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#10129
System / Star Wars UCS
Rebel Snowspeeder
Ages 14+
1457 Pcs.
(C)2004
94 page manual: 1 model, 40 steps for the body, 41 steps for each wing and 14
steps for the display stand.
Price Range: $129.99 USD
RATINGS (Scale: Must-Have Excellent Very-Good Good Fair Poor)
Set: Must-Have / Model: Excellent / Playability: Very-Good
DECALS? Yes
SPECIAL FEATURES/COMPATIBILITY:
UCS mounting stand and descriptive sticker.
SET DESCRIPTION:
The spirit of the battle scene on Hoth (from The Empire Strikes Back) comes
alive in this large scale LEGO set. Modelled in striking white and orange, with
light and dark grey under structures, it is bold in both size and weight.
This realistic looking vehicle makes a fantastic display piece for a home
theater or maybe an office cubicle. The 1400+ pieces have been put to good use
in recreating the famous Snowspeeder, but will also make a terrific addition to
any LEGO collection as individual parts.
SPECIAL ELEMENTS:
2 white 4x4 'elbow' plates (corner removed)
I LOVE these pieces. I've seen them on the web, but until now didn't own any of
them in any color. I'm not sure how often they appear in other sets, but it was
a delight to see them fall out of a bag during the pre-sort.
** Most of the other pieces are at least *somewhat* standard or traditional.
IMPRESSION:
To say that I've been waiting for a set like this since 1980 would give you some
idea about how excited I was to see this model arrive in the mail. Just like
the AT-AT, the Rebel Snowspeeder is one of my favorite vehicles from the Star
Wars universe. I had already built the much smaller version from the first
series of classic Star Wars sets (and had even built the plastic model kit as a
kid) but the UCS version was just bound to be different.
Opening the box it was a pleasant surprise to find that it was full! There was
very little wasted space in this large box that was packed with 21 bags of
parts, a 94 page instruction book and a sticker sheet. Having previously built
both the 4483 AT-AT and a couple of Yoda's I decided to do some pre-sorting for
this build. I was glad I did. I found with both of the other large models that
I ended up getting frustrated, thinking a part was missing, when in fact it was
just hiding somewhere. By pre-sorting I was able to have a sense of where
various parts were before starting to build. I sorted into broad categories
(slopes, 4xX plates and larger, 2xX plates and smaller, things for the guns and
engines, 1xX and 2xX bricks including Technic bricks, Technic pins etc. and so
on.) Interestingly, there are very few 1x1 and 1x2 bricks in this massive
model. It relies greatly on plate to plate construction techniques.
Within the first half dozen steps or so you already begin to realize how sturdy
the lower body of the ship will be. And this becomes obviously useful when the
ship is complete, since the body needs to support a good bit of weight. This is
where a number of the large light grey plates come in handy. In fact, there
were so many large plates in the model that during the pre-sort those elements
got the biggest box on my building table.
The main part of the lower body is a full 10 studs wide. With 1xX walls, this
leaves 8 studs across for the cockpit tub. Including the control panels the
cockpit is about 16 or 17 studs long. What I really loved was the use of the
2x4 fully rounded bricks (vaulted tops) as the headrests for the pilots' seats.
The smoothness (thanks to tons of plates) of the seats makes you want to climb
in and get behind the controls. You have to love this cockpit. The detailing
is up there with some larger plastic model kits.
I did have problems, from time to time, trying to tell whether the instructions
were calling for a black part or a dark grey part. Luckily, this was often
decided by just what parts were there and which ones weren't. So usually it was
just a matter of saying, "do I even have a 2x8 in black?" If the answer was
'no' then they probably wanted you to use dark grey. For the color scheme as a
whole I thought this model did a brilliant job using almost exclusively light
and dark grey, white and orange. For the record, my copy of this kit came in
the original/classic versions of the two grey colors. This review assumes that
other people will get the same mix of parts. I cannot say whether or not later
runs of this product will be done in the new versions of grey.
When you get the body done (which is over 30 studs long not including the 'nose'
section) you start on the wings as two separate building stages. I took a short
break before starting the first wing but was giddy by the time I finished it and
could hardly wait to attach it to the ship. Then, of course, you *have* to
build the 2nd wing quickly to balance out the look of the speeder. In my haste
I made a few mistakes on the 2nd wing and had to back up a couple times, but
that was my own fault and not a problem with the instructions.
