LEGOforanEggo
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LEGOforanEggo's Stats
- 4Average Rating
- 41Helpfulness Votes
- 0Featured Reviews
- 2Review Count
- December 8, 2018First Review
- May 12, 2019Last Review
LEGOforanEggo's Reviews
Tantive IV™
Tantive IV™
Posted:May 12, 2019
LEGOforanEggo
Age:
35-44
years old
Customer Type:
Other
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Overall:
3
/
5
Lego lost focus during design
" Exterior Design: A
Interior Design: C
Playability : B
Display: A
Block Usage: C
Technics : B
Interior Design: C
Playability : B
Display: A
Block Usage: C
Technics : B
I like LEGO's focus on sets that emphasizes play more than model/display--it is a toy after all. But I'm going to be especially critical of the design here because it is the 3rd time LEGO has done the Tantive IV (excluding microversions), and this is the 20th anniversary edition.
The brief for this model was (cited from Q&A with model designer Cesar Soares) "make a model that would have a lot of playability, with play functions and interior rooms for kids to enjoy, but also it should be a model that looks good on a shelf".
Ok, there's a balancing act there that is difficult, but the pendulum swings in favor of playability for non UCS models, so I'd emphasize the playable aspect more than the exterior for the build. If you care about playability of the Tantive IV, then you must start your design centered around the most important aspect of the ship: The hallway scene with Darth Vader in the opening of A New Hope. It's the most iconic scene for the ship, and definitely the one scene a kid will try and recreate.
THERE IS NO HALLWAY IN THIS SHIP. There is no hallway in any Tantive IV models, no hallway = FAIL in terms of playability. Instead there's a command room thing, and the cockpit. A cockpit isn't a playable element of a ship unless it's large enough to be considered a scene area. Nothing happens in the Tantive IV cockpit, and it's just two seats--you put a guy in, you take him out. The command center is just bizarre, am I the only person that noticed the two seats aren't facing the computers? Matter of fact, they face nothing...just blank bricks, no stickers, no computers or terminals, just white bricks. What are those two sitting minifigs doing? Did someone forget to print the stickers at LEGO? The only good aspect about the playablity of the model is the handle, which is handy to have. The exterior is very well done...too well done because it's not a UCS model. The exterior should not have dictated the interior design space, that's what I mean when I title this review "LEGO lost focus during design." I also didn't care for the technic hull, it's sturdy, but there is such a thing as over engineering something. The ship is overly sturdy and they wasted bricks and confined there building platform with the design.
The brief for this model was (cited from Q&A with model designer Cesar Soares) "make a model that would have a lot of playability, with play functions and interior rooms for kids to enjoy, but also it should be a model that looks good on a shelf".
Ok, there's a balancing act there that is difficult, but the pendulum swings in favor of playability for non UCS models, so I'd emphasize the playable aspect more than the exterior for the build. If you care about playability of the Tantive IV, then you must start your design centered around the most important aspect of the ship: The hallway scene with Darth Vader in the opening of A New Hope. It's the most iconic scene for the ship, and definitely the one scene a kid will try and recreate.
THERE IS NO HALLWAY IN THIS SHIP. There is no hallway in any Tantive IV models, no hallway = FAIL in terms of playability. Instead there's a command room thing, and the cockpit. A cockpit isn't a playable element of a ship unless it's large enough to be considered a scene area. Nothing happens in the Tantive IV cockpit, and it's just two seats--you put a guy in, you take him out. The command center is just bizarre, am I the only person that noticed the two seats aren't facing the computers? Matter of fact, they face nothing...just blank bricks, no stickers, no computers or terminals, just white bricks. What are those two sitting minifigs doing? Did someone forget to print the stickers at LEGO? The only good aspect about the playablity of the model is the handle, which is handy to have. The exterior is very well done...too well done because it's not a UCS model. The exterior should not have dictated the interior design space, that's what I mean when I title this review "LEGO lost focus during design." I also didn't care for the technic hull, it's sturdy, but there is such a thing as over engineering something. The ship is overly sturdy and they wasted bricks and confined there building platform with the design.
