This is the review of the 7877 LEGO Star Wars Exclusive Special Edition Set Naboo Starfighter.   This set was released in the second half of 2011.  Since its release day, it was placed as a special offer set at S$79.90, S$20 off the Recommended Retail Price (RRP).  Usually for such cases, I would get it from BricksWorld (BW) via their online store rather than buying directly at the retail shops.  This is because online orders via BW can still get some Golden Bricks, which can be converted to cash rebates for subsequent orders.  🙂

This is not the first time LEGO has released a set based on the Naboo Starfighter.  If you look carefully at the previous set, the 7660 LEGO Naboo N-1 Starfighter with Vulture Droid, you will notice the similarities between the Naboo Starfighter of the 2 sets.  According to the banner by the side of the box, this is supposed to be a “Limited Edition” set.  However, based on the availability of it almost anywhere and everywhere in Singapore.. not too sure what is the “Limit-ness” of this set.  However, there ARE some interesting things to this set, which I’ll share along the way…

With the new designs of the recent LEGO releases, the box of this set is not very big and well optimized in size.  For those Star Wars fans, the art work on the front of the box and the instruction booklet does look quite impressive.  Inside the box of this set, you will find 4 packages labelled 1,2,2 and 3 with an instruction booklet and sadly, a small piece of sticker.  I was expecting that there is no need for stickers for this set but sadly, there in. 🙁

No too why, but the bottom right corner of the instruction booklet, keep giving me the impression that I’m casting a shadow over the picture that I’m taking. Not too sure if anyone else got the same feeling as me.

As promised to my gang in the cave, I assembled this set in double quick time in order to give them an insight into this set that they are still considering if worth while to get.  Based on the double quick pace I did, it took me around 30 mins to complete the assembly.  The first pack consider of the MiniFigures as well as the land vehicle with the boarding ladder.  The second pack reveals the majority of the Naboo StarFighter where as pack 3 forms the 2 side engines of the aircraft.  Also include in pack 3 are parts that assembles into a special stand on which the Naboo StarFighter could be mounted on.  Here’s the picture of the completed set.

This set comes with 4 Mini Figures.  Or strictly speaking, 2 Mini Figures and 2 Droids 😀 The 2 Mini Figures are a Naboo Star Fighter Pilot and a cute childhood Anakin Skywalker.  The Naboo StarFighter Pilot is “normal” less the part of the handcuffs, which I dont quite get it until I took a look at the back of the box, which shows a scene of the capture of the pilot by the Droids.   

For Anakin, while I was assembling him, I realised that the head of the Mini Figure comes with 2 sides and 2 expressions.  The first is a normal innocent look of the childhood Anakin shown in the first picture below and the other is supposed to be coupled with the pilot’s head gear, showing Anakin’s excited expression when flying the Naboo StarFighter.  Very interesting way to increase the playability of the set I would say. 🙂

The Droids that are included consist of 2 usual ones but with a red colored body, and a bigger Droid, I forgot what’s it called but frankly, I think it’s quite a detailed job from LEGO for this.  This bigger Droid is actually created using quite a number of small pieces of LEGOs to form something that look very much like the actual one in the movies. 

For the main dish, the Naboo Star Fighter, as stated previously, it looked suspiciously identical the one in the set 7660 LEGO Naboo N-1 Starfighter with Vulture Droid.  In any case, below are some pictures fo the completed Naboo Star Fighter.  As part of this set, there is also a land vehicle that is included.  Upon closer examination, I finally discovered the land vehicle is actually use as the platform with the ladder to help the pilots get into the Naboo Star Fighter.  The refillable missiles can also be found in the third section of this land vehicle while the tools to be use to service or repair the fighter can be found in the second section. 

The Naboo Star Fighter is designed to carry a pilot and a Droid to help with the machine.  In this case, Anakin has brought along R2-D2 to help him with the task.  The cockpit of the Naboo Star Fighter can only fit one person (which is Anakin) and the section where R2-D2 is sitting, actually has a mechanism below the space craft, to very quickly eject the Droid out of the plane.  At the front of the aircraft, you can also find 2 missiles that can be “shot” out of the Naboo Star Fighter with a flick of the fingers.

For me, I would say that more interesting thing in this set is the inclusion of a special stand that allows the Naboo Star Fighter to be balanced on it so that it looks as it is hovering.  This give a very nice and complete touch to the entire set.

Overall, I would give this set a 7 out of 10.  The areas that it lost points include the higher price paid for it compared to other more interesting and playable sets and the similarities of this set compared to the previous generation.  However, the unique features, include the 2-faced Anakin Mini Figure and the special display stand, do help to pull back some points.  Overall, I would only recommend this set if you do no have the previous release.