lowlead

Jealousy. Unadulterated J E A L O U S Y Well done sir.

Meh, I wouldn't say a great deal, but not terrible either. Did you get the instruction booklet? Just curious. Looking at the Brickset photo of 8038, it looks like you got roughly half of the set for half of the original RRP of $99.99. When I say 'half' I'm speaking from a value standpoint not piece count, btw. The minifigs and the AT-ST are the highlights of this set, and you got one of them.

WEIRD - I LIKE IT! That color scheme is fantastic! Great use of the planet dome, as well. I also very much appreciate the judicious use of detail all around the fuselage - just enough, and it looks great. Finally, I like the angular look of the cockpit section, especially with the new canopy. Nicely done all around!

I'm aware of the other sticker topics, but I believe this warrants its own topic. The message bears repeating. May I suggest using the cardboard and plastic bag treatment when packaging sticker sheets of this size? Upon opening my 75140, I found the instruction booklet folded like a taco, and the sticker sheet mashed like an accordion. Really, LEGO? I am fully aware that customer service is always happy to send out replacement sticker sheets, and for that I am thankful! The better scenario, however, would be to open the box and finish the model in the time I set aside for building it, no? If I didn't care deeply for the LEGO Brand, I wouldn't bother typing this. Thank you for this great Star Wars set, and kindly take my advice into consideration going forward. -Matt

Looking closely at the photo, the left works and the right doesn't. It's the 'x' vs 'cross' orientation of the saber hilt that makes the difference. On my copy, I was careful to orient the hilts in the 'x' clock position, and they both seem perfectly flush and fully seated in the 1x1 clips. This set was yet another example of acute skepticism on my part, only to be pleasantly surprised with the outcome. It's a recurring theme with so many aspects of this film! The size of the sticker sheet compared to the size of the set is jaw-dropping at first, but I just went with it - the final result looks good. WITH REGARD TO THE CANOPY STICKER: Save yourself some frustration and do one of the following: Either trim a tiny bit off the aft-most sticker, or make sure it's right up snug with the crossways 'band' sticker. Reason being, any aft overhang will drag its sticky self right down the back wall of the cockpit, and peel itself away from the canopy. Annoying. 8.5 out of 10 - very cool set.

Found the Battle on Takodana at a TRU - went through the whole manager override charade at the register just to pay for the damn thing Ya, ya, Jan 1st I get it, close enough. It was regular priced, no TRU tax as expected. Found a bunch of Stormtrooper Sergeant polys there as well.

Agreed. Perhaps find a way to make the engine intakes perfectly round, not oval - they look a bit off to me now.

Those are the details you notice after the second, third and fourth viewing It's less of a 'swing' and more of a 'slide down.' Very subtle - and almost certainly a CG effect. Great looking MOC, RC! The panel treatment and channel detail of the wings looks especially good. I, too, would really like to see more angles of the fuselage, as the 3/4 view you provided is making the snout look a bit too long and narrow. Either way, it's an impressive project - thanks for sharing!

HA! That's GREAT! Correct color, wings tilt...and fold, trans-red viewport (which is spot-on). Love this! I'd buy multiple copies.

...anyway, back on topic. I forgot to include just one nitpick about Poe's X-wing and that's the oval shape of the engine intakes. After seeing these new X-wings in the movie, the circular shape of the intakes now make the LEGO version look sorta strange. Nice set overall, just too bad there wasn't a better way to make those intakes perfectly round.

Going Dark Side with jealousy...

It bears repeating: The white version does look fantastic in LEGO. Maybe it will carry around Kylo Ren The White in Ep IX - accompanied by an owl named Hedw...oh, sorry. Ironically, the wing retraction 'glove' design hasn't come to fruition, despite how great the mod looks on mordatre's MOCs. Turns out TLG actually got that part correct...kind of.

