‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ LEGO Review: ‘TIE Striker’

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(LEGO)

Among the first wave of Star Wars LEGO sets available on Force Friday, September 30, is 75154 TIE Striker, a new TIE Fighter introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Like many new ships in the film, which takes place just before the events in A New Hope, we’re left wondering why the Empire never thought of using it during the Battles of Yavin, Hoth and Endor. It looks like the TIE Striker will be used on the beach world Scarif. Maybe the Empire didn’t think it was effective on a snow or forest world, or in space. Does the design make for a good LEGO set? Read on to find out.


Building The Ship

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(Photo by Daniel S. Levine)

The big box contains five bags and a thick instruction manual. The first bag has the parts for two mini-figures and the first part of the ship’s main body. The second bag has the other two mini-figures and the remaining parts of the body. The wing pieces are in the third and fourth bags. Lastly, you’ll find the rest of the pieces that go on the main body in the fifth bag.

The build wasn’t all that complicated overall, but it does include many Technic parts to build the joints attaching the two wings. That’s where the build gets a bit complicated and where it’s really important to keep an eye on the directions. It’s because of an action feature that allows the wings to move up and down that makes it a bit difficult, with long rods on each side. Also, building the wings can get a bit repetitious, but LEGO can’t do anything about that, because they are both the same, just mirror images of each other.

There’s also a surprising number of colorful blocks that eventually get hidden under grey or black pieces. It helps to find the pieces during the build, even if it does look a little weird using a green block when building the wings. It is also strange that there are so many beige bricks used for the cockpit, when it would be really cool to see red in there to emulate the red lights seen inside TIE cockpits.

Also, there are a few stickers, which are easy to apply.


The Mini-Figures

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The included mini-figures are: Imperial Ground Crew, Rebel Trooper, TIE Pilot and Imperial Shoretrooper. (Photo by Daniel S. Levine)

If you’re buying multiple TIE Strikers, the selection of mini-figures is great to build armies. The set includes a TIE Fighter Pilot, an Imperial Ground Crew member, the very cool Scarif Shoretrooper and a Rebel Trooper for the Imperials to gang up on. The Shoretrooper and pilot have the same generic head under their helmets, while the crew member gets a head with a microphone. The Rebel Trooper gets a head with expressions printed on both sides. The Shoretrooper also has a unique, double-barrel blaster.


Play Value

This is a ship that will be tough for any kid (or adult) to put down. There are only two main features and both are easy to use. LEGO’s standard missile launchers are included under the cockpit and are easily detachable if you’re afraid of poking someone’s eye out. Two knobs on the back control the wings, which are 16 ¾” long.

There are two hatches on the top of the main body. One lifts so you can put the pilot in his chair and the other opens a cargo hold. LEGO included an extra radio (ahem – commlink), macrobinoculars and a blaster that fit inside the cargo hold.


Final Thoughts

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(LEGO)

Although the ship looks big, the $69.99 price tag is a bit hard to swallow, as it’s less than 600 pieces and doesn’t have all that many features. It would have been nice for another Shoretrooper or possibly some kind of environment addition (like a chunk of shoreline to use as a base for the other figures or hangar equipment). The price will also make it difficult for anyone who wants to own more than one TIE Striker.

Also, if you look at the ship from above, it looks like a giant TIE Interceptor wing. So, if you’re really creative, you could probably use pieces from two TIE Striker sets to build a large TIE Interceptor.

This set was made available to review by LEGO.

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