Pieces: 616
$69.99 retail
Ages: 8-14
released August 2014
1 minifigure:
Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Sandtrooper, Greedo, Bith x3 (band members), Dewback
1 sticker sheet
Includes build of Mos Eisley Cantina and landspeeder
This is an updated version of the 4501 Mos Eisley Cantina (released in 2004)
Sandtrooper and Dewback. When I heard news of a new Mos Eisley Cantina set I was most excited about the Dewback. I missed out on the earlier Dewback released in Mos Eisley Cantina 4501 ($29.99 and released in 2004).
This updated Dewback is much more detailed than the original and looks great.
Mouth opens and closes. Unfortunately the mouth is the only moving part on the entire Dewback. I wish that either the legs or head moved. Imagine the fun that could have been had with a removable Dewback head! Builders would have had a large reptilian head that they could have attached to builds.
I would have gladly sacrificed a little bit of detail for removable parts like the T-Rex in Dino: T-Rex Hunter 5886 set.
Still I have to admit the Sandtrooper looks great astride his Dewback steed.
Checkout this cool steampunk mechanized Dewback MOC by LEGO builder Jonas Click here to see MOC by Jonas The steampunk Dewback is in the bottom left of the Flickr image
Like the original Dewback the "saddle" can be removed and replaced with LEGO parts to cover the space for the saddle.
The harness piece may serve useful in creating Mocs.
Closeup of head with mouth closed
Dewback without saddle and 4 sloping parts placed on back.
I love the detail of the teeth! The upper teeth are painted on a flat surface. The bottom teeth are actually somewhat sculpted (or raised up).
Detail of feet and bottom of jaw
This version has more sand on the front of the helmet, what appears to be a "radio" on chest and NO printing on the feet. Both 9490 Sandtroopers had printing on the legs AND feet.
I am not bothered by the lack of printing on the feet. Some newer LEGO minifigs have too much detail in my opinion.
The cloth pauldron is black. The earlier Sandtroopers from 9490 had 1x orange pauldron and 1x white pauldron.
There was an earlier Sandtrooper in Luke's Landspeeder 8092. The Sandtrooper from 8092 had no sand detail but it did have a black pauldron. The pauldron and backpack was the only things that distinguished the 8092 Sandtrooper from regular Stormtroopers of the time.
Shown with backpack
To the best of my knowledge Sandtroopers have appeared in four LEGO sets:
- Mos Eisley Cantina 4501 (year 2004)
- Imperial Landing Craft 7659 (year 2007)
- Luke's Landspeeder 8092 (year 2010)
- Mos Eisley Cantina 75052
Back view of torso without backpack.
I'm very happy with this Sandtrooper. For me he was a must have for my collection of Stormtroopers
Greedo
This is his second appearance and it is different than the original minifigure that was released in the 2004 set 4501 Mos Eisley Cantina
I really like this one. He is very detailed with back printing (on torso) and lego printing. He also has printing for a belt that runs along the upper part of the leg assembly.
I really like the colors and I think the head will make a fine addition to the collection of those that like to create Space MOC's
Bith band members
Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes
From what I've read the number of the band members changed from time to time having as many as seven members at some point.
I think three is a good number of band members to include with the set (since more probably would have increased the set price)
Each band member minifigure is exactly the same except for the instruments.
I can't wait to use one of these great looking head pieces in a space/alien MOC.
I predict that the value of the Bith minifigs will increase in the future after the set is discontinued.
Han Solo
He has appeared in over 20 different sets with many different variations.
This is a great looking variation with lots of nice printing on the torso and legs. It appears to be the same variation that is available in 75030 Millennium Falcon (Microfighter series). I don't own 75030 so I can't be certain but based upon all pictures that I've seen and the reviews that I read he is the same.
His head is double sided with 2x expressions.
Both expressions work well for Han Solo.
Luke may have even more variants than Han Solo. I'm not going to attempt to count the many different variations but there are easily at least twenty different variations (probably +25)
The head, torso and legs are different than the Luke minifig available in 7965 Millennium Falcon.
