Lobot

I'm really surprised how cheap this set is going to be, I was expecting at least £80. I'll never understand the pricing of sets, comparing this to others of a similar(ish) size: 7879 Echo Base @ £91.99 (768 parts) and 9516 Jabba's Palace @ £119.99 (717 parts)

I'm quite impressed by this, although the price is a bit nuts I don't normally buy PT but I'll probably get this when it's on sale. Some strategically positioned LEDS will really add to it Is the main window a single piece? I just hope that it's not one of those (awful) heavy plastic 'curtains' that I've seen in one of my nephew's POTC sets. It's soo nice to see non-cw figures.

Thanks for the comments everyone, really appreciated I originally had far bigger plans for this, but I'm buying parts for another Lego-related project which is taking up most of my spare time & money! All 6 sets are running from 1 Lego 9v battery box, without any problems. I haven't tried but I'm confident that it would take more as they're very efficient. I bought one of the Technic diggers (8043) last year and it ran 4 motors and 4 'actuators' (basically hydraulic rams but without the oil) all from one box.

My entry for the Episode II CB: (link here) Cheers, Robin

This is my entry for the Episode II CB. This is built using a couple of screenshots from the film. It's the part where C-3PO gets his head ripped-off in classic GL comedic-style, allowing for yet more (humour) later in the film. Perhaps it's me but didn't this sort of happen again in Episode V....you'd have thought they would have built him a bit better. But I digress....! I tried to make it fairly accurate, but I added a little 'artistic licence' in a few places to make it a bit more interesting! I'm moderately pleased with the results, illuminated with 6 sets of Technic LEDs. I wanted to make the 'welding arms' better, but was limited by a lack of talent and parts! Anyway, I hope that you like it. C & C welcome My favourite angle: From above: Another angle: Side view: Cheers, Robin

Hi, I've just checked mine (purchased new) and it has: 3 x bag 1 3 x bag 2 2 x bag 3 3 x bag 4 2 x bag 5 1 x bag 6 1 x un-numbered (plus 2 small ones with perforations, although I think these were within the larger ones!) I've just checked the weight of my Falcon (inc minifigures, but without the flick-fire missiles!!) and it's 1507g, so if the total bag weight is around this you should be ok. Cheers, Robin

Thanks for the photo Brickadeer. I didn’t bother with last years, but this one looks a bit more interesting. If Amazon UK sell it for around £25 (like they did last year) I might grab one. The models are a bit on the basic side, but at least it includes a half-decent selection of minifigures. I really don't understand the 'festive' Darth Maul...what were they thinking

I managed to get hold of 11 of the Star Destroyer (30056) today, as there weren't any restictions. The WHSmiths I went to had boxes of them; I got there early and there were only 10-15 people waiting. I really don't understand the negative comments about the promo; 30p for 40+ parts and you get free paper to use in your composting bin! I need to keep 3, but if anyone wants to trade the others (8 available!!) please PM me with your offers! I'm happy to post abroad. Cheers, Robin

Wow, that's looking really impressive! The tower is excellent; did you use some of the parts from the new Jabba's Palace? It will be great to see the final version, keep up the good work

Great review, thanks! This is a definite purchase for me; it looks like a really good set & at a reasonable cost. The only thing I'm not too sure about is the 'boot' printing on Boba Fett....

Thanks for all of the photos! Jabba's palace & the skiff are on my shortlist, I just hope the palace is discounted in the UK, otherwise I might have to wait for a sale. The set looks far better than I expected and, oddly, the back of it looks really well finished. Would it be possible to do a review of the palace, or alternatively could you add some more photos of it & the minifigures?

