When 7778 MIDI-scale Millennium Falcon was announced with a preliminary (read as: leaked) box shot, people were up in arms about this set. Most of the complaints were focused on the odd scale. “It won’t fit with the rest of my collection” was a pretty common sentiment around the community. I, for one, and maybe a few others, saw the genius in this new scale.
Ah, the V-19… one of the more old school looking ships to come from the prequel trilogy. Folding wings, big engines, what’s not to like?
I received my order for LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary from Amazon.com yesterday. Sadly, this is probably the first book I’ve read since college.
Now that it’s out of the way, I promise that I will not use that absurdly over-used line from Ackbar. This set has a special place in Star Wars lore, because we helped to contribute to the ideas. That’s right, FBTB, me, you (well, not you over there eating paste), the community, we all helped give ideas towards this set. Okay, I’ll admit, this was my second choice (I wanted the Senate arrest and the glorious jedi that would come with it), but it’s still a nifty set.
Magma-wha? Manga guard? What does this have to do with anime? Oh, Magnaguard. Okay.
On to this review business.
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Blah blah blah, you know you’re just here for the pictures. And man are they good. Clickity clickity cloo!
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When I first saw the Granite Grinder on the shelf at Target, I thought “Dawww… how cute!” And I continued along my merry way, not giving it a second thought as I drooled over meatier offerings like the 8960 Thunder Driller and the 8961 Crystal Sweeper.
The next time I saw it was in the hands of a fellow member of the Los Angeles LUG, and I got to see it in action. When I saw what this puppy could do, I had to have one.
So does the set rock or is it fool’s gold?
Déjà vu: the feeling or sensation that you have done something before. Long had I thought such a feeling was a myth or simple rationalization to the human mind’s ability to recognize patterns. And then I picked up 7751 Ahsoka’s Starfighter and Vulture Droid, and throughout the process, had a feeling that could only be called déjà vu. Okay, let me preface this whole thing with one comment- I like this set, I bought it because I wanted the Twi’lek that isn’t a Twi’lek (I have a theory about that, it’s because George Lucas wanted more money, and can make more action figures). The droid is slick and unique (guilty confession, but I love the R2 droids- not talking Don’s in-the-bushes-with-binoculars level here, but seriously, who can’t love these guys). But there are three of the large Jedi Starfighters (I’m sure there’s some official name for these – I don’t care) and three of the small ones (okay, four, but two are the same yellow one) at this point.
Note, stay tuned for some updated pictures!
I don’t have Obi-Wan’s RotS starfighter, but if someone would like to send me one, contact me and I’d be glad to provide an address. Not just that, but at this point, we’ve also had a few different Vulture Droids, the other half of this set.
When I first heard there was going to be a Separatist gunship in Episode 3 during the battle of Kashyyyk, I remember thinking “Ha! Droid gunship? No way that could take on a Republic gunship!” I didn’t think the Separatists could come up with anything that could top the Republic Attack Gunship for sheer firepower and awesome. Then I saw the movie, *briefly* glimpsed the droid gunship in it, and thought nothing more of it. Its role was so small, and we didn’t get to see the inner workings of it like we did the RAG. Simply put, I didn’t know *what* to think of it anymore. “Meh” would be a fitting description.
Putting this set together, I thought back to those first impressions. Were they right?
I’ll preface this review by saying there are not many vehicle designs from the Prequels or Clone Wars that I like. It’s not that I’m biased against anything prequel-related; it’s just that generally I don’t find the designs very inspired.
That said, the TX-130 fighter tank that the Republic Fighter Tank set is based on is one of my favorite designs from the prequel era of Star Wars. From it’s first appearance in the Clone Wars video game, to Battlefront, the fighter tank is a solid good guy vessel for ground warfare. Bristling with cannons, turrets, missiles and more, the Republic’s clones are in possession of a death-dealing machine that has the droids shaking in their racks. I loved the design so much that in 2004 it served as the inspiration for my own 3vil Hovertank.
So now you know where my bias lies. I love the fighter tank design, so I had high hopes for the Lego rendition. Did it live up to my expectations?
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