Review: 75364 New Republic E-wing vs. Shin Hati's Starfighter
Posted by CapnRex101,
The classic E-wing escort starfighter was created as the successor to the T-65B X-wing starfighter in Star Wars Legends, also providing inspiration for 75018 Jek-14's Stealth Starfighter. Finally, the memorable vessel has made its long-awaited live action debut in Ahsoka!
75364 New Republic E-wing vs. Shin Hati's Starfighter pairs the E-wing with Shin Hati's heavy starfighter and these two vehicles look fantastic together! Their equivalent sizes are ideal for play and the minifigure selection is also appealing, particularly for the three provided villains.
This review is spoiler free.
Summary
75364 New Republic E-wing vs. Shin Hati's Starfighter, 1,056 pieces.
£94.99 / $109.99 / €104.99 | 9.0p/10.4c/9.9c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
These fighters are fantastic for play and look superb, but Shin's vessel is needlessly large
- Nice contrast between vehicles
- Stunning E-wing starfighter
- Satisfying functions
- Highly desirable minifigures
- Shin Hati's starfighter is oversized
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
New Republic pilots wear blue and white uniforms, including Captain Porter. This minifigure's torso and legs are accordingly shared with Lieutenant Beyta from 75357 Ghost & Phantom II, featuring an intricate life-support pack and connected hose on the chest, as well as dark tan gloves that differ from Beyta's dark orange hands. Moreover, the helmet is beautifully detailed and accurate, as normal.
E-wings are equipped with specialised Astromech droids, such as the colourful New Republic Astromech Droid, which correctly lacks the holoprojector seen on most Astromechs. Instead, the droid includes an enlarged photoreceptor alongside various blue and yellow panels. They continue with metallic silver accents on the body, albeit only across one side.
Captain Porter includes an alternative hair piece and his double-sided head is designed to be displayed with either this element or his helmet. One side features a tinted visor and chinstrap, while the other is only decorated with stubble and a determined expression. The captain is also armed with a blaster pistol.
Morgan Elsbeth was introduced in the second season of The Mandalorian and returns in the Ahsoka series. I love the minifigure's unique hair component, which captures excellent texture and corresponds exactly with her appearance onscreen. The warm tan head works perfectly as well, while Morgan's dark red and black robes also appear accurate.
The mysterious Baylan Skoll, meanwhile, is dressed almost completely in black. The pearl dark grey arms provide a nice contrast and Baylan's belt displays a green button, complementing the dark green bands on his torso. However, the minifigure lacks a fabric cape, which is unfortunate because a cloak is seemingly ever-present in the Disney+ series.
Baylan Skoll's apprentice, Shin Hati, wears robes similar to those of her master, featuring the same chevron-like pattern on both sides of her torso, for example. The colour scheme of dark tan and pearl silver is superb and the padawan braid printed on Shin's shoulder demonstrates great attention to detail. Unsurprisingly, these characters include angry alternative expressions.
Shin and Baylan wield unique lightsabers onscreen, approaching the traditional red, but with a distinctly orange tint. Sadly, this is not reflected by their LEGO lightsabers, but I understand the decision to avoid using trans-orange because that would be much too bright. A suitable colour is not really available, after the retirement of trans-neon orange.
The Completed Model
LEGO Star Wars starfighters slowly increased in size between 1999 and 2020, often becoming unnecessarily large. The process was reset with the release of 75300 Imperial TIE Fighter and 75301 Luke Skywalker's X-wing Fighter in 2021 and this recreation of the E-wing starfighter is similarly compact, measuring 27cm in length. The vehicle thus looks perfect beside minifigures and is a good size for play.
The nose is very reminiscent of the famed X-wing starfighter, narrowing towards the front and including a stickered sensor window on the nose cone. The blue stripes across each side look superb and are accurately interrupted by radiator grilles, while the stripe on top is attractive and lines up seamlessly with the printed canopy. These blue tiles are placed over a new 1x6 slope, also found in 75357 Ghost & Phantom II.