I haven't fully decided if I like his face or not. Sometimes I think that it has too many lines (details) making him appear older than he should but at other moments I like it.
I really do like the torso and legs. GREAT printing on both. I love that the legs have both black and tan details printed on them. While it may have been easier to print both with black I think that the tan lines on his knees look great.
This particular hairpiece has been used before (in a few recent sets such as 7965 Millennium Falcon) and I really like it. It is perfect for Luke.
Obi-Wan has been released in many many variants as well. I think this one is my favorite thus far of older Obi-Wan (Star Wars episode IV onwards). I still haven't decided which is my favorite version of Obi-Wan from the Clone Wars era. He's definitely one of my favorite characters from the Clone Wars being Anakin's trainer (referring to him as Anakin's "master" sounds so demeaning doesn't it).
I really like the face printing on this one. It unfortunately only has one expression (not double sided) but I really like the beard detail and gentle expression of his eyes.
The brown part on the leg assembly don't match up perfectly though with the torso. I've seen this on 2 out of 2 personally and others report the same thing. I have a feeling that this variant of Obi-Wan will be a little overlooked now and later he will be in higher demand.
Closing
The set contains 8 minifigures (plus the dewback) at a price of $69.99 with a piece count of 616. Luke, Han, Obi-wan and the Sandtrooper minifigure have been released several times before so they aren't incredibly rare. They are very nice variants though that cannot be purchased in other sets (unless this is the same Han Solo that is available in the MicroFighters series). Greedo has been released only once before. I'm sure that he will be in high demand. The Bith band (or Bith musicians) have never been released before. I'm sure that they will be in high demand. The Dewback also has only been released once before.
Most fans of Star Wars will want the Bith musicians, Greedo and the Dewback (with Sandtrooper). I'm sure many will purchase an additional Dewback and sandtrooper to build up an army. Some will probably buy additional Bith minifigures to create a larger band.
The drawback to this set is that many fans of LEGO Star Wars probably already have a Luke, Han and Obi-Wan and won't need this variants unless they are collecting all variants or trying to find the newest variant of each. Those that don't want Luke, Han and Obi-wan will be essentially purchasing the set for five minifigures (Greedo, Sandtrooper and the Bith Band) plus the Dewback. This is essentially $11.66 per minifig and the Dewback. Of course you could look at it this way... $20 for the Dewback and $6 per minifig (Greedo, Sandtrooper and the Bith Band).
Pro's:
Personally I really was really excited about the set for several reasons.
- Lots of tan parts (currently what I'm trying to stock up on)
- Interesting parts for creating new minifigures (Bith heads, Greedo head & torso)
- Dewback and Sandtrooper (while I don't have an army of Stormtroopers or Clonetroopers I have enjoyed purchasing various variants over the years)
- While I hate paying $70 for a LEGO set it definitely could have been much higher (if the build had been larger). Consider the Jabba's Palace #9516. It had six minifigures plus Jabba the Hutt, Salacious Crumb (tiny little pet-like creature), B'omarr Monk and Han's carbonite block. I consider Jabba nearly the same as a Dewback (in price while I find the Dewback considerably more useful). Salacious cannot be used for minifigure parts and the B'omarr Monk is made up of very ordinary parts. Jabba's Palace retailed at $119.99 with 717 parts.
Con's:
I'm not complaining (much) but others may not like:
- purchasing variants of Han, Luke and Obi-wan to get Greedo, Bith musicians, a sandtrooper & Dewback
- that the Dewback has only one moving part (its mouth). It would have been great if the head rotated of the legs moved.
Thank you for reading! Thank you to my subscribers and followers! Please check back for LEGO and general toy news and reviews.
Notice any mistakes within my post? Feel free to comment or write.
I'll be adding a post with a break down of the parts including with the set AND pictures of the completed build soon. I'll add a link here once its posted.
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