Great, detailed little set. It reminds me of one of those small commercial-grade excavators.

-- WARNING --

According to the manufacturer, this product is not recommended for children under the age of 7 years as it contains many small parts which a child could potentially choke on.

All around the world, earthquakes are becoming increasingly frequent, threatening the cities and towns above! A geologist, nicknamed Brains, determines that these earthquakes may not be natural occurrences, and wants to investigate further. So Brains works with a mechanical engineer, Rex, and a veteran miner, Duke, to create a team of brave & intelligent explorers to drive special tunneling and gathering machines deep into the Earth’s crust to investigate the strange rumblings. But, as they dig, the Power Miners (led by Doc) come across several types of squat rock monsters which eat exotic crystals to make them more powerful! Though not very smart, they are numerous and seem to be the cause of the earthquakes. So now, it is up to the Power Miners to learn more about the rock monsters… and find a way to stop them before it’s too late!

Rex drives Machine #3, also known as the Granite Grinder- a small vehicle with caterpillar tractor treads. It features a single large twin-pronged hydraulic jackhammer, which vibrates back-and-forth quickly to break up boulders that may have slipped past some of the Power Miners’ larger drills. It can also move for extended times away from the main mining teams along with the Stone Chopper and Mine Mech thanks to its natural gas tank and larger hydraulic fluid cache, leading the charge with its large removable spotlight to shine the way. A pack of dynamite blasts apart rocks that the machine punches through. Then the fragments can be collected by the Mine Mech and placed in the Granite Grinder’s towed rock sled for analysis back with the main team by Brains. It is fortunate that Rex designed the Granite Grinder to be durable and compact because it means when he’s driving it, he can avoid serious damage from rock monsters and the boulder that they hurl at him!

The rubber tractor treads are tied together by a Technic rod, and cannot twist independently of each other.

When rolled forward or backwards, the orange jackhammer slides forward and backwards, the rubber band contracting it each time.

The two tanks in back can be removed.

The rock sled’s plastic chain can be hooked onto the back, and dragged along behind it.

LEGO Set #8958 comes with the first version of the Rex minifig. The back of his helmet hides his second facial expressions- a look of surprise; (His helmet is capable of accepting a fold-down visor, but this set does not come with one.)

The common gimmick in the Power Miners line is the rock monsters. There are five smaller generic swarms-

• Firox (orange) - sneaky, devious, and fast
• Boulderax (green) - strong, slow, and dumb
• Glaciator (blue) - bossy, brutal, and greedy
• Sulfurix (yellow) - similar to Firox, but able to burn straight through rock
• Meltrox (red) – tough, angry, and aggressive

-with three larger unique ones appearing in separate sets [that have been released so far]. They all have larger bodies and arms.

LEGO Set #8958 comes with a single Glaciator rock monster minifig. His arms can swivel at the shoulders, and his hands can accept any minifig accessory. His head can be hinged upwards, and one power crystal can be placed inside!

On LEGO’s official Power Miners homepage, you can download the instructions needed to combine Set #8958- Granite Grinder with Set #8960- Thunder Driller to become the Aero Shredder vehicle!

You can also watch animated videos of the Power Miners going up against the rock monsters with their vehicles!

Wow- LEGO’s third attempt at a fictitious underground/mining theme… just that now they have dedicated characters rather than generic minifigs. And a collecting gimmick in the form of multi-colored monsters. And it takes place on Earth rather than on an alien planet on the other side of a wormhole in another galaxy. I digress…

I stand by my position that small LEGO sets offer up just as much fun as the larger ones. This one has a single feature, if you don’t include the retractable roll cage. It rolls around easily on any flat surface, but it isn’t that bad an issue that the tractor treads don’t swivel independently of each other. That the tanks have an internal support so that you can remove them is also nice. Really, the only part that I kinda scratched my head on was the rock sled. While the chain was nice, why not put some wheels on it so that it doesn’t actually drag on the ground collecting lint and dust and getting scratches on it? Great, detailed little set. It reminds me of one of those small commercial-grade excavators you see sometimes. The Granite Grinder is a win in my book. Highly recommended!

So far as I can tell, it will be the only robotic set in the 2009 beginning line, but it embodies the line’s theme as a whole enough to convince me than I need to get more of these.

(I figured publishing this on my 27th birthday could be my little present to y'all, since I used to get Lego sets when I was younger from my family... ^_^)

-- WARNING --

According to the manufacturer, this product is not recommended for children under the age of 7 years as it contains many small parts which a child could potentially choke on.

All around the world, earthquakes are becoming increasingly frequent, threatening the cities and towns above! A geologist, nicknamed Brains, determines that these earthquakes may not be natural occurrences, and wants to investigate further. So Brains works with a mechanical engineer, Rex, and a veteran miner, Duke, to create a team of brave & intelligent explorers to drive special tunneling and gathering machines deep into the Earth’s crust to investigate the strange rumblings. But, as they dig, the Power Miners (led by Doc) come across several types of squat rock monsters which eat exotic crystals to make them more powerful! Though not very smart, they are numerous and seem to be the cause of the earthquakes. So now, it is up to the Power Miners to learn more about the rock monsters… and find a way to stop them before it’s too late!