Captain Porter fits comfortably inside the cockpit, which also contains a printed console. For complete accuracy, the cockpit would be elongated, but re-using the canopy from the X-wing works in my opinion, especially because the external printing looks fantastic. There is room for an Astromech droid behind the cockpit too, albeit fitted sideways.
The pilot must lean back slightly inside the cockpit, although there is good reason for this. The seat can be removed to reveal a storage space underneath, where Captain Porter's blaster fits neatly. I always welcome storage for accessories inside vehicles and this is a splendid example, making use of every available space.
Black 2x4 inverted tiles are placed inside the Astromech droid socket, finishing the interior well for whenever the droid is not in place. The stickers on either side of the model are effective too, again corresponding with the source material. Furthermore, the transition between the fuselage and the angled supports for the wings is smooth, although these serve no structural purpose.
A few dark bluish grey pieces are found across the top and rear of the E-wing, providing some mechanical texture, similar to X-wing fighters. The shape of the fuselage resembles an X-wing too and I like the angled sides, while the band of tiles replicates the slight bulge of the E-wing's body, as well as concealing the inner edges of the wings.
The anhedral wings are a defining feature of the E-wing starfighter and I think they look great, with the engines slung underneath and angled wingtips. The mix of plates and tiles across the surface looks marvellous and I like the 2x3 pentagonal tiles in particular, while the blue accents are appealing too. The laser cannons are also very detailed, with tiny rangefinders alongside.
Technic beams secure the wings from underneath, avoiding the need for hinges or any visible connection methods on top. Of course, the use of Technic elements also ensures a completely rigid structure. The rear landing gear is attached to this Technic frame as well, while the forward leg is mounted on click hinges.
As expected, the landing gear folds away nicely and I am particularly impressed with the rear legs, which fit against the fuselage. There is also some detail on the underside of the engines and two stud shooters are located beneath the wings, occupying the position of proton torpedo tubes on the original starfighter.
In stark contrast with the E-wing, Shin Hati's starfighter is somewhat oversized, relative to the vehicle onscreen. A larger size often permits impressive detail and I think the model fares well there, although its proportions appear stretched. The starfighter should be compact and stocky, reminiscent of World War II carrier-based aircraft like the F4F Wildcat, but actually reaches an imposing 27cm in length!
The wings could also afford to be narrower, although they seem proportional with the fuselage and I like the use of colour here. The combination of dark red, flame yellowish orange and light bluish grey is striking and completely unlike other Star Wars craft, so Shin's starfighter definitely stands out. Additionally, the asymmetrical patches are effective, even if the stickers could have been avoided.
While the engine intake should be closer to circular, the segmented armour reflects the source material and gaps between these segments are minimal. The printed turbine inside looks good and a pair of stud shooters are positioned behind the engine, while the actual laser cannons are attached above, on top of the fuselage.
Again, this matches the onscreen vehicle and the weapons' location feels reminiscent of real-world aircraft, much like the worn paintwork. Two more stickers are applied on the fuselage to recreate the wear and these stickers look reasonable, although I think their integration with the brick-built bodywork could be better.
The canopy is decorated and opens to access Shin Hati. Unfortunately, the minifigure sits very high inside the cockpit, so needs to lean back quite a long way for the canopy to close. I could understand this on the E-wing starfighter, but there was more than enough space to lower this seat because there is no storage area underneath. Instead, a pair of hatches open in front and behind.
A lightsaber can be stored behind the cockpit, while the forward cargo bay is actually divided into two. The larger space on top is big enough for a minifigure to lie down inside and its floor can be removed, revealing a blaster pistol. As mentioned earlier, storage is welcome and I like the option to place another minifigure inside, but I still think the entire model could be smaller.
Strangely, this starfighter lacks any obvious means of propulsion, so the back looks awkward to me. Nevertheless, the curved shape is faithful to the original fighter and the black highlights on each flank are taken directly from the starfighter as shown in the Ahsoka series. There was an opportunity to include extra textured detail though, reflecting the apparent age of the starfighter.
