have the new faces. Again, does ANYONE in the Empire shave?
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

A comparison of three versions of Stormtroopers. The older helmet on the left, the newer helmet but now old torso in the middle, and the new Stormtrooper on the right. The change to the torso doesn’t seem very significant to me, I’m wondering why they bothered. I was a bit surprised to not see leg printing, since they are rolling that out on more and more minfigs, especially in the Star Wars lineup:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

The built set:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

The tree hideout, spying on the Empire troopers in the distance:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

The little gun. Kind of a lame part of the set, but again, I love these colors, so I won’t complain:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

The front of the flick-fire missile:
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

All in all, a nice set. I like how they are including opposing sides in the same pack, meaning kids get a lot more playability for $13.
LEGO Star Wars Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack

Review: LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

Here is another of the many cool 2012 LEGO Star Wars sets, particularly notable because of the minifigs. This is a $19.99 set, #9490 Droid Escape.

Here is what you get in the box:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

Nothing too special in terms of parts. For many LEGO Star Wars sets, you end up with tons of gray bricks:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

I am not a fan of large molded pieces like these:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

The set, once built. I am not applying the stickers or adding the fabric pauldrons to the Sandtroopers. I’m not really a fan of either.
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

Here is the new C-3PO with printing on his eyes, and new torso printing. I’ve always been a bit apprehensive of colors that show marbling like you see in his legs here – something about it doesn’t say “LEGO” to me. It just doesn’t seem as solid or finished:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

The back of C-3PO. (I’m not bother to review R2D2, which is the same version we have received in MANY sets)
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

Comparing him to an earlier version. I never liked the molded heads that didn’t have printing, they looked “dead.” The new version brings him to life (as much as you CAN bring a droid to life), and the torso printing adds a nice level of detail:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

The new sandtroopers offer a wonderful level of detail. Their torso’s have the newer stormtrooper chest design. LEGO brought back leg printing here, and obviously added icing on the cake by adding the sand and dirt to the head, torso and legs. Really spectacular minifig, and a bonus that you get two of them:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

The back of the sandtrooper:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

With backpack on:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

The printed face that we are also seeing on stormtroopers and other minifigs. I’m wondering if the Empire has a rule about shaving -the entire army of stormtroopers has stubble:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

Here is the escape pod from the front, making use of several large parts:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

The back was a nice build, with the many elements that made up the thrusters. More enjoyable to build than I would have expected:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

The interior. For a simple build, they did a lot to ensure it was sturdy:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

A tight fit for R2D2 and C-3PO:
LEGO 9490 Star Wars Droid Escape

In all, a nice set. At $7 more than a battle pack, I always question how the justify the price. 30% more pieces, plus some very large amounts of plastic on several of them is what does it I suppose. Looking forward to building an army of sandtroopers!

Little Surprises at the LEGO Store

Stopped by the LEGO Store today, and found a few small surprises. First up, set #3300001 Brickley the dragon was on the shelf. I had previously heard that these were only available at flagship stores, such as Mall of America or Rockefeller Center:
LEGO Store

They had a few sale sets, which looked to be about 30% off. CAd Bane’s Speeder 8128:
LEGO Store

7213 Off-Road Fire Truck & Fireboat:
LEGO Store

A lot of sets currently being discussed in the forums. Fire Brigade is still in stock, as we await Town Hall’s arrival. Medieval Market Village is in stock as well, which people are starting to feel will sell out soon. VW Camper is back in stock after being sold out for months:
LEGO Store

Still some Harry Potter stuff in stock, as is Maersk Train:
LEGO Store

Lots of Alien Conquest still in stock:
LEGO Store

Death Star still in stock, plus newer Star Wars sets:
LEGO Store

Super Heroes – some sets in stock:
LEGO Store

Series 6 minifigs and Valentines polybags:
LEGO Store

The Weirdness of LEGO Sales at Walmart

As I mentioned earlier, reports from around the US vary as to what LEGO sets are on sale at Walmart. It seems that each store treats sales differently. I visited a different Walmart today, found quite a few sets that have been discounted at other Walmarts to 50% off for weeks… BUT… they were full retail price at this Walmart. Go figure.

This set was on sale though, and clearly marked. LEGO Police Chase set 3648. Even though it is a “special edition” and 50% off, I still wasn’t excited about it. I left them all on the shelves:
LEGO at Walmart

They still can’t seem to get rid of these, Star Wars advent calendars at $19.90:
LEGO at Walmart

A look at the City, Dino, and Cars selection:
LEGO at Walmart

More City. They also had an endcap display with the newer forest themed City sets:
LEGO at Walmart

Duplo and other LEGO products, such as watches:
LEGO at Walmart

This Walmart actually started bringing out some of the 2012 Star Wars sets. They also had plenty from 2011. They had a Turbo Tank among others. All retail price.
LEGO at Walmart

Droid Escape and Endor Battle Pack were on display.
LEGO at Walmart

A full selection of Pirates of the Caribbean sets:
LEGO at Walmart

Creator sets, including Log Cabin and Light House:
LEGO at Walmart

The only decent sale item I found was this, which was hidden behind other sets. A Snowtrooper Battle Pack with a huge hole in the top. I checked, all the contents were there. $5.90, plus they gave me 10% off because of the damaged box:
LEGO at Walmart