The Pirate Snub Fighter from "The Mandalorian" doesn't quite catch your attention when first looked at in a line-up of new sets. It features only greys as well as more obscure figures; although the grey-argument goes for the vast majority of Star Wars sets.

I bought the set because it seemed to me to be a fun vehicle with a low and sleek aesthetic. The set holds the titular Snub Fighter, being a one-seater fighter craft, as well as two figures: the pirate Vane and a generic pirate.

The pirates come in nice earthly toned down brown and ochre colours. The figures don't feature dual moulding nor printed arms, but that doesn't bother me at all. I love figures being a more modest and less 'too much', and with printed torsos (front and back) as well as printed legs, these pirates are neither over nor underdressed. It is a bit disappointing however that the figures share the same printed face, so the headgear is needed for distinguishing them. No real famous character here but this isn't needed at all.

The craft itself is surprisingly good. The snub fighters have only a few short scenes in the Mandalorian, and I love how they are replicated here. The shape is fine, the different types of grey provide proper nuance and the triple engine fire things up. It has a bit of a ragtag feeling about it which suits fine for pirates flying it.
I don't care that much for stud shooters but I understand that they are here for play. The cockpit holds the pilot and the solid block behind the pilot holds a cargo space. Another small compartment is located in front of the cockpit to store stud shooter ammunition.

I loved the build; the instructions were a bit too simplistic, as is nowadays mostly the case, but all in all fine. The build was varied and resulted in a sturdy craft with a high degree of swooshability. The amount of stickers is limited and not really needed if one wants to leave them off. The craft also has a limited amount of greebling which is always a plus. Clear, simple, sturdy.

I love these smaller crafts that are also lesser known.
Smaller means the bricks have to go to proper construction and not needless and pretentious greebling to drive up the piece count.
Lesser known crafts mean that the focus lies on the craft and its properties and character. The obvious crafts like an X-wing, TIE-fighter,... are just that; the symbol and icon that they are. And they only get some more updated versions and updated versions for people to debate about with regards to scale, colour and the presence or absence of this or that edge, corner or switch.
Another fine example of a wonderful, lesser known craft, albeit with some famous minifigs, is the 75178 - Jakku-Quadjumper

I recommend the Pirate Snub Fighter (with a proper discount of course looking at current Lego prices) as a nice looking ship with a satisfying and amusing build. It brings some diversity in the galaxy. Yo Ho Yo Ho

I have no idea whatsoever what Overwatch is and who or what the Ham creature is supposed to be. OK, cutting some corners here. I did know it is a video game as is also clear by the Blizzard logo on the box. But that's about it. So why do I own the set?

There is not really an explanation here. I seemed cool, it was more than reasonably priced; and as mentioned, it seemed cool.

This Miley Cyrus-toy comes with a small character, moulded in one piece. Normally I do love my minifigures but the hamster is cute and the set doesn't leave you wanting for more figs.

The build consists of two parts; the centre core with the 'lift' mechanism for Ham, and the outer shell which can open and close to shift between 'battle' mode and 'rolling' mode. I found the build to be pleasant and varied. Some nice techniques as well as bricks are being used and there isn't all that much fiddling around. The colour palette is striking but of course already determined by the source material.

There is a sticker sheet but it is small. Luckily there are some nicely printed elements here. Lego's sticker logic is more often than not obscure and unclear. Some small sets have printed elements and the big-buck-boxes come with sticker sheets. But with Ham's tank-y vehicle, a mix of both.

The design is clever with both the lift for Ham as the folding shell. The shell conceals and reveals weapons and turns into legs. Cool.

I assume that knowing the franchise adds value for the set, but I never experienced my lack of knowledge on Overwatch as a problem. This is a cool set for any sci fi fan and even more inspired than many Star Wars sets out there.

I loved building Wrecking Ball and it is small set that will be kept built for a while.Smaller sets have the tendency to move to the large Lego shelves rather soon over here. Ham however has got himself an extended welcome

Now how about a Ham-Ham crossover with the homonymic character from Toy Story?

I buy more Lego than I build. Mostly due to space restrictions. But sometimes a certain set simply begs for not being shelved until whenever.

Space Rover Explorer is such a set. I'm not always convinced of the quality of the Creator line but once in a while, they hit all the right spots. This is one of those sets I decided upon buying the minute I saw it being announced.

Building Space Rover Explorer does a great job at bringing back the older look and feel of Lego. The build has lots of variation, nice parts and colour scheme and it is just about 'building Lego'. No fiddling or the (god forbid) greebling alley Lego has been lost in over the last decade, but just plain and simple building.

The vehicle evokes classic space in its design and in its construction and the colour scheme update is fresh and pleasant. Also, the wheel bogeys are nicely designed and perfectly functioning. The minifigure is wonderful but it is a bit sad for being just alone. Space missions need more travellers. For safety, you know.

But... why did they add the atrocious green alien? Not only is it ugly, unstable and too big, it simply doesn't fit with the style of the set. Where the Rover itself tries to invoke the adventurous semi-realistic style, the alien by far isn't. I know we can't tell if this is a semi-realistic depiction of an alien but, c'mon, really...?

So, buy the set, enjoy the build and admire the result. And just throw those green bricks into your large pile of bricks. Who knows they might come in handy... whenever.

Magazine Gifts are another series of collectable minifigures bar the blind bags/boxes. The difficulty lies in finding them as such.

The figures are sometimes accompanied by smaller builds but more often than not these are but accessories or oversized weapons (looking at you Ninjago, Marvel and Star Wars).

Sometimes the minifig in the paper bag comes with a larger build, but sadly not always that inspired (City police cars, planes, helicopters and cars, planes,...).

'Alan with Dino skeleton' is a nice exception to the rule. The figure is pretty standard and has appeared before but it is the skeleton that makes the difference here. 35 parts in a magazine gift is a big deal, but it is even more wonderful to see how the dino in question can be so recognisably created with but little pieces. I am no fan of greebling but the way pieces like a 4083 Bar 1 x 4 x 2 with Studs and a 44709 Weapon Gun with Studs on Side, together with some cheese slopes, skeleton arms and a horn instantly convey the idea of a Stegosaurs, is cleverly done.

The sand/rock base it is placed upon even adds a small play element when revealing the dig.

Montana shows it can be as Lego-exciting as Isla Nublar.

The Chicken Henhouse was one of those sets which immediately draws your attention. It is small and modest but it gives a sense of spontaneous joy.

I bought the set for the brown chickens but in the end it turned out to be a pleasant small build. This goes for the henhouse as well as for the quad bike.

The set provides bright colours, pleasant bricks (nothing too greebly) and the blue parts for the quad bike are cheerful. And there are of course the brown chickens.

It is regrettable once again however how infantile and dumbdumbed down the building instructions are. There is even a drawing about the fact that you need to shake the bricks out of the bag. Seriously...? And numbers are gone as well. The instructions show 4x a specific brick when you need it 4 times. The set is 5+. I am more than certain that a child of 5 can count/read a number up to 10.

I do wonder however how those small chickens won't settle for less than an ostrich egg when it comes to their hen fruit production.