Cody Startale

See? That's why I find it so hard to fairly judge this set. For an AFOL, it really is not the best offering out there. But as a play set for children, it really packs a lot of stuff into the small build, I think. So it really is a mixed bag in that regard! But then again, it could have offered all these play features and probably more even if the set had been bigger and more authentic. It's really a missed opportunity and I think if we will get Episode VII sets revisited a few years from now, this one will be among them for sure. There's just a lot left that can be done with this scene!

Amazing, now that's what I was talking about in my review! The official set should definitely have been more like this – two walls instead of one, a real chamber for the lightsaber chest, and stuff. I love your expansion on the set, it feels natural and very fitting. Only the back portion leading to the chamber could use some more details, but it is already great and much better than the official set! Such a shame that you need two of them in order to build one such beautiful thing!

I'm not yet done due to a lot of work lately – just letting you know that I haven't forgotten about your request and am still working on it. I have also made a test print of the WIP version so you can see my progress.

My first review! I hope it'll cover all important parts you are looking for and will help you decide if this set is the right purchase for you! Also, all the information here is only based on my personal (in)experience. So maybe I will have a different judgement than you guys about prices and whatnot, keep that in mind. Also, please excuse the image quality – if something seems a little guerilla style, it's because they were taken in my living room at night, with the use of my room light and the camera flash. And the last disclaimer: even though I am trying my best, English is not my mother tongue, so a few mistakes here and there are bound to happen. Feel free to correct me to help me learn, though – feedback is always being appreciated! :) Name: 75139 Battle on Takodana Theme: LEGO System / Licensed / Star Wars / Episode VII Year: 2016 Pieces: 409 Minifigs: 5 Price: EUR 59,99 Box & Packaging The box, the back and the upper side featuring the minifigs and a 1:1 scale Maz Kanata, the one everyone will be interested in since she's exclusive to this set. The boxart is, to me, a thing of beauty; if shows nice action scenes that are more or less directly taken from the movie and the back highlights some of the contents and the play features (we will get to those in more detail later). I really like how the build is embedded in the background scenery, it looks "very Takodana" to me indeed. The bags and the instruction booklet, as well as the stickers. Nothing much to say here other than that all three bags have the same look and everything seems to be packed up nicely at this point. Again, stickers and instructions. To my great relief, this set features only a total of not more than two stickers for the entire build! The instructions booklet features the same cover art as the box front. The build Just a random shot while building this thing. The first playfeature is already in place. When going through the instructions, I have wondered for years now why Lego does not improve things a little bit by highlighting the newly added stones in each single step of the instructions. Like, make the rest of the build about 20% transparent and the newly added bricks completely opaque. A small and easy change, but it would make building a lot easier, especially with the more busy steps that add multiple bricks at once. The completed content of bag no. 1. We can already see things start to shape up, and two First Order stormtroopers are already armed and ready. One of them is no other than internet's most popular icon of loyalty right now – TR-8R (also known as FN-2199)! Here you can see the first of the two stickers attached to the side of the door. I think it's a nice little sticker that may not have been completely necessary – one could have achieved this look by using a 2x1 flat brick as well – but since putting it there was no real hassle at all and the sticker does not stick out to the eye as much as it does on this photo, I think it's a suitable solution! The completed build of bag no. 2. Now the minifigs are almost complete. Over the door, you can see the only piece of cloth of this set hanging, which I think is a great touch and adds a lot to the "authentic" look of the set; behind it, just over the doors, you can get a glimpse at the second sticker. I don't think it was all too necessary to have it there, but I guess a plain grey piece of wall would have been rather unexciting as well. The completed build after bag no. 3! Hoorray! Now it looks just like on the box art.... minus the scenery around and the awesome action, but we'll get to that in a second. As you can see, the build of bag 3 is attached to the previous build and held in place using hinges, which allows for more flexible playability, I guess. I am a fan of modular builds and moving stuff all around, so this gets a thumb up from me. Spare parts The blaster on top actually belongs to FN-2199 and is not really spare, though. But the two extra lightsabers are always appreciated, of course! The dark grey color of Kylo Ren's saber is a new sight to me, personally. Play features Play features are a complicated thing, I guess. It's something that is basically necessary for all the kids out there (after all, they are the primary target audience, right? ... right??), but AFOLs will often be disappointed or even bothered by them because they don't add too much value for their purposes, and also sometimes get in the way of a clean and authentic design (75102 Poe's X-Wing, I'm looking at you!). I think it's kind of a mixed bag here, as well. The tree You push or pull a lever to make the tree fall down or re-erect it. It's not the worst idea and I can see kids playing with this a lot, sending dozens and dozens of poor stormtroopers to be squashed by this mighty log. I must also admit that it's kinda funny to use it, even though the execution could have been a little prettier. Also, the entire tree's design is not exactly a thing of beauty. I must say that only two pieces of leaves, well... leave a lot of leaves to be desired (sorry for the terrible pun). Also, since I only have green pieces of foliage in my possession, I would have LOVED for this set to come up with some more in this orange-ish brown hue, since they are not only excellent for Takodanian trees, but would also compliment any terrestrial autumn season perfectly! However, strictly judging the play feature as such, it's okay. Nothing great, nothing stupid – it's nice and simple and it gets the job done. Though on the design part, it's hard to resist the urge to improve this tree right away. The breaking wall It works like this: there are two brick-built pieces of wall that are attached to the bottom of the wall with 2x2 flat bricks with a single stud on top (just like on top of these two wall pieces as well). You rotate a gearwheel in the back and make the technic arms push the wall pieces up and down the other side. Now, as much as I am all for falling debris, I kind of dislike this specific play feature. Why? Mainly for two reasons: first, the gearwheel itself. Why could it not have been a simple switch you flick to send both pieces flying simultaneously? It would have been easier, faster and more accessible than the gearwheel and also allowed children to pack more punch into this feature by hitting the switch harder and make the wall literally explode. Also, due to the rotating mechanics, the two pieces will come down one after another and not at the same time, which is okay if the