The issue with Kylo Ren's Shuttle has been discussed ad nauseum - I'm at peace with it. The mod at least gave me something to do while waiting for Dec 17th The 75140 Resistance Troop Transporter raised the biggest eyebrow before seeing the movie, but afterwards makes perfect sense, and I'm looking forward to the set - looks great. And I imagine there's a bunch of film footage of the First Order Snowspeeder on the cutting room floor. I've already noticed numerous copies of this one surviving the Christmas frenzy - it will be a perfect set for a clearance purchase, as will KRs Shuttle perhaps. 75139 Battle on Takodana is disappointing, but not at all surprising. I'll wait and see if we get a 'cantina' set from this location. Maz Kanata: Am I one of the few who actually likes this character? The prelim images looked horrible, her minifig looks so-so, but I found her look and character in the movie quite endearing, and not at all annoying as I feared...she's like Han Solo's foster mom

oh, never mind

Szent guacamole! VERY cool! Ya, the left over parts Do you have your resume in with LEGO? Cuz you kinda should. Nicely done, sir!

Good! Better chance we'll see more of them, including interior shots

Great review, thanks! Not sure this is a spoiler, but... Either way, every Target, WM and TRU I visit, there are a ton of Command Shuttles stacked 10-12 high. They're not selling AT ALL, but I'm certainly curious to see if that changes after this weekend. I would very much welcome a UCS version, especially since...

The rant about who's the greater victim is platinum - those posts should be blogged. Buying it = endorsing it. Seems like a simple choice, no?

^This. In fact, I have such confidence in their QC that I'm relentless when searching for the 'missing' part - which is almost always hiding somewhere, or it was my carelessness. One time, however, after searching for what seemed like an eternity, I never did locate Cad Bane's legs from the 8128 set.

But definitely worth doing...

Some really effective techniques here! The brick-built fuselage in place of the classic plate approach looks great. And the detail around the engines is perhaps my favorite feature - looks fantastic! Great work.

Jeezum crow! Where was I in January?? Thanks to Joe7218 for resurrecting this thread. Hey there crash_cramer! Where do I begin? Well, your photostream contains three of the most astounding LEGO models I have ever seen. When I was a kid, I raced the Hot Shot and the Boomerang (1/10th scale Tamiya r/c electric for those not familiar). In fact, a couple years ago, I was struck with nostalgia and picked up both r/c cars brand new when they produced the re-issues. But to see an EXACT replica of the Hot Shot in LEGO is nothing short of astounding!! The block tires even fit on the LEGO rims - ha! Just amazing - speechless. And to your X-wing. Like others have said, there are very few LEGO models that properly capture all the planes and angles of the X-wing fuselage, but your version excels at it. Now please pardon me while I navigate back to the photos and grow increasingly jealous. Incredible achievement!

I would have to say that, for me, the UCS sets are the ones that stand the test of time - and even here there are exceptions. Aside from UCS stuff, here are a few that come to mind as gems: 8001 Battle Droid As much as I can't stand the PT, this set is still intact in a storage bin...somewhere. I always thought the model looked very accurate to the movie version - weak and skeletal - and the functions worked really well. 8002 Destroyer Droid Basically for the same reason as 8001 4483 AT-AT I think I built 5 of these damn things...cuz, you know, I had to re-create the Hoth scene! Some would argue that this is still the best AT-AT out of Billund. I find it a bit bulky, and I have no problem with the newer versions - but you know what they say about your first... 7662 Trade Federation MTT Another memorable build coming from the PT, arguably one of the best re-makes. 7680 The Twilight Perhaps the most dynamic, and appealing set of the 2008...ech, sorry, just seeing if you were paying attention. 8038 The Battle of Endor This set has everything - great figs, cool play features on bunker, and best looking chicken walker to date. 10195 Republic Dropship with AT-OT Walker Whoa! Yet another PT set I always liked - didn't see this coming back in '09. Two sets in one, really, and a bold move on TLGs part if you ask me. Dropship has brilliant design, looks amazing. This set remains intact in my collection. 10198 Tantive IV Perhaps the best looking 'ship-as-playset' design of its time, and a more accurate representation of the RBR...hmm, 2009 was a great year! I'll stop there since 2010 seems like the period you no longer consider a 'yesteryear.'

Heh, funny you mention that, I actually did both: http://www.brickshel...ISC/isdmod2.jpg http://www.brickshel...ISC/isdmod3.jpg ZZZIIINNNGG

Great mod! I'll definitely implement this next time the fleet gets a dust off. With the culprit being the sagging forces of time, my guess would be never. I can't imagine how warped my 10030 would be if I hadn't added a third forward stand.