Peow's Passions: Princess Leia

Showing posts with label Princess Leia. Show all posts

04 March 2011

Lego 6212 - X-Wing Fighter

This is one of my favourite Lego sets. Together with the 6209 Slave I that I just reviewed, this set seems to be aimed at pulling new collectors into the Lego Star Wars line, given the appeal of the starfighter models and being chock full of mini-figures of the major characters in the films. The X-Wing Fighter is one of the most famous ships of the Star Wars saga. In the hands of the Rebel Alliance's brave pilots, the X-wing starfighter helped to destroy two massive Death Stars.

This set was purchased from a local Toys R Us outlet which had plenty of stock way back in 2007. I recall it being sold for $89.90 and this was offset by some TRU vouchers I had from credit card redemptions. Overall, this is a fairly fun-to-play-with set. The mechanical system that fold open the wings is fun, it's easy to hold and fly around, and with six mini-figures, there are really a lot of options when playing with this set.

The box, instructions and build aren't that special. In fact, the X-Wing model seems to be an exact re-release of the one from Lego 4502 (to be reviewed) which was released in 2004. Nonetheless, one could get this as a fleet builder. It's just so much fun seeing how all parts eventually fall into place and fit together perfectly. The construction isn't too complicated, since it is rather small (only 437 pieces), so young builders can have some fun too with this set, probably without help. What immediately struck me when building was the likeness to the movie models. Lego really did a more than great job on the designing part.

There are a couple of ways this set could be improved. Firstly, the front landing gear is very weak, and the X-wing must be put back very carefully if you don't want it to fall or break off. The cannons also seem a little short compared to the models in the film, where they go past past the cockpit.

One key attraction of this set is the number of mini-figures it came packaged with - six of them! Two pilots (including the first ever release of Wedge Antilles), Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and Princess Leia.

The finished set looks good, and even better with the S-foil wings opened to attack position. It also has a cargo hold and lots of authentic details. Lovely!

Box (front)

Box (rear)

X-Wing Fighter

Fits one R2 unit

Cockpit (canopy open)

Cockpit (canopy closed)

Customise your X-Wing with either Red Two, Red Three or Red Five colours

X-Wing Fighter (rear)

X-Wing Fighter (rear; S-foils in attack position)

X-Wing Fighter (front; S-foils in attack position)

Luke Skywalker (pilot; light flesh)

R2-D2

Wedge Antilles

Princes Leia (Hoth outfit)

Han Solo (Reddish brown legs with holster pattern; light flesh)

Chewbacca (reddish brown)

Instruction manual and spare bricks

11 April 2010

Lego 4504 - Millennium Falcon

I've been watching online auctions for this set for at least the past two years with many sets going for at least US$160 or more. I had a few near misses too with auction snipers snatching it from under my nose. Patience pays off one day when an email alert from ebay notified me of a "Buy It Now" auction at a fairly reasonable price. So it made its way across half the world and I built it this weekend.

It took me all of 5 hours or so to put together the 985 pieces. There was some monotony after a bit but it was a huge satisfaction to see it come to shape.

The ship is nicely detailed. The exterior is a good representation of the Millennium Falcon, and for play it can swoosh but care must be taken as its components do not have fantastic support. The interior is well detailed and very playable. There is the chess game area and the engine room. There is massive interior room and one could fit more figures inside. The top opens up like an onion and provides good access to the inside. It has a turret seat, an escape pod and a working ramp (although moving passengers along this ramp is impossible).

The cockpit is probably the only drawback as it only fits 2 figures snugly. The figures are great, but I was expecting to see Obi Wan AND Luke as they left Tatooine (even though it has Leia as in Episode 6). Also strange to have C-3PO and not R2-D2. The inclusion of an Imperial Snow Trooper and cannon is also odd and would have been a better fit with the AT-AT set. (EDIT 18 APR 2010 - I was informed by my brother-in-law that it's meant to commemorate Ep V... where Luke and R2 had departed for the Dagobah system to meet Yoda. Also, a snow trooper was seen hooking up a laser cannon to shoot at the Millennium Falcon as it makes its escape from Bespin).

This is also the first time I've seen printing a printing error in the instruction manual, which came with an additional B&W page with the correct pieces and instruction steps. The Han Solo figure in the manual had a tan body instead of navy blue.