Review: 75113 Rey
Posted by CapnRex101,
The Buildable Figures have managed to capture the attention of Star Wars and Constraction fans alike but few hold the appeal of 75113 Rey. There are plenty of interesting elements to satsify CCBS builders including another fabric component and several armour panels appearing for the first time in tan.
Furthermore, not only is this an accurate rendition of one of the most exciting new characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and an excellent parts pack but it is also one of the cheaper sets in the range with a price of just £14.99 or $19.99. 75113 certainly seems like a must have.
Box and Contents
The packaging shows Rey standing in the marketplace of Niima Outpost and she seems ready to defend herself against attacks from Unkar's thugs. She looks equally formidable on the reverse and there are some close-up shots of the accessories.
Inside is a single instruction manual, two bags of pieces and a soft piece of fabric which is folded up and wrapped in plastic to keep it in pristine condition. The folds disappear almost immediately due to the type of material used, ensuring that they look their best when they are added to the model.
The Completed Model
The head piece is often the most appealing aspect of each Buildable Figure but I think Rey is a rare exception to the rule. I quite like the angular style but the addition of some freckles would have improved its design a little and more closely resembled Daisy Ridley. It is somewhat surprising that LEGO chose to represent Rey with her head partially exposed rather than with the wrap closed or with her entire head revealed as she only appears in this guise for a few moments in the film.
Rey's attire consists of simple layered cloth which looks great in the film but must have made this figure very challenging to design. Fortunately the designer has done an excellent job using only a single fabric element and some tan and dark tan panels which is an impressive feat! This textile strip is pinned to the back of the figure before crossing over the chest and running down in front of the legs, so is properly held in place but might require some occasional adjustment if the figure is being played with. The complexity of the shape limits its usefulness to an extent but I expect it will still prove popular with Constraction fans and it suits this set perfectly.
The right arm can be swung up and down using a geared system controlled from the back of the figure. I think the black gear protrudes a little more than it should but this is easily modified if you wish. The back of the torso looks fine but the legs could be improved slightly using 1x4 curved slopes like those on 75114 First Order Stormtrooper.
The presence of gearing in the chest does not interfere with the articulation of the arms and there is movement at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck, hips, knees and ankles, just like on most of the other Buildable Figures. This is only the second set to include light flesh hands and the first to include a pair as 75110 Luke Skywalker only had one exposed hand. The dark brown panel used on Rey's lower left arm represents the brown bands wrapped around her wrist in the movie which shows impressive attention to detail on the part of the designer.
Two accessories are included: Rey's staff and a LPA NN-14 blaster pistol, both of which are represented quite accurately. I must acknowledge that Rey did not receive the latter weapon until she arrived on Takodana, contrary to the packaging, but I welcome its inclusion nonetheless. The staff can be held in one hand or two, although an additional Technic axle is required to fix it in two hands which is not included unfortunately.
Overall
75114 First Order Stormtrooper is the best figure of this wave in my opinion but 75113 Rey is a very close second. The clothing looks fantastic and there are some nice accessories included as well as plenty of articulation which aids in displaying the figure.
The head could be a little better and the clothing is not quite perfect but these are minor issues which are easily overlooked. I definitely recommend this figure and expect it will be one of the best selling given the outstanding popularity of the character, not to mention the quality of the set and its low price.
Expect a review of the final figure in this second wave, 75116 Finn, to be published very soon along with a summary of my thoughts on the whole of the first two waves.
JANGBRiCKS' Video Review
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21 comments on this article
I now own the Rey buildable figure and she's just as awesome as I thought she'd be!
The set's proportions are quite good, the body is filled out nicely, and the Technic panels on the back together with the new gearbox cover give it nicer shaping than the backs of any of the other buildable figures I've seen. Slopes on the back of the legs would definitely be an improvement, but this is an easy enough fix, and I can understand why it might not have been in the budget since she has one of the highest piece counts at her price point (second only to Jango) and includes a textile element. And on the plus side, the orientation of her thigh shells means her knees aren't as gappy as those of Finn and Poe.
