Relive the magic--Boba Fett's Slave I ...in Lego 6209
Written: Mar 04 '06
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Pros: Quality lego pieces, fun to complete, somewhat challenging to build without any real frustration.
Cons: Probably difficult to complete for the younger ages, out-of-stock and back ordered at most places.
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended for any Star Wars fan or Lego builder. The finished product looks great, lots of movable pieces and hidden arsenals keep it true for the bounty hunters.
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| boden11's Full Review: LEGO Star Wars Slave 1 |
I've always been a Star Wars fan, not a crazy "I have thousand dollar replica lightsabers in my closet" kind, but a fan none-the-less. Anyways a few weeks ago I saw a commercial on television for new Star Wars lego sets including the highly coveted Slave I. For those of you not to up on your Star Wars knowledge the Slave I was Boba Fett's ship (later discovered to originally belong to Jango Fett--Boba's father).
This review isn't on the early 2000s version--that was a smaller Lego set and reading the epinions and other reviews not very impressive. This review is on the newly released Lego 6209 set containing 537 pieces and completely built has an impressive foot-long footprint.
Currently, the hardest part about this new Lego set appears to be getting ahold of one. I first saw the advertisements on TV for one about 2 months ago and had actually almost forgotten about it. Fast-forward to a late night shopping trip at Target and *bam* I suddenly remembered that this 25 year-old needed to investigate the toy section. I went down to the Lego aisle and quickly scanned the shelves--A-Wings, Tie Fighters, no, no, and then a big empty space where the Slave I should have been. My hopes weren't dashed too quickly as I remembered a Toy's-R-Us just a few blocks away.
At Toy's-R-Us I was just as successful--meaning going home empty handed again. Being 2006 I figured I could easily surf the internet and find one within a few minutes...which turned out to be partly correct. Amazon was sold out and back-ordered by 4-6 weeks and other stores produced the same results. Surprisingly I managed to get ahold of one at (wait for it) ...the Lego store! (Currently Lego lists the Slave I set as being back-ordered by 3 weeks, so get your orders in now).
It arrived later that week (this week) and I quickly opened the box to get started on building the first Lego set I've done in over a decade.
Inside the Box
Not having done a Lego set in so long I wasn't quite sure what to expect inside the box. Inside was a lengthy instruction manual and 5-6 plastic pouches of Lego pieces. The pieces were separated inside the pouches by size and color--small grey pieces in one, small black pieces in another, medium sized pieces in another and so on. The instruction manual was over 60 pages and relied only on pictures to explain how to piece the set together.
The Build
I quickly began building my own, personal Slave I by flipping open the instruction manual and opening the pouches. Some people like to just pour all the pieces on the table or into a bowl. I would recommend the latter, but with one caveat--keep small pieces together in one place, medium in another and large pieces in another place.
With over 530 pieces the process began slowly, after 3-4 hours I had only gotten about 1/3rd of the way through the book. I decided to finally give it a rest after midnight, not sure to be satisfied on my progress or disappointed. After all, the box did say for ages 8-12 and after spending an entire night on it I only managed to get 20 pages into the book. I still had a LOT of pieces left and my ship looked something like the Death Star in Return of the Jedi--not fully operational.
The next night I got an early start on it and found the process got quicker as the remaining pieces dwindled. After about 10 hours (that night and the previous night) it was complete!
The finished product took on a fairly good resemblance of the actual Slave I! The wings rotated in harmony and little flip out sections revealed hidden weapons, rockets, bombs, and blaster guns. The set also included 3 Lego people--Boba Fett, a mechanic looking fellow, a hooded person with a blaster rifle and a lego robot. Also included was Han Solo encased in carbonite!
Final Words
All-in-all putting together a Lego set inteded for '8-12 year olds' was rather entertaining. Never really too difficult, but not what I'd consider easy either. The finished product is an impressive size (about a foot long, 7 inches wide in places and about 5-6 inches in depth) with lots of maneuverable pieces and flip out sections. While the end of the instruction manual showed people zooming the ship around and launching missiles from it, I was a little hesitant to really test the structural integrity of something I had just spent almost 1/2 a day on.
For under $50 ($49.95) this Lego set was definitely worth it. Perhaps it needs a companion...although I think I'll take a breather before considering the 3400 piece Death Star set.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: 9 Years or Older
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boden11
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boden11 loves gambling...errr investing in the stock market and and doing his own taxes
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