Mace Windu's Jedi Starfighter (#7868)

I've been watching for Mace Windu's starfighter ever since January when, for reasons unknown, it was released in Europe but not the rest of the world. So when it showed up on the Canadian website, I was very excited. Every time I had a trip to Calgary I somehow managed to find myself in the Lego Store. Unfortunately, the store is about two and a half weeks behind the website on product availability. When they finally did get the new kits in, they didn't have Mace's starfighter, but were nice enough to order it for me and have it delivered to me (thanks Zach and Troy!).

For those of you who, like me, have the other three Clone Wars Jedi Starfighters and possibly even Obi-Wan's Episode II fighter, you may wonder why you should get this one. I think Lego may have anticipated this. Unlike Plo Koon's (#8093) and Anakin's (#7669) starfighters, this set comes with some battle droids to round things off a bit.

The TX-20 Tactical Droid and speeder is a nice touch, and exclusive to this set. I'll be trolling Bricklink for a couple more of these...

Two battle droids and STAPs (Single Trooper Aerial Platform), these are not so exclusive. These are the same build as the one found in the AT-TE set (#7675) and fairly close to the battlepack version (#7654).

Here are Mace Windu and his astromech droid R8-B7 in front of the fighter

I don't know why Lego is using flat tiles for the cockpits now. The minifigs just don't sit right unless there's something holding them in place. If you have the spare parts, replace the 2x2 tile with a 1x2 studded plate and a 1x2 tile as shown here. This will hold Mace firmly in place while still keeping it easy to get him in and out.

I was so excited with Plo Koon's starfighter because it didn't have any flick-fire missiles (the goofy ejection system is another discussion). Mace's fighter comes with four missiles on the underside. Each push rod will fire two missiles. As far as flick-fire missiles go, these are relatively easy to access so if you like missiles this will be a plus for you. If you don't, the missile compartment comes off very easily with the only down-side being that it leaves the ship looking off-balanced without it.

The front view of the fighter. Noticeably absent are the wing-mounted guns each of the other variants have in one form or another. I guess they figure having four missiles underneath must make up for it. Some reviews have criticized Lego for using so many stickers. Personally, I don't see a problem with it. I'm sure if it were cheaper to preprint the pieces, Lego would be all over it. If a few stickers keep the price down, I'm all in favor.

The rear view of the ship. There are two clips on the back of the wings to hold Mace's lightsaber (one for the hilt, the other for the blade). I like the transparent blue pieces in the engine pods, they look better than their plain predecessors. I'll be retro-fitting the engines on other Clone Wars fighters to match these.

So, is it worth buying yet another version of the Jedi Starfighter? If you didn't pick up the Republic Attack Shuttle (#8019) and don't already have the Clone Wars version of Mace, then that's a pretty good reason right there. It's nice for Mace to have his own starfighter so he doesn't have to ride around in the shuttle everywhere he goes. Sure, he could hitch a ride in the Jedi Shuttle (#7931), but sometimes it's nice to travel alone. Even if you already have all the other Jedi Starfighter kits and Mace Windu, I would still recommend this set. The droids are a nice addition and the starfighter is just fun to play with, and in the end that's the point behind Lego.