From Bricks To Bothans

LEGO Batman Movie Shipping Now

Ace "onions" Kim — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:46:51 +0000

I just received my shipping notification LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite. The movie’s official release date is tomorrow May 21, and the price as it stands now is $13.99 for the Blu-ray/DVD/Ultra-violet set, and $9.99 for just the DVD version. This “movie” collects all of the cut scenes from the LEGO Batman 2 video game into one feature. No matter which version you get, you’ll get the awesome mid-transformation Clark Kent/Superman minifig.

New Star Wars Cartoon: Rebels

Ace "onions" Kim — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:00:34 +0000

Yep, a new cartoon is in the works. It’s called Rebels and it’s set in the period between the events of Episode III and IV. I approach this news with cautious optimism. I never got into the Clone Wars cartoon series, I’m only familiar with the LEGO product tie-in and man did I hate those sets. The minifigs were ugly, which to this day I still cannot reconcile in my head the logic behind the decision on why they look so radically different from every other Star Wars minifigures. It’s all Star Wars isn’t it? Anyways, the same Art Director behind the Clone Wars is also going to be involved with this new venture, so there’s a slight chance that, stylistically speaking, Rebels will look and feel the same as the Clone Wars which can be good or bad depending on how you felt about it. All I know is that this will give us LEGO fans new sets to look forward to. I just hope the minifigs look normal and not some freaky eyed abominations.

If you’re attending Star Wars Celebration Europe, you’ll have the chance to be one of the first people to see its debut. Otherwise, look for it on Disney Channel sometime in 2014 with a series to air on Disney XD.

Thanks to Jared for the heads up.

via Club Jade via StarWars.com

Yoda Chronicles Promotional Set

Ace "onions" Kim — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:39:00 +0000

image courtesy of GameInformer

Sites GameInformer and Idle Hands are reporting that they have received the above promotional souvenir set to promote the upcoming Yoda Chronicles cartoon airing on Cartoon Network on Wednesday May 29th. There is also an event being held at New York Time Square on Thursday May 23rd at 11:00am. If anyone in the New York area is reading this and would like to be FBTB’s field reporter for the event, do get in touch.

via Brickset

30261 Tonto’s Campfire Now Available

Ace "onions" Kim — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:53:05 +0000

Toys’R'Us.com is now selling 30261 Tonto’s Campfire online. You may also be able to pick them up in store. They are priced at $4.99 and qualify for the BOGO 50% off sale that is currently running. There is a quantity limit of 5 per order when ordering online. And if you pad your order to hit $79, you’ll score free shipping as well.

Build Tony Stark’s Hall of Armor

Ace "onions" Kim — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:15:14 +0000

Wondering what to do with all those Iron Man minifigures? Well, the LEGO Club’s got you covered with this downloadable set of instructions to build “Iron Man’s Laboratory” which, in my opinion, should be called, Tony Stark’s Laboratory or Hall of Armor, but I get it. I understand if you don’t label everything as Iron Man it loses its appeal. And the name Tony Stark isn’t as marketable as Iron Man.

Seems like a fun and easy build. Smashing Bricks says that you’ll need the sticker set from 76007 Malibu Mansion Attack.

Thanks to ninnymuggins for the heads up.

via Smashing Bricks

Free 30167 Iron Man vs. Fighting Drone Polybag

Ace "onions" Kim — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:56:04 +0000

LEGO Shop@Home is currently running a promotion where you can score a free polybag set of Iron Man vs. Fighting Drone. Just make a purchase of $50 or more and the set will be added to your cart automagically. Promotion lasts from May 16 through 11:59pm EST, May 31, 2013, or while supplies last. And in case you were wondering, this Iron Man is the same one you get from 6867 Loki’s Cosmic Cube Escape. Now would be a good time to pick up those Man of Steel sets, or Iron Man 3 sets. Also, you still get free shipping if your order reaches $75 or more.

This deal is also good at LEGO Brand Retail except for the stores at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, CA and Disneyworld in Orlando, FL. Hey, I’m not making this up. It’s in the calendar.

Last Days for Volunteer Registration Star Wars Days

Ace "onions" Kim — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:02:13 +0000

I should have communicated this earlier, but better late than never. Friday will be the last day we’re accepting registrations for volunteers for the Fan Gallery for Star Wars Days at LEGOLAND California taking place on Father’s Day weekend June 15-16. You can still sign up to contribute MOCs for the group build or the individual gallery beyond Friday but our volunteer schedule is getting full and also I need to submit our order for the t-shirts.

I’ve cleared up some space in the schedule so there are a few additional slots available for the taking. Also, we had a requirement that you must work one shift per day to qualify for the incentives. I’ve amended the rules so that you have to work at least two shifts to qualify. Those shifts can either be on the same day, or spread out over both days. Hopefully that will help some of you out to get the incentives and still be able to volunteer.

And remember: as a volunteer, you’ll get a free shirt, two passes to LEGOLAND, and free admission for the day (as long as you enter the park by 8:30am), lunch, and host of other incentives, details of which will be revealed later once they have been confirmed.

Interested? Check out the sign up sheet. Got questions? Hit up the contact us form and send us a message!

New Star Wars Set: 75025 Jedi Defender-class Cruiser

Ace "onions" Kim — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:46:49 +0000

Leakmaster Grogall has struck again with a new LEGO Star Wars set: 75025 Jedi Defender-class Cruiser. It comes with four minifigs, three of which are new: Sith Warrior, Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, and Sith Trooper. The set is based off of the video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic. I’ve never played it so I have no frame of reference for it, nor emotional attachement. But I will say this: I welcome new ships from the Star Wars universe, no matter the source. That being said, bring on the Virago for Pete’s sake.

Coulson Lives In Promo For Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Ken "buriedbybricks" Robichaud — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:34:03 +0000

Coulson’s back and Joss Whedon has rewarded him with a new team and a sweet ride for screwing him over (with an snazzy death scene *SPOILERS!* Crap, I was supposed to say that first) in last summers blockbusting Avengers flick. I’ve been impatiently waiting to share this news and while the world was a buzz last week, ABC was reluctant to confirm picking up Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. until the weekend when all their ducks were in a row. This promo aired during the season finale of Once Upon A Time and I’m guessing it added a few views to that shows ratings for the night as they also launched the first phase of their MAOS viral campaign. I’m really looking forward to this and was pleased to see the apparent confirmation of a suspicion I had regarding the casting of J. August Richards and the secrecy surrounding his character. After the unfulfilled rumours of a Heroes For Hire show and the scrapping of AKA Jessica Jones, I’m pleased to believe that the potential for these concepts to be wrapped into Agents is even greater and that isn’t lost on Joss. I look forward to finding out how Coulson has managed to remain breathing, the possibility of finally getting an agent Phil figure and the increased probability of seeing a fig based on a certain unbreakable skinned hero. Fingers crossed the cancellation curse will skip this Whedon television outing. Oh, and that it’ll be good.

