Clone OPatra Posted January 28, 2009 (Review has been updated with new pictures and content: November 10, 2009) I'm back with another review of an old set. Read down towards the bottom to understand the topic description. Set Title: Lightsaber Duel Set #: 7101 Theme: Star Wars, Episode I Minifigures: 2 Pieces: 50 Year of release: 1999 Price at Release: USD $5.99 (in a store) and $6.75 in the catalog (back when the price included the shipping) Buy it? Inventory? Bricklink Peeron INTRODUCTION Let me take you back to 1999, in a time that was very exciting for Star Wars fans, because after 20-odd years, a new Star Wars movie was finally coming out. The buzz about Star Wars was so great, a Safeway grocery store actually had this set, and that's where I got it. They'd never had a LEGO before, and they've never had one since. End of story, onto the review! INSTRUCTIONS The original box is long gone, but the instructions show what the box art looked like. Still had the good ol' System logo, and the EP1 logo. The dust storm caused by the speeder and Qui-Gon add to the excitement and make the art quite attractive. An inside look. No little movie stills since it's such a small set, I guess. Confused? Read my Landspeeder review. And the back, complete with alternative model ideas. I love how creative LEGO was with the alternative models back on all of the old sets. I wish they still showed stuff like this on the boxes, instead of just the play features. You also have to love the minifigures putting the set together. PIECES Let's start looking at what else came in the box besides the instructions. Oh yah, the pieces, all fifty of them (minus minifigures). There's some nice stuff here, especially for a tiny set: four antennas, four grilles in two colors, the tan seat piece, and that odd gray thing that used to show up from time to time. MINIFIGURES This set isn't bad on the minifigure end either. We get two cool characters, Qui-Gon and Darth Maul. This was the cheapest way to get both characters. Qui-Gon came in three other sets, and Maul only came in one other. Both have somewhat simple but lovely torsos (the only thing I disliked about the old Jedi torso was the yellow on it, couldn't make a satisfying Windu), intricate and fitting face designs, and great headgear. Yes, they're getting old, the capes are fraying . Did I say "intricate and fitting face designs?" Stare into those slightly misprinted egg-looking eyes of Maul and be wowed by his red-tattooed face. (Pardon those little dust bits, I don't know where those came from.) And now a showcase of Qui-Gon's hair! It's quite well-sculpted, and superb for hippies! ACCESSORIES The wonderful accessories included are two shiny Chrome Lightsabers (Qui-Gon's has some chrome rubbed off). And movie accurate props too, since we only ever did see one of Maul's red blades in this movie scene. Did LEGO plan it just like so, or were they being stingy with the red bars? We shall never know. SET - Speeder First, let's take a looksee at the better part of the set: Maul's speeder. It's too big and bulky, but LEGO wasn't into sleek little things back in 1999. Still, the color scheme is nice, and it at least reminds me of his tiny little speeder from the movie. I can only compare it to pictures of the new speeder from the Sith Infiltrator of 2007 (since I don't own the set myself), but I think the new one looks way better than this, and much tinier like the movie speeder. Then we stick Maul on the speeder. The gray wedge on the back actually looks like a nice headrest, but the handle-bars come up too high and the cape will get all scrunched up, like what happened in too many Batman vehicles. From the side the speeder only gets worse. It looks even blockier now, and you can tell how he has to lift his arm way up to reach the handlebars. Still don't believe me about the handlebars being too high up? Ok, take a look at this front on view. That gray thing is nice, but not exactly the right piece usage for this vehicle. SET - Moisture Vaporator Like most sets from 1999 or 2000, LEGO decided to throw some random funky thing in that either wasn't in the movie or just didn't make much sense in the set. I know that there are Moisture Vaporators on Tatooine, but I'm not too sure one appeared in this scene in the movie. Also, I'm not sure what LEGO based the build on, since it isn't too recognizable to me. Here's a side view, just for fun. It is nice and tall and pleasantly Tatooine-y, and some nice parts come out of it, but I must admit it is weird. Looks almost like something out of Classic Space except for the color scheme. COMPLETE SET Here it is all together. The Classic-Space-like Vaporator item and the high-handle-bars bulky speeder. Still, it isn't a bad set, it just isn't as cohesive for the money as, say, 7110 Landspeeder. But then again, what else could you do with the scene? (Do what LEGO does now, I suppose, not make this set at all since sets this small don't exist.) PLAY It wouldn't be a Clone O'Patra review these days without some play ideas. Well, her you go, but you'll need a part not included with the set… I think Qui-Gon got pretty thirsty after that tiring fight . (Here's where the topic description comes in) CONCLUSION It's summing up time. The minifigures are great, they've got chrome lightsabers, and they make the price wonderful. LEGO never seems to make such cheap sets with major characters anymore, which is too bad. Of course, you could have bought a lot of this set and swapped out Qui-Gon's head and hair to make a ton of Jedi. The speeder is too bulky and makes Darth Maul look slightly uncomfortable, but it's still great to have it in this set because it helps you recreate the movie scene. The moisture vaporator looks too much like an alien