Overall
LEGO Star Wars has produced several sets pairing two starfighters together and 75364 New Republic E-wing vs. Shin Hati's Starfighter is among my favourites. I am particularly delighted with the E-wing, which strikes an exemplary balance between size and detail, so is suitable for play and display. The whole model also feels very tactile, which is essential for any starfighter.
Shin's vessel is excellent for play as well, which is paramount. However, the model feels much bigger than necessary and the superfluous storage is testament to this, in my opinion. Even so, the two fighters pair brilliantly and the minifigures are impressive as well, while even the price of £94.99, $109.99 or €104.99 feels reasonable. On that basis, I would definitely recommend this set.
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51 comments on this article
It may apparently be inaccurate but I personally love the look of the hexagonal engine intake on the yellow and red starfighter. The bold shapes and colors make it feel almost like a "sky-fi" MOC.
While no fault of LEGO. I just can't get into this new E-wing design. I much prefer the classic EU design.
I feel like Shin's fighter should have gold (especially that Infinity Gauntlet shade) instead of yellow, I think it'd look a lot better that way. I'm not too impressed with how the minifigs sit in either build, it looks awkward. Totally agree on the missing cape, however - that's a glaring omission.
Not a set I'll be getting, but if Shin's fighter was sold on its own I would possibly consider that.
E-wing looks freaking awesome. Bit different from how I remember it from the Vehicles and Vessels book, but eh, I'll take it.
The Star Wars tax is so real though. Given that it's a twin-pack and I don't care about the other one, I'd pay maybe $40 for the E-wing. So yeah...
That's not Concorde!
Not the biggest Star Wars fan in the world (and *definitely* not a fan of the new Ahsoka show, tried watching the first two eps and found it dire sadly), but as far as spaceships go? These are some ruddy good spaceships and I kinda dig em immensely, hitting all the right notes for me.
Now, whether they're worth 95 quid is another matter - either way, space is a commodity and I'm running out of it quickly so these are gonna have to stay on the shelf. Still appreciate em for what they are, though!
@dimc said:
"E-wing looks freaking awesome. Bit different from how I remember it from the Vehicles and Vessels book, but eh, I'll take it. "
There was a redesign from the original Legends version for Ahsoka it seems. I remember the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels version had the third gun above the canopy and the astromech inside a covered socket and not exposed, and those details are the biggest changes I see compared to the "on screen" version we got in the TV show.
The E-Wing has always been a favorite Star Wars fighter since I first read about them in the EU books. This set is absolutely ticking all the right boxes for me.
Now, this is pod racing!!
Great review. Nice sets, but I agree completely with the need for printing on the dress, capes, better blades and pilot seat on the Hati Fati.
Will be waiting for sale or GWP per usual. I already have my capes and trans-neon orange blades ordered from BL.
Can't wait for the instructions to become available so I can build a modified E-wing from my parts bin. Can't afford the set right now.
(Looks at price)
...no.
(I hate that I'm at this point.)
That's not a Bobby, that's a 'J.R.' E-wing
(sorry)
I plan to build a mod to add the top-mounted blaster, though it will replace rather than enclose the droid. I can't imagine it will be too difficult.
Personally I think all of the sets released for Ahsoka have been fantastic! A true return to form for classic Star Wars sets, or even branded Lego sets as a whole! Glad to see such incredible detail and minifigures for pretty reasonable price points.
@iamkevinwill said:
"That's not a Bobby, that's a 'J.R.' E-wing
(sorry)"
So when it get's shot down, does everyone freak out wondering who shot it?
(not sorry)
@Murdoch17 said:
" @iamkevinwill said:
"That's not a Bobby, that's a 'J.R.' E-wing
(sorry)"
So when it get's shot down, does everyone freak out wondering who shot it?
(not sorry)"
No. Because it was all just a dream.
(a lil bit sorry, but not much)
I'd buy about half of this set, for about 40-45€. Not a fan of the combo packs, especially at these prices. 75348 suffers from the side-stack of plates too, in my opinion.
not a fan of how high up either pilot sits, would happily sacrifice the storage space in the E-Wing for a more comfortable looking seat.
