Go For It Unless You Want A Capital Ship

7931 T-6 Jedi Shuttle
The Chronicler's Review - 2.5/5
Price ~ $60.00
Year Released - 2011

It must sometimes frustrate Lego set designers that the concept artists who dream up these exotic Star Wars ships for the movies and TV shows don’t consider the practical implications of real world construction.  Star Wars is full of designs that look really cool and are easily created in the CG world of movie effects but are much harder to flush out into a real world model.  The T-6 Jedi Shuttle joins an ever expanding group of Lego Star Wars models that attempts to mimic the movie look and operation of some pretty complicated (and let’s face it impractical) ship designs (the B-Wing especially comes to mind).  All things considered, Lego is to be commended for this set which takes a difficult design and turns it into a satisfactory, if overpriced, model. 

FOR PARENTS   

Don’t be fooled you are paying a price for the 2 rare minifigures that come with this set (Shaak Ti and Saesee Tiin and no I don’t know how to pronounce them either).  If having these figures are important to your child then this set, overpriced as it is, will not be a bad purchase.  Unlike some of the other sets in which the minifigures are meant to be the primary attraction as opposed to the model itself (such as 7930 Bounty Hunter Assault Gunship) this spaceship is actually a decent model comprised of a versatile collection of parts in standard colors which will be useful when the ship is (inevitably) dissembled for use by your child in building original creations.  Again if value is your primary consideration this is not the set for you as the piece per dollar ratio is low.  This is fairly universal for Star Wars sets due to licensing fees.

FOR KIDS

This set comes with some excellent parts along with the minifigures.  If you are a fan of this ship in the Star Wars TV show and want the minifigures go for it.  If you want the most for your money and don’t care all that much about Star Wars I would look into something else because at the end of the day this set is just a two man shuttle and not as cool as say a capital ship from an unlicensed theme might be (a Space Police set would serve you well in this regard). 

CONCLUSION

When reviewed objectively this set gets fairly decent marks.  The playability of a set like this is fairly high and the pieces are versatile in both type and color.  My only hesitation with this set stems from the fact that I have been collecting Legos for a long time and can remember when the price of this 2 man shuttle would have bought the young collector a sizeable capital ship.  I recognize that this set is depicting a ship from the Star Wars world but to me personally I would want a cooler ship than just a shuttle for this amount of money.  Still if you or your child is a Star Wars fan this set will produce many hours of happy play.      

Happy Building

TheLegoChronicler

A Once In A Lifetime Opportunity

3661 Bank and Money Transfer
The Chronicler's Rating - 4/5
Price ~ $50.00
Year Released - 2011

When one surveys the multi-decade longevity of the Town/City theme there are two types of sets that it is staggering how few versions have been produced: hospitals and banks.  Since the advent of the minifigure in the late 70s there have been only two hospitals (6380 Emergency Treatment Center in 1987 and 7892 Hospital in 2006) and before this model only two banks (1490 Bank in 1990 and 6566 Bank in 1997).  This has always baffled me considering that Lego has produced a new police station or fire station, without fail, every 3-5 years over that same timeframe.  It seems to me that banks for the crooks whom the police are chasing to rob and hospitals to take the burn victims of all the houses that the fire department is saving would be the perfect counterparts to those more prevalent sets.  The purpose of this brief history lesson is to highlight the following: this set is a rare treasure.  It is bar none (even though there are not very many to bar as I have just shown) the best Lego bank yet produced and, if history holds true, there may not be another version of it for years (just look at the hospital sets, almost 20 years separated them!) so grab it while you can!

FOR PARENTS

If your child is a fan of the Town/City theme then I would highly recommend this set.  It is a fairly simple construction so it should not frustrate a young builder (the town sets often appeal to the younger spectrum of Lego’s audience more than some of the other themes) but also has enough detail to please an older one.  Everything your child needs for a satisfying heist story is here, including both crooks and police, giving this set high marks for playability.  It also contains an excellent collection of parts that will have many versatile uses when your child (inevitably) disassembles this set to make their own original creations.  On top of all that the number of pieces you get for the price is better than most of its 2011 contemporaries making this set a fairly good deal for the more value conscious shopper (as a quick aside the city sets tend to have higher value in terms of pieces per dollar due to the absence of Lego having to pay any licensing fees).  In short a great set with lots of possibility.  Only reason to avoid is if your child has no interest in City sets whatsoever, this one would feel a little weird all by itself even though it could be played with in that setting.       

