Malevolence (#9515)

This is General Grievous' flagship in the Clone Wars series (or was until it was destroyed...).

Here's a quick video of me putting the set together. I just took a photo after finishing each of the numbered bags. So, over-all while it was a fun build there wasn't anything which I would consider really challenging. If your kid has had any experience in building, I think (s)he'd have no problem with this one. It says ages 9-14 on the box, but there's a little bit of give on the low end.

The set comes with six minifigs: Count Dooku, 2 battle droids, General Grievous, Anakin, and Padme. If ever there was a perfect opportunity for Grievous' MagnaGuards, this was it. Even one would've been good. I can't be the only one with a bag full of battle droids, I don't think anyone would've complained if the set had included a MagnaGuard, commando droid, or even a tactical droid.

For being such a large set, there really isn't a lot of room for figures on this one. Let's take a quick stroll through the interior, shall we?

The command center. There's a chair for Grievous, a station for a battle droid, and then enough room for Dooku and the other droid to stand around.

I didn't like the absence of storage for the weapons, so I made a quick & dirty little storage rack for Grievous' lightsabers and the battle droids' pistols.

In the rear of the ship, there are two trolleys. In the Clone Wars episode, the ship is 4.8km long and there is an extensive hovertrain system inside the ship. In the set, the sled can move forward for a whole 2x2 flat tile. Since they really don't add anything here, I'll probably end up taking them out and using the space for more battle droids.

The view from the front of the ship...

...and the rear...

Flick-fire fans will like this. There's a six-round "clip" on each side.

Each time you fire, you can advance the dial for the next missile. I'm leaving it in because visually it still works as a reasonable stand-in for the ion cannons shown in the episode. I may take out the firing mechanism though...

There's a convenience pull-up handle which makes transporting the ship much easier, although the set is fairly sturdy and can be safely transported with a good grip on the bottom.

Here's the top view. Let the ooohs and aaahhs commence...

It looks cool when it's done, but my one complaint with the set is the lack of interior play opportunities. Typically a set this big would have more play areas on it. I think they could have done something more effective in the rear section than the sadly scaled-down train system. Having said that, it is nice to finally have a capital ship for the Separatists. The Republic has the battle cruiser and a frigate, so this should help even the scales a bit.

I'd give this set 8/10. It seems sturdier than some of the other larger sets and it really does look cool. It lost marks in my book for not having more features.

Sith Fury-Class Infiltrator (#9500)

This is one of the first sets from Star Wars: The Old Republic (online multiplayer game). Rumor has it the 2013 Star Wars Lego line is going to include Old Republic battlepacks, so we might be seeing more TOR sets coming out in the future. So far, the only exposure I've had to the Old Republic is watching the game trailers online. Darth Malgus is the big bad and he's fighting against the Jedi (I hope I didn't just spoil the plot for anyone...). Anyhow, my point is you don't have to know what's going on to see this is a cool ship.

It comes with three minifigs, Darth Malgus (center) and two Sith troopers. I'm not sure how they see out of the helmets, but it seems to work for them.

The top view. I love the design of this ship. The angle of the wings, the "hooks" on the ends, the folding rear wings... very "swooshable"

Front view...

The canopy opens for access to the cockpit. Malgus gets a comfy chair and the computer panel swings out to make it easier to get in and out. One tiny drawback, there's nowhere to put the lightsaber, so I tucked it in behind the seat.

The back hatch also opens for access to the troopers...

...and the compartment slides out for easy access. It has guide rails and clips back into place when you push it in. The poor guy in the back has to stand up for the whole flight though.

...and with the rear fins extended. The wings were fun to assemble, there's some nice mechanics at work here.

A closer look at the "hydraulics" on the fins. The bottom fins click into place when folded down so they don't swing down during flight.

Side view, looks pretty sleek from this angle... The flick-fire missiles are a bit goofy as projectiles, but not bad if you just leave them in as wing-mounted guns.

Hallelujah! The instruction booklets are FINALLY sent in a plastic bag with a cardboard backing to keep them from getting crumpled as everything bounces around inside the box. This also keeps the stickers from prematurely peeling off the backing. Nicely done!

This made me stop for a second during construction. What happened to steps 9, 10, and 11?? Will this compromise the structural integrity of the ship?? I finished building and didn't have any unusual pieces left over, so apparently this made it past the proof-readers.