communicator or big water fountain, but it's cool to get the grill pieces in two different colors. For people who like to modify their sets, it would be difficult I think to modify the speeder with the pieces provided, but I'm less creative than some. RATINGS Price: 10/10 - Definitely worth it just for the figs. Parts: 7/10 - certainly a nice variety, but not a lot of them and not much to do with them ( there's always that flyer on the back of the instructions though ) Minifigures: 10/10 - Two great and scene appropriate figs in a small set. What more could you ask for? Build: 7/10 - I mean what do you expect from a small set like this. The build isn't the main attraction of this set anyway. Overall: 9.5/10 - a calculated average of the above figures gives it an 8.5/10, but I'm going to go with my gut and boost it up because of the minifigures. I hope you enjoyed it, and I have more old sets to come! 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jifel Posted January 28, 2009 This is a very nice review, but you may want to check out the reviewers academy. Still, very nice, I look forward to more! jifel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DarthSion Posted January 28, 2009 Damn and its like 10 times that price to buy it these days on ebay. I like the fraying, makes it seem more realistic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legopiotre Posted January 28, 2009 A very good and small set I also get ten years ago. The minifigs were definitly worth it. The buildings are inding too bulky but the pieces given were more standart, so it is easier to build other things with sets like this one rather than with newer ones. Thank you for the review Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RoflWafls Posted January 28, 2009 This was my 4th Lego set I ever owned, so I really love this set. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Razzer Posted January 28, 2009 Thanks for the great review! This was actually a great little set that I never got a chance to own, but a friend of mine got 4 of these beauties and was nice enough to give me a Qui-Gon so that my (now somewhat awful looking) Sith infiltrator had a purpose. Only problem is that I used to try and buy sets like these on eBay and now I have given up due to the need for fleshied characters... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Millacol88 Posted January 28, 2009 Very nice, suitable for the academy. This was the first SW set I ever owned. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KimT Posted January 31, 2009 Indexed as the other review you've done for us. Same comment as there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hollisbrick Posted February 5, 2009 Thos was my first SW set The tower is still assembled and I lost Quigon's lightsaber Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duke of Derby-shire Posted February 5, 2009 My first ever Lego set . Darth Maul was ALWAYS my favorite character from Ep. I. I loved his minifig; I carried it around with me EVERYWHERE. I never built the moisture vaporater thing, I had no clue what the heck it was for. Sadly, I've lost everything of this set in time, except Qui Gon. I still have him. Grand set. Nice review! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KimT Posted February 5, 2009 I've added a poll and started the rating. I gave this "below average" because the parts are of no real use and having another Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul was kinda useless at the time of release, since we've already gotten them in the Sith Infiltrator, Gungan Sub and many other sets. Why buy a set with only those two minifigs, when you've already got them? - Of course I bought the set, I am a collector and need everything, except the Technic sets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JimBee Posted February 7, 2009 Ah, one of my first my first Lego sets. It's great to see the set again, I remember building it like it was yesterday... Anyways, thanks for reviewing this. Looking back, this set is nowhere near as impressive as it was to me 10 years ago (then again, I haven't seen any of the pieces since). I'll rate this an average set, since it doesn't have much to it. The moisture evaporator is just a little add-on, but those brown and grey vent pieces must be valuable. The figures are great though, and they could have probably went for a good price before 2007. Once again, thank for the review. It is really great to see old sets like this after a long time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Clone OPatra Posted November 11, 2009 Why am I bumping my own months-old review when I know it's in the index, you ask? Well, I've just updated it with cleaner pictures, and added whole sections and pictures that were not there before. It's kind of like a new review! I wrote the original of this review before I had even entered the Reviewer's Academy, so the picture quality and other aspects were quite poor. I hope that someday the SW Index might be filled with Academy-standard reviews, but of course that doesn't mean I don't want non-academy members to fill in the gaps. I hope you enjoy the new version of this review, and I encourage every potential reviewer to join the Academy! I plan to revamp all of my first crappier-quality SW reviews like this someday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CommanderFox Posted November 11, 2009 A Great Review Clone O'Patra I wish I had goten this set, as it is quite valuable now Great job again! CommanderFox Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Cam Posted November 11, 2009 Pictures look great, I actually remember this review before the update. Looking great! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