Well, of course Shin Hati can't be trusted. That is Homemaker-hair, see also 278. Nobody with that hair should ever be trusted.
Keep that in mind when we come across any modular unicorns and/or shark-ships.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
" @dimc said:
"E-wing looks freaking awesome. Bit different from how I remember it from the Vehicles and Vessels book, but eh, I'll take it. "
There was a redesign from the original Legends version for Ahsoka it seems. I remember the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels version had the third gun above the canopy and the astromech inside a covered socket and not exposed, and those details are the biggest changes I see compared to the "on screen" version we got in the TV show.
"
Makes sense. I remember the third gun, but it would require a smaller canopy to make it more sleek, so this is fine. Given we've never seen a Lego E-wing, it's a start. If I find it used for a good deal, I might pick it up since I loved the design so much. Now to find a TIE Defender...
This will be the only Ahsoka set i'm getting!
@dimc said:
" @xboxtravis7992 said:
" @dimc said:
"E-wing looks freaking awesome. Bit different from how I remember it from the Vehicles and Vessels book, but eh, I'll take it. "
There was a redesign from the original Legends version for Ahsoka it seems. I remember the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels version had the third gun above the canopy and the astromech inside a covered socket and not exposed, and those details are the biggest changes I see compared to the "on screen" version we got in the TV show.
"
Makes sense. I remember the third gun, but it would require a smaller canopy to make it more sleek, so this is fine. Given we've never seen a Lego E-wing, it's a start. If I find it used for a good deal, I might pick it up since I loved the design so much. Now to find a TIE Defender..."
Arguably 75018 is supposed to be an E-Wing as well, but it wasn't marketed as such (but go figure it does have the third gun). 75018 though also has folding wings which are very much... not E-Wing like.
Not my favorite of the Ahsoka sets, but I'm still gonna pick it up eventually
Finally! A review containing an Astromech droid but not the word “askew” :-)
so it's not Count Dooku
@xboxtravis7992 said:
" @dimc said:
" @xboxtravis7992 said:
" @dimc said:
"E-wing looks freaking awesome. Bit different from how I remember it from the Vehicles and Vessels book, but eh, I'll take it. "
There was a redesign from the original Legends version for Ahsoka it seems. I remember the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels version had the third gun above the canopy and the astromech inside a covered socket and not exposed, and those details are the biggest changes I see compared to the "on screen" version we got in the TV show.
"
Makes sense. I remember the third gun, but it would require a smaller canopy to make it more sleek, so this is fine. Given we've never seen a Lego E-wing, it's a start. If I find it used for a good deal, I might pick it up since I loved the design so much. Now to find a TIE Defender..."
Arguably 75018 is supposed to be an E-Wing as well, but it wasn't marketed as such (but go figure it does have the third gun). 75018 though also has folding wings which are very much... not E-Wing like."
It's like someone described an E-wing with decent detail but then...what.
Now the question that has been on all of our minds is:
"Now, tell me. Where is your master? Where is Grand Admiral Thrawn?"
@dimc said:
"E-wing looks freaking awesome. Bit different from how I remember it from the Vehicles and Vessels book, but eh, I'll take it.
The Star Wars tax is so real though. Given that it's a twin-pack and I don't care about the other one, I'd pay maybe $40 for the E-wing. So yeah..."
Here's a comparison I made. https://imgur.com/a/mcvxiuQ
I only want that NR pilot's gorgeous helmet, and his head for variety in my pilots
The original E-Wing looked so stupid with that unnecessary cannon over the cockpit. I remember the first time I saw it, I was digging the “half X-Wing” look to it, but then I saw that third cannon and I couldn’t unsee it.
This version at least doesn’t make that mistake, but I still can’t unsee that stupidity.
Why do they all have the same mouth expression? Kinda creepy.
@peterlmorris said:
"The original E-Wing looked so stupid with that unnecessary cannon over the cockpit. I remember the first time I saw it, I was digging the “half X-Wing” look to it, but then I saw that third cannon and I couldn’t unsee it.
