ADHO15 Posted February 10, 2009 (edited) (10.02.09) This is my sixth review. It features: Product: 7171 Mos Espa Podrace Theme: Star Wars No of pieces: 894 Release Date: 1999 RRP: USD $90.00 Featured Episodes: TPM Lego "Shop at Home" Catalog Description Race in Anakin's Podracer — but hold on tight!!!The sport of Podracing is so dangerous that only one human dares to try it — Anakin Skywalker. And it's your job to help him! Build Anakin's Podracer. Then check out the competition — Sebulba and Gasgano. Now get ready for the high-flying action! You'll need quick reflexes and nerves of steel to win! Comes with three Podracers, 3 pit droids, Padmé Naberrie, Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2, Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, Sebulba and Gasgano. Ages 8-12. 894 pieces. This is a huge set, the biggest of the year, I think. It is expensive but you get lots for your money, as you can see. And here is the upcoming 2011 Summer Podracing set 7962 Anakin's and Sebulba's Podracers for comparison. There are 11 figs in the set, 4 of which are unique: Gasgano, Sebulba and their pit droids. Padmé, pilot Anakin and his pit droid can only be bought in the smaller 7131 Anakin's Podracer set. Qui-Gon, Jar Jar and R2 can be bought in other sets. These are the three pit droids. The mostly brown one is Sebulba's, the mostly white one is Gasgano's (should have brown arms, lost them) and the mixed one is Ani's. Gasgano is an usual design made of 8 bricks. The head has a special print. He came second in the podrace if you didn't know who he is. Sebulba is just one piece without much design. You should know who this is if you watched the podrace. There are two service stations with flags and a stand with flag included too. I have lost Gasgano's green and black flags as well as Anakin's blue flag. There are four tools on each station that the pit droids can use to repair the vehicles. Anakin can sit in the cockpit and pilot his vehicle. Notice the printing on the front and side to give it detail. A side-view of the podracer showing the frame underneath to hold it together. The engine flaps can be opened for playability (not much). You can see the 'power couplings' hold the engines to the frame. This is Gasgano's podracer. It is relatively movie-accurately designed and coloured. It is about the same size as Sebulba's and bigger than Anakin's. Gasgano can sit in the cokpit to pilot his racer. There are printed bricks on either side with his logo on. A side-view of the pod. The frames underneath have holes in to make them lighter and cheaper. The engines are quite large and colourful. The black flaps on the sides can open to reveal... Chainsaws to attack the other pods. Sebulba's pod is slightly the biggest and also has some small playability functions. There are several printed bricks on the cockpit to give it detail as well as saws on the sides to attack the other racers. Sebulba can sit inside to man the (lost) controls. (It was only a 2x1 brick with a handle on one side, like Gasgano holds) The sides of the engines also have detailed printed pieces. These can open to reveal flamethrowers as seen in the deleted scenes. The flaps on the engines are printed and there are printed bricks with his logo on too. Sebulba, being the cheat he is, has more saws in his arsenal that are mounted on the front. I think this is a great set that has a lot of appeal to kids for its playability and to reenact one of the most exciting parts of TPM. The designs are no where near as good as modern designs and if this set was to be remade, it would no doubt look a lot better. I picked this set up on Ebay for a mere £30, completed and in great condition. A downside would be their awkward shape which makes them difficult to display and/or store. I would recommend it if you are a PT fan who doesn't already own it. Design: 9/10 - The podracers look very accurate as do the minifigs. The vehicles are coloured correctly and well-made. Minifigs: 8/10 - A good selection of minifigs with a unique Gasgano and Sebulba as well as their podracers. Also, the podrace sets are the only ones to include Padmé. Playability: 9/10 - This set includes many functions like tools to service the vehicles as well as 3 vehicles with small features. Swooshability: 9/10 - The podracers are sturdy and easy to swoosh thanks to the frame. The heavier ones are less stable. Overall: 8.75/10 - An accurate calculated score. See the gallery here. Any questions or comments are welcome. KimT, you can add it to the index if you like. I made it to fill the gap. Also, you may add a vote to it and give any more suggestions. Edited April 28, 2011 by ADHO15 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ronan Nissen Posted February 10, 2009 I wish they could do 10th anniversary version of this! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soc399 Posted February 10, 2009 Great review! This set came out in my dark ages, so I would definitely buy an updated version. I'm sure it would look great, but it would have all stickers instead of printed pieces. