Rufus

Thanks for the video, Christian! All the summer release sets look great. As cavegod says, GG Starfighter has printed or stickered cockpit; looks much better! It also appears to have flashing lights - don't know if thats Power Fucntions or if they've just mocked it up for the display. Looks like Han in carbonite is reversible. Aayla Secura looks well cute (in the classical sense, not the American one ) I think Slave-1 cockpit is also stickered or printed.

Err... no, my original post drew attention to the original pic (left) being exactly the same, just a lower quality pic. As to the box picture 'clearly' having 3 sides, believe what you want; I really don't think TLC would go to all the trouble of making a whole new mould just because a few EB members didn't like the first one. I suggest we agree to differ and kill this discussion before a Sith Lord does it for us.

The cockpit piece is exactly the same (green). The built model is just lacking the opening mechanism that you can just make out in the box pictures (yellow).

I'm with you, BC, I think the Wampa looks fab.

Hmm... I'd nevernoticed the black hands; will dig mine out and have a look. I can safely say that the grey in the set is 'new' bluish grey. This set was released around the time the greys changed; however as far as I know, this set was only ever produced with flesh figures, which arrived after the grey change. 4500 Snowspeeder came with new greys and yellow figs. So it's a reasonably safe bet this feller has new grey (bley) hips. Hope that helps. Edit - I checked, mine is the 'standard' trooper, white hands, with slightly paler printing (left), so no, can't help.

Creator sets are all about the alternative builds, and some are really well done. I agree that the Licenced Themes don't really need them; most people (well, ALOLs at least) are buying them to recreate scenes and expand their collections. The recent City sets - certainly the smaller vehicles - are so good they sell themselves without the need for alternatives, which might look a bit lame compared to the main event. I don't really miss the alternatives; I can't think of a time I ever tried to build one when there weren't instructions. As to the 'Just Imagine' slogan - yeah, I liked it (hey, it's better than 'Hey!'), but look what happened to the back of the UCS Rebel Blockade Runner! [edit - 'Hey!' added]

Hate to repeat myself, but the cockpit hasn't changed - we've just got clearer pics (thanks KimT). On the left is the original pic, blown up, on the right is the latest pic. If you look closely, you can see the original cockpit has 'shape' too. R

I don't think Grievous' starfighter cockpit is any different to the earlier prelim pics; if you look closely you can see that the built model's cockpit is mounted incorrectly. The prelim pic on the box is the same as we'd seen earlier but clearer (I think). It still looks odd to me - the 'real' one should be more rounded. Link I wouldn't be surprised if the final set has stickers to make the cockpit look closer to the real thing.

There are many great Hoth dioramas on EB but yours wins hands-down. The attention to detail is superb. I never thought anyone could improve on Lars' snowspeeder, but I think you've proved me wrong! Simply amazing

I'm with you on this. I cut my baby teeth on Technic; I had a bit of trouble with the gearbox on 8860, but I was only 8. The destroyer droid was far more complicated than anything else I'd built, and stil is today. The first time I built the motorised AT-AT was fine, but then when I moved house I took the legs of without disassembling the whole model... when I put them back on, and tried to make it walk, it fell over! It was quite hilarious to see, I wish I'd made a video. I had to strip it right down to a point I could match to the instructions and build it from there.

I don't know whether these are official Lego numbers; I doubt it as I imagine Lego index them by their individual part IDs. More likely these numbers are created by the bricklink database (eg. an autonumber function) and probably represent the order they were added. The missing numbers probably represent deleted entries (most databases 'remember' deleted numbers to prevent indexing problems). I'm just speculating, but I hope it helps. R

Aha! Since someone has bumped this thread, I feel I can comment. This was one of my first ever sets - I seem to remember it was my 6th birthday present. I still have it today, but it's not in nearly as good condition as yours, Brickster. Interstingly, in the UK this set was known as 928 Space Cruiser, and the smaller 924 was Space Transporter. I still have a dog-eared 1978 catalogue with this info; will post some day.... (reminiscing) Happy days.....

Well, I'd seen a sneak preview of this review in the Academy, but now I can comment. This is a super review - you've made an average set look good! I love the opening shot of Maulie with the ship in the background. I didn't realise there was an opening storage compartment. Personally I think the cartoons and multiple alternatives are overkill, but I wonder if it was done because at the time Lego weren't sure how well the SW line would do; nowadays the sets sell themselves so they're not necessary.

Zoiks! Those are fantastic B wings, nicely done! I love seeing detailed minifig-scaled ships. What are the elastic bands for? I presume they help to hold the shape of the rear of the cockpit.

I just checked: my rebel troopers from both 4500 and 7130 have grey legs and white hips (new bluish grey and old grey respectively). All my other Hoth rebels, including the Hoth Officer from the new BP (but not the newly uniformed troopers, obviously) have white legs and grey hips. I'd never noticed this! Thanks for pointing it out.

Thanks, Bonaparte! That's made my day!

