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When I saw the episode Monster, this speeder was one of the coolest ships, okay one of the only ships, in the episode. So when we got pictures of this set I was psyched to see Savage, pronounced sa-VAGE, in the set. I was even happier to see the new Anakin and Ventress. On top of all of that we got a new ship. Shall we see if the set holds up to my expectations?
Name: Sith Nightspeeder
Set Number: 7957
Pieces: 214
Price: $24.99
Ages: 7-12
Minifigs: 3
Theme: Star Wars
Year of Release: 2011
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Use the Force to fight off the stealthy Sith Nightspeeder™!
Sith Assassin Asajj Ventress and Savage Opress are speeding toward Anakin Skywalker on the stealthy Sith Nightspeeder with flick-missiles. Detach their twin pods and close in on the young Jedi warrior! Will Anakin Skywalker be able to fend them off? You decide!
* Includes 3 minifigures: Anakin Skywalker, Asajj Ventress and Savage Opress
* Features 4 lightsabers and weapon!
* Flick-fire the missile!
* Detach the twin pods from the Sith Nightspeeder for a multi-directional attack!
* Measures over 6” (15cm) wide, 5” (12cm) long and 2” (5cm) tall
* Pods measure over 4” (10cm) long
Box:
The front of the box has the speeder on a lovely Dathomir background, with LEGO's usual amazing editing skills. Oddly enough, Savage is off the speeder fighting Anakin, instead of riding the speeder. I guess this does kind of make sense, since Anakin needs to be doing something on the box.
The back of the box has a secondary picture of the speeder. Here, one of the speeders is detached from the main speeder, and Ventress and Savage, are both queuing up to fight Anakin. To the left of the set we have ads for three of the new sets from the wave. I find it odd that we don't see the Republic Frigate considering this is a Clone Wars set.
Savage's lightsaber handle is upside-down. I guess LEGO doesn't mind too much. With a double sided lightsaber I'm not sure there is a wrong way!
Contents:
Inside the box we have the manual, three baggies, and one sticker sheet. Again, we don't have the cardboard wrapping on the manual and sticker sheet.
Manual:
On the front of the manual, we have the same art as the front of the box. Did I mention I like the Rex art on the top bar? It's one of the coolest bars on top of the boxes/manuals, at least that's what I think.
And here we build the minifigures. Nothing too special, though I did notice that Savage's axe blade and spear tip are at a 90 degree angle.
Nothing to special for background images in the manual. This page does have one interesting feature though; Savage and Ventress aren't actually sitting down. I guess I would call it standing. My only explanation for this would be that LEGO either forgot to sit them down, or can't sit them down.
Here again we have Darth Vader's mask. I do like seeing this around. It ties the Clone Wars set into the Original Trilogy ones. (That, and it looks cool too.
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This is one of the things in these manuals that I really think is a good idea. LEGO has done some pictures showing us the minifigures completed, and the speeders detaching, certainly good for those kids who aren't quite sure how to use the set.
I really like this page too, okay, I know it's an ad but it still stands out to me. LEGO has done a very nice composition job with this; the dark red really compliments the set boxes.
Here we have a nice ad for the LEGO Star Wars III game. While it's very cool to see this in print, I think it's also a bit odd to have it here considering it has come out already.
And of course we have the stickers. Most of the stickers go on the slope pieces on the speeders and the speeder engine. The others just add the small details we can't build with LEGO.
Minifigure:
Okay now we're too the minifigure section!
These are some of the best designed minifigures I own. LEGO has really outdone themselves. (Keep it up!) Savage, has print on his armor, print on his head the matches up, sort of, with the new "horn" piece, Ventress has a new torso print and leg print to go with the torso, and Anakin has a new torso. These are certainly some of my favorite minifigures, as well as the best designed, in a long time.
LEGO has even gone and printed on the backs of all of the minifigures! Can they get any better? (The answer is yes. Keep reading to find out.) Ventress has some printing on the back of her head.
Okay now that I've show you the fronts, let's look at the top. I'm not sure why, but LEGO has made Ventres's and Savage's head holes solid, instead of, like Anakin's, with the "y" shape. LEGO has been doing this for some time now, but I don't think anyone has come up with an explanation.
