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For my 9th Star Wars review(I'm going for a bakers dozen), I bring you the updated Sith Infiltrator. This is a remake of the original 7151 which I desperately wanted but was never able to pick up and I am so happy I waited and got the new updated version because this one looks so much better.
BASIC INFORMATION:
Set Name: Sith Infiltrator
Set Number: 7663
Number of Pieces: LEGO box 310, Peeron 310, Bricklink 303, Brickset 310
Minifigs: 1
Price: $29.99, £24.99
Theme: Star Wars
Year Released: 2007
RESOURCES:
(high res pics available here, also by clicking the images in the review)
THE REVIEW:
The Box
Front:
The front of the box has a great in flight shot of the stealthy fighter, as well as a quick pic of Darth maul on his tiny speeder bike. There is also some printing stating this is a limited edition and LEGO is well aware of how hard it was in the past to obtain a Darth Maul fig since it was last produced in 2000.
Side:
The side of the box shows the same image as the front, Darth maul with his little speeder, and a special thanks to KimT as Denmark is the first country listed for where the components were made.
Back:
Lots of features are shown on the back of the box. From speeder bike storage to Sith droid storage to flick fire missiles, this ship has it all. Not to mention some slick landing gear and fold out wings.
Instructions
Front:
One booklet of standard size for a medium sized set, roughly the size of a piece of 8x11 paper which has the same image as the box with the same blaster effects. Boy I wish my set did that.
Back:
Loads of advertising on the back of this instruction booklet. 9 sets in total, of which I have all of them, except the MTT, it just never appealed to me.
Parts List:
The bread and butter of building duplicate sets. I much prefer this being on the back of the booklet but you can't win them all.
All Pieces:
310 pieces and 1 yellow piece. The large wing panels are pretty cool, and you get 4 of them.
Random pieces of interest:
A small control panel and a radar dish style piece with some markings for the top of the ship, as well as the rear hatch with lots of printing, and the best part is no stickers!
Extra Pieces:
2 1 stud tiles 2 1 stud round studs and a controller piece. A pretty weak selection of extra pieces, but then again, they are extras. Into the giant bin they go(not really).
Cape Box:
Cape box 4182970 contains one black cape. The cape is a standard black Jedi/Sith cape.
Minifigs
Darth Maul:
A loan minifig for a lonely Sith life. With only 1 minifig usually I'd complain, but for this set it only makes sense, plus he's a hard to find minifigure. There is no back printing and the cape would cover that anyway, so I'll focus on his weapon and face.
Darth Maul with saber:
Although it's just a regular lightsaber hilt, they do give you two blades for the full effect. Lets not forget that this is a chrome hilt, which is all but extinct.
Darth Maul face close up:
A close up of his face shows a pretty good printing job, I think it looks like him. I do not own the previous version from 1999/2000 so I will borrow a photo from Bricklink. The new head is on the left and the previous version is on the right. The main difference is in the chin and the eyes; the newer version has pupils.
Sith infiltrator build process
Cockpit Step 11:
This is an important step to show because it clearly shows the printed control panel and the rails, which hold the speeder bike in place. It's cozy but it's a perfect fit for a lonely Sith.
Cockpit Step 17:
The lovely printed pieces close out the back side of the cockpit for Darth Maul's sleek ship. I love the rounded look the whole unit has, the rear hatch resembles the Tie Interceptor clear cockpit glass, and in fact it's the same piece in only grey and printed.
Cockpit Step 20:
I have jumped forward to the addition of the wings on either side of the cockpit. They are very true to the design in the movies and look rather good.
Main Hull Step 5:
This particular hull build picture is here to show how the front landing gear work. All of this gets covered up so this is the only time you get to see it. The two leg pieces are on 2x2 turntables but are then blocked in so they only move as much as shown in the picture.
Main Hull Step 16:
Advancing on the hull is taking form and we see the storage location for the 3 probe droids as well as Darth Mauls lightsaber hilt and a nice pair of binoculars which if you recall he does briefly use in the movie.
Watch your pieces :
If you didn't build Darth Maul from the beginning like the instructions tell you to, you may find the back of Darth maul's head looks alot like a probe droid. Be careful when building.
Main Hull Step 18:
The front end of the ship is so much smoother than the previous version except mine seems to have some permanent damage done to it. For the life of me I can't get that big black scuff off of the front piece.
Completed Ship front left:
Sleek and streamlined would be how I'd describe this set. Even with the battle damage of being stored, this ship looks great.
Completed Ship back left:
The lightsaber blades on the edge of the wings are a nice touch. In total you get 4 red saber blades in this set.
Completed Ship right rear:
Very similar tot eh other picture but here you get a clear view of the saber blades on the main hull area. These are actually the saber blades from Darth Mauls lightsaber. I think they look really good right there and I wish LEGO would have given us 2 more for his lightsaber so those could be left on all the time. In order to use his lightsaber, you need to take those 2 blades off the ship.