The Tantive IV is like a lukewarm cup of coffee, it still does something for you, but you'd really like it to be 10 degrees warmer.
"
I would recommend this to a friend!
From:
United States
State:
Virgina
Age:
35-44
years old
Customer Type:
Other
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Build Time:
02
hrs
Play Experience (Optional):
3
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
4
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Average
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
-12points
23of 58found this review helpful.
Betrayal at Cloud City™
Betrayal at Cloud City™
Posted:December 8, 2018
LEGOforanEggo
Age:
35-44
years old
Customer Type:
Other
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Classic Lego set will all the right elements!
" Set Appearance and Play:
I believe there are 3 kinds of people who buy sets at the >$300 price range.
I believe there are 3 kinds of people who buy sets at the >$300 price range.
a) Adults wanting a model piece to display. The "look upon my works ye mighty and despair" folks
b) Adults with kids where the building and playing is an experience.
c) Adults who secretly play with the Legos, but say it's a model to their friends.
b) Adults with kids where the building and playing is an experience.
c) Adults who secretly play with the Legos, but say it's a model to their friends.
This set is for b/c. It is not a model like the UCS Falcon, or Death Star 2 or the Super Star Destroyer, that should be obvious from the picture. I'm not sure why you'd buy this set and then complain it's not good for displaying...you knew what it looked like before you bought it.
I'm fine with it being a play set. It's a lot of fun to play with and put together and the kids love it. I'm not a fan of all higher price sets needing to be good display items. I have enough stuff collecting dust in my house.
The sections of Cloud City cover all the major portions seen in the film, and they do so in a way that the minifigs can transverse the scenes. Because the set has such a open floor plan, it invites the customer to play and interact with it. Also, you can easily add on to the platforms. For example, you could remove the carbonite chamber portion and put in the carbonite set (75137). Or you could expand the landing pad for the full Slave 1 (assuming proportions don't matter to you, and honestly nothing Star Wars could ever be proportional anyways). Designing a set for expandability really increases the play value, and especially for children, helps them creatively think about building and designing their own Lego sets. Even though the age is 14+, an 8 year old could easy modify this set once completed and explore new ways to add on to Cloud City. That's why I like it--Lego should be for creative exploration, not just displays and this set is classically Lego. The number of minifigs is really impressive (18 of them) and many of those are unique to this set.
Set Price:
I gave this a solid 5, which differs from the majority of reviewers and I need to explain why since this is supposed to be a helpful review ;-)
I see this again and again in forums and at conventions where Lego fans compare set prices and say "yeah, it's overpriced" or "you could buy X with 1000 more pieces for 50 bucks less." Comments like those speak to a misunderstanding, or no understanding, of how sets are priced. And if you invest in LEGO sets and sell them like I do, you'll quickly see why things are the way they are.
I gave this a solid 5, which differs from the majority of reviewers and I need to explain why since this is supposed to be a helpful review ;-)
I see this again and again in forums and at conventions where Lego fans compare set prices and say "yeah, it's overpriced" or "you could buy X with 1000 more pieces for 50 bucks less." Comments like those speak to a misunderstanding, or no understanding, of how sets are priced. And if you invest in LEGO sets and sell them like I do, you'll quickly see why things are the way they are.
So, why is this set of 2812 pieces $350 whereas the Hogwarts Castle is 6000+ pieces and only $400?
Two major things to consider, the first I think most people understand and so I'll just state it
1) Licensing costs cut into LEGO's margins, the more they need to pay to license a product, the more they must charge to hit their profit margin. Star Wars is as expensive as a license gets, so everything Star Wars costs more. You cannot compare it to City, or Ninjago or Ghost Busters or even Harry Potter. Star Wars sets are way more popular than Harry Potter so LEGO has more negotiating power with Universal than Disney.