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Derek Posted February 10, 2009 (edited) Nice review. You made me want this set, even though I think most pre-2002-ish SW sets are ugly. I agree with Ronan Nissen. Even if they updated Anakin's pod and released it in a $20 set it would be nice. We already have an Anakin fig (flesh) so they won't have to do anything special there (Unless they wanted to give us an updated Padme, I wouldn't complain! ) Edited February 10, 2009 by darthperson Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Loganwan Posted February 10, 2009 Blast you Dark Ages!!!! I loved the podrace. I know a lot of people thought it was worthless, but it was so fun to watch. Hopefully we will see these again in the future. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iH Master 13uilder17 Posted February 10, 2009 nice review. it's funny how the gasgano minifig has a sniper rifle for the body. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Future74 Posted February 10, 2009 Very nice review, great pictures Keep 'em coming! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkrebellion Posted February 10, 2009 Thanks for another great review ADHO15 . Your review make me want this set again , I considered to buy it some months ago but seeing it was around a $200 price tag MISB was a hard choice and better decided to pass and buying the RFT (By far the best set of 2008) and save some money for later. In my opinion this is the best designed old set it still looks great after 10 years!!! The designs are stunning, the color schemes awesome colorful and the minifigs superb (I really like Sebulba because even if he is just one piece it is well molded and I am sure a minifig-like version of him would look really bad ). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ADHO15 Posted February 11, 2009 Thank you everyone for your posts! I considered to buy it some months ago but seeing it was around a $200 price tag MISB was a hard choice and better decided to pass and buying the RFT (By far the best set of 2008) and save some money for later. I would not recommend spending this much money on it. In my opinion, it is by far not the best set upto now and maybe no higher than $120 should be spent on this set, but that's just my opinion. If you really want it then you should buy it, even if the competition is strong. I got a great deal and I would advise you to look around a lot for this set as it can be bought for less. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CommanderCody77 Posted February 11, 2009 Good review Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Algernon Posted February 11, 2009 While I like the design of the pods, nothing annoys me more than huge "invisible" structures holding together the vehicle. I never knew that they made a Sebulba minifig! Good review. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Who Posted February 11, 2009 By far, this is my favorite set ever. I would not recommend spending this much money on it. In my opinion, it is by far not the best set upto now and maybe no higher than $120 should be spent on this set, but that's just my opinion. If you really want it then you should buy it, even if the competition is strong. I got a great deal and I would advise you to look around a lot for this set as it can be bought for less. Off of bricklink, I paid about $90 for it with no boxes, and only one part was missing---2x1 red plate off Anakin's pod, which was easy to replace. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Patriot720 Posted February 11, 2009 Great review! I think this is the best of all of the episode 1 sets Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KimT Posted February 12, 2009 I wish they could do 10th anniversary version of this! I'd rather not have this one. Not a great set at all. Who'd want podracers from Episode I (which is the worst of the movies in my opinion). Indexed. And thanks again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Who Posted February 12, 2009 I'd rather not have this one.Not a great set at all. Who'd want podracers from Episode I (which is the worst of the movies in my opinion). What!!!! Sorry, but for me this was/is one of the best sets ever!! (Minus the whole technology of today thing...) In other words, I'd want podracers from Episode I and I personally thought a tenth anniversary version of this would be great. Plus, on the good side for you, if you don't like it, you don't have to buy it. Unless you have O.C.D as bad as me. Remember, this is just my opinion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KimT Posted February 12, 2009 Plus, on the good side for you, if you don't like it, you don't have to buy it. Wrong...I am a collector and need every single Star Wars set released, so no thanks to getting this one again. They sold so badly they had to put them on sale here... I turned down buying these MISB at a third of the retail price. (a mistake I realised later