Separatist Spider Droid (#7681)

This is a very easy set to build with not a lot of pieces, but it sure looks cool when it's done. It comes with Commander Fox (red markings), a 'regular' clone, battle droid, battle droid commander (yellow), and super battle droid.


The gun on top rotates 360° while the one on the bottom moves up and down.



I found it's a bit wobblier than I had anticipated, and it tends to lurch forward or backward if not balanced just right. Still, lots of fun.

Modified A-Wing (#6207)

The original version is the red one on the left. Thanks to Bricklink.com, I pieced together a Gold-Squad A-Wing fighter (mostly because I couldn't find any other color variant that had all the necessary pieces).


I used the stickers from set #7668 to decorate the new A-Wing a little.


Profile view of the fighter, including the pilot and the storage container for the rear compartment. I also got custom heads for all my rebel pilots instead of the generic smileys.


A view from the side/rear. I'd like to do other variants, but the cylinders in the back don't come in very many different colors.

Republic Attack Shuttle (#8019)

I was very excited when I saw this set was coming out. It's one of my favorite Clone Wars vehicles. I would've liked to have seen a larger cargo area in the back, but I'm not complaining.


I modified it and removed the flick-fire missiles. If you like that sort of thing, it has an 8-missile clip with a pretty cool firing system. The clip falls out the bottom after you have fired all 8 missiles. I didn't really like the way it stuck out the top, among other things.


This is the second set to feature the clone pilot (still about $20 on eBay/ Bricklink). The cockpit opens on the front and back for easy access to the minifigs.


By removing the flick-fire missile system, I was able to fit two more clones in the back. It just didn't seem right to me that a shuttle could only carry one passenger. There is a gun holder in the back that also has a clip for Mace's lightsaber. The green & yellow things are bombs that drop out the (one at a time) bottom by pressing knobs on the back.


The view from the back with the wings folded up. I like that they used axels instead of the hinge bricks for the top. It's much more stable and has a smoother opening. There are locks on the front to prevent the top from flipping open when playing.

Darth Vader's TIE Fighter (#8017)

My sister somehow found this one before it was released today and gave it to me for Christmas. I imagine some dark alley meeting late at night, using her legal connections for blackmail or extortion...

Anyhow, I don't really care how she found it. I'm really happy with the design. It fixed a lot of what I felt were shortcomings on the original design.

First, I'm so glad they moved away from the black and blue color scheme. Darth Vader's chest piece has a slightly new design as well.


Second, the cockpit swings open for easier access, and it is easier to get Vader in and out. I think the hinge mechanism they used for this one is a lot better than the old style.


Third, a clip to hold the lightsaber. It doesn't get in the way like Grievous' clip does on his starfighter.


And finally, better detailing on the rear section. There are also little tabs on the back to launch the flick-fire missiles (which surprisingly get a pretty good range on them).

The set is a bit bigger than the old version and is lighter as well. It was an easy build and holds up well to aggressive aerial maneuvers.

Hailfire Droid & Spider Droid (#7670)

Trevor & I both got one of these sets for Christmas. It came with a yellow droid commander, two battle droids, and a super battle droid (not shown in the photos because they're basically just filler). I only had to coach Trevor a couple of times as he was building his, he did pretty good...


My favorite is the hailfire droid. Nothin' wrong with the spider droid, but the hailfire has a better intimidation factor going for it.


The missile racks and the wheels are on hinges so they can be angled or straight. Pretty straight-forward as there isn't much room for special features. I think this set has really high play value to it and is a great army builder.

Darth Vader's TIE Advanced (#10175)

This is probably the only set I have for display and not to actually play with. The frame is strong enough to sit on the stand, but not really durable enough to stand up to a run down the Death Star trenches. It makes up for a lack of air-time by its sheer awesomeness.


This took me about four hours to put together, which is okay because at the time I was in my hotel room after a staff meeting and had nothing else to do. Honestly, if I had it during the staff meeting, it would've been built before I left the office. That could've been bad considering I was running the staff meeting.


Front view (obviously). The body is made up of about four sections that connect together.


Rear view. The nice thing about the larger models is the extra room for all the little details. The back is made up of mostly plates, which makes it lighter but also makes it hard to find anywhere sturdy to hold.


The top hatch flips open quite nicely...


There is even a lot of detail in the cockpit, you just can't see it. It's like the engines on model airplanes... you never see them when the model is done, but you feel better knowing they are there and to scale.


The spec sheet on the front, just in case this ever comes up on a test... or Jeopardy.

TIE Crawler (#7664)

This was one of the first models from the Star Wars "Expanded Universe" (meaning anything that didn't show up in the movies).


It has free-rolling tracks on each pod and both pods can be rotated so they can be positioned as shown with the long end facing front, or facing the rear.

One building tip I would recommend is to take out one of the track links on each side, otherwise the tracks are too loose and don't really turn as the crawler moves along the ground. Removing one link makes it tight enough that it rolls as you'd expect a tank to roll, but not too tight as to interfere with any movement.


Each pod has a flip-out weapons turret that rotates.


It comes with two shadow troopers (the other one is on assignement and was not available for picture day).

The red cone on the bottom was supposed to be a flick-fire missile, but seeing as I am not a fan of the flick-fire missiles I fixed it in place so now it's just another laser. I thought about putting it on a mini turn-table, but although it would have a greater firing radius there would be nothing to prevent it from accidentally shooting out its own track pod. Considering how accurate the stormtroopers are in the movies, it should not be made easier for them to shoot their own vehicles.