Amazon Discounts LEGO Archicture Sets

Ace "onions" Kim — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:01:54 +0000

Amazon has discounted several LEGO Architecture sets ranging from 20-34% off. They’re all on sale actually but some of them aren’t worth losing sleep over. Like that 21008 Burj Khalifa set. I don’t think they can discount that thing deep enough. I’ve linked the notable sets below.

Please note that the prices listed below are reflective of Amazon’s list price and the discount amount may not be as great as perceived.

Set / Amazon List Price / Discounted Price (Discount %)

21009 Farnsworth House / $59.99 / $47.66 (21%)
21004 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum / $44.99 / $31.78 (21%)
21002 Empire State Building / $24.99 / $19.60 (22%)
21003 Seattle Space Needle / $24.99 / $17.79 (29%)
21007 Rockefeller Plaza / $44.99 / $31.29 (30%)
21011 Brandenburg Gate / $34.99 / $22.99 (34%)
21008 Burj Khalifa / $29.99 / $20.67 (31%)
21012 Sydney Opera House / $39.99 / $28.06 (30%)

New Architecture Set: 21018 United Nations Headquarters

Ace "onions" Kim — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:57:55 +0000

The LEGO Architecture theme keeps going strong with the latest addition to their lineup: 21018 United Nations Headquarters. As Tohst likes to point out, this set sees the black levers or control sticks in white. No word on pricing or availability yet.

Thanks to Tohst for the heads up.

via Brickset via motayan

Tumbler Reaches 10,000 Votes On CUUSOO

Ken "buriedbybricks" Robichaud — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:16:47 +0000

You know what that means, we could finally have an opportunity to buy an official set with Batman’s latest ride. Assuming you didn’t buy the original, or the one that is currently on shelves now… Brent Waller is the man behind this Tumbler, which is one of many on CUUSOO and his goal was to create what he felt was the most accurate LEGO Tumbler in minifig scale. That’s a tricky mission and in my opinion a true minifigure scale vehicle would be able to accommodate enough figures to have one behind each of it’s dual windows. Would that look too wide? Probably, but if I have to choose an inaccurate vehicle I may as well stick with what’s available already. The biggest this going for this creations chances is the fact that it fits within the size they seem to be going for in this range. However, that may work against it as well because LEGO re-engineers the models to fit with their current building standard and that would most likely land it very close to the pre-existing LEGO versions anyway. This makes it into the June review and I wish him luck in the next stage, my feeling at this point is that he’s really going to need it.

Amazon Discounts 79003 An Unexpected Gathering

Ace "onions" Kim — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:33:01 +0000

Amazon has discounted the very excellent Hobbit set 79003 An Unexpected Gathering by a nice 20% margin. It now sits at $56.04, down from MSRP of $69.99. And remember, there’s Free Super Saver Shipping and no tax to most states.

Man of Steel Sets Available at LEGO Shop@Home

Ace "onions" Kim — Wed, 08 May 2013 17:35:51 +0000

Okay, I’m dumb. I didn’t check to see if Shop@Home had the Man of Steel sets when I did last night’s post. Durrr. So if you don’t feel like waiting til the 14th, you can order all three sets directly from LEGO right now. They’re free shipping promotion is still in effect too, so you can order all three sets, get free shipping, and VIP points.

76002 Superman: Metropolis Showdown $12.99
76003 Superman: Battle of Smallville $49.99
76009 Superman: Black Zero Escape $19.99

For more immediate gratification, you can also pick up the sets at LEGO Brand Retail, and most if not all of the big box stores as well.

Pre-order LEGO Man of Steel Set 76003 Superman: Battle Of Smallville

Ace "onions" Kim — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:10:46 +0000

Amazon is currently accepting pre-orders for the upcoming 76003 Superman: Battle of Smallville. The expected release date for the set is May 14th and will cost you $49.99. No sign of the other two smaller sets yet, but we’ll keep an eye out for you.

Walmart Now Lists Iron Patriot Pre-order Bonus

Ace "onions" Kim — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:07:46 +0000

Walmart.com has updated their pre-order pages for the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes video game. The listings now show Iron Patriot as a pre-order bonus. You must order a console version of the game in order to get the figure so Nintendo DS and 3DS fans are out of luck. Xbox 360 ($49.96), PS3 ($49.96), and Wii U ($49.96) games qualify. Walmart lists the ship date as 12/31/2013, but everywhere else lists 10/31/2013 so I’m unsure when you can actually expect to get your minifig plus video game accessory.

New TMNT Episode: Pulverizer Returns

Ace "onions" Kim — Tue, 07 May 2013 05:32:55 +0000

Remember the episode, The Pulverizer? Of course you do! It was the episode where the Shellraiser made it’s debut. It was also the episode where the turtles meet their biggest fan, the Pulverizer. Well this week’s new episode is called Pulverizer Returns. The plot is listed as follows:

When Shredder plans to create an army of mutants, the Turtles must rely on the help of the Pulverizer.

And in case your DVR didn’t pick up on it, the show has been moved to Saturdays at 11:00am on NICK instead of the Friday night 7:00pm slot.

Review: 75007 Republic Assault Ship & Coruscant

Ken "buriedbybricks" Robichaud — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:23:16 +0000

The second set of the series 3 planets is basically a wrap up of the final scene from Episode II. If you only watch the films, you many remember this ship from your “Hey, that kinda looks like a Star Destroyer… neat” moment. Though it’s really more of a Star Annoyer at best, so let’s see how it shapes up as a set.

Coruscant is one planet that definitely stands out in the Star Wars universe, so I’m glad that it queued up in one of these sets sooner rather than later.

Best print ever. So far for me anyway. I always liked the concept of a planet that is basically one big city and the printing on this not only looks great, but I think it could be useful in many different builds. It has a nice steampunk vibe to it and immediately made me think of a spherical control unit similar to the ones used by the Ferengi. It’s an attractive globe all around and I wouldn’t mind having an extra of this one. It’s difficult to tell if the three colours of printing are off at all, but if they are slightly misaligned it certainly works for me.

