Subject:
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Review: 7130 Snowspeeder (or, Jumping on the Hand Grenade of Criticism)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.reviews
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Date:
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Sat, 27 Mar 1999 09:51:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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1457 times
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Hi, everyone--
Well, I'll be the one to risk the fury of the wider
LUGNET community by posting what appears to be the
first "review" of 7130 (which, looking at the box,
doesn't seem to have any real name at all--I tended
to Kennerize it and just call it the "Rebel Armored
Snowspeeder.") The danger aspect? Well, I was less
than thrilled with the model, but quite happy with
the set's long-term potential. Maybe it's a primal
fear of being branded a heretic?
Realizing the fairly special nature of these sets,
take everything I wrote here with a grain of salt--
obviously, if you want to recreate Hoth, you're most
likely going to want 3 snowspeeders instead of 2 X-
wings. It's a matter of personal taste, since this
is the first "theme" that's based on a defined set
of imaginary events rather than a nebulous one. For
the record, I feel the Snowspeeder is the weakest of
a remarkably strong theme lineup (at least those sets
now available).
LFB.
PS: Scale is as follows, best to worst:
Excellent (aka MH/Must-Have)
Very Good
Good
Average
Poor
Very Poor
Abysmal
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SET REVIEW: 7130 Rebel Armored Snowspeeder
Theme: Do I really need to fill this in? :)
#pcs: 212
Price: $19.99 (K-Mart, New Brunswick, NJ)
Overall Rating (Model): Average to Good
Overall Rating (Elements): Very Good
Decorated Elements: 2-2x2 Rebel Alliance tiles;
3-1x2 "Button-Grate" tiles; 2-2x2 45-deg slopes
with printed AT-AT on targetting computer; 1
2x4 low-slope (!) with printed orange glacis plate;
2 minifig pilot torsos, helmets, and faces.
#minifigs: 3 (Luke, Dack, and Hoth Soldier)
#extras: 4 - 1x1 dk grey round plate, 1x1 lt grey
plate, 1x1 tan tile, and 1x2 orange grille tile.
Unique Components: Smoke rear windshield; AT-AT
targetting computers; glacis plate; possibly
also the 1x2 orange plates w/horiz. bars and
the 2 2x2 dkgrey flags with clips (used to
simulate the airbrakes), and the 6x16 tan plate
upon which the fuselage is built.
First Impression:
"Cool! I got some SW sets! I'll just go through and
build the smallest one first, and work my way up..."
...(an hour deleted, along with various
flyby setups and homemade SW sound effects)...
"Hey, this is kinda neat, and it has a lot of neat
pieces, but it's a snowspeeder about as clearly as
I'm Wehrner von (or Eva) Braun. And why are Luke and
Dack divided up like that? It's really hard to get Dack
into the back of that speeder...and why is the tail
jutted out, anyhow? The front is flat, hmmm...I don't
remember this cargo space, odd...maybe if I squint
just right, it sorta vaguely looks like a snowspeeder.
Nice radar/laser cannon, though...and I can make Han
Solo with the Hoth Soldier! Now to make a tauntaun
and a Wampa...can I use extra hoses to simulate the
tauntaun guts?"
Second Impression:
Not nearly as harsh. After exploring the completed
model, I have more appreciation for how hard it
must have been for LEGO to simulate the Snowspeeder
adequately. Some of the solutions are quite creative,
for example the creation of the airbrakes and the
nicely-done cannon mountings on the ship's "wings."
Getting the airfoils' relation to the fuselage right
was also handled admirably--I absolutely *love* the
new hinge system, one that actually locks! Finally,
I strongly approve of TLG's efforts to give its larger
models the "worn universe" feel that Lucas tried to
impart to SW vessels. The colour mottling is very
conducive to this feel, as are the various vent pieces
included.
The piece mix is pretty good as a whole, as you get
a nice pastiche of semi-rare and SW-specific elements
with a few regular bricks here and there. A tan 6x16
plate? I'm in heaven! As a parts mine for SW, 7130
is magnificent--three minifigs that can be genericized
freely for your SW ranks, two blaster-guns, the wings,
the various sloped and decorated elements, etc etc...
and of course six sets of the new stepping hinges!
Despite this, I'm less happy than before with the way
the model operates. Whereas on the X-Wing the canopy
is sturdily mounted, 7130's can only be raised and
lowered a few times before dislodging the hinge bases
from the fuselage (owing to the lever effect). The
back cockpit/platform assembly also tends to lift off
the 1x2 hinges on which it's mounted after a few
openings and lowerings. Sure, it's LEGO and they
can just be pushed back together, but the X-Wing
doesn't suffer this ignominy--and were it not for
the "cargo space" needed between Luke and Dack, it
could have been built much more sturdily.
I do understand how neat a feature that cargo box is,
but it's an extremely liberal modification even
for a non-SWP (Star Wars Purist) like myself, and
I'll be trying to make the requisite remodification
ASAP. I'm also going to solve the problem of front
and rear foil geometry that way--blend the rear into
the fuselage tail, and perhaps try to get points on
the front.
Oh, almost forgot: Man oh man, does that harpoon gun
adaptation *suck*! Fortunately that's easily fixed
with a Divers harpoon gun and some 1x1 clips.
The Final Scuttlebutt?:
I know you're going to buy it anyhow, so this
likely won't change any minds--and you'll discover
its value as a parts mine for yourself after the
first one. I think it's worth the $20 in any case.
That said, I feel that given $60, I'd much rather
have two 7140 X-Wings than three 7130 Snowspeeders,
be it for parts or for play. YMMV.
-----
Lindsay Frederick Braun (Mr)
Department of History
Rutgers, the State University of NJ
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