If you're only missing a few of the more common parts the official Lego replacement service is very good: (link here) Cheers, Robin

Thanks for the comments everyone, really appreciated I'll try & do a more interesting set next time! It's one of the disadvantages of living in the UK, we don't get the new sets until a lot of other countries have, so it's difficult to find any that haven't already been reviewed. Yes, you're correct, sorry about that! I was actually trying to build it as fast as possible so that I could get all the photos taken in natural light; I didn't push them in far enough, which also explains why they fell off a couple of times

9495 Gold Leader’s Y-wing Starfighter Box weight: 701g, Dimensions: 48cm x 28cm x 6cm, Parts: 458, Cost £49.99 (UK) Minifigures: 3 (Princess Leia, Gold Leader & R5-F7) Lego details from S@H: 'Begin the attack on the mighty Death Star in the Y-Wing Starfighter! Recreating the intense finale of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Fly Gold Leader Dutch Vander over the Death Star in his Y-Wing Starfighter with bomb load-and-drop function, dual flick missiles, opening cockpit and rotating cannon turret. Then use the medal and Princess Leia at an award ceremony! Includes 3 minifigures: Gold Leader Dutch Vander, ceremonial Leia with medal and R5-A7. •Includes 3 minifigures: New Gold Leader Dutch Vander, ceremonial Leia and R5-A7 •Features Y-Wing Starfighter and 2 blasters •Y-Wing Starfighter features dual flick missiles, bomb load-and-drop function, bombs, opening cockpit and rotating cannon turret •Award the medal of honor with ceremonial Leia! •Y-Wing Starfighter measures over 16” (41cm) long’ To be honest I wasn’t that impressed by this set when it was released. However, at midnight on the 4th May I decided to take the plunge; a standard cost of £49.99 seemed a lot to pay for 458 parts, but with the inclusion of a TC-14, mini TIE-Fighter, Poster & free shipping it suddenly became a lot more attractive! Anyway, onto my first review, I’ve included Han in some of the photos for scale. Box & contents: The box art is really nice (apart from Darth Maul...anyway, moving on) with a nice image of the Y-wing in mid-battle with an unseen Empire. Oddly I think that the back is nicer than the front, I love the dark blue background. First impressions on opening the box were less impressive, as it was half empty! I never understand why Lego insist on making such big boxes, as it must really add to their shipping costs, but I guess that it looks more impressive on the shelf. Anyway, you get a single 55 page manual, DSS and 3 part-filled bags. After the initial ‘how can this cost £50?’, I was actually quite impressed by the variety of parts included, and it was great to see some alternative colours from the default ‘bley setting’ that most SW sets I’ve built seem to have. Front of box: Reverse: Contents: Minifigures: The set includes 3 figures; a cute Princess Leia (in Ceremonial dress), Gold Leader (which is a standard rebel pilot from what I can see, but perhaps I’m not discerning enough) and R5-F7. I’m surprised to say that he’s the best of the bunch by far; no photos that I’ve see do him justice – the printing is just beautiful He has a series of silver ‘wedge’ markings on the top of the dome, and lovely dark-red detailing. Princess Leia has a ‘happy’ and ‘stern’ face, I’m not sure which one I prefer. The silver detailing on her torso is well finished, and adds a nice touch. Minifigures: The build: I’ll admit that I’m a conformist; I’m never late for work, I put my bins out on time, and I’m happy to queue, but as far as Lego goes I’m a rebel....I hate the idea of numbered bags and refuse to use them & I also usually build on the carpet!! It wasn’t the most challenging of build but I guess that it shouldn’t have been. If I hadn’t stopped to take photos, it would have been less than an hour. You start by building the main hull, then the cockpit & finally the two engine sections. For the first time ever I kept the ‘flick-fire’ missiles attached, they fit nicely into the hull and don’t look like the (usual) afterthought...I’m also a complete sucker for trans-neon green, it reminds me of the Space Lego of my childhood. I've included phots at 10 page intervals. Result after 10 pages: Result after 20 pages: Result after 30 pages: Result after 40 pages: The result: I’m surprised by how much I like this. I normally prefer larger (UCS) sets as the system ones usually leave me with a slight ‘underwhelmed’ feeling after I’ve finished them, but after all they’re designed with 8-14 year olds in mind rather than someone in their mid-thirties!! Being objective it’s a nice design, instantly recognisable, with some nice ‘greebling’ touches and reasonably scale. It’s quite solid and would survive a vigorous ‘swoosh’ without falling to bits, although the front cannons are a bit delicate. My only real complaint is that the landing feet look very basic and are too small. Something similar to the design of the current system Falcon would be a vast improvement; it would also help to raise the entire ship up a little, which would be better for displaying. The underside also looks a bit ‘unfinished’ whilst I’m being picky and would benefit from a few extra parts. In an ideal world the design would have allowed the droid to sit facing front, but I can see why the compromise was made. All done: R2 & R5 have a staring contest: Final thoughts: This is expensive, especially when compared to the current X-wing which is the same price but has an extra minifigure and 102 more parts. Logically I should have purchased the X-wing, but I’ve always preferred the design of the Y-wing, it looks like the sort of ship that the rebels would have built in their equivalent of a ‘garden shed’, lots of awkward angles, exposed sections etc, the X-wing looks too refined to me! The minifigures are nice, with R5-F7 & Princess Leia being the highlights; I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t include a rebel technician as one would have been a nice addition. The build was interesting and the set includes a nice range of parts and colours. In conclusion, I don’t regret adding this to my collection but I’d recommend waiting for the next sale before ordering one! C & C welcome.