Brains drives Machine #2, also known as the Mine Mech- a humanoid anthropomorphic vehicle that is smaller than most of the team’s machines. It features a large titanium claw on the left arm and a diamond-tipped circular saw blade on the right arm. It is meant for close-up and more detailed work- waddling to the front of a tunnel to clear away boulders, or pick up the newly-discovered, rare power crystals. Because it is smaller, the Mine Mech can also act as a messenger when radios get cut-off in the bends & twists of a tunnel, often accompanied by the motorcycle-like Machine #1- Stone Chopper and jackhammer Machine #3- Granite Grinder. With the discovery of the rock monsters, the Mine Mech got a small boost in defense beyond its safety roll-cage: adding a convenient pickaxe, and offering a spare pack of dynamite to distract or confuse the easily-distracted and -confused creatures. But Brains would still like to capture a rock monster to study it and learn about them…

The Mine Mech (back) is a small, squat, durable-looking robot. The open cockpit is protected by a newly-introduced black roll cage with a non-functional transparent-orange strobe light on top. Though there are no instrument panels, there is a pair of levers to either side of the seat. A decal has been applied in front of the cockpit, identifying this set as Power Miner Machine #2, but a sprayed-mud effect has been added to it to make it look like it’s been down in the dirt. A pickaxe and a bundle of dynamite are attached to either side of the cockpit, and can be removed and placed in any minifig’s hand. While the shoulder joints are identical, the left arm and right arm have drastically different appearances- one spotting an orange two-clawed hand, and the other a rotating orange saw blade. The legs are identical, and are both small and spread far apart, but they are sturdy, adding two more dirtied decals across the top of the feet.

. . .

Clearly inspired by the retired 2006-08 Exo-Force line, the Mine Mech takes great advantage of its six ball-and-socket joints- one in each shoulder, hip, and ankle. About the only thing lacking are knee, elbow, and waist joints, but this set isn’t missing them. The roll cage and claw can easily open and close, and the saw blade freely spins by turning a black gear behind the right ‘elbow’. Just… don’t expect the Mine Mech to do any hand-stands or stand on only one foot.

In a surprise twist- something that was not mentioned in any promotions or the instructions- the white stripes along the top of the feet can glow in the dark!

LEGO Set #8957 comes with the first version of the Brain minifig (back). He is dressed in blue overalls with pockets and a built-in harness, with a white long-sleeve shirt and white gloves. (His helmet is capable of accepting a fold-down visor, but this set does not come with one.) His head is double-sided, which the helmet hides- one normal face with sensor eyepiece over his glasses, and a nervous grimace on the other side.

. . .

The common gimmick in the Power Miners line is the rock monsters. There are five smaller generic swarms-

• Firox (orange) - sneaky, devious, and fast
• Boulderax (green) - strong, slow, and dumb
• Glaciator (blue) - bossy, brutal, and greedy
• Sulfurix (yellow) - similar to Firox, but able to burn straight through rock
• Meltrox (red) – tough, angry, and aggressive

-with three larger unique ones appearing in separate sets [that have been released so far]. They all have larger bodies and arms.

LEGO Set #8957 comes with a single Boulderax (back) rock monster minifig, which is transparent-green, with gray painted spots. His arms can swivel at the shoulders, and his hands can accept any minifig accessory. His head can be hinged upwards, and one power crystal can be placed inside!

On LEGO’s official Power Miners homepage, you can download the instructions needed to combine Set #8956- Stone Chopper with Set #8957- Mine Mech to become the Cave Cutter vehicle

You can also watch animated videos of the Power Miners going up against the rock monsters with their vehicles!

Wow- LEGO’s third attempt at a fictitious underground/mining theme… just that now they have dedicated characters rather than generic minifigs. And a collecting gimmick in the form of multi-colored monsters. And it takes place on Earth rather than on an alien planet on the other side of a wormhole in another galaxy. I digress…

What I like about smaller LEGO sets is that you usually get more bang for your buck than the larger ones. Yeah- the larger ones may have more features and be bigger and more detailed, but often they are proportionately weakened, complex, and sometimes delicate. Smaller sets may be, well, smaller, but the few features they have often involve the entire set rather than just one little segment, and they can be more durable. Like with this one- it is small, but solid and performs well. The new roll cage part is appreciated, as was the orange light on top. (I immediately thought of the power loader from the sci-fi/horror sequel film, “Aliens”...) The arms don’t need to be elaborately poseable, just enough to get the point across. The poseability in the arms and legs, though, is welcome and doesn’t involve thin limbs that most of the smaller Exo-Force sets did. (You can tell from my tone I really miss that line…) ‘Bout the only thing I wish they could have done differently was find a way to make the tips of the claws come together- they slide to the side of each other, never meeting for a solid grip. If it had been three claws instead of two, on the other hand, it would have been too big and bulky for the rest of the set to allow for. Also, it needed some elbows because thy way the joint is set-up is awkward to pose with. And, posing legs that are spaced so far apart from each other is tricky, but it’s still cleaver how easily they made them. (I liked the mud splashed against the various decals, nice touch. I actually found out about the glowing decals after my initial writing of this review had been finished; it was very unexpected!) So far as I can tell, the Mine Mech will be the only robotic set in the 2009 beginning line, but it embodies the line’s theme as a whole enough to convince me than I need to get more of these. Highly recommended!