Speaking of which, I notice you attached the textile element with the fuzzy side facing in. I tend to do it with the fuzzy side facing out since the texture is more uniform, whereas when you can see the weave of the fabric it's a bit more distracting. A lot of people seem to prefer it different ways for different reasons. I really like this textile element even more than I anticipated — it makes great vestments for a Bionicle elder or chief character, like the vestments Turaga Vakama wore in Bionicle: Mask of Light (http://biosector01.com/wiki/images/6/69/LoMN_Concept_Art_Finale.jpg).
I've been saying for a while that the head would be more useful to me if she didn't have the headgear, and that still holds true. What's more, her neck articulation would be better without the headgear as well, since currently it's rather limited compared to other characters (she can't really look up at all). The good news is that as my brother has pointed out to me, if this series is still going by the time Episode 8 rolls around then we'll surely have a good chance of getting another Rey figure, possibly one without headgear and with a closer resemblance to Daisy Ridley. Despite not matching the actress's face perfectly it's still a very appealing face sculpt, though. Just enough of those crisp contours to fit the look of the building system without looking lifeless.
The outfit of the set isn't entirely authentic to her outfit in the film. In the movie, her shins and shoulders are exposed (something that might've been very difficult to recreate convincingly in this set), her pants are a darker color than her shirt, and perhaps most significantly, she has a belt. The set only has vestiges of her belt in the Technic parts used to pin the textile element to her sides. Still, the outfit is accurate enough to be recognizable.
Overall, this set speaks to me for a lot of reasons. She is a heroic character rather than a villainous one, and she has a unique and interesting outfit rather than a bland, largely monochrome uniform like Luke, Kylo Ren, Phasma, and the First Order Stormtrooper. She has an exciting gear function and a bunch of useful parts for building. In spite of some flaws, this set gives me high hopes for the future of this "buildable figures" line!
My brother's already made a lot of good points in his comment, but there are a few things I'd like to add.
Shortly after seeing the movie, I realized that an amazing MOC to make to accompany this would be her speeder. It'd have to be pretty big to accommodate her, but not overwhelmingly so—the later years of Bionicle included some similarly-sized vehicles, which were some of the first sets to use the newer variety of Technic panels. Unfortunately, once my brother got the figure I realized that not only would the rigid "tails" of her cloak possibly interfere with her ability to sit in the speeder, but her ability to lean forward like she does when riding the speeder is absolutely crippled by the inability for her head to tilt upward. It's a shame, and yet another reason I'd prefer if she had lacked the bulky headgear.
With all the news of other toy companies undermerchandising Rey, though, it makes me wonder if the headgear was somewhat of a concession to sexist attitudes in the toy industry. After all, a lot of retailers and buyers might have considered the figure too "doll-like" if the figure lacked the obviously Star Wars-related headgear. In any case, I'm happy that we get a figure of her at all, and I hope that we maybe get a new headsculpt without the headgear and with greater accuracy come Episode VIII.
Regarding the weapons, the staff adds some nice variety to this line considering how many of the other figures just wield blasters and lightsabers, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Rey's tiny blaster in this set is actually quite accurate to the shape and size of the one she receives in the movie!
You didn't go into much detail about some of the unique parts this wave of Star Wars figures introduces. In addition to all the new shells in unique colors and sizes, this set (along with Finn and Kylo Ren) includes a new torso beam which cuts off near the top to allow you to attach a gearbox without it sticking as far off the back as last year's Bionicle sets, which attached the same gearbox onto the back of existing Hero Factory torso beams. Additionally, there's another new piece designed to cover that same gearbox from the back, which really helps these sets to look good from all angles.
Altogether this is a great figure with fantastic parts, and it really gives me hope for what else this subtheme might bring in the future!
I would really like to see some droids in this Constractables line. R2, BB-8 and 3PO would be amazing in this scale.
@Lyichir - I think I have mentioned most of the new pieces across the five reviews published so far. I try to avoid repeating myself so don't refer to the new elements every time.
I bought this at the weekend, and really like it. I think it captures the character pretty well (unlike, for example, the Finn figure, which is far too thin and gappy to be true to the character).
I too initially put the cloth on 'back-to-front', before turning it around to show the fuzzy side. Interestingly, I found the tail bits hang better that way around.
I also removed the gear and arm function, as I'm displaying it. I basically made the right arm mechanism the same as the left, as it tends to 'flop' if the gear mechanism is removed.
