Thursday, 28 August 2014

75004 Z-95 Review

Hi all, sorry for the long delay between articles. As most of you would know, the school term is coming to a close and the End-Of-Year Exams are getting nearer and nearer. As such, I’ll be cutting back on the posts, and shortening most of them until my exams are over in mid-late October. (Because any future LEGO purchases ride heavily on my results)

So without further ado, today’s post will be another set review, this time featuring LEGO Star Wars 75004 Z-95 Headhunter.

© The Lego Group, Photo Credits to Brickset.com


This set was released last year, as part of the December-January (2012-2013) wave of LEGO Sets. It contains 373 Pieces, 3 MInifigures and retails in the USA and EU for $49.99, and here in Singapore for SGD $89.90 or so.


I bought this set from Robinsons, during one of those closed-door member sales with the vouchers for discount-with-purchase, all of it courtesy of my mum’s Robinsons-OCBC card (So you can see why my studies are so important).

Personally, I think its a tad bit overpriced with $90 for 370+ pieces, but after the build, it turns out pretty okay, and I quite like the finished build.

So, onto the review.

First, the Minifigures.


The set comes with a really good assortment of minifigures, all 3 of which are pretty hard to find and mostly exclusive to this set, save for the 501st Legion Clone Trooper which was featured in 75003 AT-RT.

The 3 minifigures included with the set are a 501st Legion Clone Pilot, the aforementioned 501st Legion Clone Trooper, and Pong Krell, a Jedi who has 4 arms and 2 dual-bladed lightsabers, making him pretty cool all by himself. (Practically the only reason why my brother bugged me to get this set, instead of a few more 75001 Battle Packs)


So lets start with the 501st Legion Clone Pilot.

The pilot is 1 of 2 minifigures exclusive to this set, and is an entirely new spin on the traditional Clone and Imperial pilots we keep getting. His helmet is the main draw, with a brand new mould covering his entire head unlike previous pilots who always left a small “hole” where the eyes of the pilot would be visible.

His chest piece is pretty cool too, with the usual printing of chest-plates and oxygen tubes. What bugs me is the lack of leg printing, which seems a bit underwhelming considering he's an exclusive to this set, and both other figures have that.



The 501st Legion Clone Trooper is exactly the same as the one we can get in 75003 AT-RT, so I won’t go into much detail in this review.

You can read the Review for it over here:



The biggest feature of this set (besides the vehicle) has got to be the Pong Krell Minifigure. He's definitely the first LEGO Jedi to ever wield 2 Double-Bladed lightsabers, adding to the awesome-factor.

If i’m not wrong, he actually retails on eBay and specialist shops like ToysHunt for a hefty $30-$40, practically half the cost of the set, and for good reason too.

I really like how they used a sandwich-board piece to add extra height and arms, much like they did with Chewbacca and the other Wookie and Ewok Minifigures, and the amount of detail LEGO put in, despite Pong Krell being a really really minor character who only appears in the Clone Wars cartoon, and even then only for 2-3 episodes.

So for the minifigures, this set gets a 9.5/10! That 0.5 being due to the lack of leg printing on the Pilot.

Playability



This set is extremely fun to play with, and looks really cool on display. The build itself is fairly large (larger than the X-Wing), but is quite light, considering that only 300+ pieces went into it. Interestingly though, its quite sturdy despite the few pieces and minimal weight.

The underbelly of the vehicle contains a spring-loaded shooter, of the old variety as previously seen in the Bionicle series, not the fancy streamlined colorful shooters we just got. I like how the ship is pretty much built around the launcher, and the supporting structures provide most of the mass for the entire build.

If it was a tad bit cheaper, it would be nice to get 2 or 3 of these to build a nice squadron of Z-95s, and just swoosh them around in battle against their surprisingly absent Separatist counterparts.

So for Playability and Display Quality, this set gets a 7/10.

Investment Potential



Unfortunately, just like the AT-RT, this set comes from the Clone Wars cartoon series, meaning it lacks the raw appeal and popularity that movie-based sets like the Millennium Falcon, X-Wing and Jedi Interceptors enjoy.

The high price of this set would only decrease any potential returns, and it doesn’t really seem very popular among collectors except for the minifigures.

Unless Z-95s suddenly appear out of nowhere in Episode VII, there really doesn’t seem to be a point to hold onto any more of these sets.

Investment Potential, 3/10

© The Lego Group, Photo Credits to Brickset.com

So, to round it all off, this set is a pretty good buy for the casual collector, but one that should be avoided if you are looking to make a quick buck out of it. I wouldn’t advise buying one for investment, but if you are looking for a good addition to your collection, or a toy for your kids or yourself, then this is the set for you.



On a side note, LEGO has released a mini Polybag version of the set, which is way smaller, but looks equally good. I managed to snap up a few off eBay to keep for myself, and to sell a few to fund my hobby (Hehe).

See you soon, and have a great week!


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