Fallenangel

Please, read what's been posted before posting yourself - it makes the thread so much easier to read. As I've said before, given the nature of Limited Edition sets, 9495 shouldn't be too different from 7658, which is great since the latter has appealed to so many people. It would be nice if they gave Dutch his headset back, though unlikely, since Porkins didn't get one. Seeing as he's already got a chin strap and goggles, a headset would complete the print.

This isn't directly related to the question, but might I ask how exactly you came to this figure?

I wouldn't say it's 'lovely' or 'one of the best', but I do agree that the bulky approach, while not entirely fitting of the X-wing, is quite interesting (and in any case, those who wish to see a sleek X-wing need look no further than Tiao's).

Being the FOL that I am, I'm always on the lookout for new LEGO X-wings in the community. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had missed something posted earlier this week on Flickr: From the looks of his photostream, '✠.Andreas.✠' builds mostly military/sci-fi/mecha MOCs, so it's no wonder I've never heard of him... he may even be a member here, I don't know. Moving on to the MOC - there is less of a focus on accuracy and more on SNOT and greebling, which is understandable, since he doesn't seem to build much Star Wars. Those 'split-cylinder' engines are nice - they're very clean, and make good use of that curved piece (a truck fender or something, right?) Also, take a look at those SNOT wings... look familiar, don't they?

Reminded me of this...

And Boba needs a firing jetpack too, right? The old method works fine - there's hardly any need for a new mold, and in any case poor playability is inherent in LEGO minifigures. It's hard to tell by looking, but as Aanchir said, the end of the half pin is compressed - it's no different from forcing the pin into the underside of a 1x1 brick. If you try putting the pin into a Technic pin receptacle you'll find that the fit is looser (assuming that the pin stays there in the first place).

With this.

In the interest of keeping this thread readable, let us redirect our speculation to within the Future Star Wars Sets thread, please...

To each their own, I suppose. Though I wasn't referring to accuracy at all - I simply felt that the realization of the essence of the source material was less than successful in these planet sets due to the limitations of the medium in this particular size range (i. e. around the size of the planet mold).

The more I look at the sets in this new line, the more I see them less as representations of ships from the Star Wars universe than as potentially useful parts packs with spankin' new 'figs.

While it is no question that minifigures do play a large part in selling a set, I feel that they should not be so detailed as to overshadow the quality of the actual building toy. Sets like 7676 provided both good minifigures and a solid ship with a great build - the attention lavished on the ARC trooper and Gree minifigures point toward still further upsetting of this optimal balance.

The MINI ARC-170 is superb - the use of minifigure hands to represent the rear cannons is quite clever, and the clip assembly for the S-foils works well. As you said, everything just seems to 'click' at this size. That's also some very nice SNOT work in the hangar.

I thought the 'Phase 1.5' ARC was a bad Photoshop job the first time I laid eyes upon it. The combination of the Phase I fin with the Phase II air filters and visor is simply bizarre.

On the contrary, the craft in the planet sets strike me as rather awkward in appearance due to their unusual sizes - it's as if the set designers tried to beef up a decent-looking MINI and failed. The N-1 is fat and the TIE/In is sloppy - simply ridiculous in comparison to the wonderful TIE pilot and N-1 pilot minifigures. I'd have to agree with Clanure that this line has high-quality minifigures but is ultimately a disappointment as far as the actual builds of the sets go. Modular Buildings, here I come...

I honestly have no problem with the classic Luke minifigure - he was simple yet recognizable, having just the right amount of 'LEGO' for a minifigure. Not only that, but parts that were more generic meant that it was easier to make your own minifigures - not to mention the fact that simpler minifigures are cheaper. There is little point in putting this much care into something that has relatively little play value and aren't as easily compatible with building elements, especially when the sets that they come in are sloppy and <insert that tiresome argument> in comparison (as evident in the new Planet sets). The minifigure need not play this large a role in the desirability and overall quality of a set.

It's nice to know there are AFOLs who aren't absolutely waxing lyricals over this.

