Darth Vader\u2019s TIE Fighter (#75421) set<\/a> \u2014 the entry-level \u201cAll-in-One\u201d release that comes with the crucial SMART Brick and charger \u2014 consider me a bit of a convert.<\/p>\nLEGO Star Wars SMART Play: Darth Vader\u2019s TIE Fighter (75421).<\/p>\n
The LEGO Group<\/p>\n
It\u2019s obvious that LEGO SMART Play isn\u2019t for collectors like me, a late-30s dinkwad who already doesn\u2019t have enough shelf space, but the finished product really took me by surprise. The cynic in me melted away as soon as the tinny, lo-fi rendition of the Imperial March kicked out of the SMART Brick, and I noisily flew my freshly completed TIE Fighter in my hand, laughing like a drain, as my thoroughly nonplussed wife and baffled dog looked on.<\/p>\n
LEGO SMART Play: Darth Vader\u2019s TIE Fighter (75421) specifications<\/p>\n
Age: 8+<\/p>\n
Pieces: 473<\/p>\n
Price: $69.99 (\u20ac69.99, \u00a359.99)<\/p>\n
Dimensions: 4in (10cm) tall, 4.5in (11cm) long, 5.5in (15cm) wide<\/p>\n
Estimated build time: 45 minutes to one hour<\/p>\n
The TIE Fighter (75421) set is broken down into five bags:<\/p>\n
Bags 1-2: TIE Fighter body3: Central wing plates4: Four wing flaps5: Gun emplacement and refuelling station<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a separate inset tray for the SMART Brick, a box for the charger, and the wire is separate in the main box, plus you get three sets of instructions for the TIE, the additional scenery, and the SMART Brick and charger. It\u2019s understandable from a group-building perspective, but the box feels packed.<\/p>\n
SMART minifigures have one body piece \u2014 presumably because the prongs from the legs take up too much space for the electronic gubbins to fit inside the torso \u2014 but at least you get the satisfaction of sliding Darth Vader\u2019s head on, immediately and inevitably forgetting to put the jaw piece of his helmet on first. Old habits never die. The other new thing is the lightsaber shaft: the first time I\u2019ve ever seen it a) matte and b) without even a hint of bubbling.<\/p>\n
Is that a new TIE?<\/p>\n
The TIE Fighter itself contradicts classic LEGO TIE designs on a few levels, but it\u2019s because it has to hit a very specific brief: a set for ages 6+ that\u2019s meant to be easy to build, actively played with, small enough to hold in young hands, and stable enough to take a few knocks \u2014 all without dumbing down the build too much, like the 4+ sets do.<\/p>\n
As a result, Vader\u2019s TIE is a squat little thing, with a shape closer to a classic TIE than his longer Advanced, or standard Bomber. It\u2019s also completely open-backed, but for good reason: it\u2019s where the rubberized trigger contraption is housed, which interacts with the SMART Brick.<\/p>\n
The rear of the model is made for pleasure, not business.<\/p>\n
Matt Gardner<\/p>\n
The rubber pieces strike me as problematic in the long run \u2014 it\u2019s hard to guess how resilient they\u2019ll be with repeated play and time, but then again, you could say the same about the batteries in the SMART Bricks.<\/p>\n
Once you put the brick in, the song begins, and its gyroscope picks up movement, translating them into the TIE\u2019s textbook screeches. Pulling the trigger lifts the blockers on either side of the SMART Brick, firing the TIE\u2019s lasers with impressively responsive quickness. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s mostly comfortable to hold and move, and fundamentally allows kids to use the triggers, but it\u2019s an odd grip: your fingers spread across the model\u2019s base, with your thumb over the top at the back, like you\u2019re holding a pizza box.<\/p>\n
The grip on the model is odd, but not uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
The LEGO Group<\/p>\n
The refuelling post fills the TIE with space juice via a satisfying hose, but a small, odd green hammer \u201cfixes\u201d it with a clanging sound, which admittedly feels like an afterthought.<\/p>\n
Darth Vader\u2019s TIE Fighter (75421) is also a lot more resilient than past sets. Even recent builds of LEGO Star Wars spacecraft hold the wings on with just a couple of pins, meaning they always have that little bit of wobble. Here, four 1×1 clips, stacked 2×2 at the end of a square arm, hold the wings much more tightly, presumably given the possibility of contact through play.<\/p>\n
Annoyingly, there\u2019s nowhere for Vader\u2019s lightsaber \u2014 I\u2019m used to LEGO Star Wars sets usually hiding a 1×2 plate with side clips underneath \u2014 but given this is meant to be actively played with, and there\u2019s limited space on the build, perhaps it just wasn\u2019t an option. It certainly looks daft in the cockpit, though.<\/p>\n
The smell of burning is strong with this one.<\/p>\n
Matt GardnerOnly the start for LEGO SMART Play?<\/p>\n
Ultimately, these LEGO SMART Play sets aren\u2019t display pieces and don\u2019t pretend to be. Even the most rabid LEGO TIE Fighter fan (and I\u2019m not far off, with five of them) can be excused for not adding this to their collection. While I can\u2019t fault the breadth and depth of the tech that\u2019s packed into the SMART Play line-up, it still feels like this is a first stab at the concept, rather than the best design, even if it\u2019s a great balance given the exacting brief.<\/p>\n
SMART Play is weird, silly, and daft \u2014 both as a concept, and with its ultimate execution \u2014 but it doesn\u2019t undermine a thing about LEGO. Whether it enhances the sets is a different story, but given this is the first foray into the technology, it\u2019s a good start, and certainly less niche than Vidiyo. <\/p>\n
Still, people will always vote with their wallets, and even with the Star Wars license at the heart of the experience, LEGO SMART Play\u2019s value needs to be proved beyond these initial All-in-One packs, and five supplemental sets<\/a>, if it\u2019s going to stick around, especially with its higher price tags.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LEGO SMART Play is weird, silly, and daft, both as a concept, and with its ultimate execution, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6050],"tags":[39798,4248,6051,6105,16564,42073,47181],"class_list":["post-89011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lego","tag-darth-vader","tag-lego","tag-lego-group","tag-review","tag-smart-play","tag-tie","tag-tie-fighter"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116615341871983545","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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