0
This is my last review from wave 1 of the Star Wars 2011 sets. I would like to start by saying it really is a great set to have and one of the best sets this year in terms of value for money (not just price per piece). Now onto the stats of this set from TLG.
Item #: 7929
Ages: 7-12
Pieces: 241
•Includes 12 minifigures: Jar Jar Binks, Gungan soldier, 2 droid pilots and 8 battle droids
•Arm the Gungan soldier with an all-new transparent energy shield!
•Deploy 2 racks of realistic, detachable battle droids!
•Move the controls of the Trade Federation troop carrier!
•Trade Federation troop carrier measures 10” (25cm) long, 3” (7cm) wide and 4” (10cm) tall
A nice box, that is, as far as boxes go. It certainly showcases the main draws to the set. That is, of coarse, the figures.
Normally, don't point out the back of the box but I'll make an exception for two reasons; one good and one bad. First of all, I really like how this box harkens back to allmost a decade ago when lego would show the figures themselves 'building' the set. It's not exactly the same but I still like it. The bad point isn't really that bad but worth noting. You can see on the box that the 'domes' on the side of the transport are held in by grey pins, in reality there are less realistic blue pins to hold them in. It doesn't really matter because when the holding bay is in, they are obscured but I don't know why TLG would change their minds on something like that.
This is what you get inside the box, 3 unmarked bags and an instruction manual.
Opening up the first bag, you see that it's dominated by droid arms and heads.
The second bag is mainly plates and droid bodies.
The last bag consists of mainly larger plates and the few bricks that this set has.
There aren't too many interesting pieces in this set outside of the great new Gungans (it should be noted that the bagged heads were found within the large bag). I don't think there are any new pieces outside of the Gungans but a few rare ones.
Here we have the 10 (count 'em) droids. The pilot droid has new printing, it isn't perfect but it's the best one we've had so far.
Here's a referance pic. Pretty accurate, isn't it?
Here we have the great revisions on the gungans. Since there haven't been any for an entire decade, this will be the first chance for many to get their hands on them.
Lego really were generous giving us back printing on the heads and bodies. They really do stand out as some of the best figures this year (outside of the beautiful Shaak Ti, naturally).
Comparing them to the old versions, the new versions surpass the old ones in allmost every way. The mold is allmost the same except the new ones have smoother eyes (the old ones had them to give the effect of pupils) and are made of a different plastic. I assume this is the cheap chinese plastic that people are talking about. I don't mind it on a head but I certainly wouldn't want it for my bricks. For those who don't know what it feels like, it's basically half way between Lego and Megablocks, but probably closer to Lego.
Here's a random picture of the manual. The manual is the same size as the Clone Battle pack but has about twice the pages (48). The set is completed in 26 steps but the entire carrier section is counted as a substep so including substeps, it's about 40 steps.
Here is a picture corresponding to the step. A bit past half way through the build.
Here is the set just before the carrier section is added. To me it doesn't look right without the carrier.
Before the figures are added, this set looks fine. It doesn't stand out as an impressive model but looks great as a part (or severaly parts with multiple buys) of a droid army or battlefield diorama.
With the figures, it's still not too impressive. It's more of a large battlepack than a standalone model. With this in mind it is a very good battlepack.
With that in mind, it does look quite impressive at some angles.
This 'control panel' is my least favourite part of the set. It just doesn't work with a battle droid but it'll have to do.
With the completed set, it's time for my ratings:
Design 7/10
The set fits its purpose but won't stand out in most collections. Pretty accurate, if a little small but most people won't care.
Figure 10/10
A great figure line up. Though we missed out on our last chance for a new Kaadu for a while now, this certainly is a great army builder.
Value 8/10
I docked some points for the fact that UK actually pay one pound more than US which is pretty ridiculous. Still fair value, especially how prices are these days.
25/30
A good set to buy multiples of and a great starting points for people looking to make a decent army. Probably the best set at its price point but not a standout model.
Please comment on the review and set and come back soon when I find out how to add a poll to this.