1) Licensing costs cut into LEGO's margins, the more they need to pay to license a product, the more they must charge to hit their profit margin. Star Wars is as expensive as a license gets, so everything Star Wars costs more. You cannot compare it to City, or Ninjago or Ghost Busters or even Harry Potter. Star Wars sets are way more popular than Harry Potter so LEGO has more negotiating power with Universal than Disney.
2) Here's the thing no one thinks about: The cost of a brick. A great discussion, which I've summarized below can be found in the Lego Book: Brick by Brick. The average brick mold costs about $50,000-$100,000 depending on the mold complexity and it's good for about 60 million pieces before it needs to be replaced. So, for a simple 2x4 piece, which is in basically every set, the price for that piece is basically zero. Now, for a piece like Vader's helmet? A lot less than 60 million are made, or what about a one-of-a-kind piece like Luke's face that only appears in one set? Lot less than 60 million. A single custom piece could cost over a dollar per piece to manufacture (Indiana Jones' whip comes to mind). My point is that when you look at a set to decide if you're getting a good deal, you must look at the pieces and minfigs you are getting. In Cloud City we have
(Data from Brickset)
--Darth Vader - Type 2 Helmet, Spongy Cape (75159) Appears in 2 sets
--Darth Vader - Type 2 Helmet, Spongy Cape (75159) Appears in 2 sets
--Bespin Guard - Light Flesh Head, Detailed Gold Trim, Furrowed Eyebrows Appears in 2 sets
--Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair Appears in 2 sets
--Ugnaught (75222) Appears in 1 set
--Cloud Car Pilot (75222) Appears in 1 set
--Princess Leia (Hoth Outfit White, Crooked Smile) Appears in 2 sets
--Princess Leia - Bespin Outfit (75222) Appears in 1 set
--Luke Skywalker (75222) Appears in 1 set
--Bespin Guard - Light Flesh Head, Detailed Gold Trim,
Moustache (75222) Appears in 1 set
Moustache (75222) Appears in 1 set
--Lando Calrissian (75222) Appears in 1 set
There's more, but I think you get the idea. To make this set, LEGO needed to do a lot of one-off pieces, it's true that they saved costs where they could (Leia has the same face in both minifigs), but it's still expensive doing this. In nearly all cases, minifigs dictate a set's price. There are also some unique pieces in the vehicle construction that aren't used in many sets.
So when I crunched the numbers and used Brickset to look at costs for those pieces, $350, is about right. The Hogwarts Castle is a brick castle being made from bricks....there aren't many unique pieces at all. This in combination with nearly no minfigs (they are all nanofigs minus the 4 founders of Hogwarts), is why I believe the Hogwarts castle can be priced so well. With Cloud City you are paying about 12 cents per brick, and the Lego average is about 8-12 cents depending on the set. So it's on the high side, but not ridiculously so. The Hogwarts Castle is only about 6.6 cents per brick, making it one of the cheapest sets and not a fair comparison.
So when I crunched the numbers and used Brickset to look at costs for those pieces, $350, is about right. The Hogwarts Castle is a brick castle being made from bricks....there aren't many unique pieces at all. This in combination with nearly no minfigs (they are all nanofigs minus the 4 founders of Hogwarts), is why I believe the Hogwarts castle can be priced so well. With Cloud City you are paying about 12 cents per brick, and the Lego average is about 8-12 cents depending on the set. So it's on the high side, but not ridiculously so. The Hogwarts Castle is only about 6.6 cents per brick, making it one of the cheapest sets and not a fair comparison.
Overall, Cloud City is a very playable set with great minifigs.
"
I would recommend this to a friend!
From:
United States
State:
Virgina
Age:
35-44
years old
Customer Type:
Other
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Purchased For:
Self
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+15points
18of 21found this review helpful.