 This one was probably one of the most fun I've had on a build in a long time. The wing mechanics were the right amount of challenge to be "this is pretty cool" instead of "A pox on the designers and their posterity!" The back lid can be a little fragile sometimes, one of the drawbacks when using the hinged pieces, but overall the set is very sturdy. I dare anyone to hold it without being drawn into aerial combat moves with it. It's such a cool design you just can't help but swoosh it. The only drawback now is there aren't any timeline-friendly opponents worthy of it. The Republic Striker-class starfighter really doesn't seem like any competition at all. It's smaller and not very intimidating. Oh well, I'm sure the ARC-170 could hold its own in a dogfight. The V-19 Torrent or the X-Wing might do okay too. 

Pre Vizsla's Mandalorian Fighter (#9525)

If you watched the Clone Wars episode, you'll recognize this as the Gauntlet, Pre Vizsla's Mandalorian fighter. I think the Mandalorians are some of the coolest "bad guys" around. Jango Fett, Boba Fett, Death Watch... I know, not all the Mandalorians are bad. Obiwan's "friend" Dutchess Satine seems nice enough. It seems like there's a bit more going on between them though.

Anyhow, this set was fun to build (as opposed to all those other Lego sets which are so boring to build??). I like seeing the features develop as I'm building, like the rotating cockpit module. So, let's look at this one...

It comes with three minifigs, Obiwan Kenobi (yah, he's in a lot of sets, but this one makes sense), Pre Vizsla (I should hope so, since it's his fighter), and a generic Mandalorian. I really like Pre's helmet with the Death Watch symbol on it, makes it stand out from the other helmets. His little shoulder cape is a bit annoying when you're trying to sit him in the cockpit though.

There's a cargo container included, which makes a great place to store Pre's hair when he has his helmet on.

And the container fits nicely into the back, along with Pre's darksaber. Sounds a little cheesy, but I like the concept of an anti-lightsaber. Kinda like Superman and kryptonite.

There's a hatch on the bottom which lets the cargo container slide out rather nicely. The rear guns also rotate, which I'm sure comes in handy when being pursued.

Ordinarily I complain about the cockpit design and the minifigs not being secured in place. This would really be a problem here with two figs up front, but they have a clever little piece which holds the figure's legs in place. Nicely done, Lego.

Here's a side view in flight mode. It has a very nice "swoosh factor" once you get over the feeling the wings should be horizontal instead of vertical. The wings are surprisingly sturdy. Anyone who has tried to build large wings knows it can be tricky to keep them together without getting too bulky. Lego did very well with this one.

Here's the top view with the wings still in flight mode. This is how it gets stored on the shelf since I don't have room to have the wings standing up like they should be. The wings are 13" long, which means you need to have a lot of clearance when parking.

Here's a shot with my Mandalorian battle pack (#7914, not included), which is a great complimentary set (not that it says nice things about you, it just goes well with the fighter).

There really isn't anything I don't like about this model, I haven't even modified any of the parts. There are a few stickers, and I think I even managed to get them all on straight. Fans of the Clone Wars should really look at getting this one. There are some fun dogfights awaiting you, especially if you have a Jedi starfighter.

Saesee Tiin's Jedi Starfighter (#9498)

Last week I went to the Lego store in Calgary to cash in my VIP points towards Saesee Tiin's Jedi starfighter (only cost me $10). While I was there, I ended up helping a few customers with their questions and showed some of them how to use the 3D box display. If I didn't need the money, I'd be working/volunteering at the Lego store. But I digress...

This is the fifth Jedi starfighter release of the Delta-7B starfighter (previous versions include Anakin Skywalker's, Mace Windu's Plo Koon's, Ahsoka Tano's from Clone Wars).

The front view. I'm not a fan of the top-mounted flick fire missiles. As soon as I can find a better replacement, these will be gone.

The set comes with Saesee Tiin, Even Piell, and the trusty R3-D5 astromech droid.

While it's nice having an extra Jedi, I'm not really excited about it being Even Piell. First, because he has the short legs, it's harder to balance him while he holds his lightsaber. Second, the top piece of his head is slightly too doesn't fit right. If you put it on all the way, it covers his eyes. If you haven't watched the Clone Wars series, don't get overly attached to Master Piell...

Here's a view from the rear. I really like how they used two plates for the fin instead of the wobbly flag piece.

Oh look, we get a hinged canopy! Much nicer than the previous versions. The cockpit is a bit roomier than the other versions as well, I like the design they used with the side-builds.

Bottom view... I don't really mind the flick fire missiles on the bottom, they're out of the way down there. The lightsaber clip is also in a better position than it was for Mace Windu or Plo Koon.

The cockpit module also acts as an escape pod. I wasn't really cranked about this option either, but I figured I should include at least one photo of how it is supposed to look before I changed it.

