[Review] 75302 Imperial Shuttle

[Bob De Quatre]

Set information

Set Name: Imperial Shuttle

Set Number: 75302

Number of Pieces: 660

Theme: Star Wars

Year Release: 02/2021

Prices: £69.99 / $69.99 / €79.99 (Euro prices may vary)

#75302 on Brickset

#75302 on Rebrickable

 

Packaging and content

The box feature the white lego bricks background, with Dark Vador holding his red lightsaber on the upper right corner of the box's front. The shuttle can be seen with wings unfolded on the box's front, with the three minifigures included on the lower right corner, while the back shows the shuttle landed and various play features.

The box contains 6 numbered bags and a 130 pages instruction booklet. And that's all, no stickers sheet.
Instructions are clear and easy to follow, with most of the times only one or two bricks to add to the construction. The set is rated for ages 8+.

 

Minifigures

The set comes with three minifigures: Luke Skywalker in his Endor/Death Star Episode IV outfit, Dark Vador in his usual outfit, and an imperial shuttle pilot.

The Luke Skywalker minifig (sw0635) is available since the 2016 Death Star Final Duel and appeared in the 2016 advent calendar and UCSDeath Star, and of course in the 2020 latest Death Star Final Duel set.

Dark Vador is the same minifig that came with the 2020 Bespin Duel or Final Death Star Duel... without the arm printing. Does that makes it an exclusive minifig?

The Imperial Shuttle Pilot is the same minifig that was included in 2017/2018 sets, but with a slightly different torso.

 

Build

The build is rather easy to follow throughout the 6 numbered bags, each of it bringing key elements of the shuttle. The building techniques are rather simple, except maybe for the locking mecanism of the shuttle's top.

 

Finished model

The cockpit fits one minifigure, while the inner compartment can fit two sitting minifigures. There are no clips to attach the mnifigures' weapons.

There is a clever lever that allow to open or close the top of the shuttle. The mecanism is quite robust, and you can lift the shuttle by its top wing.

The landing gears are reduced to a couple of parts.

The Imperial Shuttle looks quite nice when its wings are deployed... and from a certain distance... I'm not a fan of the "lower parts count" policy of Lego in the latest Star Wars sets, as it affects the look of the model too much for me.
So as you may have guessed, while I think the set looks pretty good, there are a lot of spots where inner mecanisms are holes can be found. Also the undersides of the wings aren't really as beautifull as the main top wing.

The pilot can do very safe landing as he can see the ground through the cockpit's floor... For a set that will be swooshed around a lot, skipping the cockpit floor is a design mistake.

I wanted to do a side by side comparison with the #75094 Imperial Shuttle Tydirium, but couldn't find all the parts in my collection. So I'll just do a comparison of the numbers... The 75094 has 937 parts and 5 minifigs, for a retail price of 99,99€. That makes it 25% more expensive, but for 42% more parts, 66% more minifigs (4 of wich are exclusive).

 

Conclusion

Not completely sold on the set. It looks good when displayed, but there are too much gaps and holes everywhere if you look closely. The minifigures fit the set very well and are spot on, but I wonder why Dark Vador misses its arm printings. It lacks some details, for exemple on the weapons. But for children this may be a great playing set, with a wow effect as it's largeand nice when the wings are unfolded.

Minifig: 7/10 - The minifigs selection is spot on, but I miss the Vador's arm printing.

Build: 6/10 - A simple but solid build, but lacks of details and some design flaws 

Price: 7/10 - With a ppp of 0,12€ and three minifig, none completely exclusive, that makes that set "okay", maybe a bit overpriced

Overall: 20/30 (67%) - A nice set, with the minifigures we could expects, but with some flaws due to a too low part count.

[Lfm55]

Nice review!
 

Looks like a good base for modding if you can’t afford the ucs one that is really too expensive.

My main issue with this model is the lower wings that seem too thin. But it can easily be solved adding a layer of plates.

[JintaiZ]

This set looks really good, and I think the price of $69.99 is very reasonable considering the size of it.

Thanks for the review!

[jimmynick]

6 hours ago, Bob De Quatre said:

some flaws due to a too low part count

As I've opined in several threads on this subforum, the simpler sets at lower price-points make it easier for kids to buy them for themselves, and easier for their parents to justify buying for the them. I remember having the means as a pre-teen to buy the 6209 Slave I and 6212 X-Wing for myself and had an amazing time building and swooshing them, even though they are by no means perfect. That would be out of reach these days if one wanted, say, the Poe's X-Wing and the 20th Anniversary Slave I. If the proverbial you want a MOC-quality [vehicle] then there's nothing stopping you from making one. Not everything has to be a UCS Falcon, and I'm pretty happy with this set, despite the massive great gaps in the sides due to the wing joints.

Thanks for the excellent review!

[Wurger49]

Thank you for the review, I will pick up this set as I don’t have the 2015 play set, and don’t want to pay the high price for it.

With Lego’s price hikes, even their kids sets are getting expensive.

[macaron35]

Thanks for the review, it confirms that I should go for the Tydirium one 

[catfish]

For comparison:

An easy decision for me as i already own 75094.

 

[makoy]

On 2/14/2021 at 4:36 AM, jimmynick said:

As I've opined in several threads on this subforum, the simpler sets at lower price-points make it easier for kids to buy them for themselves, and easier for their parents to justify buying for the them. I remember having the means as a pre-teen to buy the 6209 Slave I and 6212 X-Wing for myself and had an amazing time building and swooshing them, even though they are by no means perfect. That would be out of reach these days if one wanted, say, the Poe's X-Wing and the 20th Anniversary Slave I. If the proverbial you want a MOC-quality [vehicle] then there's nothing stopping you from making one. Not everything has to be a UCS Falcon, and I'm pretty happy with this set, despite the massive great gaps in the sides due to the wing joints.

Thanks for the excellent review!

My group of AFOL friends  were joking around that with the big UCS budget allocated for us adults, the family budget for kids toys are greatly reduced, and so it makes sense for these kids toys to be reduced not only in parts count, but also price, so that us parents could still afford them... even as an afterthought.

[that_lego_builder]

this set is really basic

[pancakecrocodile]

Even considering it is a licensed product, it is much too expensive for the size, PP ratio, and minifigure selection. Way to go, Lego.

[lowlead]

After cleaning up that horrible chunky area below the cockpit, this set is a bit easier on the eye.  The Lambda is my favorite vehicle so I had to address the issue with a quick mod....

Image is link:

Edited May 15, 2021 by lowlead
Added photo