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Ever since I first brought news of this set to the Star Wars Picture and Rumor thread, there was discussion about whether it would be better than its predecessor. I have a habit of reviewing these promos, and so I thought I'd review this one too. But my subscription expired. So I was caught in the trap I had tried to help others with. Is it worth subscribing right now, or should I hold off for a few months to get a better set? Well, I bit the bullet and bought the subscription anyways. Was my purchase worth it? Does the set live up to a high expectation already set? Find out as I review this model, 20016 Mini Imperial Shuttle.
BASIC INFORMATION:
Set Name: Mini Imperial Shuttle
Set Number: 20016
Number of Pieces: 70
Minifigs: 0
Price: N/A (Brickmaster Exclusive, est. value $6)
Theme: Star Wars / Mini
Year Released: 2010
RESOURCES:
Brickset
Peeron
Bricklink
Flickr
(You can click all pictures for a larger version)
THE REVIEW:
BAG:
Front:
First up is the large Brickmaster polybag, which features a simple picture of the model and the set information. A large Brickmaster logo is present on the front, as well as the three-clone image at the top. You can also see the second Death Star in the background. I do like the way the borders and background look, but I think the view of the set should be a little less head-on.
Back:
The back features the typical warnings and information. Also here is a clear strip so you can see the pieces inside.
BAG:: Thoughts: I actually do like that bag quite a bit. The design and colors are nice.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Front:
The instructions are of the usual size and are folded. They fit into the bag fine, so I'm not sure why they needed to be folded. It makes them a pain to keep open, but Brickmaster manuals have been this way for a while.
Random Page:
Random instruction page. You can see that piece call-outs are not present and submodels are large enough to get a few pages. The light gray background isn't as interesting as other sets, but it doesn't get in the way either.
Inventory:
The parts inventory for those curious. (You can click it for a larger version)
Back:
The screaming kid is featured on the back, but by now I think all of us are used to him and his crazy expression.
Instructions:: Thoughts: Standard Brickmaster instructions. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to cheer about.
Content:
The pieces are divided into two groups- the loose pieces and the bagged pieces. The bag contains the smaller ones, as is tradition.
PIECES:
Pieces:
Here are the pieces, spread for your viewing pleasure. Most of the pieces are white, which makes editing pictures a pain, but there is a fair amount of light bley and touches of other colors. There's actually a fair amount of them for a Brickmaster promo.
Pieces of Interest:
Here are some of the more interesting pieces, surprisingly most of which are not white. There's nothing too special, but they're still nice to have. Binoculars are always useful, as are levers and trans-clear bricks.
Pieces:: Thoughts: Nothing mind-blowing, but I can see these being useful.
THE BUILD:
Build:
And after 15 regular steps and 15 steps of submodel, the set is completed. The process isn't too interesting, but it's always refreshing to work with brand new bricks. The final set is a fairly flimsy, and the submodel-intensive build foreshadows that quite a bit.
Extras:
Just two extras, but the white lever is nice to have.
Build:: Thoughts: I generally like submodel builds, but it wasn't that good for this set. Part of the problem is that it's just plain small.
COMPLETED PRODUCT:
The Whole Set:
And we have our completed model! I really like the clean look, but the cockpit is a little odd. More on that later.
Flight Mode:
Opened up, the model looks very nice. Due to plates on the underside of wing, the wings can only open to this angle, which in my opinion is good because it's accurate. Also note that the binocular-guns turn with the wings. A very cool little touch! However, the designers didn't catch the slight downward extension of the wings that can be seen in this picture.
Back:
The back is a huge let-down. The thruster I guess you could call them, is huge and ugly! I don't like the rounded bricks either. Although I will give the designers credit for the cannon on top, which looks nice.
Folded:
The ship has a nice look folded up, and the cockpits rests on the ground without being bumped. Here, you can see the round plates under the wings that keep them at the right angle when open.
Front:
Let's take a close look at the front. The wing guns and binoculars are nice and I like them a lot. However, the cockpit just looks ugly. The 1x2 overlap isn't pleasing, and neither is the lack of a printed tile.
Comparison with Set #4494 Imperial Shuttle:
Overall:
Now let's do a little comparison to the old version (Set #4494), since many people seem to say the old one is by far better. You can see that they have a similar look, although are quite obviously different. Let's break up the components and see how different they truly are. From now on, the old version will be on the left and the new one on the right.
Wing:
First up is the wings. It's hard to tell, but the old version (left) has the one stud in the corner missing. Not only that, but I strongly dislike the old cannon. So here, the new one wins.
Fin:
Now for the fins with are.... identical? Yes, that's right. Lego kept the exact same design for both. It's not bad, perhaps not entirely accurate, but Lego is quite confident in the design.
Cockpit:
The cockpits are another story. Although I strongly like the printed tile on the old one (left), I can't help but feel the shape is off. The new one is awkward with the extension and black tile, but I think the shape is a little better. A fusion between the two would be the best.
Body Front:
Now for the main body. I like the shape on the old one (left), but I also like the sleekness and cleanness of the new one. However, the old one's color is more accurate, and thus better.
Body Back:
The back view has a clear winner. The old one is SO much better here. Although I do like the cannon on the new one, the old one is a clear winner.
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Totals:
Design: 4/10 The thrusters and the cockpit are both big failures. New isn't always better. However, I do like what the designers did with the wings and body shape. I just wish the body was more white.
Parts: 6/10 An okay selection with at least a few nice varieties of pieces. It's nothing amazing though.
Build: 5/10 The build was okay, bordering on poor. It didn't feel that satisfying, even for its size.
Swooshability/Playability: 8/10 It's very swooshable and the wings unfolding works well and stays in place. Crashing it is fun, because it explodes, but isn't too hard to put back together. There's not much else to do with it though.
Price: 6/10 $40 for 6 sets a year comes out to about $7. At 70 pieces, that's a perfect ratio. However, it's not just the model, but also several others, which are generally less valued than the Star Wars ones.
Total: 29/50 So yeah, a pretty poor score. People were pretty much correct in saying this one's worse than the original. But despite a lot of bashing, there are a number of positives. If you want to make a really accurate Mini, I would recommend buying both and combining the good sections of each. It's not entirely worthless to me. But what do you think? Feel free to discuss which version you like better and why.
Thanks for reading!
-Inconspicuous
Yeah, there's an alternate model in the magazine, but I had no idea that it was an actual Star Wars ship. I thought it was some garbage they made up.