Special thanks to The Lego Group's public relations department for providing the Power Miners logo!

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the launch of LEGO® Star Wars construction sets, the highly anticipated Fan’s Choice Anniversary Edition, featuring Admiral Ackbar’s Rebel Flagship is available now at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at Toysrus.com! Voted on by fans, The Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser was selected by visitors to Toysrus.com as the most sought after of three Star Wars spacecrafts that had never been produced as LEGO models.

The 789-piece set, now available in Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at Toysrus.com, also comes with an A-wing fighter and six mini figures, including Admiral Ackbar, a Mon Calamari soldier, Mon Mothma, General Lando Calrissian, General Madine and an A-wing Pilot. Each figure, except for the A-wing Pilot, is completely new; and both Admiral Ackbar and his Mon Calamari counterpart sport custom-molded, unique headpieces. The set contains enough pieces to build the legendary ship’s command deck, briefing room and repair hangar, modeled after scenes from Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. After construction, builders can take control of the bridge by directing Admiral Ackbar on his command seat, plan their attack with the Death Star hologram, or take flight with the A-wing that features an opening cockpit, rear doors and two flick missiles.

This limited edition model can now be found in Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at Toysrus.com. Check out the Fan’s Choice collectible here , along with the “Behind the Bricks!” mini-video documentary that discusses the 10 year history of the LEGO® and Star Wars partnership.

Announcement of upcoming Star Wars Lego LEGO Tantive IV Starship.

10198 - Tantive IV(tm)
Ages 14+. 1,408 pieces.
US $149.99
Available in September

The Star Wars(tm) saga begins!
Blasting through space with Darth Vader's Star Destroyer in pursuit, the Tantive IV blockade runner carries Princess Leia, C-3PO and R2-D2 on a vital mission for the Rebel Alliance. Celebrate the entire Star Wars saga with this all-new version of the very first starship seen in the films! The Tantive IV features an opening cockpit, rotating and elevating turbo laser cannons, rotating radar dish, removable roof section and interior command center. It also includes an opening compartment with removable cargo transport vehicle and 2 detachable escape pods for the droids to make their getaway with the Death Star plans! Includes Princess Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, Captain Antilles and Rebel Trooper minifigures. Measures 20.5" (52 cm) x 7.5" (19 cm) x 5.5" (14 cm).

* Includes 5 minifigures: Princess Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, Captain Antilles and a Rebel Trooper!

* Open the cockpit and place 2 minifigures inside!

* Turbo laser cannons on top and bottom can rotate and elevate

* Features a removable roof!

* Lots of interior details including Leia's desk and command center with seats for 2 minifigures!

* Open the storage compartment to reveal the cargo transport vehicle

* Features rotating radar disc and 2 detachable escape pods!

* Measures 20.5" (52 cm) long, 7.5" (19 cm) wide and 5.5" (14 cm) tall

Space Police, Power Miners, Agents 2.0, Castle, City, Technics and more where also on display in the Lego showroom this year.

Check the video above for looks at the Castle, City, Technics, Pirates and Mind Storm lines. Video also includes looks at Power Miners, Agents 2.0 and Space Police (The three lines I thought where the best offerings from Lego this year.)

Power Miner is a new original line from Lego and it looks flat out awesome. Lot's of playvalue and gimicks packed into these sets as well as nice looking designs. Sometimes I wish I was 7 again...

Space Police is the other new line that caught our attention and again, it's packed with all sorts of accessories and play gimmicks.

Agents 2.0 is back and looking pretty cool as well. Of particular interest is the Robot Monster.

Age 7 or 37 I am definitely adding Robot Monster to my collection...

While most manufacturers gave up on the Indiana Jones franchise this year, Lego continues with their line and brings us some neat surprises.

While most manufacturers gave up on the Indiana Jones franchise this year, Lego continues with their line and brings us some neat surprises. While there was not a lot of Indiana Jones on display, what they had was cool.

A Cemetery Battle play set from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

A biplane combat play set from The last Crusade (the Nazi plane appeared to have been lifted from the display, doh!)

But what got both Josh and myself excited was the spectacular looking Flying Wing from Raiders of the Lost Ark

I've always wanted this in some toy form.

Lego is releasing a Temple of Doom play set complete with a mini Mola Ram and beating heart (Ok, it's a just a clear red Lego but you get the idea.)

So if your an Indy fan this may be your last bastion of stuff for, well ever I think...

Lego celebrates 10 years of doing the Star Wars line and there where definitely some cool new items on display this year. From Clone Wars to Classic there's fun for both the kids and adults out there.

The Lego/Star Wars team-up is going 10 years strong in 2009 and it made up a larger portion of there showing this year. Starting with some larger sets including this stunning Venator Class Republic Attack Cruiser.

I personally loved the little, itsy, bitsy Chancellor Palpatine. This will set you back about $120.00.

A Republic Drop Ship with AT-OT was shown

There are a some new or redeco'd Clone Wars vehicles and army builders as well as new releases in the mix running the gammut from $10.99 - $59.99.

