7201 Final Duel II

[Clone OPatra]

(Note: This review has been updated with new pictures and new content May 4, 2011)

I could have spaced the posting of my Reviewer's Academy reviews, but I couldn't see a reason too, and I wanted to share them with you all. Enjoy!

Set Title: Final Duel II

Set #: 7201

Theme: Star Wars - Original Trilogy

Year of Release: 2002

Pieces: 23

Minifigures: 3

Original Price: USD $6.99

Brickset Peeron

2002 was a nice year for LEGO Star Wars because it marked the beginning of Ep2 sets, and had some good OT ones as well. I picked up this set on discount at a KB Toys a while after its release, and while I don't remember the price I paid, it was better than the original one. Final Duel II was one of a four part Star Wars line of "battle" sets, I suppose. As is to be expected, there was a Final Duel I that had Darth Vader and the Emperor so that you could complete the scene. There were also 7203 Jedi Defense I and 7204 Jedi Defense II, to create the opening scene of Ep1.

Now enough with the background, onto the set!

INTSTRUCTIONS

My box is probably in a giant trash heap somewhere, but the instructions depict art design from 2002. These instructions are quite large for such a small set, and had to be folded to get into the small box, as I remember.

Here is the front:

A big open random page; it has somewhat of a technical background design, but really it does not need to be this big.

And the back. By 2002, the back of boxes and instructions had stopped showing alternate models, at least on Star Wars sets, so they advertised other sets instead.

You can read my review of 7139 (pictured there) here.

MINIFIGURES

The minifigures are perhaps the only draw of this set. This was one of three sets at the time to have a stormie (others were 7139 Ewok Attack and 7146 Tie Fighter). This is the second set to have that exact Luke with the young Obi-Wan face, but the first one to have him with one black hand! The Imperial also looks cool and is a fresh face (well, not the face ). This set was the only way to get an Imperial officer for some time.

There isn't much to see from the back (it looks like Luke didn't brush himself off since Tatooine) besides for the stormie print. At the time, not many figures had back printing, so this was pretty special. This set was certainly a great way to build a stormie army in the times before battle packs.

The stormtooper comes with one of the old style blasters (aka megaphone on fire), and Luke has his shiny chrome lightsaber. There was no violence in the scene of course, but that wouldn't stop a little kid from creating some.

Stormies have come in some different variants over the years. The one to the left isn't a variant per se, but it was a common misprint for the mouth to not be connected. I have a few like that. On the right is the newer, enhanced stormie with diluted pupils, dotted grey mouth, and darker torso coloring (in bley, I might add). Even though the newer one is a bit cartoony, I still prefer it because it also looks more intimidating.

There were several smilies in hats back then as well; from left to right, the pilot from 7166 Imperial Shuttle, our Imperial officer from this set, and the Naboo Guard that drove the 7124 Flash Speeder. They make a nice matching bunch, all lined up together.

PIECES

Wait, are you trying to tell me that that's it? Ten parts total? Yep, you got it. I told you that the minifigures were the only real draw of this set. Really, it's nice to get some black railings, and I think that the big black thing has great potential as a metal detector, but this has got to be one of the smallest sets part-wise that I've ever owned.

SET

The pieces come together to build… this. It's this puny platform, really nothing exciting about it. It's really way too small for the price point. LEGO could have at least put some sliding door action on this thing. I mean, I like the railings, and the big thing I use as a metal detector, but it should have been bigger.

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And, so as to make my review that much longer, here's a shot from the side. Not only is this one of the smallest sets I've ever owned, but it's also one of the stupidest. An impulse set that has a nice weapons rack would look better than this dumb walkway.

CONCLUSION

Well, I'll sum it up now. I will do this from a 2002 perspective. The minifigures are very nice, and you get three in a small set. You could buy multiples of this set and amass a small imperial force, and find something else to do with the black Jedi robes. I do not have Final Duel I because I had already gotten a Darth Vader and Emperor, but you could certainly combine this set with that to make the scene in ROTJ. USD $7 is a bit much for this set, and the price-per-part ratio is downright terrible.

RATINGS

Time for stats, also with the original price in mind.

Price: 6/10 - For the figures it is ok, but it should have been at least a dollar less

Parts: 5/10 - LEGO could have at least thrown in a somewhat detailed walkway, or some doors

Minifigures: 9/10 - Luke came in better sets, as did the Stormie, but they are still nice to have. The Imperial is nice too.

Build: 3/10 - There is barely anything to build!

Overall: 6/10 - This set is very skip-able, but the minifigures make it just a teeny bit tempting.

I hope you enjoyed my review! More to come!

[Natman8000]

Nice review! I like this set, it has good minifigs. The only draw is there isnt much else.

[KimT]

This was a weak try-out to make a Battle Pack back then.

Back then the issues around making battle packs versus the action-figure license that Hasbro (?) has were quite tense.

That's why they (TLG) tried making the Final Duel & Jedi Duel packs plus the 334X Minifig display sets.

The latter lost and was discontinued pretty fast (at least to my knowledge).

I recall buying quite a few of this set - an easy way to get a stormie and an imperial officer.

Sadly the pesky "Duke" was also part of the package

Thanks for reviewing this for us.

Next time please dust your models before taking pictures

[Skipper 24]

Good review, you have covered everything there is to cover really .I dare say this is lego's attempt at an impulse set or an early battlepack. if you took away Skywalker then you could combine many of these and make an imperial corridor breech or something. I agree with KimT about dusting your models .

Edited March 15, 2009 by Skipper 24

[Darth Legolas]

I believe this was either the first or second Star Wars set I owned. Although it's not much, it's got tons and tons of pluses. First off, we have Luke with a Chrome Lightsaber, an Imperial Officer, with his suit and Cap which, if you're not picky about bley.gray, can be used as a Clone Officer body. (Though I am picky, so I used bley decals.) And those railings, which come in handy oftentimes.

EDIT: Narks, I forgot the Stormtrooper! Even though it's far from the modern ones, it could still blend in, and the gun, which even though it's out of date, rather than paying $40 for all of the new guns, I can easily blend in all of my new and old guns to make a boatload!

Edited March 15, 2009 by Darth Legolas

[Millacol88]

Very nice review CloneO'Patra. Congratulations on your first 3 reviews being passed by the way!