Vectormatic Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 Hello fellow star wars fans! This is my first review, pictures were done with a cell phone on my desk while building, so please excuse me for not delivering the AAA grade reviews of some others on the forum Now that we've done some expectation management, lets talk about why i got this set. Last year i got really interested in Jedi Interceptors, partially due to this set being announced. I didnt quite like the old 75038 set with Anakin included (i was never a big fan of him), so i elected to build my own blacked out version for Darth Vader (which appears in the Tarkin and Rise of Darth Vader Novels, at least the first is official Disney Canon). Then more details surfaced about this set, and i wasnt happy. There were quite a few changes in the wings, mostly for the worse in my opinion. Then when i saw the price had been raised €5 in my country compared to the previous version, i set my mind to making another Eta-2 from scratch, this time for Obi Wan. But after a few evenings of frustrating myself on bricklink i came to the conclusion that bricklinking a red version of 75038 would end up costing me quite a lot more then this set, and be quite difficult. Some of the main culprit were the 3x8 wedge plates in dark red, only 2 of these were available in my country, yet the 75135 set included them. So i figured, ill buy the set, that way ill get the official minifigs, stickered flags, and some usefull parts should i decide to still go the 75038 route. Anyway, enough yacking, here we go! Name: 75135 Obi Wan's Jedi Interceptor Theme: LEGO System / Licensed / Star Wars / Episode III Year: 2016 Pieces: 215 Minifigs: 2 minifigures Price: GBP 19.99, EURO 29.99 (EURO 34.99 in the netherlands) Resources: http://brickset.com/sets/75135-1/Obi-Wan-s-Jedi-Interceptor The instruction booklet, nothing special here really, but a nice shot of our favorite Jedi in action The ever dreaded sticker sheet, quite a lot for a 215 piece set, but 75% of the surface area will go onto the radiator panels The components are spread over three bags, notice how bags 1 and 3 are numbered like we are used to, but bag 2 has a different style print. I personally havent seen this style before Time to get stuck in! Obi Wan and the other contents of bag 1, Obi is looking a bit worried! Worried Obi Wan, and even more worried Obi Wan, we will see later on why Obi Wan is so worried. Overall it is a very nice minifig, dual sided head, leg printing etc. The headset print on both his head prints makes for a very convincing pilot look, but limits the use of this particular fig for setting up other scenes, wouldnt want to have Obi Wan distracted by his headset while slicing battle droids in half now would we? Random shot of the instructions, they are your typical 201x type lego instructions really, again, nothing special. Obi Wan with the result of bag 1, a cockpit and four spare pieces, among which a spare lightsaber. Notice the new engine design. I quite like the new technic design for attaching the engines and cockpit cover, but the engines themselves look like a step back compared to the previous interceptor On to bag 2! R4 surveying the parts for one of the wings, quite a lot of nice dark red in here! And we have a finished wing, along with a spare cheeseslope, small republic logo and lightsaber hilt/blaster barrel. The wings gave me mixed feelings, some parts are better, some parts are worse compared to 75038, but i was positively surprised compared to my rather negative expectations On to bag 3! Bag three has no more minifigs, just parts for a wing, and blaster bolts. This was an interesting point in the build, both wings are identical in setup (unlike 75038), but rather then a droid seat, this wing has a blank insert to fill the gap, the insert is secured to the bottom exactly the same way as the droid socket on the other side. Switching the droid to the other side, making a no-droid or even two-droid interceptor is quite trivial with this design, and i like it! Wing 2 finished, spare parts are a red cheeseslope (pictured), and another black lightsaber hilt (not pictured, BAD photographer!) Obi Wan with his finished interceptor, it is a fine looking ship, but he is still looking worried, why would that be? (also, check out all those tasty spare parts!) Uh oh... "Where do they expect me to put my lightsaber in this thing?" Now we find out what Obi Wan was worried about. Contrary to Anakin's model, the assembly droids forgot to put a lightsaber storage in Obi Wan's craft. The instruction manual even has you put Obi Wan in like this, lightsaber raised and at the ready to slice his cockpit window and vent all air into space! Also notice the lack of controls or dashboard, another step backwards in my opinion "Hmm, this will have to do, but those droids will get a piece of my mind when i get this fighter back to the factory" The lightsaber beam fits into an empty slot behind Obi Wan's seat, but he has to hold the hilt himself, leaving one less hand for the controls. What controls you ask? I dont know.. Notice the cool scratchmarks next to the cockpit denoting how many droid fighters Obi has bagged in this little puppy, looks like he is quite the ace, despite hating flying. Cockpit closed, Obi ready to go! Conclusion: Overal im positively surprised by this set, the build is nice and interesting, and quite different from its predecessor. These differences result in some improvements (the wings feel thinner and sleeker, the droid socket and blank on the other side arent as big), but also quite a number of regressions. The stickered grey wedges on the inside edge of the wings, the inward angle of the leading wing edge, the bulges next to the cockpit, the depth of the droid socket and the engine design all feel like a step back compared to Anakin's Interceptor. The bottom of the cockpit feel slightly sleeker then the old version, but the front view now has a rather ugly studded technic 1x4 brick rather then a boat hull piece. I will certainly be taking a close look at this design to perfect my own Eta-2 design, but this set itself will also undergo quite some modification before im happy with it. To the less critical star wars fan, this is an excellent set, the Dark Red is nice and vibrant, the stickers on the wings and radiator panels add a good bit of details, which would have been impossible without stickers (on the radiators anyway), so while im not a fan of stickers, they do add a lot in this set. It also brings us our favorite Jedi, Obi Wan, and his trusty Sidekick R4-P17, in what is arguably the sexiest Eta-2 in the Jedi fleet. Verdict Time! Playability: 9/10, extremely swooshable, radiator panels open, and the missile launcher are cool features, one point deduction for the missing lightsaber storage Design: 7/10, It looks good, but is a regression in many ways on the old Interceptor, the symmetric wings are a cool part of the build though. I also dislike the reliance on stickers for the grey bits on the wingtips, it seems lazy compared to the old brick-built design Price: 6/10 Too high, €35 for 215 parts is crazy, especially considering the old version was €30 (which is passable for a set this size) Overall: 7.6/10 A cool swooshable interceptor, left down by its price and the comparison to its older brother, but a better choice then bricklinking a red Eta-2 (right now), and a good base for mods Bonus picture of Obi Wan and Vader flying side by side! Any tips and criticism for future reviews are welcome, and if a mod could add a poll, i'd be very grateful! Quote
LegendaryArticuno Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 This set is an absolute disaster. I have no idea how Lego somehow downgraded on the design so significantly from just one year prior. -More than double the amount of stickers -Exposed Technic bar on the front facing cockpit -Droid placement way too shallow IMO one of the worst sets I've seen in many years. Quote
BigEl Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 This set is an absolute disaster. I have no idea how Lego somehow downgraded on the design so significantly from just one year prior. -More than double the amount of stickers -Exposed Technic bar on the front facing cockpit -Droid placement way too shallow IMO one of the worst sets I've seen in many years. Completely agreed. Its a good review, but in my opinion the final score is still too high (7,6 out of 10 is still a very decent score). Its too expensive, its too many stickers and the droid looks completely off. In such a case I would actually prefer if Lego just went for an extra Droid head to simply place on the wing (or at least suggest people to do so with the one R4 you get). Just mind boggling how they made it worse in several ways, to me its basically a useless set (especially for the price). Quote
Tariq j Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 Very good review, I am going to get this set but it will require some extensive modding... Quote
Dameronian Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 Great review, baffling set.. Looks like the astromech is basically standing on the wing and beeping flying instructions at Obi Wan... Quote
RetroInferno Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 Jesus Christ... that set's value is almost as bad as the 2015 Infiltrator. As itself it's already average but at that price point it's quite poor. Quote
Sucram Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 I hate how high the astromech is, what the hell??? Quote
YellowCorvette Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 Thanks for the review, but this is still another set I won't want to buy even in a discount. The underside looks too blocky with the new build and I hate the way they build the astromech slot. Quote
brainless Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 notice how bags 1 and 3 are numbered like we are used to' date=' but bag 2 has a different style print. I personally havent seen this style before[/quote']They used the same style for some bags of the 75105 Millennium Falcon (some numbers were double with both styles) Quote
atlas Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 This set is an absolute disaster. I have no idea how Lego somehow downgraded on the design so significantly from just one year prior. -More than double the amount of stickers -Exposed Technic bar on the front facing cockpit -Droid placement way too shallow IMO one of the worst sets I've seen in many years. Why are people complaining about the stickers on this set? It would be ideal for the flag pieces to be printed on both sides, but that doesn't appear to be a likely prospect. More stickers are required to accurately portray the outer designs on each each wing foil. I am pleased by the inclusion of stickers to emulate the greebling under the foils and the angles of the red designs on each wing. The kill tallies on each side of the cockpit are a nice touch. It is a toy, for 200 pieces you can't expect scale-model level detail and the sturdiness required to be kid-proof. The situation of the astromech is actually pretty accurate as well, the only issue is hat on the cockpit facing side, the rim of the socket is 1 plate too shallow. R2 and R4's shoulders are clearly visible in flight. Personally I am satisfied. I'm not expecting a model but a toy, and that's what this is. However there are several nice inclusions - as I said the stickers, Obi-Wan's headset print to couple with Anakin's from 75038, these are all things that I personally am really happy to be able to get, to include on a moc. Of course there are negatives but these are the same negatives that accompany almost all sets. Quote
