Clone Wars Y-Wing (#8037)

Hi, my name is Gary and I've been a Star Wars Lego addict for ten years now. This isn't really news to most of you, but there are probably a couple out there who may not know already. My latest acquisition? Anakin's Y-Wing fighter from Clone Wars. I should take a moment to thank Bricklink for being such a great enabler... I love that I can buy the sets from the US, pay to have them shipped to Canada, and after exchange and duty it's still cheaper than buying them off the shelf here.


I don't know what it is about the Y-Wing, but I really like it. It has a very good "swoosh factor" for playing...


But wait, that's not Anakin. How can this be Anakin's Y-Wing and not have Anakin?? I was getting tired of having so many Anakin's and Ahsoka's (Jedi starfighters for each of them, as well as the AT-TE, and it looks like they're both included in the upcoming August release of the Clone Wars Turbo Tank set...), so I decided to mix it up a bit by using a clone pilot and trooper instead. I had to modify the cockpit to make room for the pilot (his helmet is bigger than Anakin's hair, so the canopy wouldn't close without making a few changes first).


I like the Clone Wars R2-D2 much better than the old version.


Even comes with a nice little storage compartment in the rear for weapons.


It's supposed to have a spring loaded missile on the bottom (pull back on R2 to launch), but since I don't like the missiles I took it out. I'm just happy they didn't try to put in the little "bombs" like they did for the original trilogy Y-Wing.

Rear view. Not much to see from this angle.
There have been a couple of Clone Wars episodes which showed red Y-Wings, so if I get ambitious I may look into making a red variant.

Tantive IV (Rebel Blockade Runner) - 10198

All hail Bricklink! Even after shipping, US exchange, customs, and GST, I was still able to buy this from the US and have it sent to me for cheaper than I could get it off the shelf in Canada.

Anyhow, thanks to this year's tax refund (Dawn got a pedistal washer and drier), I was able to order the Tantive IV set. Let's walk through some of the features, shall we?

The view from the front. One nice thing about this set was the absence of stickers. I was worried the cockpit pieces would require stickers, but they came preprinted.


Profile shot. This really is a big one and has a good supporting frame on the inside. The engines got a little tedious by the 5th one, but otherwise a fun build.


Rear view. All eleven engines...


The cockpit has a very smooth opening hinge and is balanced so it doesn't slide closed on itself. Room for two at the controls. I really don't think it would've killed anyone at Lego to include another blue Rebel minifig. And what's with not having any minifig weapons with this set??


The lid comes off to reveal Leia's command center. She gets the nice big desk while Captain Antilles gets stuck at the little monitoring station. Seems fair... For not actually being attached to anything, the lid is quite secure, guess they figure no one will be doing barrel rolls with this set.


The concealed cargo sled is a little goofy, so I kept it in long enough for the photo. This could give Leia enough space to hand off the Death Star plans to R2...


Escape pods on both sides. Port side has the droids, starboard side is empty for the time being. I might have to look into the Rebel Soldiers battle pack to get more staff for this set. I already had to trade my son a clone trooper for one of his Rebel soldiers just so I could have two people in the cockpit.


One of the fun(ny) features is Captain Antilles... normally mild-mannered, easy-going. But when Darth Vader comes in...


...our Captain becomes a little more distressed.

This set is as awesome as it looks in photos. Now I'll have to see if I can talk the kids into having an air battle with me  :)