Great review Mikey. You beat me to it - I'd taken the pictures and everything - but I don't really have anything to add to yours (except perhaps less blurry pics! ) The new piece used to hold the windscreen on does indeed solve the door problem; feels a bit like cheating to me, but judging from the reviews I've read of other doorless trucks the presence of opening doors is important to Legoites. I'm a sucker for Lego trucks, and I love the 6-wides. Personally, I think this is a great set; I don't really have a problem with the exposed ends of the tank pieces. My main criticism is the low clearance of the large plate under the back wheels - there's only a plate-height between the base and the road; I worry about my poor legodude grounding his truck. Luckily there are no 'traffic calming measures' in Studsville. (do other countries have these, or is it just the UK?) The coupling between the tractor and trailer is a blue half-axle connector; the truck seemed a bit too long to me so I moved this connector one hole back on the the trailer which seemed to improve it without restricting movement. This set is a must-buy for Town truck fans. Lego has come a long way since this set, from my early childhood: Rufus

Big Cam's persuasion skills strike again. May I join the ranks? Rufus

Smokebelch, that's fantastic. I don't know if you can do this with the form code, but if you could superimpose the two shots so that the second shows eg. with a mouseover, you'd have a great animation. Might want to move Han's Tauntaun a bit closer though. Just an idea! Amazing stuff. I wish I had the time & expertise to take shots like these. Rufus

Thanks for the comments! What what?? Thanks! That wasn't my intention, but thanks! @TLC - where's my cut? Flattery will get you everywhere. (scuttles off to join academy)....

Thanks everyone for the comments I'm so glad you noticed that. Thanks! Perhaps the Billund air goes stale, and that's why they reduce the price?

Woah that's impressive Do you have a shot from the back?

Ooh, so it is! I didn't even notice. It's not that obvious in 'real life'. As you wish ... 'mafraid I don't have any other PT clones to hand to compare.

Eurobricks, I bring you another new review: 8091 Republic Swamp Speeder Shop @ Home says: Set Number: 8091 Name: Republic Swamp Speeder Year of Release: 2010 Pieces: 176 Figures: 5 Price: £29.99* | US$29.99 | EUR 36.99 | AU$ 59.99 * I paid £39.99 in TRU!! I was robbed. It’s a TRU exclusive, which apparently means they can charge a £10 markup, which they’ll knock off later when no-one buys it, except mugs like me. Was it worth this exorbitant price? Let’s see… The box Front Note the Limited Edition logo. Back The box opens with thumb tabs at the side, but I used a knife. And on the side, the reason many will buy this set: The box is quite big: 380 H, 260 W, 55 D (mm). Billund air comes at a premium these days; fortunately 8091 comes with plenty: The Contents Tipping the contents out, we find three bags, not numbered, the instructions and a small sticker sheet: The Instructions are clear, with about 5 parts per step; I didn’t find any colour issues: Pieces There are a few pieces of interest: 3x1 tiles, nice printed computers (the only printed pieces in the set), and of course Barriss (yes, she has tan skin): Minifigures: Let’s have a look at the figs. First off, the bad guys (or so we are led to believe at this stage… ): Nothing too exciting, if you already own lots of these. Personally I have few battle droids (and no SBDs) so I’m happy. The Republic peeps: Despite this apparently being a Clone Wars set, Cloney has a PT-style helmet and black head. Let’s have a closer look at Barriss, caped and uncaped: She has a black cape and hood, and it’s not easy to see but she has blue torso printing (front-only) with girly curves like Juno Eclipse. Barriss Offee - who is she?? The name seems vaguely familiar, but I might be thinking of Barry at the office. According to Wookieepedia, she was the padawan of Luminara, and was apparently featured in the Geonosis battle scene in Episode II. I don’t remember her. Her Order 66 death scene was cut from Ep III, it seems. Perhaps a CW fan can fill in more details. Here she is in the flesh, as it were: (image from Wikipedia) I prefer her in plastic. I think Lego did a good job! And finally, the speeder: After about 40 bricks, the base is taking shape: An interesting technique is used to keep the front underskirt ‘smooth’: Control seats are added, one on each side. You can just make out the little black levers; their attachment to the studs beneath is a little weak but it means you can swivel them easily so the figs can grip them. The steering mechanism is simple but clever: And there’s another new design of flick-fire missile. Woo-hoo. The complete set (I didn’t apply the stickers): Barriss: Turn right, Cloney! There’s some of them battle droids over there! Cloney: Where? I can’t see - I can’t turn my helmet! And I have no eyes. Barriss: Blast, you can’t control this thing whilst holding a lightsaber. Why don’t they give us somewhere to put it? What Barriss doesn’t know is you control the speeder by twisting the rear engine, which turns the front wheels in the same direction, along with the flick-fires. Too bad if you want to go right and fire left. The treadless wheels don’t grip well on smooth surfaces, but work reasonably well on carpet. The turning circle is quite wide, so I wouldn’t want to park this thing at the supermarket. You can also spin the fan on the engine. Woo! Here’s what the speeder should look like: (Wiki again) Overall: It’s all about Barriss. The speeder is quite nice, and the steering and flick-fires make for playability I suppose, but on the whole it’s not greatly exciting. I don’t know how this fits in with the Clone Wars story, but unless they produce more Episode III-like sets this is going to look lonely on the shelf, if it doesn’t get demolished before then. Barriss, on the other hand, will proudly join the other Jedi in my collection. Design: 3/5 The steering mechanism gets it some points, but otherwise it’s a little plain. Looks like the real thing, simplified. Build: 3/5 Half an hour or so and not particularly challenging Playability: 5/5 The speeder might be fun to push around the floor for a while, and you could have a mini battle between the figures. Figures: 4/5 A new Jedi, and it’s nice to see the PT clones again, but a lot of people will groan at more battle droids. Pieces: 3/5 Not many people will say ‘At last! 3x1 tiles!’ but some will, I’m sure Price: 1/5 There’s no excuse for this. I don’t like price ranting, but this set has 10 pieces more than the landspeeder, and the same number of figures, yet is £5 more expensive at RRP. Not to mention the extortion of Toys R Us! Overall: 19/30 (63%) You’ll really have to want Barriss. Hope you enjoyed the review. C&C welcome! Rufus Why battle droids never rest: