Review - 8096 Emperor Palpatine's Shuttle

[Alldarker]

Actually, the review is very impressive. I'm relatively impressed with the build, and how they did push for playability on the interior. The sides of that cockpit are genius also.

However, I can't lie to myself. If I bought this it'd be for one thing and one thing only, the Medical Droid. Why not wait for a possible Bacta Tank Hoth playset where we'll get the same thing?

I totally agree with you. The only things I like about this set are the minifigs, especially the Medical Droid and the pilot: the ship itself is a disappointment. I also have an order from Amazon.fr making its way towards me, including the Slave I, the Wampa Cave and the Juggernaut, but while I wasn't sure if I should regret not ordering the shuttle, now I think I made the right decision in not ordering it.

[Zzz]

Mr Onesnowtrooper, I suggest you can pick it up by the fin and carry it around - so how does the roof close? Like the CW RAS, that secured the roof at the front? Thanks a lot for enlightening me.

[OneSnowTrooper]

Mr Onesnowtrooper, I suggest you can pick it up by the fin and carry it around - so how does the roof close? Like the CW RAS, that secured the roof at the front? Thanks a lot for enlightening me.

The top side closes in front with 2 tech pins and at the back with 1. It opens and closes quit easy this way.

[prateek]

Nice review! I like the cockpit and the landing gear. I'm STILL disappointed about the top wing, but other than that, it's pretty cool. I think that the RAS is way better though

[The Crazy One]

I don't think I have ever been so sick over a set. It's hideous. The figures are a bonus but that's it. Slave 1 all the way.

[M'Kyuun]

I like the set, and all the figs, but my beef with it is with some of the color choices...the red and blue control console looks out of place..why not a dark/light bley hinge piece to match the rest of the cockpit. And the use of red parts for Anakin's table. Even the landing gear's color choice and pattern looks , well, yucky. Construction-wise, the back of the ship suffers from too many gaps and what looks like black pieces lining the engine areas, and just does not present a nice appearance, esp. when comparing to the front of the ship. The top "fin" would have looked much better if both sides were studs out, but I imagine it was built this way more for strength than aesthetics. Or it was cheaper. Either way, it is what it is. Altogether, it's not as clean or appealing as it could have been. The RAS, love it or hate it, was, IMHO, put together better.

On the plus side, I love that this is the first shuttle with actual retracting landing gear. It's a nice simple design, but it makes a difference to the aesthetics and "realism". Hope this is a trend they'll continue on all their shuttle sets from now on. This: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30180 is just an eyesore and lazy. On the minus, and maybe my experience is unique, but I'm not too crazy about the rotating system for the wings..mine are always pretty loose...I think I would have preferrred they use the technic rotation joints like the ones used on 4483 AT-AT's legs, at least one on each side for strength.

[SWMAN]

I can't say I am overly impressed. The shuttle has an incomplete feel to it. Still, great figures.

[Ras 74]

Thanks for that pic OneSnowTrooper

Looks way better in my opinon.

About that topwing, I wonder if it would be doable to brickbuild it instead?

If it would still be able to keep a good structure and stability.

[Masked Builder]

I must agree about the top fin. I also don't like the fact that it is multi-colored.

Masked Out

[JimBee]

This looks like one of the better sets of the wave- I really like the sleekness of it. The new Anakin and Palpy figures are really nice, too. I can see many uses for that pilot head, as well...

Thanks for the review!

[Wowplayer]

7166 The Imperial Shuttle was my first Lego set, when I emerged from my dark period and started purchasing Lego again. Since then, I've had a thing for shuttle crafts, and very much look forward to this set being available in the US. Yes, the room inside the shuttle is kind of small, but there are chairs for two passengers + the area where Anakin becomes Darth Vader. So, actually that is really cramming a lot in such a small area. I do agree that the dorsal could have been done better, but I'm pretty impressed with what I've seen so far.

[NarakuAulonocara]

I like the older version of palpatine from imperial inspection much better.

I love the medical droid and the ship though so I still plan to get this

[ILikePi]

Thanks for the review OneSnowTrooper! This set is actually much better than I expected. I had no idea that there were two extra seats in the passenger bay (much better than the one seat RAS, and the helmet attaching feature isn't that bad (although I would prefer an actual interior).