FOR KIDS

A chance to own a Lego bank may not come along again for a long time.  If you are trying to build a realistic and complete City this is a great opportunity to add a building that a lot of your friends (and especially you older siblings) won’t have.  If you have other police sets especially this will make a great addition as your crooks will have a place to rob, I highly recommend it. 

CONCLUSION

I would recommend that you get this set for 2 reasons.  First off it is a rarity for a bank set to even be available and if you think about it that is very odd.  Why Lego does not release more of them is a mystery to me, all the more reason to get this excellent set while you can.  Secondly, this set has exceptional playability and will provide an excellent set piece for robberies and high speed chase stories.  Grab it before you have to wait another decade!

Happy Building

TheLegoChronicler

Get Some Cylindrical Bricks And Make Your Own

7869 Battle for Geonosis
The Chronicler's Rating - 1/5
Price ~ $40.00
Year Released - 2011

In concept this is a great set: a big walking, pose-able gun and I am sure that it is a blast to play with. The problem is that this set did nothing special with that awesome idea. I recognize that it is a recreation of a vehicle from the movie so it is not entirely Lego’s fault, and to their credit they try to salvage it by throwing in the speeder, but even that does not change the simple fact that any kid will be able to build something cooler than this with his own pieces. And I would add that due to the price of this set that same kid will be able to do it a lot cheaper.

FOR PARENTS

I really would recommend that you pass on this set. If your child wants to build a big gun for their battle stories head over to the Pick-a-Brick section of Lego's site or Bricklink and order some cylinder pieces of the right color as that is likely the only piece on this that your child may not have extra of. If they want the speeder the exact model found here also comes with 7913 Clone Trooper Battle Pack for much cheaper.

FOR KIDS

I am quite certain that you can build your own version of this and then have the money you or your parents would have spent on it for a different even cooler set. If you really want the Jedi minifigure just be patient, I am sure Lego will release her on a cheaper set soon.

CONCLUSION

Lego Star Wars has been around since 1999. Lego started by producing the classic well known sets but after so many years they have been forced to branch into the ever more obscure. This particular vehicle has I believe less than 10 seconds of screen time in Episode III Attack of the Clones. Sometimes these obscure sets are very cool (10195 Republic Dropship with AT-OT Walker comes to mind) but other times, like here, they just are not worth the money, especially when they are this easy to build on your own.

Happy Building

TheLegoChronicler

Not Exceptional But Will Get The Job Done

7946 King's Castle
The Chronicler's Rating - 3/5
Price ~ $100.00
Year Released - 2010

Lego had released numerous castle sets since the theme was introduced in the late 70s.  The style of these sets has ranged far and wide through the years.  This castle is reminiscent of the very first ones released in the late 80's which were characterized by their lack of baseplates and ability to open.  It specifically appears to draw inspiration from 1984's King's Castle and 1986's Black Falcon's Fortress.  In comparison to its many predecessors I can only give this set average marks at best.  There is nothing original here, nothing that has not been done before.  This would be fine if this set did those things better than previous castles, but unfortunately this is not the case.  There is nothing really wrong with this set but neither is there anything exceptional or noteworthy.

                                                                            

FOR PARENTS

Every kid needs a castle set in their collection.  If it is in your power to make that happen I would highly recommend it.  Even if your child does not have any other castle themed sets, a set like this is the perfect place to start and can enable many hours of happy play right off the bat.  This castle will do just fine but pretty much any other Lego castle you can find will have everything this castle does and quite possibly, if you get the right one, more.  In my opinion the best castles thus far released by Lego have been 6090 Royal Knight's Castle and 7094 King's Castle Siege.  If however ease of acquisition is your primary concern this set will do just fine, it is by no means the worst castle Lego has produced, it just isn’t a standout.    

TheLegoChronicler

FOR KIDS

This castle or one like it will provide many hours of fun adventures.  Even if you have not ever collected castle sets before they are a great addition to your collection for two main reasons.  First they are a blast to play with and secondly they come with great pieces that you can use for a wide variety of creations.  If you already have a castle this set would make a great opposing fortress.  If however you already have two castles I would suggest you spend your money in a different theme as there is nothing exceptional about this one that would make it better than the ones you have already. 

CONCLUSION

There was nothing wrong with the castles of the 80's.  They were not however the most impressive.  That is how I would describe this set.  As a castle goes it gets the job done, looks good and will more than meet the needs of any medieval adventure story.  If you don’t have one this one will do fine.  But when compared with the numerous castle sets that have been produced through the years it falls squarely in the average category. 

Happy Building