Lobot

I've got mixed thoughts about them. On the plus side there's been one or two interesting ones (i.e. Lobot :wub: ) and they make a nice little presents. However, they're very expensive, and I think from an Environmental perspective Lego really aren't sending out the right sort of message; bulky to transport, lots of packaging for a small set and a big plastic sphere that has limited (if any!) use. To be honest I've thrown a couple of them away & I haven't ever done that before with Lego I don't think that running out of 'official' planets will be a problem if they decide to continue with them, as Lego are already using an 'Asteroid field' (or similar)....A Death Star II could be printed on a black, starry, background and would look reasonable.

A quick question: If an entry has a power source, does it have to be part of the structure (i.e. within the 16x16 studs) to comply with the rules of the small category?.....I don't want to be disqualified for a technic(al!) breach. Ideally it would be good to run a few connectors from the main 16x16 structure to the battery box, so that I can keep the photos neat & tidy. Cheers, Robin

I had a couple of hours to kill yesterday (car service) and I ended up walking past a small independent toy store which just happened to be filling their shelves with all of the new 2013 sets. To be honest I normally buy the bulk of my Lego online when a decent discount is available, but I was in a good mood and it felt nice to support them (and to buy from a store that actually pays some tax to HM treasury - UK EB members will know what I mean!) Anyway, I digress. This was the only set that jumped out at me when I first saw the 2013 line-up and so it wasn't too much of a struggle to buy it. Was I impressed? Read on and find out! Details from the Lego website: Help Luke escape the clutches of the mighty rancor! Build a famous scene from Star Wars™: Episode VI Return of the Jedi™ with this stackable set! Jedi Master Luke Skywalker is trapped in the Rancor™ Pit beneath Jabba the Hutt’s Palace and must escape. Look for a way out before the gate lifts and the mighty rancor makes an entrance! Battle the rancor with the bone before he eats the Gamorrean guard. Then, find the hidden compartment with a secret key or drop the gate on the space beast before it’s too late! Combine with LEGO® Star Wars™ 9516 Jabba’s Palace for a stackable scene with a trapdoor into the Rancor Pit! Includes rancor, skeleton and 3 minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Malakili and Gamorrean Guard. • Includes rancor, skeleton and 3 minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Malakili and a Gamorrean guard • Features opening gate, secret room and hidden compartment • Rancor features movable arms, jaw, hands and fingers • Accessories include bone, 2 keys, pitchfork and a bucket • Find the hidden key in the secret compartment! • Open the gate or smash it down onto the rancor! • Collect the first-ever LEGO® Star Wars™ rancor creature! • Rancor Pit measures over 6" (16cm) high, 7" (19cm) wide and 7" (20cm) deep • Combine with LEGO Star Wars™ 9516 Jabba’s Palace for a stackable scene with trapdoor into the Rancor Pit! • Rancor stands over 3" (10cm) tall RRP - £59.99 (UK), weight: 1,003g, Parts: 380 First impressions: The box felt heavy for its size, although there was a fair amount of empty space in it. It has the new 2013 style, which I'm still not sure about; I still have fond memories of OT Yoda in Episode V, sat quietly on a rock speaking wise words to Luke (i.e. in a non-CGI format!!) but that shows my age. Box front: Box reverse: Contents: The contents includes 4 numbered bags, 1 un-numbered, another containing the Rancor & a single instruction booklet (A4, 76 pages). Not surprisingly for a SW set there's a lot of grey, but it also includes some nice brown & dark tan. The set includes a nice range of parts and I'm sure that they will be useful for anyone who wants to MOC. The gate is the only part I don't like, it's a shame it couldn't have been made from smaller components. 380 assorted parts: Minifigures: The set includes 3-4 minifigures (depending if you count the skeleton, which I think is cute ) plus the Rancor. Both Luke & the Keeper have double-sided heads, the latter also has a sad face! I'm still not sure about the Gamorrean Guard, perhaps he will grow on me in time. Minifigures: Reverse: And finally the Rancor: I'm pleased that Lego has made him from several parts, rather than a single mould, so you build him. I was surprised how flexible he is; the legs are fixed, but his arms & hands have a wide range of movement. The designer has managed to strike a very good balance between it being movie-accurate & still retaining a 'Lego-like' style, not easy, all credit to them. Looking angry from the front: Looking angry from the reverse: The build: I really enjoyed building this, it wasn't overly challenging for a 37 year old, but it lacked the repetitiveness of other SW sets. The design is excellent & it includes lots of nice little features; the colour scheme is also very well done. I've taken photos of at different points of the build below: Page 15: Observant viewers will notice that there's a part missing...I spent a good 5 minutes trawling through everything, then eventually found it at the end of the build, old age I guess Page 30: The 'non-Lego' gate, it misses the point of Lego somehow! Page 45: Cave taking shape nicely Page 60: Almost done End result: Final thoughts: This is a very nice set. The minigures are all excellent, apart from the Gamorrean Guard which others have mentioned before. The part count is on the low side for a set of this RRP, but the cost of developing the Rancor must have been significant. It's fun to build and looks really good when merged with Jabba's Palace. Perhaps it could have been a bit larger....I can see now why the Rancor was so grumpy in the film!! 8/10 - Worth getting if you have the Palace, it's definitely one of the situations where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I hope that you enjoyed my review, C & C welcome. And finally: 'I've been a bit worried about my Rancor, he's been looking a bit off-colour. I've just given him something that's supposed to be high in Midi-chlorians....according to the vet he should be fine in a couple of days'

