I wasn't sure about the new release of General Grievous' starfighter. Sure, the minifigure has been revamped and looks much better now, but would it be worth buying the new version when I had the old one already (#7656)? I was still on the fence... until Dawn picked it up for me while she was in Great Falls.
The original was cool at the time, but when you sit them side-by-side you wonder what you ever saw in the first version. This one has much-improved (and more accurate) styling and design.
The canopy slides out with a rather simple, yet ingenious, latch mechanism to keep it closed. The instructions say you have to take off Grievous' "extra" arms to get him in the cockpit, but if you do it right he'll fit with all four arms intact, which makes them easier to find later. A nice touch on this model is that a regular minifig will also fit in the cockpit, so Obiwan can "borrow" it just like he did in Episode III.
While normally not a fan of the flick-fire missiles, these ones tuck away rather nicely and don't get in the way.
The rear landing gear folds up as it did in the movie, instead of under the ship like it does on the 7656 model.
Also included with this kit is a chair for Grievous and his maintenance droid A4-D. It makes more sense if you've seen the Clone Wars episode...
And Nahdar Vebb, the Star Wars equivalent to the red shirt in Star Trek. Hmm, a new Jedi introduced mid-season, don't remember him from any of the movies... the future doesn't look good for you.
And here's the original Grievous compared to the new minifig version. Good move on Lego's part for revamping him.
I read several of the reviews on the Lego site for this model and so many people are complaining that this version doesn't have a place on the ship to store the lightsabers. I'm not sure why they're complianing, that drove me nuts on the original. Not having them clipped to the underside is a plus in my book.
So, even if you have the original version, I think you'll be impressed with the updates and improvements on this model.
I read several of the reviews on the Lego site for this model and so many people are complaining that this version doesn't have a place on the ship to store the lightsabers. I'm not sure why they're complianing, that drove me nuts on the original. Not having them clipped to the underside is a plus in my book.
So, even if you have the original version, I think you'll be impressed with the updates and improvements on this model.
