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

Hello party people!

Why are you party people? I don’t know…because when you have LEGO in your life, you’re always having a good time...

Nailed it.

So this is the final blog on the new Stars Wars sets. That is, until they come out with even newer Stars Wars sets I guess.

Good news for me! I mentioned to my bosses that I wanted to get a LEGO set to play with, (you know, so I could actually feel like a LEGO fan) and Ryan ended up buying me Rey’s Speeder!! Which was exactly what I wanted! Yay!

I haven’t had time to build it yet, but at some point I’m going to put it together and let you guys know my actual thoughts on the set. And not just my thoughts on someone else’s thoughts.

Speaking of that, let’s take a look at the final two new Star Wars sets…

First Order Special Forces Tie Fighter

LEGO’s description:

Intercept and destroy with the battle-ready First Order Special Forces TIE fighter™!

Intercept the enemy with the impressive First Order Special Forces TIE fighter™. The unmistakable shape of this iconic starfighter signifies the military might of the First Order, and features a 2-minifigure cockpit that opens from the top and bottom, 2 spring-loaded shooters and a rotating antenna for homing in on enemy starships. With this great model, you can recreate the epic excitement of Star Wars™: The Force Awakens. Includes 4 minifigures with assorted weapons and accessories: 2 First Order TIE Fighter Pilots, First Order Officer and a First Order Crew.

The Basics: $69.99, 517 pieces, 4 minifigures

The TIE Fighter is quintessential Star Wars. Even if people don’t know what it’s called, they would at least know from looking at it that it’s from Star Wars. There have been previous LEGO TIE Fighters, but this one is for the new bad guys, the First Order.

Here is the LEGO box next to a picture from The Force Awakens:

Also, here is a picture from The Force Awakens of a crashed TIE Fighter. Notice the red stripe. That’s new.

The Ultimate Collector Series TIE Fighter is humongous with 1,685 pieces and is sold for $200. This new set is a much more manageable build, but with a relatively hefty price tag at $69.99.

In fact for The Brick Show’s Stephen and JANGBricks, the price was pretty much the only negative for this set, but it was a big one. When looking at customer reviews on Amazon and lego.com, I found many more fans echoing that sentiment.

As one reviewer put it, “I would recommend this set if it weren't for the price but because of that I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.”

Stephen from The Brick Show points out that $40 would have been a great price because it would allow fans to buy multiples so they can build a little TIE Fighter army. If you can buy multiples at the $69.99 price, well….where do you work, and are they hiring?

Stephen is so down on the price of this set that he thinks people should wait till it goes on sale to purchase it. He says, once the hype dies down sometime after the movie comes out, LEGO will put some sets on sale and this will probably be one of them. It is worth noting though, that one of the previous TIE Fighters that LEGO put out has been retired and is now being sold secondhand for about $200. So maybe your investment now can still pay off in the end.

So after all this whining about the price, is there actually anything good to say about this set???

There definitely is. Both Stephen and Jang thought it was a fun build and price point aside, both really like the set itself. Stephen points out that the size of the set is perfect for being able to pick up with your hand and play with it. I’m assuming he’s not talking about….no, no, no, I won’t go there.

Anyway, the only other issue with this model besides the price is what Jang discovered, which was something that Stephen didn’t seem to realize in his review. On top of the TIE Fighter, to one side, there is a cannon-like weapon that moves up and down. Stephen immediately thought this to be a weapon of some kind. He referred to it as a cannon. But Jang points out in his review that in the LEGO description, as seen above, it is referred to as “a rotating antenna for homing in on enemy starships.”

The problem is, it’s not supposed to be an antenna. It’s supposed to be a gun turret, because that’s what it is in the film. Jang knows this because the other toy companies that came out with TIE Fighter toys designed theirs that way. This is more proof that LEGO received the designs for these vehicles a while ago (over a year), but that they were given very little information outside of the designs. Jang was very disappointed about this mistake on the part of LEGO’s designers, but even though LEGO designed it as an antenna, I think it can still work as a turret. Stephen already thinks it is, and since I watched Stephen’s review first, I thought it was some kind of cannon as well. So there you go.

Jang’s favorite thing about this set was the canopy pieces. Those are basically the doors to the cockpit. There were three. One in the front for the pilot, one in the back for the gunner position, and one on top. The canopy pieces all have nice print on them (no stickers!) and make use of a transparent red color. This allows you to see the pilot, even when the canopy is closed. Also, the two canopies that are not for the pilot seat have a cool matte finish. Again, no stickers necessary. The look this gave the canopy reminded Jang of an old republic sith mask. He assumes this similarity was done intentionally.