Like @Lyichir, I've decided to make a scale model of her Speeder, and have already built the frame for it. I'm not too bothered that the head can't really tilt back (although it'd have been nice), as I'll just position her in a different way on it if it looks too bad.
Overall, I really like it, although I'll have to put some 1x4 curved slopes on the back of the legs to disguise the 'skeleton'.
It does really look like Daisy Ridley! But it is strange that they designed the wrap to only partially cover the head, like you said.
The head looks great, but needs freckles... and the partial mask is odd. But she's a brilliant figure, and I will be getting her, Phasma, and Kylo Ren as soon as I can.
Also, her legs really need slopes on the back. That looks bad.
The head looks amazing, I only wish it exposed her hair as well (since that's how she appears for most of the film). The only other complaints that are hanging me up are the shin pieces (I might just purchase the guards they used on the General Grievous set on Bricklink) and the "fore-arm-or" should use the longer parts, and maybe print the brown armband on (or even have a sticker).
I always ask myself what the actors must think about these kinds of toys. How cool is to know that you have an action figure of yourself! And a Lego one, at that!
I'm sorry but the accurate face freaks me out a bit. Does anyone remember the star wars transformers from a few years ago. The troopers all looked pretty cool but the ones the tried to look like actors were a bit off. Its like this cant decide what kind of toy it is.
It would have been cool if it came with two heads but that's just me.
@kingsimmo
They either get the realistic faces just off enough to be unsettling, or perfectly detailed to be unsettling.
I think this set could have more closely resembled Rey from the movie if LEGO had simply made the lower shin and forearm pieces in flesh color (interesting that this coverage is also closely reflected in her minifigure version too). It is funny how choosing to make those parts tan creates a sense that she is wearing a lot more clothing than she did in the movie, and sadly this is a hard problem to fix on our own since those parts don't exist in flesh yet. Also if they had included the before mentioned parts along with the head without the headgear it would give the added benefit of moding the set so that she is wearing her end of movie outfit using flat silver and sand blue parts. Maybe we will get this version of Rey in one of the next waves.
@JoshuaMauk I agree about the need for constraction versions of the droids. I have parting out on Bricklink to see if the necessary elements are available to make a C-3PO; most of the needed parts do exist in pearl gold, but not all. And it would require building the head from parts (not a bad thing). Maybe we will get this one too down the road.
Not the best of the figures. Face is not Ridley's. I think the back needs more leg. She's more interesting than the Luke one, though.
Her face is too severe looking. ...This could have been made cuter and still stayed within the styling constraints of this line. Shame.
They've done a decent job of keeping the proportions from being too masculine but the size of the hands is a bit off. Maybe Lego need to make an alternate hand part if they plan to make more female characters using this system.
Cool review and a nice figure. I'll confess that it surprised me that lack of resemblance to the actress was noted as a weakness. I think that the face looks terrific.
I like the overall figure, the mix of cloth and plastic works well on her.
But the face is terrible, it looks more like Kryten from red dwarf than Rey.
I'm expecting mine today. Just a few hours of waiting and she's mine! The other five are backordered.
Rey was very cool in the movie, but I think I like Captain Phasma best in this wave.
I also saw that there will be a third wave coming up further up this year. Does anyone already know something about it? I hope some old figures like R2D2, C3PO, Han Solo & Lando.
I have to be honest, although I really like the Darth Vader, Stormies and General Grievous models, I'm really surprised by the positivity about this figure in general (this review, on other sites and the comments I've seen), as I personally think it's atrocious!
Firstly, the head looks nothing like the character at all, particularly as the angles on the face make her look rather manly in my opinion, which is clearly inaccurate. As @cheshirecat said, she looks like Kryten!
Other than that though, I just don't personally feel that the constraction system works for non-armoured characters at all - they just don't look right. I thought the Luke Skywalker one was really rather creepy, in fact! For me, this one isn't much better.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that there are people out there who get pleasure from these, but I am certainly not one of them. Different strokes for different folks though, I suppose!
@kingsimmo: I remember the Star Wars Transformers, but to be honest it was more the chunky spaceship armor and bizarre robot proportions that bothered me about those than the faces. If they had more human-like proportions as these sets do, I think they would've been a lot less unsettling, but unfortunately that might not have been possible due to the transformation gimmick.