Completely built, this big boy is between 47 and 50 studs long (depending
exactly how and if you count in the gun tips and the rear stabilizers). It sits
on a nice angle on the display stand, allowing you to see a great amount of the
surface detail. The cowlings over the two main guns open to act as air brakes,
just like in the movie. And you have to like how the 3 rear engines are
'encased' in the black cooling fins. This is a very nice bit of design work.
So how can you go wrong with a model like this? Lots of common pieces in large
quantities (slopes, inverted slopes, plates, classic 4x8 wing plates and a
handful of Technic bricks) make it an easy but fun model to build. And the
sheer volume of these common elements means that it is a great addition to any
LEGO collection. I'm certainly glad I now have it in mine.
Set Rating: Must-Have
This set is fantastic. No doubt about it. Tons of plates, 4x8 wing plates in
light grey and white, slopes and inverted slopes and a nice selection of 1xX and
2xX light and dark grey bricks. There are _very_ few specialized pieces in the
Snowspeeder, making it a wonderful addition to your collection as it is highly
reusable. It's a model that is both large (approx. 15" long by 14" wide) and
nicely heavy. It feels solid in your hands. It captures the feeling of this
classic Star Wars ship. Oh, and it's completely whooshable. ;)
Model Rating: Excellent
The model has a couple flaws. The main canopy is a bit flimsy. The use of
stickers is a bit of a drawback, but not worth making too big of a fuss over.
Overall it captures the impression of the Snowspeeder, but I have a feeling it's
not as technically accurate as some might hope for. In the end though, it does
come together nicely and is a lot of fun to build.
Playability Rating: Very Good
This is a display set. It's large and sturdy, but really works best when it's
on the display stand. As with other UCS ships there are no figures of any kind,
so this really isn't a model for younger kids.
Likes/Dislikes
Loved the color scheme. Hated the stickers. Loved the wing plates. Hated the
canopy. Loved the harpoon canon. Hated the stickers. Loved the huge number of
plates and slopes. Hated the stickers. Wait... did I say that already? :)
Scale
According to the display plate, the "real" ship is 5.3 meters long. So... since
the model is roughly 40 cm long, I guess that makes it about 1/13th scale.
Certainly not minifig scale, but that's o.k. it wasn't meant to be. It might be
Technic figure scale, but is probably still a bit big for them.
Errors
Some molding problems with the 1x2 dark grey click bricks. My guess would be
that they came from a mold that was nearly at the end of its life. As well, I
noted that when 2 or more of the light grey plates were stacked together there
was a bit more of an uneven wall that you would expect. i.e. the edges of the
plates didn't meet perfectly, indicating the plates were of varying widths.
Also, it was weird to note that many of the plates already had 'dinged' corners
right out of the box. It was as though they had already lived a hard life.
Finally, my particular box did include an odd error brick. More like an error
'stud' I guess, as it was little more than a stud with a tiny bit of plastic
below it. Almost like a 1x1 plate with the sides cut away. Funny to look at.
:)
Extra Elements:
Very few for such a large kit
3 1x1 round black plates (though I might have missed putting these in)
1 1x1 round red transparent plate
1 1x1 white tile
1 1x1 black tile
1 black friction pin
1 blue 3/4 pin
1 joystick w/ yellow base
CONCLUSION
Buy this set. Yes, buy it. If you're a Star Wars fan, a LEGO fan or both
you'll certainly enjoy this set. I think it is worth the price tag as it
certainly provides hours of building fun and long term enjoyment by displaying
it somewhere that everyone can see it. I hope you have as much fun building it
as I did.
REVIEWER INFORMATION
Review Written: January 11, 2004
By: Allan Bedford (bricks@apotome.com)
Age: Old enough to have seen 'The Empire Strikes Back' in the theater ;)
Favorite Lines/Themes: System, Technic, Star Wars, Model Team, Classic Space
COPYRIGHT
This review is Copyright 2004 Allan Bedford. The
author grants publication rights for all uses, public and private,
with the following exceptions: all information in the document must
be published in full; any for-profit use requires express written
permission by the author for publication in full or in part.
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