The obvious choice would be: "O brave new world,/ That has such people in't!" Also, the WWI-era Soviet Union if Trotsky hadn't been ousted or what would have happened if the Bay of Pigs invasion had been successful. For topics with less political gravitas and more lending to re-enactment, there's always the French Revolution with aliens on the rebelling side, Alexander the Great with WWI-era cavalry at his disposal, or the Garden of Eden in the 21st century. (I'm trying to pick things that would be easily recognizable as visuals.) @brickmack: I highly doubt it would have been that simple... but that's a discussion for a different kind of forum.

Since the Doctor is out, allow me to inform you that the second black figure in your photo is actually a shadow stormtrooper. A Dark trooper refers to any of several armored combat droids and exoskeletons resembling stormtrooper armor. Great photos and a great review.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that the printing on some of these new minifigures is ludicrously excessive. That ARC trooper is more decorated than the Boba Fett minifigure from 10123! It doesn't seem reasonable to put such a detailed minifigure into a set intended to be bought in bulk - deviations from the usual 'plain' minifigure are more than acceptable, but not on a relatively minor characters in sets as small as this one - it ruins the novelty and value of the heavily decorated minifigure. I hope that this does not become the new standard for minifigure printing - of course they are nice to look at, but the effect is lessened when there's an army of minifigures looking as if they were ordered off Arealight sitting on every kiddie clone lover's kitchen floor. I doubt that a beautifully printed 4cm figure will significantly enhance the building experience of an 8-year-old who will settle for the likes of this - not to mention that it would look completely out of place next to his blocky Jedi Shuttles, gappy Venators, and ugly Delta-7Bs. Megabloks, not again!

First, the studio miniatures used in the Death Star sequence didn't house full droids - a molded head and partial upper body were attached: Second, a plate is only 3.2mm in thickness - I'm more than certain that I've stressed 'limits of the medium' when discussing accuracy. Mirandir said that the Y-wing was a Limited Edition set (or something to that effect) so I expect pictures of it to come later than those of the main line.

I was wrong and there are no 8L bars to be seen on the new X-wing! Granted, the new laser cannons are rather blocky, but they do seem longer, and seeing as I intend to replace them with 2-wide cannons anyway, they provide some nice parts. The nose has also been shortened (15 studs from back of cone to hinge brick in 6212, 12 studs in this version) and largely tiled over. A vast improvement over the emaciated nose that the last rendition sported. The cockpit console is now raised to Luke's face! (This wasn't as clear in the last picture because of the watermark.) I'm not liking those cones behind the flashback suppressors - they're just too long. Hopefully this is a quick fix. Both Porkins' helmet and astromech droid are marvelously accurate! I'm assuming that 'Od 8 do 14 lat.' means the same thing as "8-14 yrs." - the age range has broadened? You can either use 2x2 radar dishes to capture the curvature or jumper plates for the correct width. Either way, you'll have to compromise.

I must thank you for this humorous yet thorough review of 7956, The Penguin! You've done a good job of highlighting the various odds and ends of this set with laughs along the way. Bloodthirsty Ewoks... The LEGO Group Pays Homage to Samuel Beckett:

Indeed. KielDaMan's and KimT's comments regarding the 'preliminary' nature of these pictures are more applicable to the minifigures than anything else. For those who intend to pick up the new TIE/ln - the cockpit and wing pylons of the TIE fighter and interceptor (the 'real' ones, not the sets) are more or less identical, down to the last miniscule kitbashed detail. In other words, a fighter-interceptor conversion is simply a matter of constructing a different set of radiator panels.

When building space themes, what kind of color schemes do you go with? Sci-fi builders, do you prefer angles or curves When you are building sci-fi MOCs what do you start with?

Come now, we mustn't discredit the fine folks who contributed innovative starship designs in the 60s and 70s! If we're going to mention unique ships, I think that the TIE/ln definitely deserves mention. You essentially have two hexagonal radiator panels surrounding a large metal eyeball propelled by two miniscule thrusters, bearing little resemblance to any conventional aircraft of the time. It's arguably one of the most "alien" (that is, strange or unfamiliar) designs of the films.