The stand is the same as in the other two, so I won’t spend anymore time on it.

As I mentioned in the opening, the Acclamator I – Class Assault Ship’s big moment was at the end of Attack of the Clones. It’s made numerous appearances in the EU including the Clone Wars toons, so some folks will be far more familiar with it than I. One thing I know though, it’s another big flying triangle and we certainly need more of those.

It’s an alright little ship and this model is a reasonable facsimile of it. Of course it has it’s flaws and they are as numerous as they are pointless and uninteresting. The bridge is too big and shaped wrong, the ship isn’t wide enough and doesn’t come to a sharp enough point on the front. The attempt to recreate the dark grey center stripe is admirable, but it leads to chunky accents that may or may not work well for you and are an obvious (though fairly welcomed) attempt to add some detail to a big grey triangle. It’s a mini, they can’t always capture all the shaping and details and in this instance I don’t really care. The biggest issue I see is the angle of the “wing”. The sides didn’t slope enough on the JSF and on this one they slope too much, so I guess we could say it balances out and walk away.

The Clone Trooper makes me laugh a little because it’s a new torso, helmet and face print, but it still looks like the same old clone. How many different clones do we need? At least he also shows up in the clone battle pack that is currently out, so if you feel the need to accumulate a mass of them you have a couple of affordable options. I don’t see the need to build up huge bunches of expendable soldiers anyway. Why bother trying to get your hands on, oh let’s say 500 of these guys when chances are you’ll never do anything with them anyway. They just become a sad reminder of wasted time and money, though they can be a valuable source of ammunition for the other geeks you hang out with that may want to tease you for their own amusement. Say, in a review, but they’d have to be a pretty big jerk to do something like that! Mwahahahahahaha!

Annnnyhoo. It’s a perfectly good clone, but it’s hard to take calling them clones seriously. Aren’t all clones supposed to look alike? Did all the complaining about getting the “same old clone” prompt the onslaught of unique ones? Didn’t they know that that would prompt more complaining? Silly LEGO…

What I Liked:

Coruscant may just be my favourite planet to date.
Clone has a nice unique face print, even if he looks perma-ticked.

What I didn’t Like:

Why the need for another “unique” clone?
Ship is fairly well built, but boring and forgettable.

Vedict: Based on the planet alone, I wanted it. The ship is uninspired and really doesn’t do much for me and I sure don’t need another clone. If it hadn’t been for Coruscant I might have skipped this one, but that isn’t because it’s a bad set. I have little doubt some would have more of a connection to this ship and figure than I do.

Buy 75007 Republic Assault Ship & Coruscant from LEGO Shop@Home:

May the 4th LEGO Shop@Home Deals: 10227 B-wing Starfighter 50% off

Ace "onions" Kim — Sat, 04 May 2013 00:03:28 +0000

Below is the list of LEGO Star Wars items on sale at LEGO Shop@Home for May 4th and 5th. I would assume that the sale starts sometime tonight, like may 9pm Pacific/12midnight Eastern. The only really notable item for sale would be 10227 B-wing Starfighter at a whopping 50% off. The last UCS set to hit this kind of sale price early on its lifetime was 10215 Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter and we all know how bad that set sucked. The B-wing isn’t nearly as terrible as that set but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the canopy piece that is common to both sets is cursed. Price of 10227 is $99.99 and you get the following bonuses with every Shop@Home order that qualifies for the next two days:

- FREE Delivery on all orders of $50 or more.
- FREE Exclusive Han Solo minifigure with LEGO Star Wars™ orders of $75 or more (while supplies last).
- FREE limited edition Star Wars™ Yoda poster with all orders (while supplies last).

Most everything else is 10% off unless you’ve been saving up and waiting for a good time to load up on keychains. Now would be that time as they are 20% off.

Also, as a reminder, in case it hasn’t been drilled into you by now, though not on sale, 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter goes on sale tomorrow. Price for that seet is $199 with free shipping, free Han Solo exclusive, and free Yoda Chronicles poster.

These deals are good for both US and CA customers. Enjoy:

Set Name / Discount %

10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter
10227 B-Wing Starfighter™ 50%
75003 A-wing Starfighter™ 10%
9525 Pre Vizsla’s Mandalorian™ Fighter 10%
9494 Anakin’s Jedi Interceptor™ 10%
9516 Jabba’s Palace™ 10%
9678 Twin-Pod Cloud Car™ & Bespin™ 10%
9488 Elite Clone Trooper™ & Commando Droid™ 10%
9496 Desert Skiff™ 10%
9491 Geonosian™ Cannon 10%
9500 Sith™ Fury-class Interceptor™ 10%
9679 AT-ST™ & Endor™ 10%
9677 X-wing Starfighter™ & Yavin 4™ 10%
853412 Keychain Anakin Skywalker 20%
851659 Keychain Boba Fett 20%
850355 Keychain Stormtrooper 20%
850353 Keychain Darth Vader 20%
850446 Keychain Darth Maul 20%
852550 Keychain CW Yoda 20%
850448 Keychain Luke Skywalker 20%
852837 Keychain C-3PO 20%
853413 Keychain Watto 20%
850447 Keychain Snow Trooper 20%
852841 Keychain Princess Leia 20%
2851193 Darth Maul Watch 10%
2855057 Stormtrooper Kid’s Watch 2010 10%
2856130 Yoda Watch Kids w/Mini Figure 10%
2850829 Luke Skywalker Watch 10%
5000249 LEGO® SW Boba Fett MF Clock 10%
2856128 Anakin Kids Watch w/Mini Figure 10%
2856080 Stormtrooper Minifigure Clock 10%
5000143 SW Boba Fett Watch w/minifigure 10%
2850828 Darth Vader Watch 10%
2856081 Darth Vader Minifigure Clock 10%
2856203 LEGO® Star Wars Yoda Mini Figure Clock 10%

[UK] May the 4th Deals at LEGO Shop@Home UK

Ace "onions" Kim — Fri, 03 May 2013 22:55:05 +0000

I didn’t realize this until just now, but the dates for the May the 4th sales promo for LEGO Shop@Home is different between the US/CA and UK. The UK sale started today, May 3rd. other than 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter going on sale, there isn’t a whole lot of other notable discounts. Most hover around the 10-15% range, with the planet Series 2 sets topping out at 30%. You might find something you like below. Deals are good both online and in store. US Deals will be forthcoming:

10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter
9491 Geonosian™ Cannon 15%
9492 TIE Fighter[TM] 10%
9494 Anakin’s Jedi Interceptor[TM] 13%
9496 Desert Skiff[TM] 10%
9497 Republic Striker-class Starfighter[TM] 10%
9498 Saesee Tiin’s Jedi Starfighter[TM] 13%
9499 Gungan Sub[TM] 14%
9500 Sith[TM] Fury-class Interceptor[TM] 10%
9516 Jabba’s Palace[TM] 11%
9525 Pre Vizsla’s Mandalorian[TM] Fighter 10%
9677 X-wing Starfighter[TM] & Yavin 4[TM] 30%
9678 Twin-pod Cloud Car[TM] & Bespin[TM] 30%
9679 AT-ST[TM] & Endor[TM] 30%
10188 Death Star™ 7%
10221 Super Star Destroyer™ 8%
10225 R2-D2[TM] 11%
850353 Keychain Darth Vader 25%
850355 Keychain Stormtrooper 25%
852550 Keychain CW Yoda 25%
853412 Keychain Anakin Skywalker 25%
853413 Keychain Watto 25%
2850829 Luke Skywalker Watch 10%
2851193 DARTH MAUL WATCH 10%
2855057 Storm Trooper Kids Watch 2010 10%
2856080 STORM TROOPERS MINI-FIG CLOCK GLOBAL 1 10%
2856130 YODA WATCH W/MINI FIGURE GLOBAL 1 10%
5000143 SW BOBA FETT WATCH W/MINIFIGURE GLOBAL 1 10%

Other Reviews of 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter From Around The Web

Ace "onions" Kim — Fri, 03 May 2013 21:26:56 +0000

Tomorrow, May the 4th, is the unofficial Star Wars holiday and also the day that 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter goes on sale. We’ve been highlighting this set since May 1 offering our in-depth reviews and analyses. Without out a doubt, this is a fine set and there are few other early reviews out there in the wild if you still haven’t made up your mind.

Bricknews.co.uk and Jedinews.co.uk have co-published a two part review:

The only negative for us is the stickers, we could’ve accepted the stickers on the wings and praise goes to LEGO for making each of these four stickers slightly different but the new cockpit piece really should have been printed. Don’t let that one issue spoil what is otherwise an excellent set that will look great as the center piece of your LEGO Star Wars collection – this really is a must buy and we’d also recommend it to those that have the original release too.

Brickset also published their review a favorable review few days ago:

It’s an essential purchase for all Star Wars fans. That’s not true of every UCS set, some of which are far too big and cumbersome and of obscure subjects, but the X-wing is perhaps the most iconic craft in the whole six-movie series, and this model is just the right size: big enough to be impressive but not so big that you’ll have nowhere to put it and it becomes a dust-gathering liability. Thanks to vast improvements in its construction you can swoosh it around without fear of bits of wing or engine falling off, too.

Eurobricks weighs in with their overly exhaustive review:

Of course there has to be a downside, but I’m delighted to say that 10240′s flaw’s aren’t numerous. A slight gap in the body around the wing mechanism might bother some; I can live with it. The stand – although far less wobbly than its predecessor – seems to have a tendency to twist, at least in my case. R2-D2 continues to insist on being too small. And I really am not keen on the new nose.

But these, even taken all together, are minor flaws. 10240 is an excellent rendition of the classic X-Wing; a delight to build, to display, and to own.

There are couple of common threads woven into each of the reviews including ours. The stickers on the canopy need to die in a fire. I do agree that on such a premium product, a printed canopy would make a huge difference in the build experience. Stickers are already difficult to put on straight, but dealing with large transparent stickers on a large transparent element is just introducing a level of frustration that detracts from an otherwise enjoyable building experience. A few other minor quibbles aside, the set comes highly recommended from all reviews.

Shameless plug time: We hope you enjoyed our coverage of 10240 and if you are planning on buying the set online, we would appreciate the click through. Hit this link to purchase the set when it goes on sale and you’ll be supporting our site. We thank you in advance.

Details on 5001623 Jor-El Polybag, June In Store Events

Ace "onions" Kim — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:04:12 +0000

Some details have emerged about obtaining the Jor-El minifig we reported on earlier this week. This post on Eurobricks shows the June store calendar with Jor-El displayed as one of the highlighted items. It will be a LEGO Brand Retail promotion and the only way to get it is to make a purchase in store or at LEGO Shop@Home for $75 or more. There’s nothing listed about the purchase requiring Super Heroes sets, so any purchase should net you the minifigure. Offer is good from June 1-25 or while supplies last.

There is one other item of interest on the calendar. On Wednesday June 19, they will be hosting a special in-store building event where you can build the Man of Steel. This is in addition to their regular Monthly Mini Build. Build event is open to kids age 6-14 only and limited to approximately 150 per store.

And finally, on Friday June 22, the monthly LEGO Club meeting will be DC Super Heroes themed.

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UCS 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter Time Lapse Build

Ace "onions" Kim — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:10:30 +0000

I finally got around to finishing up the time lapse video. Side note: there seems to be an ever so slight zoom shift on either the focus or the metering, so the picture may start to stutter in a way. I’ll have to try manual focus next time. The exposure seemed pretty even though so I think I figured out the metering issue I had with my other video. Also, I need to figure out a better angle. Anyways, there were a total of 11,117 photos shot at 1 frame/second, compressed down to about 3 minutes of video. Our sample sets didn’t come with book 3, so this was shot over two different days once we finally got the last set of instruction.

Side By Side Review: 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter and 7191 UCS X-wing Fighter

Don "Solo" Reitz — Wed, 01 May 2013 09:57:10 +0000

Back when Lego started making Star Wars sets I was still in my “dark age” so I missed out on a lot of the early releases. Even by 2000, when the original UCS X-wing came out, I still wasn’t ready to throw that kind of money at a single set. After a few years of re-embracing the hobby I wound up paying a good deal more for a used second hand kit, worrying that if I didn’t pick one up then I would only face higher prices down the line. I never got around to building it but I was satisfied to have it on standby. Fast forward to last February and the new Red Five announcement. Suddenly that old set I had for the most part forgotten about became relevant again. Like everyone else I was surprised to see Lego redesigning such a large model, and curious how they’d stack up against each other. With that in mind, Ace managed to procure a copy of the new set for me on the condition that I would review both at the same time. So. Here we are.

Please note that the review sets we received were volume sample sets provided by the LEGO Shop marketing team. They were nearly complete, missing some sticker sheets, and without retail packaging which did not affect the outcome of the review.

