Skarkdahn

Interesting line-up. Clone/Droideka BP: Good to see the Clone Sergeant making an appearance in a set at long last. The only qualm I have with this set is the size of the Droideka; it is, however, good to see that they've tried to make it more accurate. Rep/Imp Trooper BP: I find it hilarious that LEGO have included flick-fire missiles on a speeder which has no weaponry whatsoever. Maybe a defensive bunker in the style of a miniature Alderaanian turret would have been a better choice, in order to give the troopers something to fight over? AT-RT: At long last, a 501st Trooper! The scale of the AT-RT is off, although the now more accurate design makes up for it. The Sniper Droideka looks a bit ridiculous, although it is interesting to note that it has more detail than its Battle Pack cousins, particularly in the neck and midriff areas. Good to get another Commando Droid variant. A-Wing: As somebody who has never bought any incarnations of the A-Wing, this is a must-have for me, especially as I also have none of the more recent Han Solo incarnations or Admiral Ackbar, as I did not buy the Home One set. Personally, I think this to be one of the best sets from this winter's line-up. Z-95 Headhunter: Admittedly, Pong Krell is an impossible minifigure to be pulled off without looking silly, but he still looks very ill-proportioned in the height department. Otherwise, a good set, and a very decent representation of the Z-95 from TCW. Rancor Pit: Whilst it is good to see a Rancor, I view this a pretty pointless set to get unless you have Jabba's Palace; as I don't have the palace (I viewed it as being ridiculously bad value), I have no intention to get this one. BARC Speeder: It's good to see updated versions of the BARC and Flitknot speeders, although these do seem to be the result of a dead-horse-kicking. The minifig selection is decent, and the new printing on Obi-Wan is brilliant, as is the more detailed pauldron of Rex. Umbaran MHC The Umbarans could be better; their helmets are supposed to be glass and, if I recall correctly, they have more blue on their armour in the series. Ahsoka's second saber should be a lighter yellow-green and shorter, and the 212th Trooper should be a deeper orange.Otherwise, a good set. The cannon flows nicely in terms of design, especially given its size. Kamino & JS: The Jedi Starfighter looks a tad too chunky. Otherwise, Kamino looks decent. R4 being the minifig is a bit confusing, given that she was just but a head when she first visited Kamino (given that the starfighter appears to be the Delta-7 of episode II), but it's still good to get a much better version of her than from the Ultimate Space Battle and the first V-Wing. Coruscant & RAS: Good to see an Acclamator in LEGO form at long last. As a miniature, it looks well-proportioned. Coruscant is slightly disappointing, however. It feels like there could be far more detail that they could have put in there, and it just looks simple and cartoony as a result. Asteroid Field & TB: That asteroid field looks ridiculous, yet you can't really represent such a field on a sphere easily. The TIE Bomber does look decent, and it's good to see more detailed prinitng on the pilot. Hoth and SS: The new printing on the pilot more than makes up for the standard "Zev Senesca" face; thankfully he doesn't use the same helmet as Zev, so that's some small mercy. The Snowspeeder seems a bit too big, given its incredibly thin cockpit, and the guns are just a bit too long. Otherwise, a decent set. Endor & BW: The new pilot looks awesome, as does the B-Wing. I can't really find a lot to say about this that is negative. Alderaan & TIV: The Tantive IV looks amazing given its scale, although the minifigure choice could have been a lot better. We're still to see a Bail Organa in LEGO form, and an Alderaanian Planets set would have been the best opportunity to see one, especially given the high hopes set by that exclusive Lobot figure, and also the fact that we get a Rebel Trooper in this year's advent calendar. The higlight of this year's sets are the A-Wing and AT-RT in terms of set design and cheap exclusive minifigure inclusion, respectively. It's a shame that there aren't more 212th troopers: people who would want to make Utapau MoCs starring these fellas are going to have to either buy a ton of MHCs or wait a long time before they're being sold in sufficient qualities on BrickLink. Additionally, now that we have 212th troopers, we realistically now need a new Cody to supplement their ranks. It's a very good thing to see the 501st troopers at long last, although it is a shame that their very first incarnations are in the style of TCW minifigs. The new Imperial (although only one is truly new) and Republic Troopers are a welcome addition, as are the new A-Wing pilot, episode II Clones, and R4-P17 in particular. It's definitely good to see that the minifig standards are up to their high standards of recent years for OT/PT minifigs. For me, the A-Wing and Kamino are definite buys, and the AT-RT, TOR battle pack, Endor and Alderaan are possible buys. Otherwise, the rest of the lineup doesn't really interest me to the point of buying.

9496 Desert Skiff. Totally worth it.

Nope. They have all sorts of stuff in store that isn't on the websites, including video games and of course LEGO. Well, the larger stores certainly do. I can't verify for the smaller ones.

I saw Hulk in a Morrisons a couple of weeks ago. Hope this helps.

The ARC Trooper in question has been given the name of "Hammer" by TCW fans, hence the connections.

Congratulations on your new job, and for manning the forum for as many years as you have done, KimT! Best of luck to you!

