The Ghost (75053)

I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the new Star Wars Rebels series this fall. Lego has released the Ghost as the second of two Rebels sets this year.

The set comes with four minifigs: a slightly modified storm trooper, Hera Syndulla (the Twilek), Kanan Jarrus, and Zeb Orrelios (who you may recognize from the early Ralph McQuarry concept drawings of Chewbacca). Sabine Wren, the female Mandalorian, is conspicuously absent, which leads me to believe we'll be seeing her in the winter sets, along with some of the villains.

The pilot compartment slides out so you can get Kanan in and out. There's room behind him for something, but a minifig won't fit.

The whole thing just slides back into place and locks in, which is handy because it would be awkward to slide out during a battle.

Hera sits behind and above Kanan and is easier to access. Apparently this is the pilot's position and Kenan is controlling the front turret.

Zeb gets the rotating turret chair. It's a little tricky getting him in and out. It would be easier if his head was just a touch smaller, but then I suspect he'd look a little weird.

The whole assembly just slides back into the ship. In case you were thinking of doing barrel rolls, the turret isn't actually held in place by anything other than gravity.

Three storage compartments on top, lot of room for weapons, but not much else is going in here.

There are escape pods on each side of the ship. When they come out with a Sabine minifig, she'll have to go in one of these.

A view from the rear. This is where the Phantom docks (we'll get to that in a minute).

The underside (obviously). One thing I have found so far is that the model can be awkward to handle, depending on where you hold it.

Pulling the red knob will open the cargo hold where the holocron is kept. As you can imagine, this isn't an easily accessible area of the ship.

The front guns rotate as well as swivel up and down. The technic pin used to hold it in place doesn't offer a lot of friction, so the guns will go with gravity if you're even slightly off level.

And the moment you've all been waiting for, this is how the Ghost looks like with the Phantom docked in place. I know, it takes your breath away a little.

Scoring:

• Features: 9/10. There is pretty good play value with this model. Every part of the ship seems to do something.
• Design: 9/10. This one was very fun to build. The slope on the wings was accomplished fairly easily, although they're probably the most fragile parts of the ship. I felt there was a lot more creativity on this model than what I've found in the "usual" builds.
• Price: 8/10. $90 USD. As I said in the Phantom review, round this one up to $100 and include the Phantom. Instead of feeling cheated that we had to buy it separately, we pay a little more but still feel good.
• Minifigs: 10/10. Can't complain here. I feel the number and quality of the minifigs is a perfect match for the set. 
• Overall Score: 9/10. So much fun all around! A great build and fun to play with when it's done. The only problem is that we have to wait until the winter release before we get any Imperial ships to go up against the Ghost. I suppose you could use a TIE fighter if you already have one, from the previews it doesn't look like those have changed.

I think the question we're all wondering is, "Yah, but how does it hold up on the Kessel run?"

The Phantom (75048)

This is one of two sets available for the upcoming Star Wars Rebels animated series coming out this fall. If you haven't already, go check out the teasers and trailers for the show, it looks like it could be good. I think there's more mystery and storyline potential between episodes III and IV than there was between II and III.

This is the Phantom. It comes with Ezra Bridger and a spunky little astromech droid C1-10P, or "Chopper".

Ezra comes with a helmet and an alternate expression. Chopper comes with, well... shorter legs.

There's a handy storage area for Ezra's helmet (or hair, depending on what he's wearing) and his blaster.

Chopper fits into the back...

Yes, I know. There's supposed to be a missile on top. Get over it. Unless it's absolutely essential for the stability of the set, I'm not doing it. Anyhow, here it is with the wings deployed.

I'm not sure if it's actually supposed to function as an escape pod in the show, but I suspect this feature won't last very long before I permanently attach the two sections together.

 And now for the scoring...

• Features: 8/10. It's a small model, what do you expect it to do that it doesn't do right now?
• Design: 8/10. I don't see why it needs to come apart. And I certainly don't see how that would be an advantage in an emergency. The cockpit module doesn't seem to be enough to sustain life support functions for very long.
• Price: 4/10. $25 USD for this little gem. Battle packs are cheaper and have more in them. Realistically, it should've been part of the Ghost set (review is coming next). Charge $10 more and make it one set.
• Minifigs: 7/10. Two unique figures, but you can't help but feel robbed slightly when you pay for the set. Fortunately I had Lego VIP points and the set only cost me $10. Throw in another storm trooper just to make us feel a little better.
• Overall Score: 6.75/10. By itself, there's not much you can do with this one. If you have the Ghost, you really need to get the Phantom to go along with it. As I said before, it should've been included as part of the Ghost set.

Droid Gunship (#75042)

This is the second version of the Droid Gunship (#7678 was the first). We got to see it in action during Episode III and the battle on Kashyyyk. Since then, it has been featured in the Clone Wars series a few times.

The set comes with four minifigs, A new Chewbacca (sporting two-toned hair and printed legs), a Kashyyyk scout (same as you'll find in the battle pack), a super battle droid, and a standard battle droid. I like the new Chewie, and the Kashyyyk clones are my favorite.

Not sure why they didn't include a blue pilot droid with this set like they did last time, but we only get a standard droid. There's room for him to lie down, and there's even a targeting display... if only his feet were equipped with optical sensors. I feel that important displays like that should be placed where they can be useful...

A view from the rear. As you'll see in the comparison photos below, this one is much more streamlined than the prior version. Yes, there are supposed to be the new spring-loaded missiles on each "wing" but I took them off.

Turn it over for access to the bombs...

Pull the levers on the back to release the bombs, or load them up again.

Here's the newer 75042 on the left and the old 7678 on the right. The new one is much more in-line with the movie version with the lower profile.

The two pilot compartments. According to the tech specs, these gunships were technically droids and didn't use pilots, just like the Vulture Droids.

The underside is where the biggest difference is between the two. The Bomb deployment system is much better on the new model. It's also easier to grab this one, where the old one always felt a bit delicate if you didn't pick it up just right.

So, here's how I would rate the set:

• Features: 8/10. While there aren't really a lot of features with this model, it's not like there's a lot of wasted space that could be doing something if it had been designed better. The construction is solid, although slightly front-heavy. 
• Design: 8/10. Even though other reviews have called the underside "lazy", I think it works very well with the improved sleek look of the model. However, I do think they could've used the light grey pieces instead of the blue.
• Price: 7/10. SRP on this is $50 USD. I get the licensing fee, but it seems like there could've been a little more included for the price. Or take out a droid and knock a couple bucks off the price tag.
• Minifigs: 6/10. The new Chewie is great, but it felt like the droids were just fillers. If Lego feels they need to add in a standard battle droid as a pilot for extra play value, go ahead. But the super battle droid seemed a bit out of place. There aren't really any Jedi to add to the set, we have enough Yodas already. Another clone would've been cool, or maybe a generic Wookie warrior. 
• Overall score: 7.25/10. Far better than the original version and although not without a shortcoming or two, this is a good model.