I’d like to start off by comparing the boxes, but unfortunately I don’t have either of them. As I said my 7191 was purchased second hand and the 10240 sample did not come with one so we’ll just have to compare the stock images for now.

Two very different approaches. The old being very dramatic and stylized, the new simply showing you exactly what you’re in for. The actual model is shown on the back of the box for both, as well as some close ups to highlight various features. Standard fare. What’s interesting is the change in labeling: 7191 Ultimate Collector Series X-wing Fighter vs 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter. This new set technically isn’t part of the UCS line. At least according to the box. But then again, 10225 R2-D2 isn’t either if the boxes are your metric, while the shop at home site disagrees. So is it or isn’t it? Seems obvious that it should be, but then why not put it on the box? In truth it doesn’t really matter, it’s just one of those details that I know collectors will argue about to no end. That’s just what we do.Moving on to the builds themselves, both models are broken down into distinct sections. 10225 jumps right into the gearbox mechanism while 7191 starts with the nose, but otherwise the sub assemblies and orders are the same. We’ll start with rear section since it’s the core to both of the fighters.

You can see right off the bat how fundamentally different the designs are. The old style relies on a series of small toothed gears to move the connection points apart, resulting in a lot of free movement because the teeth don’t mesh perfectly. Each point of contact compounds the amount of play, and when combined with the natural flexibility of plastic you’re left with a very soft range of motion. I’m sure I’m not explaining that very coherently, but the result is a floppy mess. Take a look at the blue Technic bushings jutting out from the sides. Those are supposed to support the wings. The ones on the bottom, that are facing directly sideways. When the wings are attached to those the weight simply forces them down at an angle, stressing the whole assembly. Turning the knob on the back will raise the lower wings but the entire gearbox remains under strain. It feels like it could shear off a sprocket at any moment and is altogether unpleasant. Meanwhile, the new version relies on a set of large four point ball sprockets that provide significantly better support.
The mechanism is much simpler and fairly similar to the newer system scale X-wings (if I’m remembering correctly, it’s been a while since I’ve built one but that definitely felt familiar). Instead of rubber bands to hold the wings together as on the smaller versions you have two pairs of Technic shock absorbers, so you don’t have to worry about it deteriorating and going limp. The wings mount to a single pivoting assembly of lift-arms that counterbalance each other, lessening the strain on the system.
What you’re left with is a smaller and more effective core. The knob on the back does not have a start and end point like with the old model. If you spin it too far you just start the open/close cycle again. This completely eliminates the risk of damaging the sprockets by over-tightening. You can set the wings at any angle between full open and closed and they will stay balanced with ease. The old model is very finicky about when it will actually raise or lower each wing. Sometimes it will hold the bottom horizontal until the last second and drop it completely, sometimes one side will separate before the other. It’s a mess. Just based on this section alone I’m already very impressed with the new set. Now that we’ve got the technical bits covered, lets take a look at the completed rear fuselages.
The old school style of 99% studs up building leaves you with an awkward brick shaped module. Thirteen years of progress and some new curvy slopes with studs out lend to a much better profile that starts to resemble the actual ship design. And then when you turn them sideways…
Something seems off. It’s definitely more accurate to have a flat backside, and they did a nice job of recessing the wing adjustment knob this time, but the older version with the added slopes looks slightly better to me. I guess that’s just a mater of preference.
The greeblies on top are a bit sparser now, but they don’t stick up as much as before so I think it’s a decent compromise. All together it’s a much smoother and more “starshipy” feeling construction, and this is just the boring part of the ship that you hardly get to see.
The changes to the main fuselage are just as stark. The old style seems so cubist in comparison. The color blocking doesn’t help the already rough design. The new build is so much sleeker without straying too much from the appearance of the source. We’re still stuck with a predominately rectangular cross-section, which most certainly doesn’t match up to the source, but that’s a hard shape to pull off within the constraints of official building methods and the result is close enough to satisfy me.
You can see how the old model used a pair of flag pieces to try to mimic the hexagonal profile it should have, but just for that one spot. In reality it should carry down the length of the nose. The problem is with the required angles being so slight I can’t imagine them pulling it off without some new specialized parts or “illegal” techniques that would weaken the structure, so I’m willing to overlook that discrepancy. You might notice from the photo above that the new model is slightly narrower here due to dropping the flags. Don’t worry, that’s being handled by the rear section and will clear up once the two halves come together. Before we get to that, we need to address the nose.
Big improvement as far as size and shape, and I like the pocket a lot more than the red indentation. But as much as it’s been improved on the new model, it still doesn’t look quite right.

From the side you can see there is a lot of room for improvement. The flat tip, the symmetric top and bottom profile, the mixed tones for no reason… it’s all wrong. The old version does a better job with the back edge because it carries the same basic angle to the top rather than zig-zaging, and if you squint the slopes along the front look better, but the jagged edges ruin any praise it might have earned. The new style is smoother at least, but it’s hard to call it good when looking at it from this angle. When AOFLs have started redesigning the nose a month before the set even goes on sale you know that you have a problem.

