The Lego Star Wars Battle on Saleucami is one of the new Star Wars sets released in March 2014. This set retails for $14.99 and is available on Amazon. Below is a brief video review and my remarks regarding the set.
Pros:
Includes a unique BARC trooper, 3 olive green grass stems, and a spring-loaded launcher
The set is built like a target practice range, and it’s fun to shoot at the droids
Cons:
Comes with only one unique minifig
This set is essentially an upgraded battle pack with the added feature of a target practice playset. This is currently the cheapest set to get the spring-loaded shooter, which is one of the coolest bricks that Lego has released. The speeder is well-designed with the skis/fins contributing to the more dynamic look of the model. The olive green grass stems are exclusive to this set, and it’s useful in many creations that need foliage. If only the set had more than one unique minifig, then it would make this a true gem. Nevertheless I still highly recommend this set both for the great play feature and useful parts.
The Lego Star Wars Kashyyyk Troopers is one of the three new battle packs released in March 2014. This set retails for $12.99 and is available on Amazon. Below is a brief video review and my remarks regarding the set.
This is my favorite of the 3 battle packs. The swamp speeder is the highlight of the set and includes a surprising number of new and hard-to-find parts as I have mentioned in the video. The speeder itself is also well-designed for its size and is acceptable for army-building. The set also include 4 of the new functional blasters.
Régis Gamba (Anio) is a French builder whose UCS Star Wars models were first known to me through Brickshelf. His latest is a UCS speeder bike, which you can see more photos on his Flickr set.
I got the press packet for this last night, with an embargo until 5am today, because the new LEGO Star Wars set 10236 Ewok Village was unveiled at an event in the Czech Republic this morning. Time zones are a pain, but I’d say this set was worth waiting to take a look at!
This set really captures the feel of the Ewok Village from Return of the Jedi, from the massive tress to the raised walkways. It’d also translate well for dioramas of Kashyyyk, and really anything else with trees. There appear to be play-features galore, and a brick-built rope bridge that’s detailed enough to make any adult builder proud. It also appears to have about a million minifigs, if you’re into that…
Make sure to check out the designer introduction video, with the awesome Marcos Bessa, too!
Here’s the official press release from LEGO:
10236 Ewok™ Village
Ages 12+. 1,990 pieces. Recreate classic scenes at the Ewok™ Village! US $249.99 CA $299.99 DE 249.99€ UK 199.99 £ DK 2,099.00 DKK
Travel to Endor™ and visit the treetop home of the Ewoks. Just like in Star Wars™: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, this recreation of the Ewoks’ forest dwelling is packed with cool functions, including the tree-trunk hideout, secret Lightsaber stash, spider web, net traps, slide, catapults and an elevating throne. Use the rammer function to take out the Scout Trooper’s speeder − just like in the movie! Realistic details include rope walkways, vine and leaf elements, kitchen, food storage area, bedroom and a planning room. The Ewok Village set is the perfect addition to your LEGO® Star Wars collection. Includes R2-D2™ and 16 minifigures with weapons: Luke Skywalker™, Princess Leia™, Han Solo™, Chewbacca™, C-3PO™, 2 Rebel soldiers, 5 Ewoks™ (including Wicket™, Teebo™, Chief Chirpa™ and Logray™), 2 Scout Troopers and 2 Stormtroopers™
Includes R2-D2™ and 16 minifigures: Luke Skywalker™, Princess Leia™, Han Solo™, Chewbacca™, C-3PO™, 2 Rebel soldiers, 5 Ewoks™, 2 Scout™ Troopers™ and 2 Stormtroopers™
Features tree-trunk hideout and secret Lightsaber stash, spider web and net traps, slide, catapults, elevating throne, speeder rammer function, kitchen, food storage area, bedroom and a planning room. Speeder also included.
Weapons include a Lightsaber, 3 blaster pistols, 2 blasters, 2 blaster rifles, 2 spears, bow and a crossbow and also includes 2 staffs
Collect hard-to-find Endor Princess Leia, C-3PO, Luke, Han Solo and Wicket Ewok minifigures
Measures over 1″ (35cm) high, 21″ (55cm) wide and 13″ (35cm) deep
Available for sale directly through LEGO® beginning September 2013 via shop.LEGO.com, LEGO® Stores or via phone
70708 Hive Crawler is the largest insect vehicle from the Galaxy Squad line. It will be released in June of this year and contains 560 pieces priced at $59.99.
Here is my summary of the highlights of the set, which are elaborated in the review videos of the parts and the model.
Pros:
The crawling legs are an awesome play feature.
The catapult is well-designed and fun to launch.
New parts include the transparent pink pods, insect spawns, olive 1×2 curved slopes, and new/hard-to-find lime green and dark red parts.
Sleek speeder design.
Cons:
Only 3 minifigs included and none are unique to the set.
Colors look jumbled on the insect, I’m not a fan of the design of the middle section.
Overall, the Hive Crawler is a surprisingly fun set to play with despite not having the best looks. It is also a great parts pack for sci-fi builders with a satisfying array of new elements. Similar to other Galaxy Squad sets, it falls short in the number of minifigs included although it is the cheapest set to get the new 4-eyed alien commander. It is not a bad buy at $60, especially if you want to start building with the new parts right away or can’t wait to have a crawling menace to combat the space marines.
Nate Decastro seems to have a way with speeders. I just spotted this most recent creation on Flickr. I love the baby blue with the dark gray mechanical bits, and the touch of tan on the upholstery. As it turns out, there are quite a few other interesting speeders in his photostream.
Ted Andes (ted @ndes) utilizes System, Bionicle/Hero Factory and Technic parts to brilliant effect to make one cool looking speeder bike for the new Galaxy Patrol Collectible Minifig.
Also have to make mention of the awesome presentation. The use of the scarab shield as the logo is superb!!
This speeder bike by Keith Goldman (La Villa Strangiato) may have been built and posted in December, but it’s still worth noting. I only wish I’d spotted it when Keith first posted the lovely shot. The bike itself is quite stylish, but I think we can all agree that the photography and lighting really set it apart. The wake behind the bike, in particular, is just lovely.
Clearly, C3PO would drive this landspeeder by Luka (kost u grlu). It makes great use of the limited palette of gold parts available. What really kicks this creation up, though, is the interspersing of detail and mechanical bits throughout, much like C3P0’s exposed midsection. The use of the Build a Buzz’s helmet visor as a windscreen is just icing on the cake.
The LEGO Speeder Bikes contest over on Flickr is picking up steam, with more than 70 entries so far. There are dozens of notable entries, but one that jumped off the page for me is this orange and dark gray bad boy by Peter Taylor (darkblne).
