First, apologies for the title; I'm sure it's everyone's first thought, but I couldn't pass up the chance! Okay, onto the review:

I feel like the community is in a weird position with this set; it follows from a rendition of this craft released in 2014, which is admittedly near identical, and as a result it has been shunned by many. However, I find myself in a different boat. It was only during lock down in which I discovered my love of Star Wars, thus I only owned 1 or 2 sets from the theme before this year. That 2014 set is no longer available in stores, so for the purposes of this review, it didn't have any negative effect on my overall personal opinions. I actually really like this set, and it was one of the few sets I've ever bought on release from the LEGO store, without waiting for a sale. It even won me over in competition with the 501st set, and any LEGO Star Wars fan will know that's high praise! I mean, it's helped by the fact that it contains a minifigure version of the second most iconic prequel's character (behind Jar Jar Binks of course), but beyond that it has plenty of merits to be explored...

Building experience

As a MOC builder, I find building sets to be a relaxing break from all the tinkering that comes with designing a model, so I usually rate building experience highly. Obviously the wings are near identical, so not a lot of variety there, but the cockpit goes together nicely and the opening cover fits on satisfyingly. Really should have been a 5/5, but the stickers hold it back; more specifically, one of the stickers. That 1x1 round sticker is just cruel; not only would it be easy for LEGO to print, it's an absolute nightmare to put on! The panels are less annoying, because at least they have nice straight edges to line up. Still, I managed to get my stickers on alright, so I can't rate it any lower than a 4 overall.

Completed model

Personally, I really like the look of this craft in-universe, and the LEGO version is aesthetically pleasing too. I'm glad they chose to do Anakin's craft, because the yellow works really nicely here. Nothing too fancy if I'm being honest, but all the lines blend cleanly into one another; if we're talking specific details, the underwing turrets work nicely for me, as well as the printing on the cockpit pieces. I'm usually a displayer of sets, but if you're so inclined, it's at a perfect scale for swooshability, and the designers have sneakily placed a clip on the underside of each wing for lightsaber storage. This allows Anakin to sit in the pilot's seat and close the cockpit without him burning through any of the controls! I was expecting something bigger, but overall, it looks wonderful, and would fit into any LEGO collection, Star Wars or otherwise.

Minifigures

Anakin Skywalker - others have already pointed out that this figure is re-used from set 75269 Duel on Mustafar, which is canonically incorrect and pretty lazy of LEGO. However, if you don't look too closely, this figure is a perfectly good representation of the iconic character. The face printing with headset works well with Anakin's long hair, which is a really nice piece for someone who hasn't owned this figure previously. I wish he had a happy expression, rather than just serious or outright angry, but if you've seen the prequels, you'd know what kind of person Anakin is, so the lack of happier facial expressions is an acceptable omission. The lightsaber is also appreciated.

R2-D2 - What can I really say about this figure? I only own 4 Star Wars sets, and this is already the second one to contain him! He looks perfectly fine, and he is definitely necessary to the set, being able to sit in the wing and help control the ship, but he's nothing special.

The 3 Ps

• Price - £24.99 is a bit steep, but if I'd waited a few weeks I probably would've been able to get if for closer to £20. As mentioned earlier, the ship felt a bit small for a price that got me a full on playset with 4 minifigures from the Ninjago theme. Anyway, I'd recommend waiting for a sale, especially if you already own the 2014 version
• Playability - I've already said that the ship is swooshable, and additional features include folding out wing flaps, room for R2 to sit embedded into the left wing, spring-loaded shooters & an opening cockpit with room for one minifigure. Plenty for the kids (or creative adults)
• Parts - a few upgrades from 2014, such as the 2x2 wedge plates, alongside some nice yellow parts for the MOC builders. That cockpit is nicely done, and a blessing that it's not a sticker! I don't know if you'd be able to turn a profit on Bricklink, but if you needed to steal any parts for a MOC, you could temporarily tear down this set and it would do the job

Conclusion

If I had to summarise this set, I'd say it was the perfect birthday gift for a young Star Wars fan, and a perfectly passable rendition of the craft it's trying to represent. Slightly off-topic, so you can leave now if you want, but I'm glad that I built this set, because it's finally got me back into writing reviews after months of not building sets. It feels counterintuitive, but because I haven't been building MOCs after going back to school, I've had to get my LEGO dose in with shorter chunks, and that's come in the form of reducing my mini backlog despite having a larger workload to deal with. Anyway, I guess that means more reviews will potentially follow, especially with my birthday coming up in a couple of days, so if you enjoyed this one, I've got 5 more helpful ones (and a few less helpful ones...) that you can peruse at any time.