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Sweat beads on the brow of the pilot's forehead. He has outmaneuvered the
droid fighter ships for almost an hour now and he's simply too tired to keep it
up. The chase (and knowledge of what the Trade Federation is planning) has so
occupied his attention that he didn't notice a mass of ships stationed ahead of
him. Now he sees them and realizes that any chance of reaching his home world
of Naboo is literally overshadowed by a convoy of Trade Federation freighters
blocking his passage!
What may be my final acquisition from the larger 1999 Star Wars sets is the
Naboo Fighter set. I picked it up because I liked the design for a fighting
starship and I wanted to get a couple of the battle droids that are included in
the set. The simple color combination of yellow and grey also attracted me and
I'm quite satisfied with the set as a whole.
The Naboo Fighter comes with the fighter craft, a pilot, two robots and an odd
service-type vehicle. The main model is a snub-nosed construction with rockets
mounted at the end of each lateral wing. Behind the pilot's cockpit is a small
station for an astromech droid and from there the main body tapers into a slim
stinger-like tail. An odd box-shaped object is secured to the bottom of the
craft but I can't really tell what the purpose of it is (though a jutting
transparent cone would suggest it is an additional laser). This box is also
too small to be landing gear and it just offsets the balance of the rest of the
ship. I sometimes get the feeling that extras like these are added onto the
main model in order to provide more parts for builders, so just remove the box
from the ship and enjoy the extra pieces.
The other construction in the set is a small four-wheeled vehicle. There is no
particular place for a driver to sit. The top half of the cart flips up to
reveal some circuitry-printed tiles but there is no area for storage or
anything else (here, again, we have "filler" pieces).
Unlike the larger Star Wars models, there are no specific alternate models
pictured in the instructions of this set.
Figures included in the set are a pilot, two humanoid robots and a biped
android (white with blue highlights). I have to say I don't like the pilot
looking like a medieval peasant. Yes, I'm aware the figure is supposed to be a
ship-borrowing Anakin Skywalker, but I would have much more preferred a
uniformed pilot for the ship (Anakin could have been thrown in as an extra).
On the other hand, the two robots are quite cool. They are kind of fragile
like the skeletons found in Castle sets but one is able to pose these figures
more easily then their bony medieval cousins. Minifig accessories include two
hand-held blasters (for the robots) and that's about it.
There aren't a lot of unique pieces to the set except for the new rounded
canopy, 4x2 longer-sloping bricks, and yellow 3x3x2 cylinder/engine elements
but I find myself liking this set quite a bit. The design of the ship is quite
solid (despite some antenna extension pieces which can be easily removed) and
the design lends itself well to a fleet scenario (yes, you'll probably have to
buy at least two or three of these babies for your collection).
Die-hard Star Wars fans simply must see Bram Lambrecht's site (
http://chuh.org/Students/Bram-Lambrecht/LEGO/n1/ ) for a much more authentic,
highly-detailed version of the N-1 Starfighter that includes retractable
landing gear, bottom-loading droid socket, a sliding canopy and a functional
torpedo launcher!
!!!4x2ReVu Stats!!!
Rating: Seven out of eight studs.
Thumbs up for: A sleek, good-looking air/space craft.
Thumbs down on: I would rather have had a uniformed pilot (minor complaint).
Wallet-Wise: $20.00 suggested U.S. retail for 174 pieces.
Date: 10/30/1999
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