With the front and back sub-assemblies connected and and it starts looking like complete fuselage, the ire subsides. The nose still needs some work but it doesn’t ruin the ship. And at least it doesn’t look like a Rancor was chewing on it like the old style.
Here’s a closer look at what I mentioned above. That extra bit of shaping attained by the flags on the old model is accomplished by the large smooth sloped element on the update. The transition between the front and rear sections new feels relatively smooth. I’m sure you could sneak in a tile or two to ease the step down in width a bit more, but it doesn’t stand out as a flaw to me. The main attraction in this shot however is the canopies. The only element completely unique to either kit and unique from each other.
First off, and as politely as I can put it, I hate these canopy stickers with a passion. Stickers in general are a commonly contested addition to any set. I’m not against them in general. I think they’re quite nice in moderation and are really handy for builders who want to spice up custom models. I would have loved to get the rest of the stickers this set was supposed to come with. But in this specific situation, a large transparent element at the focus point of the model, I consider it unacceptable. Maybe it’s just my luck. Maybe I’m flaunting my own incompetence. But without my own anti-static clean room to apply them there is no way to get to a transparent sticker of this size properly centered on the canopy without trapping a bit of dust or an air bubble and basically ruining the appearance. I’m grateful that whoever I bought the old kit from never removed it because they did a better job than I could manage, but it’s still a far cry from factory printed. I know the excuse. This is cheaper. But honestly, for a set like this, on such a critical element, leaving it up to chance? It should be worth it.
Obligatory rant aside, the new sticker just isn’t as good as the old one. The blue doesn’t match anything on the model. The grey edging on it doesn’t have enough contrast to stand out unless you get up crazy close. I miss the bit of red caution striping at the top. Nothing about it improved. The canopy itself has several changes: it’s a full stud longer while holding the same height, making the slope even slighter than before. The top now has studs for no particular reason other than to turn the three sticker process into four. And now has click hinges built into the design, which is a nice thought considering the original hinge was a bit awkward, but somewhat disappointing considering the actual cockpits didn’t hinge from that point at all. I know making two special elements that hinge together is too much to ask, but hey, why not, they saved all that money by opting for stickers right? Alright I’ll let it go now.
That last bit of canopy related awkwardness, which happens to bother me the least, is the proportions. If you compare the length of the leading edge at the very front to the length across the top it should taper inward, not out. This is a problem with both sets because of the rectangular cross-section I mentioned earlier. When viewed from above, the real models only had a very narrow flat strip centered on the top of the main body, and the sides taper off to form an irregular hexagon cross-section. The Lego models are a simpler shape, so the two front tips of the canopy need to align with the flat vertical sides. If they didn’t, and instead kept a truer outline from above, you’d end up with a jarring misaligned seam on either side that wouldn’t look right from any angle. So while I’m well aware that this solution is very inaccurate, I’m fine with it because it looks good on these models. That aside, I prefer the stouter old canopy without the studs on top. With that in mind, I thought I’d try something out just for fun.

The original canopy actually fits quite nicely on the new model, and the old grey doesn’t mismatch any worse than the blue, so a hybrid of the two is quite viable. But that’s skipping ahead a bit. Moving onto the next set of sub-assemblies…
The wings are very close in size. The new ones are only slightly longer front to back thanks to an extra plate to fill in the gap by the rear nozzle better. The engines are integrated on the original model but separate on the new one, so for demonstration I’ve simply set it on top where it would wind up after assembly.
On both models the full width of each wing is 22 studs. The intakes on the new model are slightly larger, very slightly, but unfortunately they look smaller due to a couple of different factors. They’re mounted closer to the center-line of the ship. This makes the wings look bigger in proportion and they aren’t as spread out once fully assembled. The exhaust nozzles are significantly larger on the new model as well, so from all sides the proportions work against them. It’s not terrible, but noticeable.
The undersides of the wings aren’t anything special. The old version put a little bit of effort into dressing them up with some vents/screens. The new model just relied on the connecting lift-arms to break up the monotony of plate undersides. In this view it’s easy to see how much of a difference the larger exhaust nozzles make.
Both models have two styles of canons to mimic the stripped barrels on Luke’s X-wing. The old model used ribbed tube and smooth spacers on alternate wings, the new uses the same Technic connectors on each but in alternating colors. It’s closer to the prop, but not quite right. I guess even the lightest blue parts would stand out too much. Lego makes some strange color choices sometimes. Like the body of the canons switching from grey to white. If they made the whole ship grey like it should be it would be pretty bland, so instead it’s predominately white and they’re left with deciding where to drop in some highlights. Creative license I suppose. The tips are a little bit shorter now. Narrower too, but overall they look bigger. It’s a difficult detail to get right and neither model is close enough to be happy with. But they get the job done better than a 2×2 inverted dish.
The stands are both pretty simple. The old with a cross shaped footprint, the new with an H. The datasheet sticker will be bigger and fill a single 8×16 tile instead of an array of 12 1x8s.
Both are meant to be displayed with the model leaning back, but the old one will also hold it’s position fairly well with the model level. This is more thanks to the square receiving port in the model being closer to it’s center of gravity than in the new version. You can reverse the new stand 180° and the model will be almost level, but you’ll need to switch the card to the opposite side if you want to display it that way. Or you could add some weight into the front end of the fuselage to bring the center of gravity forward. The stand is the last sub-unit to build in both sets, so all that’s left is the final assembly.

Unfortunately I was not given the complete sticker sheets for the new model, so it will seem a little bare in comparison. But try not to let that bother you to much as I go through the details on the two now that the ships are complete.

I mentioned the greeblies on top earlier but here you can see them a bit better. The old style is really busy but looks pretty good, although it sticks up above the rim in several places. R2 sits quite high in the droid socket too. The new model is a bit more sparse, but everything is tucked into the frame very nicely and R2 is less exposed. I would have liked a little bit more in there. Maybe even a mere rod or two across the sides where the old shooter parts used to be. The engine connections seem more natural at least, the original seemed to be tacked on and forgotten about but the new blends very well at the size change. Bother are properly offset, something that I wasn’t so sure about when I first saw the redesign.

Taking a look at the rear you can see again just how much larger the new exhaust nozzles are compared to the old. The Scala vases were a perfect shape for the tips, but they were too small so the whole end shrunk to match them. I was worried about how stable the octagon clip setup would be but it turns out the flaps rest nicely against the transparent pink bits simulating the engine glow. The new flat back to the fuselage still doesn’t seem right and the inset details aren’t quite as nice as they used to be. At least the knob blends in better.

The wing markings have tightened up with half stud offsets and less tan throughout, and I consider the the change from red to dark red an improvement. I don’t like that the tiles are raised now but it’s a trade off I can deal with. From this view I’d say the large grey slope would probably look better as white, but I’m sure the sticker will help dress it up as with the original.

One of the drawbacks to the new wing mechanism is a much larger space between the wings when they’re spread out. You can adjust them to any angle you like at least, but it’s only at the full spread that the rotating bit inside makes a nice vertical wall and the engines rest snug to the body.

One more issue I noticed with the old model is the canopy would not close completely. I rebuilt the section several times to see if I just wasn’t pressing things together tightly enough, but noting seemed to solve it. I’m betting that was part of the reason they decided to add the click hinges to the new version. Meanwhile, the engine intakes are as undersized as ever. The T shape in them is perfect and the lack of red round part was was a very wise choice, and if you don’t go looking for screenshots to compare you can probably convince yourself these actually look good. To me, they’re just good enough. Sadly I don’t think there are any five-stud cylinder elements that could solve the problem quickly. I’m sure someone out there will come up with a solution because this is one of the reoccurring complaints I’ve noticed for both sets.

Looking into the cockpits you’ll be disappointed to find the trench run printed slope has been replaced with a generic console design. I’m not sure but I think that might have been switched to a sticker, to be added to the huge targeting computer that I had to remove to take the pic above.

