The Brick Connection– A novice Lego fan explores the great brick world of LEGO

Happy September 24th everyone! 

Sorry. I'm running out of fun greetings for you. 

I hope everyone enjoyed last week's in-depth overview of the new Star Wars sets. We're back at it again this week, talking about two more sets. Originally I was going to talk about the last four sets in one blog post, but instead, I will do two this week and cover the final two sets next week. In doing so, I've created another Star Wars trilogy! 

This week's sets are a part of the First Order. The First Order is an offshoot of the Galactic Empire, a.k.a. the bad guys in the original trilogy, which means the First Order will be featured as the bad guys in the new trilogy. 

Got that? Okay, now let's take a look at the post-Darth Vader bad guy technology, LEGO-style.

First Order Transporter

LEGO’s description:

Deliver troops to the battle with the super-tough First Order Transporter™!

Lower the ramp, load the troopers and get ready to transport them into battle! This heavily armored First Order Transporter™ is packed with cool features, like dual spring-loaded shooters, top-mounted dual-stud shooter and hatch with space for a minifigure, pilot cabin with opening hatch and space for 4 minifigures in the hold, big engines at the rear, and hidden, transparent wheels for a cool ‘hover’ look. You can also remove the top section for easy access. Get ready to recreate incredible battle scenes from Star Wars™: The Force Awakens! Includes 7 minifigures with assorted weapons and accessories: 2 Resistance Soldiers, 2 First Order Flametroopers, 2 First Order Stormtroopers and Captain Phasma.

The basics: $89.99, 792 pieces, 7 minifigures

Here is the box compared to a photo of the movie version:

The movie one looks really cool. Mostly because it’s just so damn big. The picture on the LEGO box does a nice job of making it look exciting too.

Stephen from The Brick Show actually reviewed this Force Awakens set first because after looking at all the pictures of the sets, he liked this one the best. Stephen’s favorite play feature is a knob that you turn to lift open a hatch and reveal a minifigure that controls the dual-stud shooter on top of the transporter. It really is a nifty feature. JANGBricks also quite enjoyed it in his review.

I enjoyed it so much I decided to make my very first GIF so I could show you how it works:

Yay GIFs!!

JANGBricks points out that on paper this isn’t the most exciting Star Wars set. In fact, the idea of building and playing with a transporter is kind of boring. Which makes sense seeing as this vehicle is more about utility than excitement. But despite the lackluster concept, JANGBricks gives high praise to the designers of this set for getting as much excitement out of it as possible. In fact, both reviewers called it a fun build.

Both reviewers also said that the main draw for people buying this set will be the minifigures. There are seven of them, but Captain Phasma is the one everyone is going to want.

Fun fact: the actress who plays Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, portrays Captain Phasma in The Force Awakens.

This is awesome on so many fronts. First of all, she’s amazing! Second of all, a female captain of The First Order??? Yes please! Girls can be evil too. And not just "evil" as in some guy’s nagging wife or judgmental mother-in-law. Also, this suit:

One interesting note is that Captain Phasma’s head when you take it off is just a blank black head. JANGBricks speculates that LEGO designers might not have known who was playing Captain Phasma when they designed the minifig. They may not have even known that she would be female. I'm sure LEGO designers were only given just enough information about the film to design these sets without being able to give anything away. 

Other highlights:

• Captain Phasma’s cape 
• 2 First Order Flametroopers. They have jetpacks!!
• Top comes off nicely to reveal roomy interior for stormtroopers and others
• Pilot cabin on top with easy slide-in cockpit for pilot (I resisted the urge to make a dirty joke. You’re welcome.)

• Ramp drop mechanism
  

• Engines are securely in place at back of vehicle making it okay to handle the vehicle by the engine when moving it around
• JANGBricks’s heart is warmed by the idea of having the original blasters (guns) back for the minifigures.  (I guess they went away at some point.)
• Has a “hover” look to it

Despite its somewhat steep price, this seems like a good buy if you can afford it. Heck, I know I was convinced by these reviews. I was also convinced that I am even more excited about the new movie than I was before.

I learned a lot of stuff I didn’t know about the new film from checking out these reviews and researching the first order transporter. Guys. This movie. It’s gonna be good. It’s gotta be good. Or I will burn Utica to the ground. (TV show reference. Don't worry about it.)