A Mon Calamari hanger/bridge play set with A-Wing and Admiral Ackbar! Unfortunately I didn't notice the tag to see when this was due or what it will cost.

An Endor Bunker Assault with AT-ST that appeared to allow you to completely recreate the famous standoff right down to an Ewok on Hang glider. :)

And finally some Hoth army builder sets.

Out of all the toy makers we saw at Toyfair 2009 I thought Lego had some of the coolest stuff, hands down. Yeah, that's right. Lego. First up is Bioncle and I think toy collectors and just fans of great design need to give this line a look.

Bionicle is doing very well for Lego and to amp up the Bionicle experience they are releasing a direct-to-video Movie, video game and the ability to play an action figure game with the actual toys. I guess you could say 2009 is the year of Bionicle for Lego. Judging by what I saw in their showroom I'm inclined to agree.

The PR speak...

"Cast out of his own universe, his stature gone, Mata Nui fights to unite a devastated land and find the secret to reclaiming his own lost empire."

"In this ever expanding universe of heroes and villains, Mata Nui, once a great and powerful ruler, awakens to find himself in a remote, decaying wasteland of scrap parts and burnished metals... a desert junkyard. Local villages scavenge for what remains, building shelters, survival gear and ultimately arenas where they can settle their disputes. Pitting the best gladiator in each village against one another tribes can quickly end quarrels based on the outcome of the fight. Mata Nui, in search of how to get home, quickly finds himself in the middle of one of those battles."

"However, the outcome is as much of a surprise to him as it is to the villagers when he leaves the arena triumphant. As a result of his brave actions, Mata Nui strikes a friendship and is asked to help fight the villagers' real enemies, the Skrall and the Bone Hunters. Mata Nui accepts, thereby delaying his own quest to find a way home. United, he and his band of gladiators and scavengers battle among the strange creatures and even stranger landscapes as our hero Mata Nui longs to return home to help save his enslaved people."

So first up for Lego is Bioncle. The line has run for several years now and every year adds a new chapter to the story of Mata Nui and his quest to return home to his people. I gotta say there are some real sharp designs in this line and I already broke down and picked a couple of these up during my trip to Wal-Mart last night.

They continue the trend of vehicles this year, albeit in smaller scales than last years vehicles. Prices on these guys range from 24.99 - 59.99.

Broken up into groups, the Agori, Glatorian, Glatorian Legends, range from $6.99 - $12.99 and are individual heroes and villains from the Bionicle saga. Again just some outstanding character designs combined with the awesome DIY nature of Lego make this a line I think I'm about to pay a bit more attention to.

Yeah, Lego may be getting a bit more of my money this year with many of their lines and I think Bionicle may deserve another look by some of our readers. They're affordable and wicked looking. Be sure to check the HD video up top for even more stuff from the line.

Keep in mind that this really isn’t meant to be banged around like smaller sets are- this belongs on a shelf to be admired, and pulled down once in a while to dust it off, and fiddle with the features.

Video review included!

This Set is a store exclusive to both Toys-R-Us and LEGO Shop-at-Home online store.

The Consular-class starship is used primarily as a diplomatic vessel throughout the galaxy. The red coloring alerts all that sees it that the ship and all aboard are to be unharmed due to its full diplomatic immunity. As Consular-class ships were used primarily (though not exclusively) by the government of the Republic, being fully covered in red denotes it as operating exclusively from the capital planet of Coruscant. Frequently serving as meeting places during political conflicts (as open war had not been felt in the galaxy for over 1000 years), the salon pod beneath the cockpit can be swapped out to support a wide variety of life-forms up to 16 beings at a time. And in an emergency, the salon pod can be jettisoned as an escape pod with its own sensor suite, sub-light engines, navigation, and life-support. Two additional escape pods amidships can alternatively carry eight each. Lacking commonly-used communications before the Clone Wars across the galaxy, the Consular spotted a wide variety of dishes and antennae to be able to pick-up both distant and short-range signals, in addition to equally secure coded transmissions for privacy. Because it was expected at the time that ships dressed in red would remain unharmed, most Consular-class ships were manufactured unarmed, though they still had capable armor and deflector shields. However, their modular internal/exterior design allowed them to be customized if the owner so-wished, and so sometimes they spotted retractable or hidden weapons for the element of surprise or leverage in more-difficult situations which words alone could not deflate. To ensure the tightest of security control in a diplomatic dispute, the Consular-class vessels operated with a proportionately-small crew of 8 which was then supplemented by a larger variety of droids.

Like the Corellian CR90 corvette Tantive-IV from “Star Wars Episode-IV: A New Hope” (1977), which was the first vessel to be seen by audiences in a dramatic entrance (followed closely by a gigantic Imperial Star Destroyer), the Consular-class Republic Cruiser Radiant VII has the equally-distinctive honor of being the first vessel to appear- chronologically- in the Star Wars universe, immediately seen after the opening scrawl fades into space in the prequel film, “Star Wars Episode-I: The Phantom Menace” (1999). This was the last attempt at a peaceful negotiation to the shipping dispute between the slowly-faltering Galactic Republic and the Trade Federation’s protesting blockade of the innocent & peaceful planet Naboo. Unfortunately, just minutes after delivering the Supreme-Chancellor’s negotiation team (two disguised Jedi Knights) to the Trade Federation’s Lucrehulk-class flagship, Saak’ak, the unprepared Radiant-IV and her skeleton crew of two would become the first casualties of what would be the beginning of the end for the Old Republic, the fall of the Jedi, the rise of the dominating Galactic Empire, and the long-awaited revenge of the Sith.

