It’s been over a month since my last post so I figured I’d come back EXTREME, kind of, well not really. Today we look at one of my favorite type of toys, construction toys. What could be better than construction toys? Star Wars themed construction toys. I dare you to try and find a Star Wars fan that at least at one time or another has not either built or owned something Star Wars related made from Legos. Gone are the days where you had to use a multitude of rectangular blocks of all different colors to make an X-wing that looks like it came straight out of an Atari 2600 game. In 1999, Lego acquired the Star Wars license, their first ever intellectual property license ever, and I have been a Star Wars Lego maniac ever since. I have almost every set ever created, beside some of the newer ones due to space issues.
I still pick up my favorites, which in the last year or so have been their Army Builder packs. Last years consisted of the Rebel Scout Speeder (7668) and the Imperial Dropship (7667) . While I liked the Rebel minifigs from the Scout Speeder, the Dropship was awesome. One of the best things about it was the inclusion of a Shadow Trooper, previously only available in the Lego/Target exclusive Tie Crawler . This year we got two new Army Builder packs, Assassin Droids (8015) and the one we will be talking about, Clone Walker (8014) . This is not a simple review of this inexpensive Lego set, it is a no holds barred, bare knuckle, cage match between the tried and true Legos and the new inexpensive Revell SnapTite Star Wars model kits.
Revell has been around since Revenge of the Sith, but this is the first time they have made kits under $10. While the price is right, what really caught my eye was the scale. I love miniature model kits. I’ve got every Mobile Suit Gundam model kit under 6". At this point I need to clarify, when I say model, I am referring to plastic pieces that snap together. I don’t do glue or paint. While I would love to be a master model builder (like Mrs. McFavorite’s dad), I just don’t have the patience. Revell’s first wave of their $10 sets includes, ROTS Anakin and Obi-Wan’s Starfighter, ARC-170, X-wing, Darth’s Tie, and my favorite ship, the Tie Interceptor. Needless to say, we’ll be comparing the Interceptor to Lego’s Clone Walker to see which one is a better investment for your hard earned $10.
We’ll start off by taking a look at the packaging. Lego has always had ultra slick glossy boxes with great art. I actually have the Separatist Spider Droid (7681) and Republic Fighter Tank (7679) box art as my dual screen wallpaper on my system at work right now. The Revell packaging isn’t amazing, but even though you can’t see it in the photo, is has a very cool foil wrapping. Opening the outter packaging reveals two very familiar, but different contents. The Revell model contains the classic model pieces on their little plastic trees and the Lego set has all its pieces in different size bags. Here is the first huge difference, the model takes much more time to carefully remove each piece as cleanly as possible from tree. I have never used any tools because part of the challenge is doing it with your hands. In contrast, Legos just get dumped in to the box to be sifted through during the building process. Normally I would never remove every piece from a tree, as they are labeled in relation to the instructions, but being such a small kit I took my chances.
In regard to pieces, the Interceptor had a skimpy 21, while the Walker had 72. Granted many of those pieces are for the four troopers and their accessories. I really like how detailed/realistic the Interceptor is. The cockpit itself consisted of 10 of the 21 pieces. It took approximately 15 minutes to construct, including the removal of the pieces. The Walker took about 20 minutes, but again some of that time consisted of assembling and arming the troops. I’m really impressed with the new clone commanders. I love the shoulder pauldrons, kamas (i.e. skirt), visors and the new small DC-17 pistols. Not to mention, the torches (i.e. lights) and antennas. This set even includes a Clone Gunner.
I appreciate the detail of the Interceptor, but it is annoying that it is not balanced well enough to rest properly on a flat surface. It falls forward. You can notice in the picture I am using a clear piece of tree to prop it up. The walker on the other hand is perfectly balanced in multiple positions and the minifigs, as always, stand perfectly. The only thing I didn’t like with the minifigs is the additional detail in the paint on their faces. I always liked the very simple faces and don’t think they need any more character.
As it turns out I think both of these pieces are great, they’re just meant for different audiences. For a fan looking for a replica of one of their screen favorites, the Revell kits win hands down. However this is a toy site and as far as toys go, the Clone Walker crushes its competition. The simple fact that it comes with 4 action figures, albeit minifigs, is reason enough. You tack on a cool vehicle that can be disassembled and reassembled into other toys and you have a clear winner for your $10.
1…2…3…Ding, Ding, Ding…Slick
Those are awesome – you did a great job on them.