Yup, it’s more Lego!  When I went out yesterday morning for provisions at Wally World I was hoping to pick up one of the Lego City Coast Guard sets. Unfortunately, the Wally World here sucks and they had none. There once was a time when I could fall back on their decent Lego selection to make up for their horrid selection of action figures, but now it seems as if the entropy is spreading and their Lego aisle has been compromised. Part of the problem is that they cannibalized half a Lego aisle for model kits and paint. Really? Anyway, they did have Jabba’s Sail Barge and it was mighty tempting, but I can get it about $10 cheaper online and I really have way too many Sideshow Flex Pays hitting this month to be spending a hunny on a Lego set. So I went cheaper and got me this A-Wing to compliment the X-Wing I built last week.

Ah, the new deco! Gone is Darth Maul, the Poochie of the Star Wars Universe, and in his place is Yoda. Alas, it’s prequel Yoda and not cool and wise Original Trilogy Yoda. That makes it kind of an unfortunate even trade off. Why do I care? I’m not keeping the box.

Inside the box you get three numbered baggies containing 177 bricks, an instruction booklet, and a rather sizeable sticker sheet for such a small set. When all is said and done you get to build the A-Wing and three Minifigs. Minifigs? MINIFIGS??? Let’s check out the Minifigs!

Oh, Lego you had me at Ackbar. Seriously, Admiral Ackbar feels like an odd inclusion to this set, but he’s a big reason why I chose this one over a few other $25 selections. I like to think he’s included here because Lego secretly knows that at some point in Return of the Jedi Ackbar simply jumps into an A-Wing and flies off to blow up the goddamn Death Star himself. It’s a behind the scenes kind of thing. Anyway, if you don’t love Ackbar, you’re a fool. And if you don’t love Minifig Ackbar, than I don’t know why you bother even getting up in the morning, becauses all the joy has left your soul. The head sculpt is fantastic and I’d say that as far as Minifigs go, this one is a perfect ten. I just wish they gave him his trademark baton.

Speaking of odd inclusions… why the hell is Han Solo in here? At least Ackbar is a Fleet Admiral. Even if you don’t buy into the whole “he blew up the Death Star in an A-Wing” theory, then maybe he just came down to the flight deck to warn the A-Wing pilot about a trap? But Han Solo appearing in the set makes little sense to me. I’m not complaining though, as I have a pretty paltry collection of Star Wars Minifigs, so getting a staple character like Han is a nice pick-up. He comes with a blaster.

Last up, you get the A-Wing pilot, which is a no-brainer. This guy is really cool and features a very detailed green flight suit and a bitchin helmet. He has two printed faces and he comes with a wrench.

The build doesn’t feature a lot of surprises and I’m pretty pleased with the final model. The rear fins are a tad thick, but it’s Lego, so you have to accept some liberties with the aesthetics. The only other way to do them would have been to use specialty pieces molded in the shape of the fins, and I’m not a big fan of that in my Lego sets. The engines look particularly nice with the green translucent bits and the rings at the ends. The stickers are also well executed and do a nice job of enhancing the look of the piece.

The play features are pretty simple on this ship. You get a retractable landing gear and an opening cockpit. There are also flick-fire proton torpedoes on the sides. The laser guns were supposed to have black pieces at the end, but I was one short, so I had to use grey. I still think it looks alright, but that’s twice in one month where I’ve had color mix-ups in my sets. I hope you’re not slipping on the QC, Lego! Honestly, the other other black piece might have fallen on the floor and been eaten by the cat. Who can tell? One cool surprise was the way the back of the cockpit lifts out to give access to the reactor. I know it’s depicted on the back of the box, but I try not to look at that to avoid spoilers while building. Wow, that A-Wing pilot is pretty good if he can fix that starfighter reactor with just a giant wrench.

So, a cool ship and three solid Minifigs make this set a nice score for $25. If you’re looking for a quick Lego fix, this one should tune you right up. It didn’t take all that long to build, but it was fun and it’s hard to argue with the end result. The A-Wing seems to scale pretty well with the X-Wing I just built, and I’m really enjoying assembling an assortment of ships for my Rebel hanger. I think my next Star Wars ship will be the Z-95 Headhunter. I have fond memories of that one from the old X-Wing and Tie Fighter PC Games and I like the idea of going the Lego route to get ships that never got the proper Hasbro toy treatment.