Ah, LEGO’s gifts with purchase. To some they’re as important as phasers or transformers, to others they’re a form of evil second only to the Borg. But love them or loathe them, we have another one to look forward to: 40768 Type 15 Shuttlepod, the companion set to the recently revealed 10356 USS Enterprise. The Onizuka here will fly your way with the Enterprise if you order it between November 28th and December 1st (US | CAN | UK).
LEGO Icons 40768 Star Trek Type 15 Shuttlepod | 261 Pieces | Available November 28 to December 1 with purchases of 10356 U.S.S. Enterprise | US $399.99 | CAN $489.99 | UK £349.99
The box and build
No starfield on the box this time – just your standard thumb-punch box with a black background. The yellow band around the bottom matches that of the Enterprise.
Three paper bags are inside, plus stickers and instructions. There’s something weird going on with the instruction cover: the colours look really saturated, making the pale yellow cheese slopes look like regular bright yellow. It’s like that in person, so it’s not just my camera settings.
The core of the ship is surprisingly small, consisting essentially of just the cockpit. The stickered display shows what appears to be a Klingon Bird-of-Prey warship.
The nose really ramps up the SNOT, inverting the studs to enable the use of 1×5 tapered slopes for the underside.
The roof of the ship supports most of the side panels, so it in turn is supported by a sturdy column of Technic bricks. I first came across the technique for the windows in the Star Wars U-Wing released earlier this year, but I remain impressed by it here.
The rest of the panels then attach to the brackets, hinges and lift arms we have left. The number of stickers applied goes up the closer to the end we get; they’re a tad annoying, but they get the Onizuka’s details across very effectively.
The minifigure
As we alluded to in our review of the Starship Enterprise, the designers had a long list of potential minifigures that could have been included. The same was apparently true of this GWP – but they’ve picked a doozy: Ensign Ro Laren! Her outfit uses the same torso as Picard and Riker from 10356, so the only technically exclusive part here is her head.
Ro appeared for three seasons of TNG starting from number five. Her minifigure likeness includes the ridged nose unique to Bajorans. Nose features can look awkward on some minifigs, given they don’t normally have noses, but it looks good here. She’s got an earpiece on, too.
The finished model
The Type 15 Shuttlepod, in contrast to its mother ship, is all flat surfaces and angles. That means it should be a good fit for the LEGO medium – and wouldn’t you know it, it is!
It’s a really good likeness for the ‘real’ thing. The bottom is very flat, so looks a bit incongruous with the rest of the ship. Then again, it probably means it’s a very good match for the original studio models!
The side and rear doors all open up to gain access to the interior.
There’s a reasonable amount of space in the trunk to fit important equipment for whatever mission you go on. Such as a phaser, say, or, er… A jazz trombone? It might make a good runabout for going to gigs!
That is, as long as your band is only a two-piece – Worf didn’t get the memo, I guess. The figures fit comfortably once they’re in there, but getting them in and out is a real pain in the backside, particularly if you want to fill both seats.
Conclusion and recommendation
I really like this little shuttle. In fact, I might like it more than the USS Enterprise with which it comes for free! Whereas the Enterprise is all curves and round shapes, the shuttlepod’s angular design makes it a much better fit for LEGO bricks, and as a result it looks fantastic. The Ro Laren minifigure is a good choice too: a popular and interesting character. Before I go on, I’ll say that if you’re already planning to pick up the Enterprise, you may as well do it before December 1st – this makes a fine companion set. However…
This time last year, Kyle took aim at LEGO’s policy of exclusivity for GWPs during his review of Shackleton’s Lifeboat. I’m minded to repeat those irritations: 40768 will be available to the buying public for a grand total of four (4) days. It leaves a sour taste when sets this good are reserved for the select few that can a) afford a $400-set, and b) can afford it within that short availability window. While the minifigure isn’t entirely exclusive, the only other place you can get the torso is in the aforementioned $400 set, so it might as well be.
Having this set available at, say, a $25 price point would’ve made things far easier for Star Trek fans on a budget. Clearly LEGO has the design and production resources to hand – we have a set in our hands that proves it. There must be less exploitative ways of marketing kits like this.
LEGO Icons 40768 Star Trek Type 15 Shuttlepod | 261 Pieces | Available November 28 to December 1 with purchases of 10356 U.S.S. Enterprise | US $399.99 | CAN $489.99 | UK £349.99
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Awesome review, thanks guys!
I love this set. But I’m SO upset at the false scarcity that’s going to become of this. SO many of us really want the new Enterprise set, but $400 is a lot, we may not be able to buy it right away, but if there’s any hope of ever having that Shuttle and Ro, we have to buy it immediately? This sucks, I wish Lego wouldn’t do that; make the shuttle available for sale separately. MHO.
agreed. id rather have both Ro and this minifig scale ship than a giant expensive display model. some with last year’s mimic. they are only losing sales for it