brainless Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 imho printed bricks are better than stickers! Quote
arc Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) I'm not getting all the hate for this set, it's expensive sure, almost every star wars set is. It seems like a fine little ship to me. Edited January 9, 2016 by arc Quote
YellowCorvette Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 I'm not getting all the hate for this set, it's expensive sure, almost every star wars set is. It seems like a fine little ship to me. It's the build of the underside and the astromech droid slot that's upsetting. The way the underside built in the new Interceptor set cause the underside to looks blocky, less smooth and more unfinished than the previous versions. The build of the droid slot also caused the droid to looks extremely exposed and awkward when inserted in the slot. That's the reasons this set received so much hate. Quote
wilson3a10 Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 This set is an absolute disaster. I have no idea how Lego somehow downgraded on the design so significantly from just one year prior. -More than double the amount of stickers -Exposed Technic bar on the front facing cockpit -Droid placement way too shallow IMO one of the worst sets I've seen in many years. Yea. I noticed the droid placement is awful. The anakin's interceptor is better. Quote
Vectormatic Posted January 9, 2016 Author Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) Wow, looks like i picked quite the controversial set for my first review I agree with all you guys saying it is too expensive, and there are too many stickers, and perhaps i did rate it a bit high, but at the end of the day it is still a solid build, and the color scheme does wonders for the craft imho. Ill be modifying it, like any AFOL should, but that goes for nearly every set i buy these days. EDIT: as for the droid socket, i really agree that R4 is up too high, but on the other hand, the smaller bulge on the underside is a plus. Looking at some pictures from various sources, ive gotten to the point where i think the Movie Eta-2 utilizes TARDIS technology, if you check out this pic: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Obi-Wan_Kenobi's_blue_Eta-2_Actis-class_interceptor?file=ObiWanBlueEta2-ROTS.png We should be seeing a bulge underneath the craft to fit the droid's legs, since various R2 pics teach us that its side legs are roughly 1.5x the dome diameter in length, which just doesnt fit in this pic. My guess is they originally designed the Eta-2 to have a built-in astromech like earlier Jedi starfighter revisions, but then needed to fit a full droid to get R2 involved in the rescue of palpatine in the opening sequence of Ep III, they then didnt want to ruin the sleek look of the craft, and decided to use a plot hole to hide the bottom half of the droid Now back to the bricks, i dont think there is any way to make both the top and bottom of the droid area look right without going for a simple stick-on droid head, which again, isnt movie accurate Edited January 9, 2016 by vectormatic Quote
Davor Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 Nice review! I really like this set, at first I was a bit sceptical about astromech sticking out, but after finished build I can say the ship is great, looks really cool and this red color sheme looks aaaawesome. Only thing that is bothering me is open circle fleet amblem on wings that is faced wrong way. Quote
Vectormatic Posted January 9, 2016 Author Posted January 9, 2016 Nice review! I really like this set, at first I was a bit sceptical about astromech sticking out, but after finished build I can say the ship is great, looks really cool and this red color sheme looks aaaawesome. Only thing that is bothering me is open circle fleet amblem on wings that is faced wrong way. Thanks! After comparing this set to my modded 75038 some more, im liking Obi's interceptor quite a bit, the wings are definitely sleeker and thinner, and while they extend less far in front, they are actually longer, and cover more of the back of the craft (which i hadnt noticed about the old one until now) The droid socket will always be a problem with this craft, Lucas just made an impossible design, just check out this pic: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Vader's_green_Eta-2_Actis-class_interceptor?file=Darth%20Vader%27s%20green%20Eta-2.png Quote
Cody Startale Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 That was a great review! No hard feelings for the cell phone images - everything was clear and sharp and we got a great look at all the necessary bits! Thanks for all the work you went through, it is much appreciated since I have considered buying this set for about two weeks now! About the set itself, I think I will pass this time. I am glad that I purchased Anakin's interceptor and I think its design with the flight controls and the deeper astromech droid socket is superior. Even though I really like the color scheme of this one, I don't need two ships of so similar design to stand around (yes, space is an issue for me right now :(( ), especially when this one feels like a step down from the previous one. The R4 minifig, though.. I'd love to have that one, it's so cool. Maybe I'll be lucky and get one sometime for not too high a price. I really like them little droids. Oh and vectormatic, kudos for your amazing black interceptor! I think it's stunning, especially that the Darth vader minifig fits in it! I'm definitely in love with that! Quote
