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LEGO Star Wars Rogue One sets review

by Thita (admin) on October 22, 2016

in LEGO Star Wars

The recently released LEGO Rogue One: A Star Wars Story sets have been getting a lot of attention and praise. We have discussed the sets previously, but I thought it would also be a good idea to examine them in more detail. The Rogue One: A Star Wars Story film won’t be released until the end of the year, so we can’t really tell how accurate all the details are, however we can talk about the various functions, play-features and minifigures – which are always the highlight of LEGO Star Wars sets. 🙂

➡ #75152 LEGO STAR WARS IMPERIAL ASSAULT HOVERTANK: This smallish vehicle looks like a mix between a tank and a pick-up truck. Nothing fancy, but simple and functional, with plenty of firepower and hauling capacity. I would have liked another one of those orange crates though. Here is the official description: Help Chirrut battle the troopers patrolling the streets in their Imperial Assault Hovertank. With a rotating and elevating turret gun with dual spring-loaded shooters, elevating side guns, opening two-minifigure cockpit, storage container and ‘hover-look’ transparent wheels, the Imperial Assault Hovertank is the ultimate urban patrol vehicle. Includes 3 minifigures: Chirrut Îmwe with his fabric cloak and 2 Imperial Hovertank Pilots. Measures over 3” (8cm) high, 7” (20cm) long and 5” (14cm) wide. 385 pieces. Price: $29.99 – BUY HERE

➡ #75153 LEGO STAR WARS AT-ST WALKER: While this walker looks pretty good and is quite sturdy, it can’t really walk due to the rigid ankles. However the cockpit section can be turned around easily with a knob, which makes the set a lot more fun. I really like the minifigures as they are very detailed, but generic enough to use outside of the Star Wars universe. Here is the official description: Join the hunt for rebels aboard the AT-ST Walker, featuring posable legs, wheel-activated turning top section, opening cockpit and top hatch revealing a detailed minifigure interior, dual spring-loaded shooters and elevating guns at the front. Includes 3 minifigures: an AT-ST Driver, Baze Malbus with his heavy blaster and a Rebel Trooper. Measures over 9” (24cm) high, 6” (16cm) long and 5” (13cm) wide. 449 pieces. Price: $39.99 – BUY HERE

➡ #75154 LEGO STAR WARS TIE STRIKER: The shaping and color combination of this ship is really elegant. It especially looks good from the front and the top. And it is very swooshable too! Make sure you check out the video-review below to see all the details. Here is the official description: Play out iconic sky battles with the amazing TIE Striker. With large adjustable wings, minifigure cockpit with top and front access, an opening rear storage hold and dual spring-loaded shooters at the front, this amazing model is the perfect opponent for any rebel starfighter. Includes 4 minifigures: TIE Pilot, Imperial ground crew, Imperial Shoretrooper and a Rebel Trooper in Endor outfit. Measures over 2” (6cm) high, 16” (41cm) long and 9” (24cm) wide. 543 pieces. Price: $69.99 – BUY HERE

➡ #75155 LEGO STAR WARS REBEL U-WING FIGHTER: This is the most unusual looking ship in the Star Wars: Rouge One collection, both in color and in design. It is a combination of a graceful glider with long, thin wings, and a chunky transporter. It is also interesting to see how much the shape changes when the wings are opened vs. folded in. In the video-review below JANGBRiCKS will show you all the features and functions. There are definitely a lot of surprising details. The amazing U-Wing Fighter has all the details you would expect from an authentic Star Wars model, including 4 big engines, an opening minifigure cockpit with transparent lower observation window, opening side doors with pull-out stud shooters, dual spring-loaded shooters at the front, rear storage hold and huge wings that sweep back to create an even bigger model. Includes 5 minifigures: a U-wing Pilot, Bistan, Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor and a Rebel Trooper. Measures over 3” (10cm) high, 17” (44cm) long and 7” (20cm) wide with wings closed, and over 14” (38cm) long and 25” (64cm) wide with wings open. 659 pieces. Price: $79.99 – BUY HERE

➡ #75156 LEGO STAR WARS KRENNIC’S IMPERIAL SHUTTLE: The first thing you will notice about this shuttle is that this time LEGO made the wings foldable (compared to the #750094 LEGO Star Wars Imperial Shuttle Tydirium – a similar ship with fixed wings), plus it is black, which makes it look more evil and awesome. It is very interesting to see how the body of the shuttle opens up, so make sure you check the video-review below. Here is the official description: Krennic’s Imperial Shuttle is an intimidating Imperial starship. Featuring huge folding wings and opening front and side panels, this amazing model also has an opening minifigure cockpit, detailed hold with seating for 4 minifigures, a rear ramp with blaster storage, dual spring-loaded shooters and retractable landing skids. Recreate epic space battles from the epic movie, Star Wars: Rogue One, or create your own. Includes 5 minifigures: Pao, Director Krennic, Bodhi Rook and 2 Imperial Death Troopers, plus a K-2SO. Measures over 17” (45cm) high, 9” (25cm) long and 22” (56cm) wide in flying mode, and over 12” (33cm) high, and 7” (18cm) wide in landing mode. 863 pieces. Price: $89.99 – BUY HERE