designers were going for asymmetry – a very realistic intention, since we are talking about a collapsing wall here. But then again, there is second: the wall pieces themselves, which are completely identical. They are built and look the same way and that's fine too, since they are meant to represent an intact, symmetrical wall (at first). But when they collapse, it's two of the very same pieces of wall coming down rather than more irregular, different shapes of debris. Bummer. But compared to the mechanical problems, I think this is more of a triviality in terms of play value. The hidden chest This is pretty simple: open the build, then you rotate the stick and the chest falls out, much like they did it with the storage compartment in 75099 Rey's Speeder. Why they have only a little stick protruding for the rotation and not attached a proper gearwheel here is beyond me, but it works just as fine. This play feature is nothing too exciting and the placement is a little random; you can argue that it is inside Maz's castle, which would be authentic (this is supposed to be the chest with the lightsaber, of course), but then again, there's the whole inside part of the castle completely absent from this set, which makes this choice a little bit random. But then again, this is the only set with Maz Kanata out there and her handing the lightsaber over to Rey is one of her key role's in the movie, so they had to have this in the set in one form or another, I suppose. The doors Very simple, very stable. They slide open and close running on guidances and work very well and smooth. Also, the doors, simple as they may be, look very true to the original design and very Star Wars-y to me. This feature is one that, unlike many others, does not distract from the aestethics of the set, but actually adds to the design and has real functionality. For no more specific reason, I somehow love these doors. It was when I attached them that I felt like: "Okay, now this set is beginning to be really fun". Maybe it's just that sliding the doors open and witnessing that little bit of interactivity sent me back to the movie again for a split second, anticipating what we would find behind those ominous doors to Maz Kanata's castle. The only thing that could have made those doors better? Having some kind of mechanism that would allow you to slide both of them simultaneously open, because as of now, you open them independently from each other. But it is not a big deal, so even if you may find enough other weaknesses in this set, these fine little doors ain't one of them. The breaking stairs Now this is the kind of play feature where I get skeptical. It's supposed to be a breaking stairstep from the collapsing castle. You can see the back end of the mechanism protruding on the back of the set; push it forward to send a handful of small, black round 1x1 bricks flying all over the place. Yes, it's as inconvenient as it sounds – have your kid or your significant other do this with enough force on the table, and you will spend the rest of the day crawling around the living room looking for those li'l round bast*rds all over your floor. I can see kids having fun with this all day, until they are all out of pieces to send flying. To me, this feature adds little and takes a lot in terms of design, since it pretty much single-handedly ruins the stairs leading to the oh so neat doors. Even if the feature was not completely impractical, even the before-state of the step does not look like a complete stair at all. It's literally a pile of round little black pieces lying in a hole. It does not look nice and it makes moving the set around impractical, since those little pieces tend to fall out easily. I don't like this feature and while I see the entertainment value for kids, short-lived as it may be, I think it would have been better to think of a smarter solution or abandon this idea altogether. Minifigs Here they are, in their full glory! Except for the stormtroopers, I didn't own any of these before, so they are a real highlight of this set for me. I think the three main characters here – Kylo Ren, Finn and Maz Kanata – are spot-on and look amazing. A nice side effect of having Finn is that I now have a torso with Poe's jacket for my Poe Dameron in his pilot outfit (he's my favorite character from the new movie – I always loved the pilots ). I think Kylo Ren's facial expressions are excellent and his helmet, though maybe a little bit too big, looks gorgeous as well. The only thing I am missing about him is the printed head with his mask you can put a black hood on, like in the command shuttle set. And then of course, there's Maz. Her minifig is excellent and spot-on, too. Her face/head really make her looks old and wrinkled and I really like the torso printing, I think it does the character a lot of justice. I think she is a great effort on TLG's side and well worth to have in your collection. Finn and TR-8R settle it once and for all while Kylo and the other stormtrooper calmly watch :) A memorable scene, recreated. Too bad there's no Rey minifig in this set, but I guess you can only expect so much minifig-goodness in one package Summary & Scores Overall, I think this set has it's share of ups and downs. The minifigs are excellent and it sure is nice that there's a lot of them. Kylo, Finn and Maz are all important characters in this location and if you, like me, skipped Kylo's command shuttle, this is a good opportunity to get the minifig. The build itself is a mixed bag for me: I really like the design and color scheme, and the play features, which this set has a lot of, are mostly nice and okay. But somehow, it still feels incomplete, especially considering a pretty high RRP of EUR 59,99 (around 65 USD!). I got mine with 5,- off because of my Lego VIP membership, AND I received a special bonus gift with my order, which makes up for it. But still, I cannot help but feel that the build is not entirely complete. It seems too similar to the recently released Carbon Freezing Chamber to me, which costs about half as much as this set. For more authenticity, they could have featured a second wall for the castle, at least. To sum it up, this set is nice, yet a little overpriced in my opinion. Also, it leaves a lot to be desired and I cannot help that it would greatly benefit from the release of additonal sets, much like Jabba's palace back in the days. I really wanna see an updated cantina scene and the basement where Rey finds the lightsaber deserves a set of its own, in my opinion. Minifigures: 9/10, there's not a lot left to be desired. Sure, they could have packed in another character or two, but this is still TLG we're talking about. Of course they're not gonna serve all the best stuff in one single set. Design: 7/10, I feel like there was a LOT of potential there, but they have only tapped it so far. I love the overall design and the color scheme, but this set is more like an appetizer than a complete serving. Also, some play features don't help the design. Playability: 8/10 , I see a lot of happy kids having their stormtroopers run in and out of Maz's castle, only to be slammed by falling trees, fall down breaking and brick-shooting stairs and having Kylo Ren force-burst the walls wide open. Even though not all play features excell at what they're doing, there's certainly a lot of them to keep the younger fans entertained for a while. Value/Price: 6.5/10, which means that it is still within OK-range, but not too great. I think you can get more bang for your buck with some other sets, but then again, I got a discount and a bonus gift with mine, so I cannot complain personally. Bonus shot "Now that's a pilot!!" The little Poe's X-Wing polybag was my bonus gift when ordering this set, and it fits the scene perfectly. I love it.