The Ultimate Collector’s Series of sets from Lego can number in thousands of parts, and unusually-large proportions, weight, assembly time & difficulty, and number of special features; targeted specifically at older and more experienced Lego-maniacs. The Republic Cruiser set- while not a UCS- seems to occupy the area between play set, scaled vehicle, and detailed display model. While it is shaped and has detailed surfaces & features resembling the real filming model from the 1999 movie, it is also designed to support the regular use of minifigs as well. And so, some of the proportions are slightly off, though certainly not outrageously-so: the front 1/3rd is a little taller from the bottom of the salon pod to the cockpit, and the two outboard engines are portrayed as the same size as the center one (whereas they would actually be slightly bigger).

The winged segments between the three engines in back are solid here- whereas the back half of the wings on the model is split horizontally to form two smaller support wings with space between them, and then the larger triangular section in front. The other thing about the back-third of the ship is that the underneath surface is rather neglected detail-wise compared to the rest of the set; the only reason for this may be the need for ease of reaching the rounded gear which activates a feature above (which I’ll get into later). And while many of the surface details must be skewed because we’re dealing with Lego bricks here, some details remain which can be distinguished when compared with the filming mode: behind the cockpit is a long rectangular hole lined with white bricks, a black stripe just behind the cockpit, a sensor strip along the front of the salon pod which lines up with the main sensor strip beneath the cockpit, and dark radiating vanes along the top [and bottom] of the wings between the engines. Now, because there is not nearly enough room for two minifigs to sit side-by-side in the cockpit, only one can be seen through the small thin darkened transparent window. However, there aren’t windows to wrap around the bridge like the real model does because the bricks would have been too small to be practical. (In other words, if they had been single 1x4 plates, you couldn’t have seen through them because the brick beneath them would obscure the view.) So instead, a black vent beneath the bridge (also surrounded by white paneling detail like on the real model) has been converted into a side window for the Lego set. It’s too low for the pilot minifig to see out of it, so you can only see the pilot’s arm instead.

External Features

The Republic Cruiser rests on four triangular landing pads which extend out from the mid-body. However, unlike the film version in which two extend from the mid-body and two from the back engineering section directly beneath the antenna arrays, all four landing gear in this set extend from the mid-body. (It should be noted that to cushion the landing, the Consular-class ship has four small thrusters it uses in its final moments of flight. While neither the thrusters- nor the extra two escape pods- are represented here, the landing gear occupies the same spaces as the former.) The landing gear easily holds up the set with no balance issues whatsoever even when the salon pod is released (more on this later), and when set on a slightly uneven surface, each pad has a simple independent ankle joint which can adapt by twisting side-to-side 180°! And while lacking the complex mechanisms seen in the film, or any significant detail on their own, the four landing gear are capable of being retracted up against the bottom of the hull! Now, you must realize that this set is pretty big and heavy, so while retracting the gear is an option, I would advise against resting the Republic Cruiser on the ground when they are like this because it puts upward pressure on other areas not meant for that kind of treatment.

Along the more-detailed outer sides of the mid-body section are two small black-&-brown tabs that- when slid forward- deploy two pairs of hidden laser cannons from the front! The doors that the cannons are hidden behind turn freely on their joints, but- in reversing the process- do not retract on their own. And so, after the cannons have been pulled back completely, you have to also slide the doors shut. (Online stats indicate that the Radiant-VII had one retractable laser cannon turret installed, though they don’t specify where it was located, and we obviously never saw it used in the film.)

As mentioned earlier, there is a rounded yellow Technic gear located between the mid-body and center engine on the underside of the engineering section. This is attached to a Technic rod which goes through the center of the Engineering section, and up into the communications array on top. When the gear underneath is twisted to either side, the mast with three various-sized dishes positioned around it turns accordingly all the way around! There are no gears or locking mechanism involved here, so it turns quite freely; or you can ignore the gear beneath, and just push lightly on the dishes themselves. (It turns a little too easily for my tastes, even though it’s a great little feature.)

The double-cone-shaped salon pod hangs beneath the front third of the Republic Cruiser from some thin Technic pieces. It obviously can’t do anything when attached to the ship. But when you pull forward on the front of the ship, the forward part actually slides on three internally-built Technic rods… and when extended far enough, the salon pod will literally drop away! (I’d advice that you put your other hand under the salon pod to catch it when it falls since it’s not really built to withstand a hard-landing…) A rubber band keeps the front half from completely separating, and so when you let go, the rubber band simply pulls everything back together sans salon pod. The top section of the salon pod is not fixed in place, so you can simply lift up on it, and revealed inside are seats for the provided Jedi Knight minifigs, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi!

(If you’re like me, and you don’t like that rubber band in there, keep on reading at the end of the review and I’ll tell ya about an alternative I came up with.)