Completed Ship head on:
Flick fire missiles are hiding under the wing section near the front of the cockpit and you can see that the front of this ship is only 4 studs wide.
Completed Ship rear:
Another fine view of the printed hatch piece and the dish on top, both very complimentary to the ships design. The printed hatch opens up for the speeder bike that we will see below.
Completed Ship Bottom:
Underneath the ship the main thing to look for is the landing gear. It's a little hard to see but if you click the picture you'll get a high res copy and you'll see how one landing gear leg is moved out and the other is tucked away close to the ship. It's a very subtle difference but it actually helps with the stability.
Speeder bike:
Personally I think this is the best speeder bike LEGO has ever made. It is so simple and small, yet it looks awesome. It clearly can't compete with a regular speeder bike for size, but it's a very functional bike.
Rear hatch:
Storage for the speeder bike is not a problem with the Sith Infiltrator. Darth Maul can ride right up into the back of the Sith Infiltrator and control the ship from his speeder bike. This ends up being very convenient for playability since the bike is always with you.
Flick Fire Missiles:
Flick fire missiles, what is there to say, they are the downfall of LEGO design. All they ever do is fall out when you try to play, and they perfected the cannon back in the 80's, why can't they incorporate a smaller cannon on ships, so there is actual power in the missiles. That is my dream.
Storage:
The entire front of the ship can slide forward to get to the storage area with the probe droids; his lightsaber and his binoculars are conveniently stored.
Flight mode:
Finally the wings fold out to enter flight mode. The ship has to be raised off the ground to open the bottom wings, I used some clear 2x2 round pieces to elevate the ship high enough to fold them out. While swooshing it's not a problem, but you need to close them before you land.
Totals:
Design: 9/10 I rated this a 9 out of 10 because the overall design is pretty solid. The only things I'd change is the front area that opens, can actually slide all the way off. Now according to the instructions this is normal, I just wish it slid out a few inches and then locked in place or stopped. Not a real big deal, but it did stop it from getting a 10 in my book.
Parts: 6/10 Nothing spectacular in this set. The large wing pieces are unique but I'm not sure what else I'd use them for. 4 lightsaber blades are always appreciated but otherwise I don't really feel the need to go on and on about parts that aren't that special.
Build: 7/10 The build is pretty simple, barely any technic and structurally it's pretty sound. The wings can break off if you get a little rough but if your careful like all sets, it handles just fine. The landing gear is very good for displaying the model and store away nicely and don't wiggle around when in the closed position. This is something I think is worth noting because while building it, you think they are going to wiggle around and make noise until the build is complete.
Minifigs: 8/10 Darth Maul is a hard to find minifig and I think he is worth is weight in bricks to me. Since I was unable to get a previous version I have no problem only getting one minifig in a $30 set. I of course want as many fig's as possible but I can't really see anyone else being in this set, unless they gave us a Qui Gon Jin, which would be similar to what they decided to do later on with sets like the new Republic Gunshipwhere we get a villain that has no ship of their own.
Playability: 10/10 Some may argue with me but I think this set is great for playability and swoosh ability. It is sturdy when holding in your hand to swoosh and when on the ground, it has the great storage space for the speeder and all of the other useful pieces like the droids and his lightsaber and binoculars are all housed conveniently in the ship. It's all self contained and that's important, especially if you fly from downstairs to upstairs, you don't want to have to lug up his heavy speeder by itself. Although I hate flick fire missiles, the kids love them and they are included in this set.
Price: 8/10 I think it's a good deal but $30 for 300 pieces and one fig is slightly on the high side. The more I think about it, the more I wish they included Qui Gon as an adversary for Darth maul to fight. Other than that it's a great ship with some specialty pieces which I feel make it worth it's money.
Total: 48/60 This gives it an overall rating of an 8. If I had the chance and the extra money I would have bought this set twice, or even three times. I can see this set growing in value, as it is the best version and likely the last version of this ship that we will see. The one fig you get is lonely but he's a rare fig. The ship looks great and is very functional for play. If you had the old set, I can imagine you bought the new one as well due to the vast improvement in LEGO pieces over the last 8 years. New sealed versions of this set are already going for $50 on Bricklinkshowing that this set will likely remain a popular one in the future.
I however don't like the set that much, and hence only voted for average. Generally I like the older version of the re-released sets better. While the new ones have many big shape-giving pieces, the older ones still had shape realized by many smaller slpes and plates. That increases piece count, and creativity. 
You provide lots of pictures and they really help with seeing the whole completed model. For example, I always thought the wings could be fully opened without having to add risers to the model, but now thanks to your review I know better.
I have the 1999 model, and I really liked it, so I would pick this up if I could. I think Darth Maul made this one disappear quickly.
Americans have it so easy 
It started at $60 in Japan, and is average $90 when you can find it now.