Would you kindly let young Poe Dameron join the ranks of Rebel Alliance?

Yes, this should fit perfectly on a 4x2 tile! Like on the top of this one: I hope I didn't misunderstand your assignment. Glad you like it!

Thanks for your comment, it is much appreciated! Yeah, I also concluded that a white t-crotch would probably work better together with a proper belt printing on the torso. I will also see what I can do about the legs: the design shouldn't be a problem, but I have not applied decals to legs before.

I'd like to join the game soon sometime - just wanna make sure that it won't be a problem that my username is an actual Star Wars name from the new movie? It's a way different time period anyway, so TFA's Poe Dameron is probably not even around yet... will it pose a problem?

Hello TheLegoDr, I gave your request a try. I don't know if it is what you were hoping for, but I designed three different versions, intended for a 4x2 brick. The first one is black with plain letters, the second has some emboss effect on the letters to give the illusion of depth; the third one is based on the image you provided, complete gold lettering on a blue stone background with screws. I hope this meets your requirements! If you like it, you can download & print it using this .pdf: http://s000.tinyuplo...237854716470772 Which version of the arm guns do you want - the green ones from TESB or the red ones from ROTJ?

* Warning: this topic contains major spoilers about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Only proceed if you have seen the movie or don't care about spoilers. View at your own risk! Hello there, I am fairly new, but I want to get deeper into the topic of customisation. I have already done a small number of customs with decals and am now trying to improve my skills and my work. I think I can do about "anything" on the technical side, but certain design choices seem to be my weakness; I want my designs to look as similar and in line with official Lego designs as possible. And right now I am working on a minifig that I strongly desire, but that has not officially been tackled yet (even though it's just a matter of time): Luke Skywalker from The Force Awakens. Prior to the movie's home release, it's hard to even come by decent pictures for reference; most of them are blurry and have faulty colors (I'll go see the movie a third time in cinema just to make sure ). I still tried my best though, but I feel like it could be a lot better; for that, I would be very grateful for your input and feedback. Any comment would be greatly appreciated! Any thoughts/comments so far? How do you like it? How could I improve it?

