We got em R2

R2... R2!

Game time started.

Very nicely modeled considering the size of the set.

I see that the article about the Cantina VIP release and the Yoda’s lightsaber promo has been taken down...was there some sort of delay with the Cantina release for VIPs? I’m finding myself unable to buy it, 10 minutes after midnight on the East Coast.

This, if I remember right, was one of the first mini models not to be released as part of the minis line in clamshell packaging. I was very sad to see those go as a kid. It heralded the age of the mini polybag, which was when most of these sets stopped appearing on shelves in the UK. Even today we get fewer than half the polybags available in the US.

I wonder how many kids were disappointed they didn't receive the bigger brother 7256 available in the same year. For 4 times the price, you received 5 times as many pieces.

A long time ago
In a polybag far, far away...

I missed out on the big LEGO.com-exclusive multi-set that was the only source for Obi-Wan's version of this craft in minifig-scale, so I bought an extra one of these and swapped all the yellow parts out for red. I'm still waiting on them to finish introducing the parts needed to make Mace Windu's fighter. Those flags make me thing I've got a very long wait ahead of me...

@MisterBrickster:
The ones that stand out most in my mind were the regular TIE Fighter that I think ended up being a TRU exclusive, and the three Kabaya sets (the X-Wing was just a bley recolor of the one from the clamshell 2-packs, which I agree were awesome, and the Boba Fett Slave I is _STILL_ exclusive to that promo). I lucked out on the latter as one of my college friends happened to be living in Japan when that promo took place, so he was able to snag me one of the TIE Interceptors (though that would be released again as just the polybag) and _two_ of the Slave I (I opened both outer boxes to get rid of the funky gumballs, but I kept one of the polybags sealed).

@ambr:
Meh. That same year, the bigger version was bundled with the two Trade Federation droid fighters, and Obi-Wan's red starfighter that was never released as a standalone set. How many people finished building the big version of Anakin's starfighter only to realize they were facing another 1999 Podracer situation?

Wasn't this set a freebie when you bought the minifigure-scale version of the starfighter? If I remember rightly, it was in the local toy shop here, at least; which was kinda neat!

Dunno if that was the case anywhere else, though?

@PurpleDave said:
"I missed out on the big LEGO.com-exclusive multi-set that was the only source for Obi-Wan's version of this craft in minifig-scale, so I bought an extra one of these and swapped all the yellow parts out for red. I'm still waiting on them to finish introducing the parts needed to make Mace Windu's fighter. Those flags make me thing I've got a very long wait ahead of me..."
Oh man, dude, let's get more of the Microseries ships into sets. Mace Windu's ETA-2, Saesee Tiin's ETA-2, get Yoda's little animal companion, and a Fanblade for Asajj. We got the Azure Angel, we need the others!

@BionicleJedi:
Definitely not in the US. I never got one free, but I was able to buy them at other retailers. Back before TRU went belly-up, there were four major retailers in the area that each got their own selection of polybags throughout the year (some seasonal, others just as regular product). That's how I was able to buy a couple extras to build alternate versions.

@MCLegoboy:
If I was going to do that, I'd prefer to improve on the design. I ended up getting maybe a few dozen of the 2x2 trans-clear radar dish w/ TIE cockpit deco, so that right there is an upgrade that demands to be made.