I've seen some griping on the interwebs about this planet. "This isn't a planet", "It should have been an actual asteroid", "Asteroids aren't round". On the one hand they did create a unique mold for the Death Star. On the other hand, how many infinitely unique molds do we need to satisfy some peoples' OCD? That's the beauty of LEGO. You get as close to a representation as possible with what's available. I rather like what they did here. They used the existing mold for continuity but printed an asteroid field pattern on it. Which field? Oh, who cares.
For the first time we get the droid head dome piece in a solid color without any printing on it. Bricklink hilariously places it in Brick, Modified and calls it a Truncated Cone. I hope they get around to doing a tags system soon. This round truncated brick cone starts at 2x2 at the base but then tapers to 1.5x1.5 at the top. It is essentially the bottom half of a 2x2x2 cone with a stud on top. The biggest difference is that a cone has 1/2 plate of straight at the bottom whereas this piece has a full plate height of recessed straight. Not a perfect match but might be kind of nice for use in a post-apoc diorama to show wear, stress, or damage.
The build leaves me with mixed feelings. I enjoyed the well integrated technic and system pieces and the thought behind the hinge attachment for the wings must count for something. But there are two parts to this ship that I feel were not well done. The first is the wings attachment. The click hinges are a well done solution except for the fact that they are wobbly. And the wings have a tendency to click out of place with any amount of swooshing. Maybe I'm just clumsy. A bracket or travis brick solution may have been a bit sturdier.
The other disappointment was the bottom of the ship. Getting an anti-stud for attachment to the display stand was executed well but operates less than ideally. It works fine if it's just sitting on your shelf but if you should happen to bump it or look at it or sneeze in another room it falls off. Not sure why but the stud of a 2x2 jumper plate into a round 1x1 plate doesn't seem to hold a TIE bomber in place. I think the failure might be in the stud of the 2x2 jumper plate which I've found to have slightly less clutch power than other elements.
The use of a towball socket for the targeting sensors is a nice touch. At least I think that's what they were getting at. That's the only reason I could figure for having a blob of ABS hanging down from the bottom of the ship. Maybe a 1x2 plate with arm up would have been a little mo' betta'?
The minifig? Oh, right, there's a minifig. The TIE Bomber seems to be commanding about $8 and up on Bricklink. I'm sure this is due to you gotta-have-every-Star-Wars-minifig-evAR collectors. The head is a typical trooper head with balaclava. But the torso and helmet have some cool silver printing on them. Unfortunately my eyes can't quite figure out what is on the helmet. To me it looks like it says "AMISH". Wha?
If you're a minifig collector, buy the set
yourself. No use spending $8 + S&H when you could walk into a local store and purchase the set for $10 or less. If you need an army of TIE Bombers then I'm not sure which would be the best route. Unless you can figure out a way to use dozens of asteroid planets. Hey, maybe you would end up with a whole field...