This version at least doesn’t make that mistake, but I still can’t unsee that stupidity. "
Why do you find the third cannon "so stupid"? I'm genuinely curious.
To be honest, $110 is a fair price, but it’s a lot of money. I really wished they had just released two $55 sets, then I could spread them apart and make two smaller purchases. I like the minifigures, but not sure I need these ships, especially if E-Wings don’t reappear in Ahsoka. I also wonder how relevant these characters will be once Thrawn is found. I suppose I’ll need to see what sort of sale price it eventually gets to decide if I will buy it.
Also, would Morgan Elsbeth be the first Nightsister minifigure, not counting Ventress? We could really use a Nightsister battle pack.
@alfred_the_buttler I kind of agree about making this two sets, but it does make for a very exciting set to have two evenly-matched starfighters in one set. Plus, it's a Lego SW set with lots of color! That doesn't happen every day.
Not happy about the price (when am I ever) but that's gonna be coming home with me. I picked up 75301 when it came out and used the parts to build an E-Wing, it'll be interesting to get them side by side, and I think Shin's fighter will come out great once it's had its wings and fuselage shortened a bit.
It looks like all of the Sith Warriors' starfighters are complete right?!
I really like this set. I like the minifigures and I really like the fighters. The E Wing looks fantastic and I love the colour scheme of Shin Hati's Starfighter.
Great set.
Price on a SW set will always be a meh and as always, will be purchased on a discount.
@VBaskin said:
"It looks like all of the Sith Warriors' starfighters are complete right?!"
Not sure what you mean.
Am I the only one who thinks Baylan needs some shoulder armor? I feel like all the trailer shots where he duels Ahsoka feature him in some pretty sick looking armor that those arms do not convey.
I like the shape of the shin hati's star fighter. I'll check my parts, Maybe I can build something close to that look.
Pretty sure this could be $50 and people would still be complaining that it's too expensive. Which is utterly ridiculous, just like most of the price complaints on this thread in my opinion.
The price seems fair. Two starfighters, over 1,000 pieces, five minifigures of which four have new prints, one has a new unique hairpiece, and the astromech droid pieces are being produced in new colors.
At this point I'm not sure what people want from Lego. Yes, people are allowed to complain about the price on here and make their opinion known. I'm not trying to say they can't. I just feel like it's bordering on ridiculous at this point.
"its proportions appear stretched ... the wings could also afford to be narrower ... the engine intake should be closer to circular, the segmented armour reflects the source material ..."
I'd like to vote that comparative statements of this kind are of limited utility without reference image(s). IMHO they should be a standard inclusion, else a specific notice that no image could be located. For example, I went looking for "Shin Hati's Starfighter" and although the character has an official profile page (https://www.starwars.com/databank/shin-hati) in which she's literally seated in a cockpit, her vehicle isn't mentioned. Similarly, her Wookieepedia entry (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Shin_Hati) mentions the duo's Eta-class shuttle but not her custom starfighter.
About half the recent Star Wars reviews have such images (75357 Ghost & Phantom II, 75360 Yoda's Jedi Starfighter, 75361 Spider Tank), sourced from starwars.fandom.com and starwars.com, but others don't (75359 332nd Ahsoka's Clone Trooper Battle Pack, 75362 Ahsoka's T-6 Jedi Shuttle, 75346 Pirate Snub Fighter).
With that face and hairpiece Shin's minifigure looks nothing like her onscreen appearance to me.
Looks like a great set, but going for considerably more than I'm willing to pay--and I'll bet it doesn't get discounted much, because plenty of Star Wars fans will not be as cheap as I've become. Too bad for me, but it's nice to see sets like this in the theme!
@SithLord196 said:
"Pretty sure this could be $50 and people would still be complaining that it's too expensive. Which is utterly ridiculous, just like most of the price complaints on this thread in my opinion.
The price seems fair. Two starfighters, over 1,000 pieces, five minifigures of which four have new prints, one has a new unique hairpiece, and the astromech droid pieces are being produced in new colors.