Congratulations to both of you, well deserved! I'm sure that you'll continue to maintain KimT's high standards. Personally I don't think that I need that much moderation, although others may disagree!

Stunning work Cavegod, I just love the new photo of it Regarding the question of cost, I did a couple of calculations. This is really 'bucket' chemistry (especially the estimate of inflation/cost of plastic) but it might give a rough idea of what it could be: UCS Falcon, relased 2007, cost £350, net weight 6,298g so: Price estimate by weight: Falcon £350 / 6,298g = £0.055573/g x 7,516g = £417.69 (plus inflation @ 30%) = £542.99 Price estimate by parts: Falcon £350 / 5,195 = 0.06737/part x 6,000 = $404.23 (plus inflation @ 30%) = £525.50 Yes, I know I really should get out more!!

Well spotted. Damn it, all hope completely dashed (again), perhaps one day it might happen

As this is the rumors thread: (link here) Perhaps I'm an eternal optimist (at least as far as Cloud City goes), but it does seem strange to release the new Lobot minifigure on his own...... I'm sooo excited!! A new Cloud City, it must be too good to be true!!

Thanks for the photos, both of these sets are really growing on me! I just hope that Jabba's Palace isn't an exclusive, or limited edition in the UK. Do we have an 'official' release date for them yet?

The first of my 3 orders arrived today (the others are being shipped); I'm really pleased with the TC-14 it's sooo cute! I haven't opened it, but there isn't any scratching on the chrome so, hopefully, it's not a common problem. The printing looks really well done.

I made three orders (two just after midnight on the 4th, and another on the 5th) and they're all still 'In Process' so I hope the UK are a bit less efficient than the US! I received an email today which said that the Boba Fett keychain I added to both of my first two orders was out of stock; how could that happen as it was within the first 30 minutes of the promo?! I don't care about the keychains, I just want my 3 TC-14s!!

I've just ordered the Space Shuttle (10231) from UK S@H and it included the poster, Mini-TIE & a TC-14! I'm surprised that it added everything even though the order didn't include any SW....perhaps they've got a lot of spare promo stock and have removed any eligibility rules (apart from the minimum spend). The website was working fine for me, although my email confirmation hasn't arrived yet.

I managed to put in two £50+ orders just after midnight (including a Christmas present for my nephew!), and both times a server error message appeared after it generated the order number. One of the orders was pure Lego SW, the other included £49.67 of SW but I added another technic item to take it above £50. In both cases it included free shipping, TC-14, poster & mini TIE in my order. The servers aren't coping very well though as 8 hours later I've only received 1 email confirmation! I just called Customer Services & they have both orders, so I'm happy!

I think these are 20% off, rather than 25%! Still good deals though, shame I have both of them. All of the other reduced prices are still more expensive than the usual Amazon price....I'm still undecided.

And they're back...be warned! (link here) The same seller has just advertised several high value sets at very low prices, the feedback looks very dodgy! I've reported them all to Ebay