The old seat was a bit roomier, and had a simpler joystick too. Kind of hard to get in to with R2 in the way though, the canopy doesn’t open too far unless you pull him out. That’s no longer an issue with the new model. Oh, and that fancy printed slope over the controls has been changed to a sticker too, not simply omitted.

Taking a peek from below and the smoothness of the new one stands out once again. The proton torpedo tubes have inexplicably lost their cone tips, but the design is basically the same. They’re just shorter and sunk in slightly farther now.

The storage unit is on almost every X-wing model Lego has made but I can’t seem to remember it being used in the films ever. The old one was a poorly integrated inverted canopy. Looks OK from the side but head on it’s much to narrow. The new hinged part blends much better.

You don’t have quite as much storage space now, but honestly, what would you be putting in there on this model? There are no loose accessories to worry about. Strikes me as an odd feature but at least it was improved.

I originally wanted to try swapping the wings from one to the other but the construction didn’t really make that as straight forward as I’d expected. But that’s a good thing, because the old wing system completely sucked. I pulled the wings off the side so I could compare the overall sizes.

Reminds me of your Ugly Fighter contest from years ago. You can easily see how close these are to each other. It’s basically the same size. The only real changes are proportions in a few places. The new canopy is longer as noted earlier, but it sits farther forward now too. The new nose is smaller and smoother. The body is sleeker everywhere. Engines are pulled in closer to the fuselage and all in all it looks like a much tighter build. And it is. The new ship is surprisingly solid. I can’t count how many times the old model fell apart while doing this review, just by picking it up and moving it around. I accidentally dropped the new model on the table and it only lost the bottom exhaust nozzles. Definitely swooshable now.

This shot made me notice how much cooler the new one looks once complete. Don’t get me wrong, the old model certainly doesn’t look bad. Just a little dated. Rough color blocking and very angular. The nose is the worst offender but just look at the wings. The new one has a kind of flow to it. The grey at the engine intakes swoops back across the wing into the red markings and forward again at the edges and out to the cannon tips. I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but I like it a lot. Now that I’ve seen it from this angle I don’t miss the details left out from the lack of stickers.

From below you get the same wing pattern, and no more tan under the cockpit. You can also see how much farther forward the stand fits in, which helps explain the poor weight distribution.

The last thing I need to address is the wing deflection. I could go on and on about the mechanism some more and how much better the new version is compared to the old, but the pictures speak for themselves.
Do the wings still droop? Yes. I think that’s unavoidable with something this size made from Lego. But the improvement is obvious with the wings together. It’s less of an issue with the wings expanded though.
But like I mentioned above the old model has a tendency to fall apart far too easily, so it’s trading one problem for another. Apart from that complaint, I’d have to say that the profile of the old one looks better here. The gap between the wings on the new model is just too large, and the bottom set of wings end up much lower than they should be. Two steps forward, one step back. Unfortunately the wings aren’t the only things suffering from this problem either.

The cannon tips are just as bad, if not worse, on the new model. The lighter crescents should put less strain on the barrels but I think the additional connections to make the stripped portions are to blame for the loss of support. So that’s disappointing. You’ll notice again that the lower wings drop too low now. On the bright side, the sag really only stands out when you view them head on or directly from the side.

Both look quite nice in the standard attack position and leaning them back on their stands will help alleviate the issue even further. Theoretically. Time may wreak havoc on those axles eventually. In which case I’d recommend alternating the upper an lower cannons periodically, like the tires on your car. But who does that. Really.

In the end I can safely say that the new model is superior in most regards, although not without it’s own flaws. I don’t regret buying the original even at the inflated price I paid because I didn’t know there would be a better option down the line. Now that the updated version is here I wouldn’t even bother with the old one unless it was back down at the original $150 price point or better. It just doesn’t hold up. Figuratively or literally. For $50 more you do only get 259 more pieces, but as someone pointed out in the forum when you account for inflation from 2000 to 2013 you’re getting a better deal now. You also get a better looking ship and a far sturdier build. If you have more patience than me though, you might want to hold off until 2026 when the next version should be available… that should be sufficient time to address these lingering complaints. At the very least they might cave and throw in a printed canopy. But if that plan sounds unreasonable to you I would definitely recommend this set.

And finally, I’ll included full turn around shots of both models from head on and above and both opened and closed configurations, because who doesn’t like copious amounts of photos at the end of a long winded review?

10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter goes on sale at LEGO Shop@Home on May 4th

Review: 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter

Ace "onions" Kim — Wed, 01 May 2013 09:56:24 +0000

It seems like a lifetime ago when I first saw the very first Ultimate Collector Series set, 7191 X-wing Fighter, on the Toys’R'Us shelf. The silver printed X-wing on a black box looked so slick and looked nothing like the other LEGO sets on the shelf. I was swooning over it and without a second thought bought it, took it home, and built it in a day. And it was awesome. I proudly displayed it on my shelf along with the other UCS set that came out that year, 7181 TIE Interceptor, for many, many years. Fast forward a few years later, and it’s time to pack up our tiny apartment and move into a house and with the amount of LEGO I had at the time, it was no easy feat. Unfortunately, the X-wing along with a bunch of other sets on display had to be taken apart with little time to do it, so I tore it apart and stuffed it inside a couple of Ziploc bags and then stuffed the bags inside a box where they remain to this day. I never bothered to rebuild it for a couple of reasons. It needed and still needs some serious cleaning, and the condition of the stickers was in bad shape. The stickers that LEGO used back then disintegrated over time due to some combination of age, heat, and dust. Try and peel them off and you would regret that action for they would break apart into tiny little pieces and once those pieces got on your fingers, they were really difficult to get off. Surprisingly, the one sticker that survived was the familiar UCS information label. So there it sits in a state of decomposition in box in my office a few feet away from me. Fast forward a few years later, and here we are today on the eve of an epic remake about to be released to the public. Ultimate Collector Series 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter is a re-engineered UCS 7191 X-wing Fighter. LEGO has re-released and re-designed several sets before, but this is the first time a UCS set is getting the recycle treatment. There are many fans who fell into the hobby too late and covet the set so much so that it commands a pretty high aftermarket value, ringing up at around $800 at my last check a few weeks ago. So this remake may be welcomed with open arms and smaller budgets, but with 13 years of a legacy to go up against, how does the newer version stack up?