First Order Snowspeeder

LEGO’s description:

Send in the rapid response First Order Snowspeeder™!

Call in weaponized support with the First Order Snowspeeder™! With a crew of three, this rapid response vehicle features a forward storage compartment, fixed stud shooter in the cockpit, two rapid-fire stud shooters built into the engines and transparent wheels hidden out of site for a true ‘hover’ look. Now you can recreate your own great scenes from Star Wars™: The Force Awakens. Includes 3 minifigures with assorted weapons: 2 First Order Snowtroopers and a First Order Snowtrooper Officer.

The basics: $39.99, 444 pieces, 3 minifigures

There’s no picture out of the film’s Snowspeeder, so here’s just a picture of the LEGO box:

The Star Wars website did offer up this description though: “The First Order deploys these fast, maneuverable gunboats for combat in subzero climates.”

This is the first set where we find a significant difference of opinion between Stephen from The Brick Show and JANGBricks. JANGBricks called it his least favorite of the seven new sets. He thought it could have been smaller and therefore cheaper. There are 444 pieces and yet the actual vehicle is relatively small. It only fits 3 minifigs and 3 storage containers filled with studs.

Hold up! There are storage containers?!

Yeah, so that is really lame. Stephen from The Brick Show on the other hand had a low opinion of the set going in, but had a change of heart. It was the last of the new sets he built because from just looking at all the sets, he found it to be the least desirable. But after building the snowspeeder, he warmed to it. He said it was a bigger and better build than he thought it would be. So he liked the size, unlike Jang. Jang thought it could have been more like Rey’s Speeder in terms of size and therefore could have had a more reasonable price tag. Stephen thought the price would have been more reasonable if there had been more minifigures.

Stephen’s remaining issue with this set is that he has no context for it. No one knows yet what this snowspeeder is in the world of Star Wars. So like with the other sets, he and everyone else can’t pass a complete judgment until we see each product in the context of the movie. Which is a great excuse to revisit these sets and reviews after the release of the film. (Now just 85 days away!!!)

Some other highlights:

• Gunner position up front (but gun doesn’t turn side to side, only up and down)
• Two seats in the back, including pilot’s, with back rests
• Clips in the vehicle for hanging weapons
• Six shooters built on front of engines on each side. Fun play feature – twisting the back of the engine to shoot the studs

• Clear wheels on the bottom give it the hover look and allows it roll across flat surfaces nicely

• Decent amount of stickers (which I’ve learned is sort of a bad thing)
• 3 Snowtroopers, one of which is an officer with a cute little mini cape, similar to Captain Phasma’s

Despite their different opinions on the final product Jang and Stephen both agreed that it was a nice build. This is something that I’ve realized is very important for LEGO fans: How much joy you get from the actual building process. I look forward to experiencing this joy for myself in the future.

So that's our first look at the First Order. Do you guys think they can live up to the bad guy standards that the Galactic Empire started? One thing's for sure; there will never be another Darth Vader. 

Before I sign off for this week, here's a little piece of LEGO Star Wars trivia for you. When the LEGO Group originally acquired the rights to the Star Wars universe in 1999 it was the first time LEGO took on a non-original story and characters. Meaning, for the first time LEGO was creating products based on someone else's brand. Of course now LEGO does that all the time with Harry Potter, The Simpsons, comic-book superheroes and more. 

LEGO® Star Wars is now one of TLG'S most popular themes. The licensing deal was renewed in February 2012, 8 months before the Star Wars production company, Lucasfilm Ltd. was sold to The Walt Disney Company and production of a new Star Wars trilogy was announced. 

Pretty nice timing for the LEGO Group. The licensing deal will be up for renewal again in 2022 and I think it's safe to say both parties would be wise to stick together. LEGO and the Star Wars franchise are a match made in toy heaven. 

Thanks for reading everyone! Please take the time to leave your own thoughts about the brilliant partnership of LEGO and Star Wars, especially if you've had a chance to play with the new sets. And once again, please check out The Brick Show and JANGBricks. They post a lot of great video reviews of LEGO sets along with lots of other LEGO-related content.

Until next time....may the September twenty-fourth be with you.....Oh man, I've really lost my edge.  

*Compliments, general feedback, and constructive criticism are welcome. Any haters that are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate can go step on some Lego with their bare feet.*