Here are some other highlights for this set:

• Dual spring loaded shooters
• You can put minifigs in front and back of Fighter, as well as place them inside from above.
• There’s a gunner position
• The 4 minifigures are First Order crew member, First Order officer, and 2 First Order TIE Fighter pilots
• The TIE Fighter pilots have a cool new head piece that actually has a little hose coming off to make it look like it attaches to their torso/suit

So that’s the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter. Has this over-review deterred you or motivated you to make this purchase? One last thought on the ridiculous price: Jang says that despite the fact that you get 4 minifigures with this set, since none of them are very desirable in the eyes of collectors, the quantity does not warrant a price hike. Obviously LEGO thought differently. Here’s hoping it goes on sale sooner than later.

Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle

LEGO’s description:

Enter the battle with Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle™!

Enter the battle with Kylo Ren’s personal Command Shuttle™! This fantastic, highly detailed starship has loads of features, including opening front, rear and bottom storage bays; wing-mounted, spring-loaded shooters and detachable weapon racks. And when you’re ready for even more action, activate the amazing extending wing function! It’s time to hunt down the enemy and play out your own great scenes from Star Wars™: The Force Awakens! Includes 6 minifigures with assorted weapons and accessories: Kylo Ren, General Hux, First Order Officer, 2 First Order Crew and a First Order Stormtrooper Officer.

The Basics: $119.99, 1005 pieces, 6 minifigures

Here is a picture of the LEGO box, next to a picture from the movie. It may be hard to make out, but it kind of looks like a metal bird with creepy bright eyes coming at you.

My initial thoughts from looking at this set were that it would be well liked and a favorite of the new Star Wars sets. After watching the reviews by The Brick Show and JANGBricks, my enthusiasm was dampened a bit. Not to say that this isn’t a really cool set, but it could have been a little bit better according to these two reviewers.

As usual, the price was a little high for both Stephen and Jang. Not as bad as the TIE Fighter, but a tad too much. The coolest thing about this set is without a doubt, the wings. That being said, it’s also the most disappointing part.

As you can see in the picture from the movie above, the wings are supposed to flex out, almost like a bird. With the LEGO set the wings do not move. They are rigid. Perhaps this is another case of LEGO not having all the details when they were first given the designs. Or perhaps this was caused by some laziness on the part of LEGO designers. I’m going to doubt it was the latter. LEGO designers are not lazy.

So that lack of detail is unfortunate. One cool thing with the wings though is that they fold down, like for when the ship is in landing mode. Here they are being folded back up:

There is also a part that folds out at the bottom of the wings to make them longer. To do that though, you have to be holding the vehicle in the air or place it on a stand. Jang wishes LEGO would provide stands for sets like these so fans can get more use out of features that prevent the set from being able to sit on a regular surface.

Stephen from The Brick Show’s main issue with this set was that it was maybe a little too big to appeal to the younger fans. Especially since it’s a toy that you need to hold up in the air to play with. Although Stephen can pick it up with his adult hands okay, he worries about how well that will work for kids.

Stephen likens this set to the Ultimate Collector Series sets, which are all enormous from what I know. Those sets are more for display and not about play-ability. This set should be focused more on play-ability.

The big draw for this set though is Kylo Ren, who I believe is pretty much the Darth Vader of this new trilogy, or at least a Darth Maul.

The Kylo Ren minifigure is pretty cool. He comes with a hood, a tattered cape, a mask of some sort, and the new lightsaber. Jang likened the mask to an orangutan. And that’s not a compliment. There has been some criticism of LEGO’s version of the lightsaber, but Jang thought it was just “fine.” I can see why he wouldn’t give it a glowing review though. It’s not very detailed or interesting looking. But then again, most of LEGO’s weapons and accessories seem like that to me. That’s why we have BrickWarriors! :D

Other highlights:

• Comes with General Hux minifigure that has some nice “matte action” on his helmet
• Also comes with First Order officer, First Order Stormtrooper officer, and 2 First Order crew members
• Spring loaded shooters that are nicely integrated deep into the wings – offers a nice splash of color

• Space for cargo or more minifigs
• Pilot seat with head rest
• Nice windshield look outside cockpit
• Wings are sturdy
• Engine detail is proportioned right
• Solid build, with a lot of interlocking elements

Despite the large and heavy size messing with the play-ability, Stephen thought this was a “nice build.” He gave it a rating of 6.5 to 7 out of 10. So again, he’s not super excited about it, but he’s content.

Jang likes it overall, but like everything else, thinks it’s a little pricey. He thinks if they had designed it so the wings could move, then the value would be justified.

So that’s it. We covered all seven of the new Star Wars sets. Which one was your favorite?

I of course loved Rey’s Speeder, which I am very excited about experiencing first hand. I also really like the look of Poe’s X-Wing Fighter. I think it would be really fun to play with. 

Please let me know your thoughts as well.

That is all for this week. I am off to Chicago tomorrow morning, which is why I am posting a day earlier than I normally would. I’m sure you all noticed.

I will be representing BrickWarriors at Brick Fest Live. It’s October 2^nd-4^th at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. You can get more information here.

I can’t wait to tell you all about my trip next week. Until then…where can I get some good deep dish pizza in the windy city?

*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.*