when I opened my bricklink store). And luckily we're all entitled to have our own opinions of any given set - so no offense taken Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Who Posted February 12, 2009 (edited) Wrong...I am a collector and need every single Star Wars set released, so no thanks to getting this one again. Yeah, I know the feeling. I don't own every set, but I do have a lot of them. Often I have to make a list of reasons of why not to buy a set I don't want, and maybe, just maybe I can pry myself away from the shelves then. Which is especially bad now, because I am really starting to run out of room for stuff. Maybe I should open a bricklink store just to dump off those parts consuming too much space... Edited February 12, 2009 by booger540 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
user Posted March 3, 2009 Great review this is one of my favorite sets of all time!Mabye because it's based off my my favorite starwars moment of all time. And maybe that's because they made racer revenge wich is one of my favorite vidio games of all time . Oh well they did a great job makeing this set I hope they make another! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legoman Posted March 3, 2009 I'd rather not have this one.Not a great set at all. Who'd want podracers from Episode I (which is the worst of the movies in my opinion). Indexed. And thanks again. Really? You really didn't like that set? I this set! Probably the set set for it's era i think. Admittably, i wouldn't like another version, because as a completist, i don't really need one, the first one is great. it would be hard to improve on it... Nice review Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ADHO15 Posted March 4, 2009 Ha, this old thread was dug up again. While it has been, I want to thank everyone for their kind comments and I hope to make another review soon, I just need to find the pieces for and rebuild my old sets. Thanks again! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prateek Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) they shoulda made the tan thingys to keep the racers together clear but otherwise i like this set, lots of figs ps. i both agree and disagree with KimT, TPM is the worst SW movie but they should make a 10th anniversary set, so many people (like me [12-16 years old]) would buy this since its the "coolest" and first SW footage they saw Edited March 5, 2009 by prateek Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Who Posted March 5, 2009 They should have made the tan things to keep the racers together clear but otherwise I like this set, lots of figs. PS. I both agree and disagree with KimT, TPM is the worst SW movie but they should make a 10th anniversary set, so many people (like me [12-16 years old]) would buy this since its the "coolest" and first SW footage they saw. (Corrected grammar/spelling) I guess I'm just crazy, but I like The Phantom Menace. And again, as I've said before, I would love a Tenth Anniversary version of this. As for the tan parts, I am pretty sure they can't make them in clear. Something like this was brought up in a discussion about why LEGO doesn't make translucent minifigs. LEGO said that apparently the clear bricks are harder and more easily broken than colored bricks, so they would not work well for minifig joints. Same thing goes for these tan parts, I guess. With them being so long, they might break in half easily. Basically I am saying that if you don't like the tan bricks, replace them and make a clear stand or whatever. You can use the tan bricks for MOCs, sell them on Bricklink, or eat them for all I care. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
legomucsles Posted November 29, 2009 (edited) I really like how LEGO made the podracers.I wonder how they'll look now if LEGO made them? Great review by the way.I didnt know it had all those features. Edited November 29, 2009 by legomucsles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ADHO15 Posted November 29, 2009 I really like how LEGO made the podracers.I wonder how they'll look now if LEGO made them?Great review by the way.I didnt know it had all those features. Wow. Hello again, my old thread. Thanks, legomuscles. Glad I could show you more of the set that you didn't know about. I'm sure a redesign of the set would be well-received and would look much better, however, they're awkward shapes and difficult to display, so I probably wouldn't pick it up myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Strand Posted November 30, 2009 This reminds me of one of my very first sets (Anakin's Podracer) and I loved that thing to death. Though the tan 'struts' that connected all the parts of the Pod really bugged me. I think these sets would make a nice diorama though, with struts removed and pods positioned nicely. I never picked this set up though, as I couldn't afford it in the day and I don't feel any regrets, the minifigs are almost universally awful. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