You have to understand one thing about me, especially if you don’t regularly follow this site. I’ve become a bit jaded about the hobby over the years. It takes a lot to impress me nowadays though I’m slowly trying to change that. There aren’t many that can claim that they’ve been loyal to the brand from the beginning, and fewer still that can claim they’ve run a site dedicated to the line in the same amount of time. I look back upon those early years with nostalgia so reviewing the X-wing with a completely unbiased point of view isn’t realistically possible. But in 10240′s favor, I only have my memories of 7191 to work with and compare to and am purposefully staying away from any pictures online of the original set in order to be as fair as possible. And with that, let’s get on with the review.

The X-wing is one of the most iconic ships in science fiction history, and the most popular ship in the LEGO Star Wars line. It’s been released in numerous sets over the years in all kinds of scales. When 7191 launched back in 2000, it is by its very definition what LEGO deemed as the ultimate X-wing. It’s not without it’s flaws though, and some of the issues of that older set are present in the 10240 remake, most notable being proportions. If you’re as big of a Star Wars nerd as I am, you’ll immediately notice some size and scale issues on various parts of the ship. For instance, the engines intakes are way too small in relation to the humongous cockpit.

Despite their small size though, they do correct one thing missing from the original and that is that vertical bar in the intakes. There is a t-shaped bar in each of the intakes and if memory serves, the original only had the cross bar and not the stem. 10240 cleverly uses a minifig pickaxe to create that vertical stem but I have mixed feelings about the execution. At first glance and from far away, that t-bar is present and provides that extra bit of detail, but upon closer inspection, it doesn’t look quite right due to the curvature of the axe head. This may be the best solution available with today’s parts library, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to create anything better, but it is definitely a step up from 7191′s design.

The engine exhausts are completely redesigned from the original and look fantastic. I was happy to see that the designers chose to use transparent pink elements for the engine glow instead of red or even orange since that is how they appeared in the film.

I really enjoyed building the cockpit and it is probably one of my favorite parts of the build. It’s very nicely detailed with foot pedals, a control stick, multiple displays, and the pilot’s seat. My favorite new detail is the targeting computer. I wish my version came with the sticker sheet but I’ll just have to settle for my imagination and wait for a replacement to arrive. The targeting computer can’t retract so it’s always on display, always targeting something but you can flip it up and down at least.

The one thing about the fuselage that bugs me is that they never really got the shape right in the old 7191 set nor in the new 10240 version. It’s kind of hard to describe, but the sides aren’t supposed to be vertically flat. If you take a cross section of the hull, it is in a hexagon shape, but a cross section of LEGO’s model yields a square shape. There is some semblance of a hexagonal cross section at the back section thanks to some slope bricks. And all six sides, or in the case of 10240, four sides, of the hull are supposed to taper to a point, capped off by the nose element. In 10240 it only tapers on the sides, and not the top and bottom.

The nose element is also a bit flawed in its execution. When looking at pics of the ILM model, there is a slight indentation on the top of the nose. I believe LEGO was attempting to recreate that indentation, and as a result we ended up with a nose that has a channel going from the tip all the way to the back of the assembly. I also feel like the nose should be at least two plates thicker than the point at which its attached to, one plate above and one below.

Moving away from the main hull, we have the wings. They are built in identical pairs, attaching to ship on opposing sides (top right matches bottom left, etc), which makes the build go much quicker. The Technic construction used to attach the wings to the ship is rather ingenious. When the S-foils are locked in attack position, the opposing sides are actually supposed to create a straight line giving the ship that trademark ‘X’ shape. This is faithfully recreated nearly perfectly in 10240.

There is a dial on the back of the ship that you turn that rotates a pair of levers that push the wings apart. It’s unlike a steering wheel where when you turn the wheel you’ll eventually hit the limit and you can’t turn anymore. There’s no limit to how much you can turn the dial. The wings will open then close then open again for as long as you keep dialing, so you need to just eye it as to when to stop turning the dial for maximum wing deployment.

Yes, I know I built them wrong.

There is one issue with the wings and that is when they are in flight mode. The pair of wings on the port side laid flat against each other, however the starboard pair did not. There was a noticeable gap between the two. I asked Don if he saw the same issue on his copy and he did not so I’m willing to chalk this up to an anomaly, maybe even user error, rather than a design flaw. In the end, I’m going to guess that, like me, the majority of fans will display the ship with the S-foils in attack position anyway, so this possible design flaw may not even be an issue for you.

There isn’t too much to critique when it comes to the laser cannons. The designers most definitely improved the flashback suppressors compared to the older version, even if they seem a tad on the big side. They, too, are built in opposing pairs saving you some time.

The display stand. Oh man. This is where they fail big time. I distinctly remember that in 7191, you were able to display the X-wing perfectly horizontal or at an angle, as if it was just taking flight. The display stand in 10240 also seems to want to do that as well. But after completing the build and assembling the ship on its stand, it was far too back heavy, causing the ship to only display in the one just-taking-flight position. Obviously this is a design flaw and could be remedied easily by altering the way the stand is built, but any homebuilt solution would lock the ship in position and then if you wanted to display in a different way, you’d have to rebuild the stand. I’m not entirely confident that an easy fix can be issued by LEGO with an extra page of instructions and some spare parts like they did with Slave I from many years back as the hole where the stand is inserted is just below and in front of the internal Technic assembly for the wings. There’s not much you can do about it. Lucky for us though that the default display position makes the ship look great and would probably have been the preferred way.

Lastly, is it too much to ask for some landing gear? I realize the display stand is the de facto way to display the UCS ships, but if the UCS line is to capture as much detail as possible, why not some landing gear?

What I Liked:

S-foil mechanics
Cockpit details
Improvements in all areas compared to 7191

What I Disliked:

The nose
The hull
Faulty display stand
Lack of landing gear
Overall Proportions

Conclusion:

Let’s be honest, not everyone is as nitpicky as I am when it comes to things like scale, or life in general. The scale issue is only apparent if you look at the final model as a whole and compare it to the original source material side by side, and not many of us are going to be displaying pictures next to their model. But by itself it’ll garner the approval from even the most discerning of fans. The true beauty of the model comes from its details and this model packs plenty of them. My fuzzy memory was working against me when trying to compare some of the details between the old and the new, but I was so impressed by the overall model, that I didn’t want to sweat the details too much. The UCS line is geared towards the fan that wants something really cool to build and proudly display in their home or even their office. 10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter is up to that task. The price tag of $199 may seem a bit steep but considering the alternative of buying 7191, you’re much better off with the new one. 10240 is worth your hard earned dollars.

10240 Red Five X-wing Starfighter goes on sale at LEGO Shop@Home on May 4th