Is my long estrangement from LEGO over? (1 of 4)
Written: Jun 17 '03 (Updated Feb 03 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Low cost. Little pieces.
Cons: LEGO doesn’t follow this philosophy in all its sets.
The Bottom Line: LEGO and I are like two long-lost lovers running toward each other in a sunlit field of wildflowers.
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| panguitch's Full Review: LEGO Star Wars MINI X-Wing Fighter / TIE Advanced ... |
The reviews in this four-part series will each be divided in two sections. The first will get my personal ramblings out of the way, the second will be the actual product review. Read whichever half you see fit.
Let’s get personal.
My first distinct memory of Legos was my brother getting the grand old yellow brick castle for Christmas. I ignored my own loot in order to greedily watch while he constructed it. Looking back at that set, which I inherited, and comparing it to later castles one difference is stark: Legos are no longer building blocks. That yellow castle was constructed of bricks. Piece by piece. Nowadays castles come with less than half the pieces. Instead of bricks you build with wall segments, like prefabricated concrete slabs. Sure these pieces are pretty, with their little faux-brick graphics that would warm the heart of any Trading Spaces designer. And I never hesitated to gobble them up. But something was missing.
The trend spread throughout Legoland. Pieces were growing exponentially. No longer did you build horses. They came complete, like action figures. You couldn’t even pull their heads off. Dragons. Sharks. And not just animals. It seemed every set used fewer and fewer pieces. The emphasis moved from construction to presentation. The sets consisted of big, highly specialized pieces that looked exactly like what they were supposed to be. How can that be a bad thing? Because they couldn’t look like anything else. Gone was the versatility. Now half your castle consisted of a mountainous base plate that could hardly be used for anything other than the design intended.
Gone was what I loved best about Legos: the high-pitched shuffle of little pieces in my bushel-box as I searched for something to use in my improvised creations. Increasingly I found myself digging past top layers of big pieces to get to the old stuff, the stuff I could use for something other than the 1-2-3 designs Lego gave me instructions for. With sadness in my heart I packed up my Legos (now filling two bushel boxes) and set them aside in the closet of my childhood. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, I had merely grown up. I didn’t let them know of the hurt I felt.
Over the years from time to time I’d glance over the Lego aisle at the store. I’d subject my wife to complaints about how Lego just wasn’t the same. How they made models now, not building blocks. Among other things, I tried to fill the void in my life by participating in the epinions online community. Then one day I received a notice that the esteemed epinionator JediKermit had reviewed a new breed of Lego: a MINI set. Reading his words excited me. More than usual. I’ll hope he can forgive me, but it was too good to be true. I felt the need for confirmation. To my delight other eps greats stood ready with confirming reviews. Perhaps it was time to attempt a reconciliation.
With trepidation I let my wife know I wanted these new Star Wars MINI sets for my birthday. So last Friday she gave them to me. I’ve gone on long enough already, so let’s just say I feel young and in love again.
LEGO Star Wars MINI Building Set 4484 (1 of 4): X-wing Fighter and TIE Advanced
Lego’s licensed Star Wars line has been a blessing for Star Wars fans, but also embodies what I now perceive as somewhat of a shift in Lego thinking. While great focus remains on the product as a model as opposed to building blocks, in the Star Wars line it is recognized that seasoned connoisseurs want the best of both worlds. Faithful reproduction of scale models is achieved without the loss of building block integrity. In other words, there’s more than just a handful of big, otherwise useless pieces in the sets of this line. And now that I’ve taken a closer look, other lines similarly seem to be regaining this balance.
The MINIs epitomize the change. Prompted by the realization that many Star Wars spaceships, if properly scaled, would be enormous, Lego opted to put out a line of miniatures. While you won’t be able to fit your Lego figures in these ships, you’ll have fun flying them around the house anyway. Best of all, despite their small size (as small as a single castle wall segment—about two or three inches), they’re constructed from a plentitude of pieces, most of which are not unique and can readily be used in improvised building. This is Lego as I treasure it in my memory, if only smaller. I can hear the riffling of those bushel boxes now.
Each MINI set contains two vehicles. In this first set the X-wing Fighter takes the cake. It’s perhaps the best in the series. The wings are actually adjustable, and can be spread into attack position for those daring runs on the Death Star. While the fuselage, being only one “dot” thick, is somewhat unsteady, the ship as a whole holds up well. Somewhat less successful is the Twin Ion Eengine Advanced, better known as “Darth Vader’s kick-butt bent-winged TIE Fighter from the original movie.” Here the wings (solar gather panels) suffer from a rather loose connection to the ship’s body, and can break off if pinched in the wrong spot. Nevertheless, it’s still a pretty thing, and the two ships are scaled well to each other.
Intended for ages seven and up, the set contains 76 pieces. There are two extra pieces, which always makes me wonder how Lego decides which pieces to include extras of. Do they do play-testing to statistically determine which pieces are most likely to get lost? In any case, construction is a breeze, the ships taking ten and eight steps respectively. And as a bonus there’s one wing of the TIE Bomber, the other parts of which are included in the other three sets.
A word should be spared for color here, as Lego has invested in some new ones. Both the blood-red and tan on the X-wing are new, and though I’ve been away for a long time I think the light, almost gray-blue on the TIE may also be new.
Let me add my voice to the chorus of high recommendations. Five stars for the X-wing, four for the TIE Advanced. Whether you’re a Star Wars geek or a Legos nerd or a wife who’s given up rolling your eyes you’ll find happiness in these little MINIs. At least until the Imperial Star Destroyer (3,104 pieces), which you pre-ordered for $299, comes this fall (it seems to almost be on a scale with these MINIs by the way).
When it comes down to it, how often can you buy a decent set of Legos for four bucks?
- Panguitch
(2 of 4) LEGO tries to redeem Lucas from his own ineptitude: Sebulba’s and Anakin’s Podracers
(3 of 4) LEGOs, my midlife crisis, and me: Snowspeeder and AT-ST
(4 of 4) The Bottom Reviewer speaks out on LEGO minis: Jedi Starfighter and Slave I
(5 of 4) Revenge of the Star Wars LEGO MINI: Star Destroyer
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 4.00
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panguitch
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Location: Springville, UT
Reviews written: 279
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"Realism is quite incapable of describing the complexity of contemporary experience." -Ursula K. Le Guin
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