Internal Features

The simplest and easiest-to-access feature internally is the cockpit. Just flip up the roof, and you can see inside. Now, even though it’s designed to seat just one minifig, the floor is all smooth and there’s nothing to fit a minifig’s legs onto. So when you have the Captain in there, he’ll just slide all over the place!

To access the rooms in the mid-body, the entire top paneling is lifted forward and then completely removed to reveal the interior spaces!

In the left room, there are spaces set down with flat panels for:

• a lockbox, which has doors on both sides which hold two minifig blasters and a pair of binoculars; and
• a tiny space flyer with folding wings and control sticks, which can hold a single minifig

In the right room, on the other side of the ship:

• a control console at which another minifig- usually the Republic Pilot- can be seated; and
• a wide slotted socket which an[y] astromech droid can be plugged into

In both rooms, you can obviously see where the hidden laser cannons are stored when not slid forward, and how they operate- they simply slide along two light gray Technic rods through a twin-hole brick. (Yes, I know there appears to be extra space for the cannons to slide backwards when stored, but trust me, they’re not supposed to slide all that way back. I suspect- though I have no way of confirming - that a last-minute change in the length of the rods used is responsible for this gap.)

Also, this may seem confusing, but the top paneling is not designed to snap, lock, or otherwise remain secured when attached to the Republic Cruiser- it just rests there due to gravity only, and is meant to be removed without a fuss. Equally-so, the top panel assembly is not designed to support any weight, so resting the full weight of the set on them when upside-down is ill-advised. The morale of the story? Don’t turn this set upside down, or it’ll fall apart!

Lego Set #7665 comes with five minifigs:

Republic Captain, and Republic Pilot

Dressed in the same uniform- blue flight jacket with printed black belt and black legs- they both have the same basic Lego smiley-face on their pale head piece(s). The only difference between these two characters is the Captain has a blue flat hat, and the Pilot has a black men’s hairpiece. (The captain of the Radiant-VII- who did not wear a hat- was actually female, while the co-pilot remained male.)

Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and padawan-learner Obi-Wan Kenobi

Both minifigs are dressed identically in traditional tan Jedi robes with brown belts, and brown hooded cloaks. The faces are different- Qui-Gon has a serious expression with a brown mustache & beard printed on his head; while Obi-Wan has a lighter expression with the hint of a thin smile. While the hoods are brown ABS plastic, the brown capes come in a small cardboard box, and are stored flat- to get them to curve, you place the two holes over the neck of each minifig. Both carry a single lightsaber which have a light-gray handle- Qui-Gon gets the transparent-neon green blade, and Obi-Wan gets the transparent-light blue blade. Unlike earlier Lego sets- where they were standard in place of the hoods- neither Jedi has a replacement hairpiece provided.

R2-R7

An astromech droid minifig provided as an exclusive with this set, its legs are friction-jointed at both hips only, so it can tilt either forward/backward, or look like it’s walking. (Gonk droid, anyone?) While a third leg is not possible to extend/retract on a figure so small, there is a hole on the bottom for which you can provide a substitute of your own. Additionally, though the head dome is a separate piece, it cannot turn, so you have to take it off and reattach it at whatever 90°-angle you wish. There is no other detail or feature on this figure that is different from any other astromech droids in the Star Wars line save for its white & green coloring. (And so far as I can tell,”R2-R7” is just a random droid that Lego came up with.)

In 2001, Lego released the Ultimate Collector’s Series’ Rebel Blockade Runner (#10019), which is of equivalent size, but was far more detailed, and lacked the interior detail & ability to interface with minifigs (as almost-all UCS sets do) like this set does. But even though it was jaw-droppingly detailed, I didn’t want it. Call me insane if you must, but the Corellian CR90 corvette- despite its high praise- has never been one of my favorite designs from Star Wars. (Too many engines is one reason.) But even though the Consular-class ship was specifically designed by the concept artists at Industrial Light & Magic to be the direct predecessor to the Blockade Runner, I like it a lot more. Perhaps because it looks sleeker, made the entire theater rattle as roared past the camera, or was the first vessel I saw from “Star Wars” on the big screen. (I was, like, not even a year old when “Return of the Jedi” came out in late-spring ‘83!) This set was also a record-setter for me on many levels: the most parts in a Lego set (919), the longest assembly time (3hr 44min), the heaviest (easily 10lbs), the most-expensive (came out to $102 w/ tax), and- really- my first collector‘s model which focused more on detail rather than being a more-basic fighter, airport, robot, or space monorail. (Well... maybe the monorail was over $100, but my parents bought that for me, so that doesn’t count!) For me, this was less about the gimmicks, even though the gimmicks are typical. (I mean, why else would they include a small one-man flyer in this set!? Because it is Lego!) The pop-out cannons were cool, as was being able to detach the salon pod. The landing gear being able to retract, let alone support all that weight, was pretty awesome despite their very simple construction. And I love how they attempted to recreate the chaotic arrangement of dishes & antennae on the back. Let-downs? The biggest was that the top paneling assembly doesn’t snap into place. I would also have liked an option to keep the largest comm dish pointed forward rather than so easily twisting side-to-side. (The dishes on the real ship couldn’t turn at all.) There’s also an unusually-large gap between the salon pod and the mid-body which could have been filled-up somehow. And some equal respect for the details under the wings, as well as a bigger thrust effect from the main engines. (I mean, all they have are some really tiny flat domes, which is kinda lame considering what they do with other sets.) Oh, yeah- putting those three engines together took some careful planning on my part- the first one literally exploded in my face because they’re not very well supported internally. (Treat ‘em like eggs when you build ‘em, folks!) But, I really think that this is an awesome set to have. It’s definitely for older Lego-maniacs because it’s so large, though I won’t discourage the younger ones from attempting it if they have help from their parents. But keep in mind that this really isn’t meant to be banged around like smaller sets are- this belongs on a shelf to be admired, and pulled down once in a while to dust it off, and fiddle with the features. So, I bestow my full approval on the Lego Republic Cruiser- go get one!

