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Many thanks for the links Alldarker! I've poured over the instructions a few times now; the build looks more exciting than the Republic Cruiser which had a predominantly Technic built super-structure and pretty uninspiring interiors. Despite lacking space to easily MOD a corridor à-la the beginning of A New Hope, the interior provided with the Tantive IV is actually pretty cool. Being a UCS set at this scale and price, much of the design is given over to aesthetic accuracy and detail rather than playability. The detail in this set is just superb. I didn't buy the original Tantive IV as I prefer sets with minifigs - despite it being an awesome set. Many of the new Star Wars sets have seen a perfect compromise between minifig scale and beautiful detail (how many times can I mention the awesome Y-wing?!) and this set is no exception; it's like a slightly smaller 10019 with minifigs! Ah, to be fair mate a fair few of us picked up on that one...

Superb idea for a contest and I love the prizes. Cheers KimT! Thinking cap - ON!

Nice find whung! I'd like to know if, when and where these will be available! The STAP set is well suited to being available in a promotional set and would make a great army builder. The other sets are interesting enough but obviously won't be anything amazing because of the parts count; however there appears to be some very useful parts there. Some people are never happy

Very hard to choose - there are so much more worthy of note - but choose I must! 1st - Imperial Shuttle by Baronsat 2nd - Plo Koon's Jedi Starfighter by DutchRebel 3rd - Venator Star Destroyer by thire5 4th - A-Wing by Jerac 5th - T-47 Airspeeder by Lars All outstanding models by outstanding builders Asides from that, there's quite a few competition entries that could've done well from being indexed in the MOC index and up for the vote.

Great work Kaitan! You've totally captured the cool, clinical feel of Cloud City. I really like your simple yet effective 'fountain' centre piece and your plate-built walls work really, really well - I guess make it much easier to shift and get your camera in there. Love your custom fleshie Lobot too I'd also considered building a Cloud City diorama but haven't had the full-on motivation to do it - you've certainly set a bar for anyone who tries!

Nice review Pellaeon. I like that you've taken a few shots of details I haven't otherwise seen; such as focusing right in on Palpatine's desk and the RoTS comparison. Thanks for the effort! I do rather like this set, just wish it could have been more dedicated towards battle with an interior hangar rather than office, more clones (pilots!), etc. with Palpatine saved for another Clone Wars set (get the MOD-stick out!). Unfortunately with so many awesome sets and the RBR on the horizon it's unlikely I'll buy this.

Pre-order available on Amazon.co.uk. I've ordered mine! Apologies if link has been posted already.

It think Western themed LEGO will always have a place in the heart of many a collector and AFOL; personally I don't own any Western LEGO but I love Sergio Leone movies! I just think that nowadays ninja (and by proxy samurai, martial arts) and pirate themes in general reoccur often amongst mainstream entertainment aimed at children and family - 2 big names that immediately come to mind are the immensly popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Pirates of the Caribbean. Although Western inspired themes have been touched on in the past, I don't think they're nearly as mainstream as the aforementioned. ...but then I can't really second guess what LEGO will be up to next. They could bring the Western theme back, and in glorious style as they did with Pirates! I wouldn't complain! Or even exclusive minifigs or sets bundled with the game? There's food for though

Cheers grogall, I haven't seen those particular images Can't wait to get this book, some of the details sound awesome: flip animations in the corners, Yavin IV model - exciting stuff!

A great MOD Lars, AT-STs should always have the capacity for 2 pilots! I thought it was tricky enough building for 2 while keeping to scale with my MOC - nevermind the official version. On a side note it's nice to see LEGO saw fit to release a new AT-ST - I rather like it - as opposed to the last version which was pretty dreadful. The 2 seat MOD makes it all the better. Nice one! Harsh. And as yet still no reason whatsoever as to why you made such a remark.

Wow, that's almost a £10 price hike - the set retails at £29.35. Avoid and purchase from Shop@Home I'd say - you're still saving money even with P&P added. It may be available at other chains further down the line too.

Great take on the STAP Dutch Rebel! I love some of the unusual contrsuction methods our members use in their models - especially to achieve tiny detail - it's inspired much experimentation of my own. The main barrels look way better together, as intended in the original design. Nice work as always

I adore this set. The minifig, animal and parts selection is superb and it looks like such fun to build. I haven't bought it yet but am planning to rectify that very, very soon

I don't think so, Klaus... ninja are renown worldwide and easily carry as much cool-factor as pirates and we see many takes on them appearing all over the place in games, movies and comics. Ninja definately sell! However I don't think this is necessarily a sign of the license's return. The LEGO Universe developers will promote the game by showing the cool characters available while showcasing their customisability. Case in point: they used a Ninja!

Great little mini Pete, I especially like your solution for the legs. I personally think your AT-OT looks better than LEGO's AT-TE Very cool when situated with the dropship too... good stuff!