At this point I'm not sure what people want from Lego. Yes, people are allowed to complain about the price on here and make their opinion known. I'm not trying to say they can't. I just feel like it's bordering on ridiculous at this point. "
Yeah, people's price expectations have gotten a bit out of hand. There are exceptions such as the foosball table, black panther bust, etc. But I find most expectations beyond a $15/$20 drop ridiculous. It's one thing to buy on a discount, and another to claim what the retail price should be.
Shin Hati’s starfighter sort of looks like a cross between a Grumman XF5F Skyrocket and a Curtiss-Wright P2 Warhawk from Crimson Skies. I mean, seeing as how certain people on this website know their aircraft…
I personally feel alot of times with Star Wars set reviews nowadays the models appear smaller than they actually are.
As a sidenote I wonder if some other EU/Legends ships get reworked for current ips. I really dug the Tie Crawler and Tie Defender sets when they came out.
While reading this review several thoughts came to mind:
1-This has to feel repetitive, so utterly repetitive for any of the brickset writers here. It has to be hard to avoid or find substitutions for the same phrases and terms such as accurate, source material, captures, appropriate, on-screen appearance, etc.
2-Wow. What a very good review with hyper focused, superb quality pics to bring the reviewer's words to life.
3-The comments about the elongated scale of Shin Hati's starfighter being spot on. Having watched Ashoka, I felt the same way about this new LEGO Star Wars fighter. If you've seen the show, you don't need external pics to understand why the reviewer made the comment.
4-Keep up the great work! The reviews are fun to read (if somewhat repetitive due to the "source material"). I enjoy when part usage is highlighted and then there are close up pics of said piece. This article pointed out the use of the Nexo pentagonal shields and it was nice to see how this element was used to smooth out the corners of the wings on the E-Wing.
5-Rex's vocabulary grows with each new article. Or at least mine does. Anhedral? Nice!
At USD $32 or 0.095¢ per piece in 1979, 497 Galaxy Explorer was far more expensive relatively speaking than this set at $109.99 or 0.104¢ per piece. For perspective, that $32 in 1979 dollars is about $140 in 2023 dollars.
So, is this set really expensive? Yes and no. LEGO has never been an inexpensive toy of the masses ( I don’t know about you, but LEGO was an impossible dream for me as a kid) but putting aside the nostalgia factor, this set blows Galaxy Explorer away in terms of piece count, piece variety, set complexity, and minifigure count, design, and print quality. Bottom line, you are getting more for less.
@Eightcoins8 said:
"I personally feel alot of times with Star Wars set reviews nowadays the models appear smaller than they actually are.
As a sidenote I wonder if some other EU/Legends ships get reworked for current ips. I really dug the Tie Crawler and Tie Defender sets when they came out."
I’m hopeful that Thrawn’s return will see the TIE Defender reappear, after its appearance in Rebels. If only that subtheme hadn’t died off before a new Defender set got released.
@SithLord196 said:
"Pretty sure this could be $50 and people would still be complaining that it's too expensive. Which is utterly ridiculous, just like most of the price complaints on this thread in my opinion.
The price seems fair. Two starfighters, over 1,000 pieces, five minifigures of which four have new prints, one has a new unique hairpiece, and the astromech droid pieces are being produced in new colors.
At this point I'm not sure what people want from Lego. Yes, people are allowed to complain about the price on here and make their opinion known. I'm not trying to say they can't. I just feel like it's bordering on ridiculous at this point. "
Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
Seriously, it's too bad that the Hati Fati doesn't better match the source material. Those P-38 inspired fighters are really cool, and a new angle for SW.
@SearchlightRG said:
" @VBaskin said:
"It looks like all of the Sith Warriors' starfighters are complete right?!"
Not sure what you mean.
Am I the only one who thinks Baylan needs some shoulder armor? I feel like all the trailer shots where he duels Ahsoka feature him in some pretty sick looking armor that those arms do not convey."
The Sith Warriors' Starfighters are they completed or what?!