I couldn't resist: 'I've been a bit worried about my Rancor, he's been looking a bit off-colour. I've just given him something that's supposed to be high in Midi-chlorians....according to the vet he should be fine in a couple of days'

Hi, yes that's a lot better Have you considered adding some eyes (or at least an indication that it has some behind the fur?!) Perhaps you could make the 'fringe' a little smaller or spread out? (link here to reference) I think that it would give it more character & appeal. Cheers, Robin

I splashed out the Rancor Pit (75005) from my local toystore today, I haven't opened it yet but if feels re-assuringly heavy!

I just ordered the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia from Amazon (UK), it's reduced to £6.75 which was too good to resist (link here). They've also got the Visual Dictionary on clearance at £3.99!! (link here); I think that's the most expensive book I've ever owned....it wasn't the initial cost, but what I've spent as a result of owning it

Amazon (UK) have a couple of good book deals at the moment: Star Wars - The visual dictionary for £3.99!!! (link here) Star Wars - Character Encyclopedia for £6.75 (link here) Cheers, Robin

Hi bpbill, and welcome to Eurobricks! I'm a great fan of Bricklink & there are some great UK sellers; if you shop around you can get some great prices, especially for larger orders. You can always try Lego's 'pick a brick' (link here); they tend to be expensive for basic bricks (2x4's etc) but are quite often well-priced for plates. At the moment they're giving free postage for any orders above £50, which might be worth considering. Alternatively, have you seen the packs that Lego do of more 'basic' parts - try doing a search in Amazon for 'Lego basic' Cheers, Robin

Have you seen these on Ebay? (link here) I recently purchased a copy of one of their instructions & it's really impressive. The instructions were sent very quickly, via email, and it included a list of all parts required. I hope that this helps. Cheers, Robin

This is a great idea and the presentation is excellent, well done! I'm probably a bit of a Lego purist so, for me, the Bantha is far too 'cartoony'. Have you considered making the body with a series of sections, or including standard elements in the design (possibly the top of the back)? The official dewback model was very good, perhaps you could take some pointers from that? Cheers, Robin