Many thanks for the comments. Trying to get the most out of a battlepack is great fun and I felt that the LHT looked suitably Rebel-esque once I'd finished it. I'd thought about using the sticker sheet with it but generally shy away from using them - I tend to recycle parts a lot in other models. Fortunately he has sufficient visual-screens and navigational systems in the cab... Indeed! I'd mentioned this originally that the helmet would suit a white visor better, however I don't have the part. So until I do it's better just to use the black visor rather than having a big gap in my opinion - artistic license and that! If I ever have a chance to get a white visor it'll be straight on! Fear not! It's still widely available.

Cheers for the review ADHO15! I really like this set but never actually picked it up... oh well! Still scores pretty highly in my book From reading Dark Empire I really liked the inclusion of the TIE-D - it's a nice addition to the TIE series in my opinion. They should've kept the lasers red of course, but that's the tiniest of niggles and easist of mods! All in all I think this set was great at the time for those who wanted to own or bulk out a TIE squadron; recreating the squad from the end of ANH, while offering an extra collector's piece.

Looking at this list again it occured to me I just about have it all already in one form or another - the exception being the Freeco Bike and TIE Defender! Ok there might be the few odds and ends or parts thrown into the battlepacks, etc. to spice 'em up but it's a shame LEGO couldn't give some other vehicles a treatment before re-doing some previously released sets; either that or included them as a part of a larger playset - Luke's landspeeder in a Mos Eisley setting for instance. I do understand why they're doing it of course... and it's most likely that some of the newer versions will be much better. But with the steady increase of price for SW LEGO it seems less likely I'll feel inclined to buy all of what - for me - could almost be considered duplicates.

Hey all, I've got a few new small (multi-themed) MOC's I'm going to post, but while I get around to taking photos I thought I'd show this! As part of a review I did recently on 7668 Rebel Scout Speeder, I thought I'd build an alternate model to illustrate set potential and created the Rebel Light Hover Truck. Designed as an economically viable light cargo and personnel repulsorlift transport, the LHT-1 Sphinx has an upright cabin for better vantage and to allow for extra cargo space. The Rebel Alliance used upgraded trucks with armoured cabins and side-mounted weapons such as laser cannons or blasters - to allow for some defensive capability when in field use - and would often be seen behind battle lines, swiftly delivering vital documents, machinery, weapons and troops to where they were needed the most. Light Hover Truck Rear view The odd wheel part part comes in useful as a small cargo container. Front Sphinx Side view Transporting troopers Full laden, the LHT hurtles to it's destination... Rebel Engineer Pilot of the LHT and, based on the movies, a more authentic looking rebel engineer minifig. All parts not available in the original set, but an obvious custom! Built using the rebel trooper head and helm and the engineer from A-Wing 6207. Spares Not a great deal left over! More pictures here if you're interested. Comments welcome as always! Hit my links below to see the rest of my LEGO works!

Great review Whitefang! They really should use superb older sets like these as inspiration for new sets. I'd love to see some of the classics get a revival!

I think the key here is in the name: Droid Tri-fighter. Not Tri-droid. Not Octuptarra Droid. Droid Tri-fighter! Both Droids have appeared in the Star Wars movies, whether one missed it's appearance in the series doesn't really matter. Sorry to break your chain of righteousness... but please don't kill yourself. I'd rather we'd got the Tri-droid too... and there's always the chance we still might! Well if you're up for a trip to LEGOland Windsor they have loads! That might not be of much help of course... sorry

Proportionately Mraz's model's forelegs are about the right length in my opinion, and the upper legs of the AV-7 are telescopic so expand and retract depending on it's stance so these can be any length from fully extended (as per the reference image) to retracted and close to the hull. As well as that it's a repulsorlift vehicle so doesn't actually use them to walk! The barrel is one of the hardest things to get right on this: at this scale I found it ideally needs to start at 4 x 4 then gently taper across it's entire length to what would be roughly 2 x 2 - which is pretty impossible using LEGO - so it's a case of getting it as close as possible. 2 x 2 for the majority of length would be way too thin at this scale. I'd imagine if LEGO ever did a minifig scale treatment of this they'd have a long molded part for the barrel, or most of it anyway...

Hmmm... musing away here, wondering how the Freeco Bike will be scaled? If they'll keep it quite petite or use reuse the JSF cockpit for the main canopy? It'd be slightly big maybe, but the shape would be pretty close for starters...

That's a good attempt Mraz - obviously I know how hard it is to build the AV-7! I'm intrigued to see what you Christophsis battle scene will look like in it's entirety It looks like you've used a few construction techniques from the version I built. If you're looking to refine or strengthen any elements of your model I'd be happy to share what I did. For instance, I built the outer 'toes' and lower legs as one unhinged piece as it provides a lot more stability. Also, there are technic pieces at the core of my model which attach the very base of the hull (separate from the side 'shells') to the gun, making it possible for you to build your barrel much longer as the structure can sustain its weight.

I wouldn't worry too much about that, it looks a lot more accurate from your photos than you give yourself credit for! I really like the design of the A-wing too and you've certainly done it justice here. You've captured the shape really well - despite your reservations - and the fine details are spot-on. Got any shots of the rear and interior?