The minifigs look fantastic, too! All four are highly detailed (especially that medical droid), and this is a cheaper way to get the new Paplatine that was previously only available in the Death Star.

Also, if you have any extra time, could you take a picture of the backs of the minifigs? Thanks!

Edited May 1, 2010 by ILikePi

[Rufus]

Hmmm. With the wings up, the set looks smaller than I expected. Like others, I'm also a little disappointed with the asymmetrical centre wing, but I can't see how they could have made it differently without it being bulky or weak. Love the landing gear and the cockpit design though, and I'm very glad they've carried over some of the positive aspects of the RAS.

On the whole, I'm looking forward to adding this to my shuttle collection, even though the execution could perhaps be better.

Good review by the way!

[RileyC]

The ship looks pretty good imo. The minifigs are good and the interior is a lot nicer than the RAS. The landing gear is really great and looks really nice compared to the landing gear that we have had from previous sets.

Would you be able to post a comparison picture with the Republic Attack Shuttle so we can get a feel for how big this shuttle is?

[OneSnowTrooper]

Would you be able to post a comparison picture with the Republic Attack Shuttle so we can get a feel for how big this shuttle is?

I have the following sets still laying sealed and waiting to be build:

10179 UCS Falcon

8039 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser

8019 Republic Attack Shuttle

not sure when I have the time to build the RAS....

[gunm]

Other than the tail fin not having studs on each side, this model turned out a lot better than I initially thought it would. I really like that it can actually fit more than one mini fig inside (the whole point of a shuttle I would think!), unlike the RAS, and the retractable landing gear is big plus. Unfortunately, there are other equally expensive Summer SW sets that I want to get much more, so this one will have to wait until a really good sale.

[M'Kyuun]

Sir Nadroj built his own Theta class shuttle, complete with brick built wings and dorsal stabilizer. Here's a Flickr link that shows a nice montage of various MOCs, a pic of the movie model, and a pic of the official set.: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=...ttle&m=text

Masked Builder, I think TLG was trying for a panel line effect on the "fin". TLG often uses a mish-mash of colors in their models , I guess to keep them from looking too drab or mono-hued, as well as to give a pattern effect. Sometimes it works, and sometimes, well...

The Slave 1 I think is a model where it works. The Theta shuttle actually has a nice pattern of dark grey striping to contrast with the lighter grey wing, but TLG chose not to add that to the wings. Would have looked nice, IMO.

[HOB-147]

I concur.. A remake of the fin and wings would make this set a lot more attractive

The fin & wings are obviously the weak points of this set considering

the cool minifigs and efficient interior features (not design!).

However, we all know Vader did not get his armor fitted while in the shuttle!

[Masked Builder]

I concur.. A remake of the fin and wings would make this set a lot more attractive

The fin & wings are obviously the weak points of this set considering

the cool minifigs and efficient interior features (not design!).

However, we all know Vader did not get his armor fitted while in the shuttle!

I'm pretty sure that's just for the little kiddos.

Masked Out

[Big Cam]

I concur.. A remake of the fin and wings would make this set a lot more attractive

The fin & wings are obviously the weak points of this set considering

the cool minifigs and efficient interior features (not design!).

However, we all know Vader did not get his armor fitted while in the shuttle!

One word, PLAYABILITY.

It is a toy afterall.

[Prime Brick]

I think I might get this just for the cockpit.

[Slytherin]

Nice reivew :D

Thanks for the pictures as well.

Questions:

-Do the landing gears come down by a mechanism? or do you manually pull them down?

- Does the cockpit panel fold up and down? (as in, do the neck joints move, and does the cockpit cover/glass/screen move?)

[OneSnowTrooper]

Nice reivew :D

Thanks for the pictures as well.

Questions:

-Do the landing gears come down by a mechanism? or do you manually pull them down?

- Does the cockpit panel fold up and down? (as in, do the neck joints move, and does the cockpit cover/glass/screen move?)

landing gear is a manual thing.

Cockpit is with neckjoints.