What about The Force Unleashed? The Rogue Shadow came out around the time that the first Clone Wars sets began appearing on shelves, and Malek, Eclipse and Vader were all regular-stlyed minifigs, despite the game having less-than-realistic graphics. In fact, I'd say TOR has better realism for its characters than TFU.

Great find! However, your first link leads to the Geonosian Cannon video, not to the Elite Clone battle pack.

A poll has been attached to the topic.

LEGO seem to absolutely love the X-Wing: I believe that this is now the fourth minifigure-sized incarnation. Does this version live up to the expectations and reputation left by its predecessors, or does it flop miserably? Set Title: X-Wing Starfighter Set #: 9493 Theme: Star Wars Minifigures: 4: Luke Skywalker, Jek Porkins, R2-D2, R5-D8 Pieces: 560 Year of Release: 2012 1. The Box Here, we have the box, with the X-Wing taking center stage, flying down the Death Star trench, and being followed by silhouettes of three TIE Fighters, all of whom have crud aim. On the side of the box, the minifigure line-up is presented: Jek Porkins and R5-D8 both have the orange "NEW!" sign placed directly next to them. R2 and Luke are obviously not new to the line-up. I love the Darth Maul design, especially the lightsaber blade, which not only has a flowing edge to it, but also has sparks emerging from the emitter, suggesting that the blade 'sputtered' into existence. This is the back of the box. Here, you can see all the functions of the set being highlighted in order to get you hyped about your newly-purchased set, along with a couple of scenes of the minifgures: one showing them racing to get to their only X-Wing before the other, the other showing them inspecting a technical hologram of the TIE Fighter, the flying rat of the Star Wars Universe. The functions presented include the opening cockpit, the detachable torpedoes, the Droid socket, and the folding-down landing gear. Strangely, the opening wings are not highlighted in a similar manner. Perhaps LEGO are counting on people owning at least one of the previous two models? Oh, and you see that text on the top-right image? It says "9492 not included in box". Darn. 2. Opening the Box This is what comes out of the box: Five bags, one DSS, and the instruction manual. The insanely raging kid is still present on instruction manuals after all this time... Ah, the sticker sheet. Many will be disappointed to see that the Red 5 stripes are now stickers. I, for one, am disappointed to see the wing vents as stickers. However, for the former, there is a method to avoid sticker-putting-on-phobia. 3. Minifigures: Okay, let's take time to review these figs. Obviously, the main focus on these guys are the two new chaps, Porkins and that R5 Unit. Porkins only has one side to his head, which sadly limits his potential. If you want to use that head in another scene, you need to have that helmet, else it would look slightly peculiar. He's also certainly a lot thinner than I remember, but I'm sure that if they had included a 'fat' torso, Luke wouldn't forgive you if you 'accidentally' used the wrong one. I'm a huge fan of the new helmets. Luke's looks much better than the original, and Porkins' just looks supberb. I wish they'd do more sets with Biggs and Wedge to complete the family. The backs of the minifigures. Only Porkins and Luke have back printing, whereas the droids have got printing going around their heads. As you can see from this picture and the one above, the two Rebels' white vests have faded into the orange jumpsuit, due to being printed on a darker colour, which is probably and sadly unavoidable. I can't go much further without passing over this guy. The R5 droid is great, especially as it now means we can get more variation in the Astromechs! I can think of one set that now badly needs a revamp. You game, Jawas? 4. Building the set Bag 1: This is the parts spread for the first bag. There are a lot of tan pieces in this bag, and I must admit that I feared that they would have been yellow, given the lighting on the image on the box itself. This is the first bag halfway-through completion. Here, you can see that there is no transparent gear-box as in 4502 and 6212. Instead, they are constructed using separate parts, and this takes up a lot less room in the rear, with marvelous results. And here we are! One bag down! Here, you can see the technic beams which will provide support to the nose of the fighter. At the back, we have something I personally have never seen in a LEGO set - upside-down building techniques! These will later form the shape of the craft, as you'll see further on in the review. Bag 2: This is the parts spread for the second bag. In this bag, you will be able to build the nose, the cockpit and part of the back of the craft. This is the second bag halfway through construction. This section will attach onto the technic beam visible two pictures up, and the bricks will connect with the main body of the craft. Here we have the result of Bag 2, married with the result of Bag 1. The fighter is starting to shape up now. Just behind the cockpit, you can see an example of upside-down building - those upside-down white slopes which form a part of the droid socket area. Bag 3: Bag 3 builds the upper-left and lower-right set of wings. This step requires some repetitive building, so I'd construct both together, if I were you. Here's one of the completed wings. The stickers have come into play. If you mess up on the red 5 sticker, you can hide the bad one on the lower wings, and keep the better one for the upper wings. Of course, no such remedy exists for the wing vents... Bag 3 completed, and added to the other section. The fighter is now looking somewhat lopsided, and it almost begs you to build the other wings and cure it of its lopsidedness. Bag 4: Bag 4 is a mirror version of Bag 3, and build the lower-left and upper-right set of wings. Once more, there will be some repetition. This is the completed underside of the wings. Those tan dishes will be used to help open the wings. The dark grey bricks which help layer the wings will allow them to sit mostly-flushed with the counterparts above and below. Not completely flushed, however. Bag 4 completed! Now all we need are the engines, the guns, the rear details and the rubber bands. Bag 5: This is the parts spread for Bag 5. Once you remove the parts needed for the fighter's body itself, there are a lot of identical pieces left over, as they all form the four engines and the four guns. And once you've made and added those, that's Bag 5 completed! In fact, that's the set complete! 