This set is a gamble on the part of Lego: that kids & collectors would buy a set based on the obscure, hard-to-see, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo it makes in the Special-Edition version of Episode IV.

Video review included!

The Sentinel is an FTL-capable heavy landing craft built by Sienar Fleet Systems and Cygnus Spaceworks for the navies of the Galactic Empire. Incorporating similar features to its smaller cousin, the Lambda-class light personnel shuttle, it has an expanded cargo capacity that allows it to hold a number of single-seat All-Terrain Personal Transports (AT-PT), or several military-grade speeder bikes. But it also has use as a troop transport- carrying six squadrons of Stormtroopers directly to the front lines. Unlike the Lambda-class shuttle, however, the Sentinel has thicker armor, more powerful shields, and spots a wide array of weapons for both ground and air-assaults- eight forward laser cannons, two retractable heavy rapid-fire blaster cannon turrets under the nose, two concussion missile launchers (with four rounds each), and a dorsally-mounted ion cannon turret! With a command crew of two, and three gunnery officers, this allows it to also be use for military actions other than hauling cargo & troops to the front lines, and between Imperial starships.

The Sentinel was first seen in the off-screen “Shadows of the Empire” multimedia series (books, graphic novels, video games, models, toys, etc.) during the late ‘90s which bridged the gap between the Star Wars films “...The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) and “...Return of the Jedi” (1983). But when the Special Edition version of “...A New Hope” was re-released back into theaters twenty years later in 1997, the Sentinel made its first and only on-screen cameo- taking off from a Tatooine desert after dispatching a squadron of Imperial Sandtroopers looking for a pair of Rebel Alliance droids which escaped the capture of the Corellian CR90 corvette, Tantive-IV.

Landing Mode

This set is a gamble on the part of Lego: that kids & collectors would buy a set based on the obscure, hard-to-see, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo it makes in the Special-Edition version of Episode IV. It’s a bit squatter, but it fits the general shapes, functions, and appearance of the Sentinel-class assault shuttle. The cockpit section is tilted downwards like the Lambda-class shuttle [aka Imperial Shuttle (Set #7166)], but the hinge it’s attached to in back is different, so it unintentionally tilts up and down. A single all-black Imperial Pilot can beseated in front of the tilting controls inside by removing the transparent canopy piece. Oddly, though the Sentinel does have windscreens, they are very narrow, but here the cockpit is fully exposed with no printed hull designs like the Imperial Shuttle set’s canopy did. The paired retractable Blast Cannon Turrets are located under the nose, but they do not move. Continuing back, on the front of the cargo mid-section are four of the eight retractable Laser Cannons located behind the cockpit by small transparent-neon yellow cones. On the inner side of these are the Missile Launchers (which I’ll get into detail later). Along the bottom of the cargo section are two blocky footpads that hold the set off of the ground; these do not move, but you can remove them easily enough if you wish. Above the cargo section is the tall vertical stabilizer. Also obviously inspired by the one on the Lambda-class shuttle, this one is shaped differently- with a large chunk taken out of the back-lower half. Along the back corners of the cargo section are two small red levers) that activate another feature [that I’ll be getting into later]. The back engineering section contains the gear system to move the wings up-and-down, and has an assembly in back to represent the wide sub-light ion engine array. Like the Imperial Shuttle set, the Imperial Landing Craft has three small non-functional orange anti-collision lights along the front tips of the tail and wings.

To gain quick access to the bomb and missile launchers, the top roof panels (x3 per side) of the cargo section can be lifted upwards on both sides to reveal the interior!

From underneath, you can see two red Technic levers on both the front and back of the cargo section. When you pull both of these away, you can then lift the cockpit, tail, & engineering sections away to reveal the cargo section! Very cool idea, and it allows you to replace things inside easier without bumping into everything else along the way! (The cockpit/tail/engineering half doesn’t balance very easily on its own upright, so you’ll have to just tilt the nose up, and fold the red levers in, and then carefully set it down.) Though the larger cargo loading ramps are not available on the Imperial Landing Craft set, they are still implied by the indents on the outside walls of the cargo section. The interior of the cargo section is taken up mostly by space for the two missile launchers & their trigger assemblies, and just enough room for the two Stormtrooper gunners (they just sit wedged in on the floor between the bomb & missile launchers), two commanding Sandtroopers (they sit on two blue minifig seats), and the minifigs’ four hand-held weapons. The bomb launcher(s) takes up the back wall. The minifig blasters sit upside-down in holes to save space, and so that they won’t go anywhere. The four transparent-orange/-neon yellow bombs simply sit in open troughs along that back wall. The retractable ion cannon is not represented in this set.

