Review: 7130 Snowspeeder

[def]

In another review of the classic Star Wars sets, we have what was one of my favorites of the original line. Of course, it was updated a few years back, and will have another iteration in 2010. It's almost unfair to compare a set from 1999, but, let's do it anyway.

Set#: 7130

Name: Snowspeeder

Theme: Star Wars

Year: 1999

Pieces: 212

Minifigs: 3; Luke Skywalker (Pilot), Dack Ralter, Hoth Rebel

MSP: U.S.$20

Peeron

Brickset

Bricklink

The box

Thanks to Academy teacher Rufus for the sharp box shots The box front isn't quite as nice as the booklet... What's that grey thing to the right? The back is identical to the booklet.

The sides show some play features and set details, as well as a good look at the minifigs.

The booklets

The cover is a notch above typical Star Wars cover art. If you look carefully, you can see the leg of an AT-AT to the right, while there is a beautiful Hoth landscape to the left. Really well done.

As usual, some alternate builds, though neither are particularly interesting to me.

The Pieces

A mass of grey, which was standard in the early waves. There are two printed computer consoles, with AT-ATs on them, as well as two Rebel insignia plates.

We get Dack Ralter, apparently, and a nice pilot Luke. He has a very slight variation on the old Lego face. The Hoth rebel is a curiosity. Is that some weird tattoo on his face, or a shock of hair? He has a nice print, and a visor. Very different than the contemporary ones.

He also has a backpack.

The rebel uniform is virtually unchanged in 10 years, just the pants and visors have changed.

The Finished Product

The rebel comes with an Atgar Cannon. It's not highly detailed, and somewhat of a throwaway item, but I knew what it was the moment I saw it (I had one of these in a Hoth playset in 1980). The gun swivels on the platform.

Here, Luke admires his ship. I like the orange detailing, and the printed grey slope at the nose.

The side profile is nice, and I think it captures the snowspeeder well.

The overhead as well, captures the general shape of the ship well, but not perfectly, as we'll see...

The front cockpit opens and Luke slides on in.

He perpetually has an AT-AT in his sights.

The back end opens up for Dack, and has what would be a symbolic harpoon on a swivel, but doesn't actually shoot anything.

The center of the ship has a box that comes out, and a slot to hold the light saber handle. No place for the beam, but I don't mind. I don't care for these ships that have saber beam holders. It's too weird.

Here is the speeder next to the one from set 7666. The most obvious difference is the color scheme. The white is a lot sharper. The laser cannons protrude just a bit more on the new one. And interestingly, the cockpit is unchanged.

The silhouette is a bit different too, with the new one tapering in at the nose. Also, the old one opens the cockpit in two parts, whereas the new one opens both with a double hinge. In the movie, Luke and Dack were back to back, so the new one scores higher on that front.

Here is the actual Rebel schematic for the ship. As we can see, from the key points in the nose and the wing greebling, the new one captures the ship much better.

The Final Verdict

Design: 9/10 Honestly, I like it in white more than I like it in grey, but I'm still happy with it when it isn't held side by side to the new one. This probably was the set from the early series that had the least alteration between versions (except maybe the Tie Fighter). Look at the X-Wing, Y-Wing, B-Wing, AT-ST, ... all were radically altered, but much of the design of this one held up years later. A majority of changes were greeble based. A winner!

Build: 7/10 The side engines are dense, and fairly technical for the time, but it's just an average build overall.

Playability: 9/10 I think it's a good Hoth starter set. The Rebel trooper adds a lot to the playability, you have Luke Skywalker with a chrome light saber. It's really good for its price range.

Minifigures: 10/10 This was the only Hoth trooper for years, and you get two rebel pilots. I'm satisfied.

Price: 9/10 $20, which would be about $25 in 2010 dollars. A nice ship and three figures seems a good deal, certainly on par with the Freeco speeder (adjusting your expectations for new molds and parts)

Overall: 9/10 This was a good design, good value, useful minifigs, and not overly chunky.

This is a good set by any standard, no apologies needed for it being from the 90s. While I'd recommend the newer ones over this one, if the price is right, it's surely worth getting.

Edited April 14, 2010 by WhiteFang
Indexed

[KimT]

In my opinion this set is iconic when it comes to LEGO Star Wars.

It was (at it's release) one of the best sets designwise.

It looks like a snowspeeder and it has plenty of details to make it a great set.

I bought me a few of these and they're still good and I have no problem with displaying them next to the newer version(s).

[Big Cam]

Awesome review, I can't believe that this SW set came with that head with the hair. It seems so out of place.

I loved looking at the early previews of this review.

[Lord Arjay]

Nice review def. The cover of the instructions for this set looks great.

The design is good, so much so that it has stayed more or less the same throughout the years.

[RoryoCox]

Great review. I love this set but I think that the new one is better.

Again thanks for another fabulous review

[Commander_Rob]

Great review and also a set I like very much.

I still remember when I got mine, I actually wanted to buy the first A-Wing, which was sold out, so a Snowspeeder was bought instead. The set was (like a big part of my collection) taken apart at some point, but I recently rebuilt it with dark blue details instead of the original orange. Still a favourite set, even after eleven years!

[Mofo Jones]

Great review, def. I still have my 7130 and 4500 on display, while the 7666 one is currently in a box. 7130 was probably the second SW set that I bought in 1999 and it sat on top of my TV in the living room for months - it was just that cool. :) I know the set is not screen accurate, but I don't care. I think the build stands up even today. And, given the choice of this or another Freeco Speeder (for the same money), I'd be taking the 7130 home. One thing I always liked about the early SW sets is that the boxes weren't way too big for the contents. I've moved a half-dozen times since I bought this set, and I still pack a few of my early sets into their original boxes before packing them away. I can take the cannon apart and place the speeder into the box without disassembling it at all. Finally, I think the printing on the Rebel soldier is hair, not a tattoo.

[Walter Kovacs]

Nice review, def.

This set is the reason I never bought 4500 (well, that and I was heading into a dark age). The design difference between this set and the re-design wasn't different enough for me to justify shelling out extra cash for a model I already had. And the Atgar cannon in 7130 looks better, in my opinion. Not great, mind you, but better.

It's interesting to note that the hoth trooper in set 4500 used the same head piece.