January set reviews

[legosamsonite]

Would any one be kind enough to make some in-depth reviews of the new TFA sets. I'm hard of hearing so I prefer to read reviews, any would be helpful, thanks

[Flieger]

Well, I could give you some impressions, but due to the lack of self-made images, it would not qualify as a review here....

For example, let me say something about the First Order BP:

http://brickset.com/...der-Battle-Pack

It is fine, but far from flawless. The star of such a set are of course the four minifigs, ideally meant to army-build. It is rather suboptimal in this regard because you get four different minifigs. There is the regular Stormtrooper, the heavy artillery Stormtrooper aka megablaster heavy assault trooper, and two crewmen who are identical except for the headgear, as one comes with a cap and one with a helmet. The heavy trooper is exclusive to the set, as is the crewman with the cap. Two exclusives are a fairly good argument in favour of the set. I think the heavy trooper needs no explanation, as the vest makes him stand out. It is printed on the front of the torso and the back, and it creates a good impression. The increased amount of black colour on the otherwise very white FO Stormtroopers improves their appearance as a minifiig, imo. I think it looks better than the regular trooper. The cap of the crewman is interesting because it represents the rim folded down option of the cap, and so far we only seen it with the rim folded up.

The build is very small. I am used to larger builds even in Battle Packs. However the turrets looks surprisingly good, is well designed, and makes a good desk decoration as well as a good micro-build. It is, imo, better than an image could suggest. But it is nothing that would impress anybody. I think while non-Lego fans can enjoy the micro-fighters, no non-Lego fan would be particularly happy about this. Parents will probably ask if this is what they paid for...

Speaking of the negatives, four different minifigs on a BP are not the best solution, especially as one of them is the crewman with the ugly, big helmet. Who needs an army of those? We got two with the shuttle of Kylo Ren, and one with the TIE. That is enough. The helmet does not even look good in Lego, because it is so plain (unlike that of the Death Star Gunners!). Replacing that figure with a regular Stormtrooper would have made a so much better set.

(edit: they all come with the stud-shooters, which means you need to have blasters if you do not like them, but I got used to that...).

At the end of the day, this set is a very good supplement to the TFA line-up just because it features these different minifigs, two of them exclusively. But it does not stand on its own, nor is it good for army building in the classic sense.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Flieger

[BigEl]

EDIT: Only now after I wrote all this I realize you only meant Reviews for January Sets so all for nothing Well whatever, maybe someone can find a use for this info

I could tell you about two of the TFA Sets that I bought:

1. TFA Millenium Falcon - 75105 ( http://brickset.com/...llennium-Falcon )

Its the biggest set of the Force Awakens Line so far and well, even though it is clearly just an update compared to the last Millenium Falcon Lego released in 2011, it is a very decent set overall.

Additionally it has relatively decent price per part ratio.

Build:

The build for me was only slighty above average. The most fun to build was the base structure as well as all of the internal structure includiing the cockpit. It has the least repitition and features some really satisfying sections, for example build the escape pod area and the archways that lead to the central double sided quad-cannon assembly. On the contrary the hull consists of a LOT of repitition. I mean you can clearly see it on pictures already, the side blocks that make the ship round are more or less all identical. Same goes for the "pizza-slice" parts on the top. The front mandibles are nothing too spectacular.

Finished Model:

If you like this thing or not completely depends on how annoyed you would be about a lot of gaps in the hull. Again it can clearly be seen on the pictures, between the single sections of the round hull assembly there are gaps everywhere, you can even look trough some of them a bit. That being said I dont think they are TOO bad, sure it could have been done a lot better without completely reconstructing and redesigning the hull(many Mods have proven this already), but it still works for me personally. It does not look unfinished to me.

Other more negative points that I would mention is that the mandibles in the front are a bit off, they are too thin and there is no seamless transition to the main hull, making the mandibles look like they are not really a natural extension of the central body. Also the technic frames from the central ship construction are quite visible. The wrong colourization of the top hull plates should be mentioned as well (Dark Bluish Gray is off), although that is not too bad for me either. Its not accurate but gives the ship a nice scrap/ used-look.

Now everything else about this model I actually like quite a lot. The Cockpit, even though its barebones on the inside and a bit too big in proportions, features an awesome printed canopy and just looks appropiate. Looks even better with two Minifigs inside, that are cleary visible trough the canopy. More sections that just look great are the top central quad-cannon, the central front cargo door plate, the horizontal build-up line of the hull and escape pods as well as the back side with the long blue engine exhaust. The overall angles and most of proportions are well done, this thing clearly looks like the Millenium Falcon! The landing gear can not be rectracted but is easy to remove in case you want to swoosh the ship around.

The main interior isnt bad either. The hyperdrive section, sleeping quarters and the main room with the ships computer and benches/chestboard are all approriate and got a basic level of detail and greebling. Main thing that is missing is a clear structural seperation between the single sections. All in all its not on a display-level of looks, but features a lot of space and playability. It should be mentioned that there is a secret storage compartment (1 minifig fits in) as well as the main entrance door that slides open to the ground, but both are underwhelmingly simple and on top of that really hard to reach since they are positioned under the archways. They can easily be ignored but its a shame that their potential havent been used better.

Minifigures:

The selection of Minifigures is perfect in my opinion. You get the 5 main characters that are central and connected to the Millenium Falcon in the movie as well as two evil henchmen. Every single figure is excellent in detail and accuracy, even the two secondary bad guys. There is no figure that feels wrong or worse in quality than the rest and the amount of them and they surely add a ton of playability since you can replay most of the MF scenes with them.