Besides these regular sets, there are also three large action figures related to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. LEGO has been continuing to improve these large characters with better shaping and articulation, so even if you didn’t like them before, you might take a second look. The set names and numbers are as follows, and the video-reviews are in the player below: #75119 Lego Star Wars Sergeant Jyn Erso, #75120 Lego Star Wars K-2so, and #75121 Lego Star Wars Imperial Death Trooper. They are $24.99 each.

lego-star-wars-story-contraction-figures

In the video-player below I have included reviews of all the LEGO Rogue One: A Star War Story sets by JANGBRiCKS. You can use the drop-down list in the upper left corner of the player to select the review you would like to see, or just watch them all in sequence. Especially with complex sets like LEGO Star Wars, video-reviews can be very helpful.

The LEGO Rogue One: A Star Wars Story sets have been well received and much appreciated by LEGO Star Wars fans. Minifigure collectors are also happy with all the unique and/or updated characters. Now all we have to do is wait for the movie to come out to see all these awesome Star Wars heroes, villains and vehicles in action! You can find all the sets at the LEGO Star Wars section of the Online LEGO Shop.

So what do you think? How do you like the LEGO Rogue One: A Star Wars Story sets? Do you have a favorite? Are you planning to get any of them? Are you looking forward to the movie? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the LEGO Star Wars section for more news, reviews and discussions, or select from the following recent posts:

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Ancient board-games recreated in LEGO

by Thita (admin) on October 21, 2016

in Featured LEGO Creations

LEGO fan Simon Pickard has been working on recreating a series of ancient board-games from LEGO. Projects like this are always very interesting, because it requires the builder to research the history of a particular subject, and it also introduces others to a subject they may have never heard about. Below are three of the board-games recreated in LEGO, and a bit of history behind them. 🙂

➡ LEGO BOARD-GAME LUDUS LATRUNCULORUM: Wikipedia says that Ludus Latrunculorum was a two-player strategy board game played throughout the Roman Empire. It is said to resemble chess or draughts, but is generally accepted to be a game of military tactics. Because of the paucity of sources, reconstruction of the game’s rules and basic structure is difficult, and therefore there are multiple interpretations of the available evidence (read more on Wikipedia).

Simon writes that it is challenging to identify the correct size of the playing boards for this game, as it is often difficult for archaeologists to identify what a particular gridded board was used for. Boards with squares of 7×8, 8×8 and 9×10 were common across Roman Britain. The most plausible explanation is that the rules varied not only in the long timeline of the Roman Empire, but likely from one region to another as well. Simon also includes several versions of the possible rules of the game, theorized by different people based on ancient writings. It is quite interesting. You can read more on Simon’s flickr page. From the LEGO fan perspective, notice the cleanly designed board using sideways building techniques to achieve the thin lines of the grid.

➡ LEGO BOARD-GAME HNEFATAFL – According to Wikipedia, Tafl games are a family of ancient Germanic and Celtic strategy board-games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers, and is also known as Viking chess (read more on Wikipedia).

Although the size of the board and the number of pieces varied, all games involved a distinctive 2:1 ratio of pieces, with the lesser side having a king-piece that started in the center. No complete, unambiguous description of the rules of the game exists, but the king’s objective was to escape to the board’s periphery or corners, while the greater force’s objective was to capture him. Again, take a look at the cleanly built LEGO version of the board, and I really like the playing pieces also.

➡ LEGO BOARD-GAME MILLS – Wikipedia states that Mills is a strategy board game for two players dating at least to the Roman Empire. The game is also known as Nine Man Morris. The board consists of a grid with twenty-four intersections or points. Each player has nine pieces, usually colored black and white. Players try to form ‘mills’—three of their own men lined horizontally or vertically—allowing a player to remove an opponent’s man from the game. A player wins by reducing the opponent to two pieces (where he could no longer form mills and thus be unable to win), or by leaving him without a legal move (read more on Wikipedia).

Simon adds that the game originated from the Vikings, but became popular amongst Anglo Saxon monks. While the board looks pretty simple with a dark-gray base color and white lines, to achieve the lines Simon had to use so pretty tricky sideways building techniques that you can see better if you examine the larger version of the image in Simon’s flickr gallery.

Even with so many electronic games, traditional board-games are still very popular, and recreating board-games from LEGO can even combine two great hobbies. While LEGO chess sets are fairly common, and even LEGO themselves released a number of them, there are plenty of other board-games that can be recreated in LEGO. Building games from LEGO bricks also allows for unlimited customization, so the game can evolve as much as you want.

What do you think? How do you like these LEGO board-games? What other traditional games you think would fit well with LEGO? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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LEGO Star Wars Rogue One sets review

Ancient board-games recreated in LEGO

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