LEGO has paid so much attention to Savage here; they've even printed tattoos on his torso. He was also given a six pack, and something that looks like shoulder blades.
Here's a close up of the minifigures torso/armor print. LEGO really has done an amazing job with these guys.
There really isn't a comparison here. The new Anakin is just so much better than the old one. That new torso is so cool. So do you think the new Anakin is better like I do? Let us know by voting in the poll!
Again, the new Ventress is just so much better. The new outfit has given her a much older, and experienced, look. Vote in the poll to tell us what you think!
If you ask me, LEGO has done a good job with recreating the torso. Sure the torso is a bit off color wise, the real one is a bit redder, but other than that he's great! Yeah I know the head still needs some work here.
Ventress also looks good. Getting the curves on the female torso is a bit hard to do in LEGO but they've solved that by printing around the curved torso with a light color. The torso on her looks good as well.
Savage is so cool! We have another very good comparison here. The armor is spot on, so is the head, and those new "horn" piece on his head really do make this one cool minifigure. I'm not sure about the yellow minifigure hands though. They look a bit off to me.
Okay, I know what you're thinking; why is there a picture of the minifigures fighting? Well, mostly because I couldn't resist, and the minifigures are just so cool they needed a battle picture.
Parts:
For new parts we have, two printed slopes, both used on the speeder, it's good to see that we don't have to sticker these, the 1x4 slope is pretty new to me, Ventress's saber handle has only come in the other set she came in, and the red bracket piece. The bracket is one of the most interesting pieces in the set. This will be quite useful in MOCs, if I ever take the set apart.
Five extra parts. The only thing I would have to note would be Ventress's lightaber handle. In the last set, it came with two extra handles, maybe LEGO decided including two confused the kids? But I can't complain, they're a cool piece!
The Build:
Okay now we start building the speeder. First you start with the speeder on the far left. Right away I noticed that the speeder will have a heavily sloped look.
Then you build the middle speeder. Basically the same process, but at the end you add some cheese slopes to the front to make that "horned" look.
Once you've got the two speeders built, you start on the main engine. First you build up a nice little base, and then you start on the engine.
In the last steps, we complete the main engine, as well as completing the model! No really fancy building techniques involved!
Complete Model:
Now to compare the completed speeder to the real one. LEGO has done a very good job with the overall ship, there are a few things, like the windscreens, the fronts of the speeders, and the way the front of the speeder comes out around the cockpit, but these are things that you can't really do with LEGO so they've provided us with stickers to use on the small details.
From the front you can tell that these aren't the most aerodynamic speeders. But they certainly do look cool!
The side engine is so big it covers up the speeders! It really does have a jagged shape.
Here we have a back view, nothing special going on here. In fact, it's rather boring to look at.
And of course we have an over head view. The speeder really does have fun shape. Three prongs connected. You can also see how thin the speeders are.
And a size comparison to finish off the section. Rather tall, but other than that it's okay. These are LEGO!
Functions:
We have two flick fire missiles to the left of both speeders, nothing special there. You just push them from the back.
By pushing the 1x1 cone on the back of the main engine you push a rod which hits a rod which launches the flick fire in the engine. When I got the set built and noticed that it fired I thought that this was one of the coolest and best designed functions on any LEGO set I've ever gotten. This is the way to use these LEGO!
Final Thoughts:
I've built the set, and I'm very happy with my purchase. The price seems quite fitting for the set, and the design of both the minifigures and the speeder is great. LEGO really has upped the bar with these minifigures. They're so accurate, and well designed, they might be worth the $25 themselves! If LEGO can continue making sets like this one, they'll be amazing.
Ratings:
Playability: 10/10 This is a very playable set. So much "swoosh!" I could fly this around in circles for quite awhile.
Design: 8/10 LEGO really has done a good job designing this set. It's very sturdy, and looks about like the real one.
Price: 10/10 I do feel like I got my money’s worth with this set. $25 is definitely the right price to ask for the set.
Minifigures: 10/10 Like I keep repeating, the minifigures are amazing! Very well designed, and quite accurate.
Parts: 8/10 While we didn't get to many special parts, we did get some nice printed parts, and some very nice dark gray slope parts.
Total: 46/50 An outstanding score for an amazing set!
"Don't Ask Me Why The Engine Shoots."
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as is the new Anakin. 