Conclusion:

The best thing this set has going for it is the fact that it is the Millenium Falcon, its as simple as that. There are a numbers of flaws like the colour and the numerous gaps in the hull, but this thing just looks great because its an approriate representation of the legendary MF. Its really big (bigger than one might think by looking at the pictures), its really durable and certain sections of it look just great! The Minifigs are perfect, but the model is clearly too expensive too just buy it for the figures only.

All in all I would recommend it in general, but I think it is absolutely necessary that you first look at pictures and decide for yourself if you can live the gaps of the hull or not. If not, then do NOT buy this set!

Three Special Mentions:

- This MF features a LOT of stickers both on the inside as well as on the outside. Aside from the printed canopy pieces everything that looks like a sticker IS a sticker. I would even go so far and say that the Details of the Millenium Falcon heavily depends on the Stickers. Without them would take away quite a bit of the general look and feel! So if you really hate Stickers you might want to reconsider to buy this set, if you see them neutrally I guess its ok since none of the stickers are TOO hard to place properly.

- The Model is absolutely perfect if you want to MOD it to your own desire. Again there a quite a number of Mods (look for threads in this forum), and some of them make this thing look on par with the 2008 UCS Version and even better than that! All that really shows that the basic model of this Set is indeed spot on for the general design of the Millenium Falcon.

- The main play feature, two springloaded shooters, are well hidden inside the front mandibles. Even if you hate those in general you wont really be annoyed by them since they can barely be seen. On the other hand they add more decent play value.

2. First Order Special Forces Tie Fighter - 75101 ( http://brickset.com/...ces-TIE-Fighter )

Besides the X-Wing and the Millenium Falcon this old classic is absolutely the most present ship in The Force Awakens. It is one of the most well known and iconic Star Wars crafts slightly updated for the new Trilogy both in design and colourization. This Lego model received a lot of critique regarding its price while at the same time got a lot of praise for its looks. Here is my take on the SF Tie Fighter:

Build:

When you look at pictures you would probably instantly assume that this SF Tie Fighter is a very boring and repetitive build. And indeed, the two wings/solar panels are build identical to one another, but I actually enjoyed the build very much! The easiest trick to spice the repitition up a bit is too build one wing before and one wing after the assembly of the main central body. The building process itself is just amazing, it features a number of ingenious techniques to get the looks right and to make the Tie Fighter REALLY durable. Building up the main central body in particular was a great experience, but the Wings come together exceptionally well too.

Finished Model:

Its just outstanding how the very good build transfers into a nearly perfect looking representation of the First Order SF Tie Fighter. I would say that it has easily the highest quality of display out of all the TFA sets, judging by pictures and side to side comparisons. There are just so many details and angles that they got spot on while really being handicapped and actually at a disadvantage when it comes to round/ball-like objects in Lego. But the central main body just looks right, its not really round but it creates a perfect silhouette by using sloped pieces all over the place.

The design and angles of the wings/solar panels is just perfect from the outside, sadly the black bars that give the Panels their characteristic look are not featured on the inside, which really is the only major flaw of this model to me. The Antennae and the Deflector Shields at the Wings attachment make the TIE look really bulky, special and are just great and proper details. Underneath the main central body there can be found the only other flaw in design, which is a just minor one. The main dual-laser turret can not be turned at all and is too far in the front. What makes this set so special in looks is that they used 3 printed dish pieces on the front, top and back. Their print is perfect and all of them can be opened up to look and place Minifigures inside.

The interior is very barebones but there isnt really a lot of space to do or add more than a control unit (nicely done with a droid body in grey), so I cant really blame them for that.

A word to the colourization: Its perfect in my eyes. The Red Stripe going trough the central body looks good and the Light Bluish Gray for the solar panels was a good choice from Lego in my opinion, a pure white would have been too bright and would have made the TIE look more cartoony and less realistic for me.

Minifigures:

The set comes with 4 figures and I would say they are slightly above average. The TIE Pilots look good with their new and special Helmet Molds but sadly are not perfectly accurate, since they are just regular First Order TIE Pilots and this set would have actually required the Special Forces TIE Pilots with additional Red Stripes on their helmets. The other figures are one Officer and one Crew Member and they just feel off. Not only do they not fit the TIE but also are not that spectacular in their prints and molds, especially the Crew Members looks very bland. Lego should have gone for two specific named characters in addition to 2 SF TIE Pilots, that would have made the Minifigure selection absolutely perfect and unique.

Conclusion:

If you can live with the high price (maybe get the TIE on sale like I did) and like the TIE Fighter in general, this set is a must buy in my opinion! There are only two real flaws in my books when it comes to the design of the Ship (missing black bars on the inside of the wings and turret underneath) while everything else feels just right. Its size/scale is perfect for Lego and its very durable with the Wings being attached extremely secure. The colours and Special Forces details make it look unique and special. The 3 printed canopies are a sight to behold and if Lego would have went for a better/more unique and more accurate Minifigure selection, this thing would actually be worth 70 dollars to me. Nevertheless, if you consider getting this TIE, get it! Its really the only set in the TFA series that feels like a must buy to me and I am more than satisfied with it.

Special Mention:

- There are 2 spring loaded stud shooters that are integrated perfectly underneath the front and back canopy. Doesnt take anything away from the design and add a huge amount of play value to the set, as there really is no other specific play feature besides its great swooshability.

Edited January 2, 2016 by BigEl