5. Inspecting the Finished Set Here, we can see the completed set in all its glory. I've applied the decals to make the X-Wing Red 6, just to show off the new configuration. Many people have expressed their disappointment over the new Droid socket orientation. Personally, I like it, as it removes the issues of chunkiness that all other incarnations have suffered from. Also, the guns are now a lot more detailed, and are far more proportionate than the guns which were used from 7140 through to 6212. For a set of its type and size, I'm honestly surprised that the X-Wing has no flick-fire missiles. Sure, it has two detachable torpedoes, but that's as far as it goes. This is no problem - it means that the torpedoes can't get lost as easily, but if they do get lost, they'd be a lot harder to find replacements for. This is the back of the craft. Now you can see how the upside-down techniques have allowed the hexagonal rear to be shown for the first time in the official LEGO X-Wing's history. Finally, no more weird hatches! There are no visible gaps from the back in this version - it's all solid. There are gaps from the top, but these allow the wings to be opened, and so are completely necessary. The rubber bands certainly apply some force on the wings: indeed, they're tougher to open, and then literally snap shut. I have fears that with too much use, this could slowly start to damage the fighter, rubber bands, and wings. This is the underside, and here, you can see the effect of using the wings upside-down like the original studio model. Can you tell the difference? Sadly from this view, it's not too solid. There's an awful lot of blue which is visible, particularly behind the landing gear. If only they'd used grey pegs instead of blue. It would have been less obtrusive. 6. Spare pieces The spare pieces are good if you are a technic-piece-hoarder. A few pegs and a couple of gears. There are also some studs left over from the build of the body. 7. Verdict Minifigures: 8.5/10. Jek Porkins and R5-D8 are great - indeed they are some of the best 'figs of 2012 in my opinion. Sadly Luke and R2 drag the rating down, as they've been included in so many sets and people will be getting tired of adding to their Luke collection. Pieces: 8.5/10. 560 pieces isn't a bad amount given its price (in the UK, at least). We get recoloured pieces such as the white Barraki eye and the grey telescope, but most of everything else has appeared in a set in he same colours as they do here. The minifigure parts are great, especially of the R5 droid. One major problem with this set? Stickers. Design: 9/10. The orientation of the Droid socket, whilst a disappointment to many, has allowed for a more streamlined build, which is a vast improvement from 4502 and 6212 in particular. I'm a huge fan of the wings being built so that they are now the same from top and bottom viewpoints. Functions/Play factor: 9/10. The fighter is great to 'swoosh' around, and if you have 9492, you can have an imaginary space battle. The lack of flick-fire missile has no real effect, given that now it is possible to have Red 5 actually 'firing' a proton torpedo. Price: 9.5/10. This one is a difficult rating to pinpoint. Obviously, it would be different depending on where I bought the set from, but as I bought it from the UK, it's a very good price with a good value for piece-per-pence ratio. If it had been in dollars, I'd have given this rating as 8/10. The minifigures are worth it, trust me. Overall: 8.9/10. A highly recommended buy for any LEGO Star Wars fan. To return to my original question: does it withhold the reputation and expectations left by 7140 through to 6212? My honest answer would be: yes, yes it does. Sadly, none of my other X-Wings (yup, own all of 'em) are currently constructed, so I can't compare them to 9493. I have a feeling that 9493 would be bigger than 6212, though. And now, to close the review, Porkins tries out his new pride and joy! Thanks for reading! ~ Skarkdahn

I doubt they'd throw in the Clone Wars versions of the characters, as it is taken from ROTS, not from TCW. The interceptor is another example of potential TCW-isation, yet they used the 'normal'-style faces, even for Nute Gunray. Therefore, I think it's safe to assume that we'll get standard faces for all the characters (of course, Kit Fisto has his 'universal-themed' head), which would be great for Mace and Palpatine in particular. They would most likely use the Zabrak and Iktotchi headpieces from the Clone Wars theme, but that should be as far as it goes in that regard.

I'd like to sign up, if that's OK. I'm planning to do a review at some point this week, and I have done reviews on another site in the past, so I have had some experience, but I would like to hone my skills in the 'art'.

Nope, I bought them from Argos in the UK, which has every winter 2012 Star Wars set, save for the Y-Wing.

I bought 9488 and 9493 just yesterday.

£49.99 for 560 pieces in 9493? Wow, that's good value. Now if only I can clear my conscience of getting a fourth X-Wing to add to the dismantled ranks (hopefully without dismantling this one!), I'm definitely getting that. prateek, do you have any pieces info for the battle packs?