LEGO REVIEW: Star Wars Naboo Starfighter #75092

This set has been sitting on my shelf since May the Fourth. I never really got around to it, always kind of figuring I would eventually. This week its time came. I don't recall why exactly I decided to pay full retail for this except since I was trying to get a Yularen minifig. It looks good, and I don't have another model of the N-1 anymore, so maybe that was part of it.

As a countdown to the Force Awakens, I will be writing at least one Star Wars review each week.

REVIEW: SET DETAILS
Set #: 75092
Name: Naboo Starfighter
Theme: Star Wars
Parts: 442
Price: $49.99

Before we get to the build, let’s talk value. At $49.99 the price per piece works out to a bit over $.11 each. This seems to be on the low/average side of pricing for a licensed set. There are 7 minifigures (9 if you count the Droidekas, which LEGO did not), of which only the Naboo Pilot is unique. (I guess it depends if you count both Droidekas.) That's actually a pretty significant number of figures for a set of this price point.

BOX CONTENTS

Some people may wind up picking up a set that is open box or, want to verify the box contents before beginning a build. For this set, there are 4 numbered baggies, a sticker sheet, and an instruction book. The stickers are plentiful and in most cases small, making me wonder if my sticker applications will pop out and look terrible in my pictures.

 (please excuse the date stamps, I didn't realize until I had already loaded them that my wife changed a setting in the camera)

THE BUILD AND EXECUTION

Bag 1 is a completely self contained set of parts. You create Obi-Wan and the Naboo pilot as well as a box of guns, a "hovering" (rolling) munitions cart and 2 Droidekas. The box requires one sticker and the Droids each require 2 small stickers. The droids are each 30 parts, and the poor pilot's listed accessory is handcuffs, hey whatever he's into he can do it on his own time. My wife thinks the Destroyer Droids are cute. I like them, I've built a few different iterations over the years and these are certainly the most recent. I like the Obi-Wan, mostly because I don't have another TPM Obi-Wan hanging around. He's got a 2 sided head.

Bag 2 brings us the Anakin that was new for this set, the R2-D2 that has become standard since 75038 and some Battledroids, one with Commander markings. Anakin has a 2 sided head, and a helmet that you can swap out for his monster hair. In this bag, you build the basic body of the Naboo Starfighter. the only surprise to me was a Triple connector Axle/Pin piece (10288) that I originally hoped was some kind of neat way to mount the ship so that it would hover. It turned out to be the launching mechanism for the spring missiles, which are very well hidden.

Bag 3 finishes off the main body of the Starfighter. Lots of stickers in this part of the build.

Bag 4 is all about the engine pods, and some peripherals. The engine pods, you build at the same time. I like that you put some stuff inside to stop the various rings that might otherwise freely rotate from doing so. Some of the parts still turn, but not as many as old builds. I like the peripherals. The fuel pod that plugs into the engines make the technic pin holes look intentional. The Ladder goes well with the ship, but overbalances if you stand it by itself, and the rotating stand is nice.

There were a lot of small extra parts, of course you get extra Battle Droid arms, a lightsaber hilt and a couple goggles. There's also an extra pair of handcuffs. I also include the brick separator, because I have so many of these now, and they are not a part of the build.

REACTION

LEGO has been building the N-1 Naboo Starfighter since almost the beginning of their license with Lucasfilm. 4 times so far. This set is successful. It's a quick build since you use up so many pieces building Destroyer droids and various carts, stands, boxes, etc. The ship itself is kind of small but then again it's supposed to be. I like how they built a concavity into the bottom of the ship to hold the stand so that it wouldn't fall off, and you don't have to snap anything into place. The button under R2-D2 to dislodge him really launched him several feet in the air when I demonstrated it for my wife. I like that the cockpit is designed to accommodate Anakin with his short legs (standing up) or the Naboo Pilot (sitting down.)

FINAL THOUGHTS

I feel like the new release schedule for Star Wars films will change the re-release schedule of the "classic" sets. Too many new films with their own new designs will demand shelf space that traditionally would have gone to the newest version of an older model. Prequel trilogy sets are more likely to be left in the dust in my opinion. This is due to the lingering antipathy towards the PT in general and The Phantom Menace in specific.

These designs will make a comeback, fans who were children in 1999 and saw Episode 1 as their entry into the Star Wars universe are beginning to become AFOLs. In a few years, they'll probably be wondering why Pod Racers and Gungans and Droidekas are not more common. Then they'll look for sets like this.

All of the new products coming up are going to demand shelf space, so I could see this set quietly making an early exit. It's not a big gainer in the short term once it goes EOL, but it should be slow and steady. There will always be some demand for Prequel Trilogy sets, even though they are less popular than the new thing, or the Original trilogy.