My attempt at using the new carbon freeze chamber set for some iconic scenery. I am not too pleased yet, though, but it is a start somehow. I think modifying this set for more authenticy and setting up some decent lighting could work wonders.

That's cool, I really like it! Small, yet so effective.. and the lighting is spot-on. Was it "all natural" or was it altered in post?

I think this is a very neat little moc. I haven't played the TIE Fighter game yet, but I like the cutscene - it has a very OT-style vibe to me. I think your moc captures the scene pretty well! The only thing I find a little bit disappointing is the missing shot no. 2 from the scene, a closeup of Vader. I think that would add a nice image to your collection! Apart from that, the corridor design and the lighting look pretty good to me. As a fan of play features (I have an eight years old nephew :D ), I also appreciate that you can open up the set with hinges. Overall, I think this was a neat little effort for capturing a very cool EU scene. Well done!

Well, I am always intruiged for more! If you update the design and have more pictures to show, make sure to present them here! I'd love to see it!

That was a great review! No hard feelings for the cell phone images - everything was clear and sharp and we got a great look at all the necessary bits! Thanks for all the work you went through, it is much appreciated since I have considered buying this set for about two weeks now! About the set itself, I think I will pass this time. I am glad that I purchased Anakin's interceptor and I think its design with the flight controls and the deeper astromech droid socket is superior. Even though I really like the color scheme of this one, I don't need two ships of so similar design to stand around (yes, space is an issue for me right now :(( ), especially when this one feels like a step down from the previous one. The R4 minifig, though.. I'd love to have that one, it's so cool. Maybe I'll be lucky and get one sometime for not too high a price. I really like them little droids. Oh and vectormatic, kudos for your amazing black interceptor! I think it's stunning, especially that the Darth vader minifig fits in it! I'm definitely in love with that!

This is excellent! Even though in hindsight, I considered Thrawn to be way too mary sue-ish, I liked the Zahn books a lot and your moc does a fantastic job of capturing the atmosphere in Thrawn's personal command room. The hologram with projections is an interesting idea. The brick-built holograms of the art works though, those are simply stunning! Simple and effective! A great build overall! If anything, I would live to see an even bigger moc of those exact scenes.

Small and neat. I really like that building style! The moc really begs to be expanded upon now, though :D I think it would go nicely with a landing platform of some sort attached to it? I am curious, do the doors actually open?

Looking good, almost flawless! I wouldn't spot the difference to the undamaged ones. This is truly some impressive effort right there. How many hours have you invested in this process so far?

I see! That's some interesting details right there... I guess I am not that much of a "purist" person in that regard. I don't reall care about the facial expressions... they are wearing helmets after all :D

I bought this set a day before christmas because it was 20% off, so I got it for around EUR 24,-, which is an OK price, I guess. Having built it yesterday, I have mixed feelings about it. This is such an iconic place from TESB! But I think the set is a little letdown, actually. I think it's just WAY too small. The minifigs are awesome and I appreciate them - it's my first flesh Han Solo and I also like the updated carbonite block (I still have the one from set 4476, like 15 years ago!). But to truly represent this awesome place, the set simply feels way too small. I see the reason for basically cutting the platform in half, playability and such. But I think the whole mechanism as to how the "freezing" works is just too off. I would prefer the Han Solo minifig to be lowered into the bottom of the set and then being replaced with the carbonite block instead of the rotation thing. Also, the folding staircase makes little sense. All in all, I do appreciate the set because of the minifigs and the general theme. Also, the ugnaught is funny. But I think overall, the set lacks some serious scale and completeness. When I finished building it, I had the immediate desire to widely expand on it in order to better represent one of my most favorite scenes from the movies. But then again, the design is kinda too special for me to just add to it, because I lack most of the necessary parts.

I can well understand and respect that, I am not too fond of the animated series myself But as far as I see, the minifigs seem to be identical. TBH, I didn't even realize that it is labeled as rebels until now So I am quite happy with the purchase More on-topic: after removing the print, did you notice any change in the plastic's surface at all? Because when I did print removal from torsos and faces, I ended up with the plastic looking less shiny and a little dull and I don't know how to work around that

Great effort! I tried print removal before and I know how hard and time consuming this is. You are doing a great job here. Might I ask, though... if you are doing this for army building's sake and to add to your stormtrooper collection, why not simply buy set 75078 – Imperial Troop Transport instead? It's the same price and it comes with four regular stormtroopers which you don't need to remove the battle damages from. Is this set not available in Poland? Because here in Austria, there's plenty of them. /* Hooray, after years of lurking, it's my first post here today!