Transition to Flight Mode

Unlike the earlier Imperial Shuttle set which had wings which ratcheted down/up manually by hand, the wings on the Imperial Landing Craft are tied into a gear system triggered by a small knob beneath the engineering section. Twisting counter-clockwise lowers the wings, while twisting clockwise retracts them. It takes about eight turns to make the wings reach their respective position(s), so be patient.

Unlike most Lego Star Wars sets with large movable sections, however, this set does not have a stop point or a bumper to prevent the wings from unfolding farther than they are supposed to, so you have to just guess where they stop, and then leave the knob alone. (I set the wings at about 135°.) This means that, even though it doesn’t do this in the Special Edition version of Episode IV or “Shadows of the Empire”, the wings on the Imperial Landing Craft can be twisted around 180° if you wish.

Flight Mode

Again, because the Sentinel-class assault shuttle is more stretched out on all axis, the Imperial Landing Craft set seems a bit on the chubby side. The wings are not totally flat; instead being layered in order for Lego to keep them both thin and long. The engineering section is completely exposed from both the top and bottom, so you can easily see the mechanism in there in either mode. Something to keep in mind as you’re flying the Imperial Landing Craft around- don’t turn it upside-down, or else the bombs inside will fall out of their troughs! I will also say that the set cannot support itself on any of the flight surfaces- tail and wings- or they will break off. But while a lot of the surface detail is also missing, it makes up for it in features- mostly in the form of its weapons...

I’m gonna say this right off: do not touch the forward laser cannons unless ya wanna shoot something! That’s just a habit you’re gonna have to get into. Pushing inwards on either of the longer laser cannons will fire the associated spring-powered missile launcher. These things have a pretty good range (5’ on a flat surface) and an even better kick. The warheads of each of the two missiles provided are soft hollow rubber, so they cushion the impact a bit... but that doesn’t then give you the excuse to then go shoot someone or something with them! The bomb launcher system is quite simple to use, and pain-free- simply press upwards on the two small red levers on the back of the cargo section, and then the bombs will fall out of little chutes on the back. You can also drop just from one side if you wish, but since each trough inside the cargo section is designed to hold only two bombs, each side will only drop that many.

There is one new part in here that I’ve never seen before, and two of them are provided with the set. They’re half visible on the back of the cargo section, just behind the red levers. They’re flat 1x2 Technic plates, but they’re composed entirely of black rubber! These act as little springs which reset the troughs inside the bomb wall inside the cargo section- when pressed down, the bombs fall out, and then when you let go, the rubber parts reset automatically so the bombs can be repositioned inside without immediately falling out again. Interesting idea!

Minifigs

Lego Set #7659 comes with five minifigs- a black Imperial Pilot, two standard Stormtroopers, and two Sandtroopers. The four ‘troopers have printed details on their helmets, and on the front & back of their torso parts. What separates the standard Stormtroopers from the Sandtroopers is the small soft fabric covers they have over their right shoulders; these orange & black items match those seen in “...A New Hope”, though they lack the associated cooling backpack units. The two orange shoulder pads come in a small cardboard box, and are printed flat- to get them to curve, you place the two holes over the neck of each minifig. All of the ‘Troopers’ inner minifig heads are straight black with no detailing. The black helmet of the Imperial Pilot minifig is just a different-colored version of a Stormtrooper helmet; only the circular Imperial Navy’s logos are added for detail. The pilot’s front torso detail is also different from the other 'Troopers', but he has no printing on the back of his torso piece. Two minifig blast rifles, and two smaller blasters are provided for the ‘Troopers. (I think the smaller ones are actually designed to be used as Han Solo’s blaster!)

As an update to the Imperial Shuttle set from the late ‘90s (it came out before Episode-I did), this one absolutely rocks! The biggest thing for me was that it had the mechanism which allowed you to turn the wings around by turning a knob rather than having to ratchet each one manually up-&-down. The only bad part to this, however, is that they don’t stop the wings for you; you have to make a judgment call each time, and so that was a bit of a let-down. But dropping bombs, and firing- not one, but two- hidden spring-powered missiles was fantastic! (Do you know how often Lego incorporates two spring-powered launchers into their sets-? Not very often, I can tell ya that! So this was a real treat.) I also thought it great that, not only could you access the cargo section through risible doors on top, but you could actually separate the cargo section altogether! While it would have been nice to have four Sandtroopers, I thought that it was a nice balance to mix it up with two regular Stormtroopers. And then you got a separate all-black Imperial Pilot. Yeah- they seriously down-scaled this set from what it would have been (the assault shuttle is supposed to carry 54 Stormtroopers at once), but what we got was pretty cool too. Things to change: add bumpers for the wings so they don’t drop down farther than they’re supposed to, maybe beef-up the neck a little bit to give it more substance, and add some painted detail to the canopy so it’s more opaque that clear. The Imperial Landing Craft is an awesome Lego set, so I highly recommend getting it!