The escape pod didn't seem to help Plo Koon. I can't see it being a great combat option to bail out in an unprotected cockpit. Anyhow, I took out the two 1x8 flat tiles and replaced them with a 2x8 studded plate.

Now the cockpit is securely mounted. I took out the two 1x2 technic bricks...

...and replaced them with a trusty 2x2 brick to fill in the gap.

Everything is back together and looks the same, but is held together better than the little technic bricks.

Every time I say they can't come up with another starfighter they release a new one, so I'm going to stop saying it even though I can't think of anyone else they've missed. I do like this one, as I have a weakness towards the Jedi starfighters for some reason. 

Droid Escape (#9490)

This set comes to us 11 years after the original version of the Droid Escape (#7106). For some reason, I never picked this one up when it came out the first time.

The escape pod looks fairly basic and is more movie accurate with the cone-shaped pieces than 7106 was with the straight cylinder pieces.

C-3PO and R2 get to sit in relative comfort. The top comes off very easily and isn't actually secured in place. Normally this could be a problem, but since it probably won't see very many aggressive flight manoeuvres, the droids aren't really in danger of falling out.

Speaking of 3PO, he gets a new torso design this time. The colorful wires look very nice, as do his colored eyes.

The real draw for me was the new stormtroopers. The set comes with two (the orange shoulder pad and the light tan), the other two were purchased off Bricklink. The little speeder bike in the back didn't really add much too the set and wasn't in the movie, so it'll probably end up in my spare parts bin. I'm very impressed by the detail Lego put into the stormtroopers. They have printed legs (previously only available in the #7264 Imperial Inspection set), and I really like the sand discoloration on the armor and helmet. And, like the new TIE fighter pilot, these guys actually have faces under their helmets.

A couple more new stormtroopers and I'll have a full load for the Imperial Landing Craft (do I need to say it's not included with the set? I hope not...).

So, the model itself isn't really anything special, but the minifigs are the real selling feature on this set. It's a very nice suppliment to your Imperial army, and the droids are a nice touch too.

Y-Wing (#9495)

Continuing Lego's "year of third versions" is the newest Y-Wing. Owners of the prior version (#7658) are probably wondering what was changed and whether it's worth upgrading. If you have the original Y-Wing (#7150), by all means, grab this one while it's available. I'll let the 7658 owners decide for themselves.

Here's the new 9495 on the left and 7658 on the right. 9495 isn't quite as long as it's older brother, but has the same width. My biggest gripe with 9495 is the nose design. 7658 may not have been perfect, but was a lot more movie-accurate than 9495's boxy look. I do like the new forward guns, but they could be easily retrofit onto 7658.

Here they are from the side view. 9495's gun turret doesn't come off like 7658's tends to do during play, but it also doesn't go up and down either. Oh well, can't have everything. Technically, the single-seater Y-Wings had a fixed turret, but that would make it very difficult to open the canopy on this model. One of these days I'm going to make a 2-seater modification...

Here's a view of the two cockpits. 9495 on the right is a bit more roomy than 7658. I also like that it has two studs to hold the minifig in place, where 7658 just has a flat tile piece. I'm not much of a fan of having the pilot wiggle around during evasive manoeuvres.

Here it is from the front. As I mentioned before, I don't really like the nose design. It should be tapered like it was before.

Here's a photo of how the Y-Wing looked in Episode IV. See what I mean about the nose section? 9495 is way too squared, but that's something I need to deal with on my own time.

Group photo... This one comes with Dutch Vander (aka Gold Leader. Zev Senesca's head with a different helmet), R5-A7 astromech droid, and Princess Leia in her ceremonial outfit (a nice addition, especially if you have the ceremonial Luke and Han from the Encyclopedias.. which I don't).

A closer view of the rear section. The greebling is a bit closer to the movie model and looks pretty good. The hole in the middle is for loading the bombs.

The engine pods. They got away from some of the detailing used in 7658 by using stickers. I know some of the "purists" out there will complain about the use of stickers, but if it keeps the cost down by not having to use printed pieces I'm fine with it.

The rear view. I'm not sure if I prefer the rocket fin pieces or the grey cones from 7658. You may notice I took out the flick-fire missile launchers from the back...

The underside. I liked the use of the car chassis for the astromech slot, seemed like the easiest way to get it done. You can see the bomb hatch on the bottom. I like this one more than I did the last one (which I eventually covered up on both sides), it doesn't get in the way if you aren't using it.

So,  there you go. If this is your first Y-Wing or you're moving up from 7150, go for it. If you have 7658, you'll have to decide how badly you want Princess Leia and/or the new astromech droid. Aside from the nose, the minor differences between the two models would be pretty easy to retrofit after a trip to Bricklink.