Vectormatic Posted January 9, 2016 Author Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) That was a great review! No hard feelings for the cell phone images - everything was clear and sharp and we got a great look at all the necessary bits! Thanks for all the work you went through, it is much appreciated since I have considered buying this set for about two weeks now! About the set itself, I think I will pass this time. I am glad that I purchased Anakin's interceptor and I think its design with the flight controls and the deeper astromech droid socket is superior. Even though I really like the color scheme of this one, I don't need two ships of so similar design to stand around (yes, space is an issue for me right now :(( ), especially when this one feels like a step down from the previous one. The R4 minifig, though.. I'd love to have that one, it's so cool. Maybe I'll be lucky and get one sometime for not too high a price. I really like them little droids. Oh and vectormatic, kudos for your amazing black interceptor! I think it's stunning, especially that the Darth vader minifig fits in it! I'm definitely in love with that! Thanks! The black interceptor is the same design as the yellow one, with some minor mods to the bottom and a color change, it is a work in progress though, this new interceptor has given me some new ideas about the wings, which i want to work into both of them, originally i thought i would mod the new red one entirely to the old design, but the old design has its flaws as well. EDIT: i also did a black version of the first V-wing, so Tarkin could fly along with Vader, but it looked pretty bad/boring, and im not a big fan of V-wings as it is, so that one ended up getting scrapped for parts again. Edited January 9, 2016 by vectormatic Quote
BigEl Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 I'm not getting all the hate for this set, it's expensive sure, almost every star wars set is. It seems like a fine little ship to me. Dude there is expensive and then there is absurdly overprized. And this Set, that probably has a sticker sheet thats wider and longer than the ship itself, is the latter category. @atlas Its too many stickers for the size AND the prize of the ship. 35 Bucks for little over 200 bricks and no printed pieces? WTF. Compare it to the SF Tie Fighter, who is also considered a bit overpriced but at least has 3 big printed dish pieces... Quote
Seaber Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 Nice review! I am thinking of getting a Jedi Interceptor, not sure if I'll go for this or Anakin's though. The reason I was going to get one was to make one for Vader, do you recommend Obi-Wan's or Anakin's for that purpose? :) I was also going to do an imperial V-Wing and ARC, but I think the OT is demanding all my money at present. Too many stickers, but overall this set doesn't look too bad IMO :) Quote
Vectormatic Posted January 9, 2016 Author Posted January 9, 2016 Nice review! I am thinking of getting a Jedi Interceptor, not sure if I'll go for this or Anakin's though. The reason I was going to get one was to make one for Vader, do you recommend Obi-Wan's or Anakin's for that purpose? :) I say bricklink from scratch, just take the inventory for 75038 and change all the yellow parts to black, get a few imperial emblems, and take it from there. The reason i bought this set over bricklinking a red version was that some part in 75038 are quite rare in dark red, but they arent in black, so chances are bricklinking from scratch will be cheaper then getting either set and modding it after the fact. You will need different minifigs anyway, and the stickers from either set wont work on a blacked out version Quote
Cody Startale Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) Thanks! The black interceptor is the same design as the yellow one, with some minor mods to the bottom and a color change, it is a work in progress though, this new interceptor has given me some new ideas about the wings, which i want to work into both of them, originally i thought i would mod the new red one entirely to the old design, but the old design has its flaws as well. Well, I am always intruiged for more! If you update the design and have more pictures to show, make sure to present them here! I'd love to see it! Edited January 9, 2016 by Poe Dameron Quote
atlas Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 Dude there is expensive and then there is absurdly overprized. And this Set, that probably has a sticker sheet thats wider and longer than the ship itself, is the latter category. @atlas Its too many stickers for the size AND the prize of the ship. 35 Bucks for little over 200 bricks and no printed pieces? WTF. Compare it to the SF Tie Fighter, who is also considered a bit overpriced but at least has 3 big printed dish pieces... Hey, I wish it was printed as well as being less expensive, but I have come to expect this sort of stuff especially after the Disney buyout. It retails at $45 here. For my purposes, (producing an accurate model), this set includes several things which are very useful for that. Otherwise I would not be as forgiving for what this set really is. Quote
MartinCliffe Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 Not sure if it is the same price as Anakin's in the UK or cheaper, but it's certainly no more expensive. The US / Euro pricing for these new sets is strange. Order them from Amazon in the UK - you'll save money! FWIW, I quite like this set, but I've made some minor mods - put in a control surface / display, sunk the droid socket (and the other side) in by 1 plate, and added a clip for the lightsaber, and that definitely helps. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.