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I was thrilled to death when I found out this had been accepted into the new canon. It's just such a cool ship, way more advanced than any other TIE, and completely awesome looking on top of it all. That realization just made me want this set all the more, but the original model is marred by a number of substantial flaws. So how about a before-and-after? Re-familiarize yourself with the original TIE Defender, a set I hardly ever see anyone talk about anymore. Before (click to enlarge) The original model definitely has the look (please excuse the ugly hairy appendage). The proportions and everything are good and the structural integrity is decent for the most part. You might say it's a little chunky looking, but it's hard to fault it much for that. Here's a close-up of one of the wings. It's simplistic almost to a fault. The 1x2 grills just don't work as wing frame braces, almost conveying a "pixelated" appearance from an old Atari game. The model also sported a swivelling cockpit, ala B-Wing. You could pivot the wings around in any angle, which looks cool but AFAIK is a complete fabrication on Lego's part on the actual capabilities of the craft. Here you see the pilot, awkwardly sitting inside of a completely featureless cockpit with no controls. Maybe he was trained by a Sith and controls the ship using the Force? After The new-and-improved TIE Defender. A close-up of the wings with a complete frame all the way around, and added center detail. Slightly modified cockpit. It now sits in a fixed position and no longer swivels independent of the wings. The pilot sitting with his new kitted-out flight controls! The "yoke" is the same used on the latest TIE sets. The original model cockpit opened from the top -- the roof and front dome all one piece. It was LAUGHABLY fragile, using a ratcheted hinge that was much too strong for its limited support. A much smoother, wider hinge is now used at the bottom -- WAY more durable and a much more silky movement. --------------------------------- The TIE Defender is an amazing Imperial craft. It looks wicked, and has that too-good-to-be-true, almost fanfiction quality that you often see of Extended Universe creations in how seemingly invincible it is. The fact that the powers-that-be smiled upon it, and grandfathered it into the current canon via Star Wars: Commander is such an awesome move, and allows collectors of strictly "official" storyline Star Wars sets an excuse to add this one in with open arms. Hopefully it will start getting more attention now, and who knows? It might even make a cinematic appearance in one of the side-story movies!
