Set Review - Battle of Takodana - #75139 - Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I'm a LEGO fan, I've talked about LEGO Force Awakens sets on this blog, I sell Star Wars minifigs and sets... and I have not seen the movie yet.  In some circles this probably makes me a bad person, so please forgive me for reviewing a Star Wars LEGO set and for not seeing the latest Star Wars movie yet.  

Today's set is the Battle of Takodana (#75139).  It retails from LEGO for $59.99 in the US.  It has 409 pieces ($0.146 per piece).  This is rather high, but it's a licensed set and it's Star Wars and... it has 5 minifigures.  There are 2 First Order Stormtroopers, Finn, Maz Kanata, and Kylo Ren.  As the only other set with Kylo Ren in it is Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle retailing at $119, I'm sure the LEGO Star Wars fans are excited to pay half as much to get a Kylo Ren minifig.  This set was released on 2 January 2016 and is still available from LEGO Shop at Home.  

The box is pretty standard.  

The front shows the set with all of the minifigures on the bottom right.  As an aside, I'm still not used to seeing the Disney logo tied to Star Wars.

The back shows some of the play features, weapons, and another view of the set.

Nothing too special about the contents.  There's an instruction booklet that as per usual was shoved into the box and was folded with a crease (come on LEGO, you can fix this!), 3 bags, and a sticker sheet (with only 2 stickers!).  

Bag one included the First Order Stormtroopers, a brick separator, and some pieces.  The build is fairly easy and straightforward.  Nothing too out of the ordinary.

Completed Bag 1

Bag 2 added in some more details to include movable doors.  It also included Finn and Kylo Ren with hair and his mask.

Bag 2 build complete.

The final bag added Maz Kanata and the rest of the structure.  There are a number of Technic elements used to create some play-ability.  The tree falls over, a hidden container pops out, and some pieces of the wall fall off.

Final set with all the minifigs.

The final verdict... in my opinion, it's all about the minifigs for this set.  The rest of the set doesn't do much for me.  Would it be different if I had seen the movie?  Maybe.  If you're looking to get Kylo Ren or Finn and to not pay over $100 or buy the minifigs on the secondary market, then this might be the way to go for you.  For those of you that build MOCs, this isn't a bad set in terms of pieces.  I enjoy the textured 1x2 bricks that have the brick texture on them.  There are 28 in this set which is great for those of you like me who enjoy adding buildings to their town/train scenes.  The textured 2x4 round bricks in brown are good and the 2 foliage pieces are as well.

I'm curious to hear your opinions.  Leave them in the comments.

Happy 2016!

It's been a bit since I've posted.  You saw a lot of posts around the holiday period because I took some time off from my day job and got to spend more time with my fun job.  I've finished off most of my building backlog minus one set.  I'm working on the Simpson's Kwik-e-Mart set.  It's taken me longer to build since it's a larger set and I've been busy.  I'm taking notes and pictures and will post a review once I'm done.  There are 17 bags and I'm only through around 4 at this point.  A good build so far though.

For those of you that follow the LEGO company and their sales, one big event for them is the day after Christmas.  They put a lot of sets on sale.  You can find some good deals although you have to act fast.  Often times I'll check in the morning on 26 December and most of the sets they had listed are sold out already.  I was able to pick up some Simpson's Series 2 minifigures and a LEGO Movie set at half off.  I also picked up another Rey's Speeder set which means some additional inventory for the store.  

LEGO also released some new sets on 1 January.  There are some new Star Wars - The Force Awakens sets, the new LEGO Nexo Knights, and a few others ones so check them out.  I haven't bought any yet, but will let you know if I do.

I also managed to catch the LEGO Ideas - The Big Bang Theory set on sale at Amazon to add some minifigures to the store inventory.

Were you able to catch any of the sales after Christmas or in the New Year?  Have you purchased any of the new 2016 sets?  Let me know in the comments!

Set Review - Rey's Speeder - 75099

For Star Wars fans, the wait is finally over.  "The Force Awakens" opens this week in theaters.  For those of you who have been paying attention, the marketing for the movie started quite awhile ago.  As LEGO fans, that has meant that there are a number of new sets and minifigures available out already.  With a lot of the details of the movie not released yet, we're not 100% sure of what they all are, but there are some fun new sets and minifigures out there.

The first one I purchased to add to the store is Rey's Speeder which is set number 75099.  It was $19.99 at LEGO.com and I'm sure it's available through Amazon and other stores.  There are 193 pieces which works out to 10.4 cents per piece.  It's a little pricey, but most Star Wars sets are a bit more than others because of LEGO having to pay the licensing fees.  

Here are pictures of the front and back of the box.

The set contains 2 bag of bricks labeled 1 and 2.  It has the instruction book and then a sheet of stickers as well (I have to work on taking better pictures).

The first bag includes minifigure Unkar's Thug.  Like most sets, it includes a few extra parts of the small variety.  The completed first bag picture is below.

Here's a picture of the final completed set.

There are a number of extra parts.  Rey comes with a hair piece or she can wear the helmet.  One of the trailers shows her wearing it and also shows her walking with the... is it a staff?  Or a weapon of some sort?  I guess we'll find out.  

Not having seen the movie, I don't know how accurate the design is, but it looks pretty cool.  If you're a Star Wars fan, this set might be one to consider.  I'll be selling the minifigs and the speeder in my store so if you're looking for them, let me know.