I was in Sainsburys today and found this at 50% off. It seemed like a good opportunity to get one & do a review of it at the same time, as it hasn't been before, so here goes! AT-ST & Endor Series 2 Planet set RRP - £9.99 (£4.99 on clearance) To be honest I think that the planet series are massively over-priced, even by Star Wars standards. I'm not surprised that the majority of the series 1 & 2 have been seriously discounted here in the UK on a regular basis. The only other one I own is Lobot and the Cloud Car :wub: which I've bought twice (once for me & once for my SW obsessed nephew!). Anyway, on with the review. The box is fairly standard stuff, apart from the odd shape, lots of nice little details: Front of box: Reverse of box: The box contains the instructions, planet and two small bags of parts. The Cloud car was definately more full than this one. Contents: A nice mix, ideal for anyone who needs small light grey & dark grey parts! Sorry about the alignment but I was battling against the failing daylight! Parts: The build was very straightforward and easily accomplished by anyone in their mid-thirties, well late thirties in truth. The booklet is 32 pages and includes 17 stages for the AT-ST plus a further 7 for the planet. Interestingly, Lego have included some really helpful swimming guidance in their instructions, I haven't seen that before AT-ST swimming: The minifigure is obviously the main attraction for most. He's kind of cute for an Imperial and has a standard 'stern' and 'visor' double-sided head. The printing is very clean and is on both sides. He'll make a nice addition to my Imperial forces, which already outnumber my rebels. I'll do my version of the Endor battle one day; he will play a pivotal role by throwing numerous ewoks from the top of his AT-ST and saving the day....and the Death Star! I'll never understand why they didn't lock the top hatch so that Chewie couldn't open it, but hey, that's hindsight I guess AT-ST driver front: AT-ST driver reverse: The end result: Considering the small number of parts used it's surprisingly accurate. Admittedly it's no UCS model, but it will do nicely. The legs are a little awkward to position into the correct places, but it stands well. Final thoughts: At a RRP of £9.99 it's ridiculously priced, but at 50% off it's not bad at all. For that you get a nice minifigure, and a selection of small parts that would be useful for anyone wanting to SW MOC. I hope that you enjoyed my review, C & C welcome! I think that this has been done before but I couldn't resist: Mummy!:

Hrm, I'm not too sure to make of the Barge; the photo doesn't look promising at all but I've been fooled by prelims before (like the current X-wing for example). It's great to see an Episode II version of the Gunship, I might be tempted to buy this even though I'm not a PT fan.

I've only just noticed that the Snowtroopers have grey hands....why?? They'll go sooo well with the older, white, versions........!

Yes, it wasn't great. I waited until midnight last night and the few decent sets on sale were immediately marked as sold out, so I don't think that there was a great deal of stock available. I've been looking around & I haven't found anything that's a bargain, apart from the Endor Battle packs (9489) at John Lewis for £6 (link here) and the 'Battle of Hoth' game at Boots for £12.50 (link here)

Thanks for the review This looks a nice little set & is a must have for me. I'm really dissapointed that Lego didn't have 7879 as part of the sale today, as this would have worked nicely with it. It's weird that it's already available in other S @ H in Europe, but not the UK. I'm interested to see what the RRP will be, although I think that it's going to be rather pricey; anything above £40 will be ridiculous

Woolworths (UK) have the new A-wing in stock for £25 if anyone's keen to get one! (link here) Cheers, Robin

Thanks, that works out to be just over £30 in the UK, so considering currency 'anomalies' it should be around the £35 mark....actually for 426 parts it doesn't seem too bad! I'm surprised that it's available so soon, I assumed that it was a leaked summer set?

Thanks for the photo Solscud007 Do you know how much it was, and whether it's an exclusive/limited edition?

The shuttle is beautiful Doc, well done!! I agree with Mr Man, this is the best one yet.....although the little Gonk droid is very cute and deserves a mention! :wub:

7749 Echo Base 8083 Rebel Trooper Battle pack 8084 Snowtrooper Battle pack All new & sealed, impulse purchase from Ebay for £30....more Hoth goodness!! All I need to do now is to get 7879 when it's (hopefully) on sale from Lego on the 26th, I refuse to pay full price for it!

I've just noticed that Argos (UK) have 8096 Emperor Palpatine's Shuttle for £43.40 Including free delivery, I guess they must have found some old stock, as it's been discontinued for ages? (link here) It's a total bargain at that price :wub:

Thank you CopMike for running another great competition!! I've been checking this every day & was amazed today to find that my entry was used as part of the Advent calendar and that I've also won prize A! :wub: Good luck to everyone else who entered

I've just noticed that the new AT-RT set is available from Amazon (UK) for £19.99 if anyone is eager to buy one (link here) It's odd that it's the only one, everything else is still 4+ weeks delivery?!

I just ordered the Sith Infiltrator (7961) for £34.84 (44% off) from Amazon UK (link here) I just hate sales, I couldn't resist at that price