I’m not a polybag collector, nor of Star Wars sets particularly, but this set was free with a local newspaper, so I couldn’t resist. And I’m very glad that I didn’t…

Box/Instructions

The set is contained in the usual polybag, complete with the 2014 Star Wars branding (Darth Vader leaning out to grab your face). The instructions are on a foldout double-sided sheet with a very neutral blue-grey background. The contrast between light grey, dark grey and black (all colours present in the set) is clear.

Parts

The set contains a small, yet nicely diverse range of bricks, primarily in white and light grey. None are particularly interesting or rare, but my eye was drawn to the three white 1x2 jumper plates and six boat studs, which I’m sure I can find a use for elsewhere at some point. The rest is mostly various plates in differing sizes and configurations, and a few slopped bricks.

The build

Even though the body of the shuttle is symmetrical and the wing construction is identical (but reversed), the build is too rapid to get boring at any point – in fact that whole thing goes together in five minutes. As would be expected, there are no particularly unusual techniques on display, though I liked the simple use of modified 1x2 plates ‘with slide’ to provide lower buffers on either side for the wings to sit on in order to re-create the correct wing alignment of the ship in flight.

The completed model

I think the end result looks great and easily recreates the look of iconic craft using just a handful of pieces. There is a surprising amount of detail for the size of the model, including two trans-light blue 1x1 embedded at the back as engines, and the use of minifig binoculars as laser cannons mounted on either side of the fuselage. The clips by which the wings are attached provide enough resistance that they don’t flap around, so you can have the model in either ‘flight’ or ‘landed’ configurations.

Overall opinion

For the (regular) price, this is well worth purchasing. There are a few negatives – the yellow lights on the wings and top aerofoil don’t look quite right, and, as the previous reviewer said, it’s not at all stable with the wings down, so unless you construct a stand you can’t recreate an in-flight pose. I haven’t experienced any of the problems reported with stability or fragility when the wings are folded up, though the aerofoil is held on only by the three 1x2 jumper plates, so would be susceptible to weak clutch in any of the constituent parts. I would have preferred a tile rather than a plate on the top of the aerofoil just to preserve the smooth white look, but that’s splitting hairs and it’s easy enough to swap out if required.

The model is highly ‘swooshable’ in either mode and I think it makes quite an attractive little display piece – and it’s certainly recognisable, judging by the reactions of colleagues at work who pop round to play/look at it!

On a final note – obviously the model is considerably smaller than minifig scale but, taking inspiration from the Microfighter range, you can remove the white 2x2 tile on the cockpit and sit the figure of your choice on there. Mine is currently being piloted by Lego Abraham Lincoln…

Set #30246 Imperial Shuttle: Star Wars Polybags are an ever expanding group of larger vehicles in micro designs, much smaller than their larger and more expensive counterparts with no Minifigures and loads of interesting design choices. The Imperial Shuttle is a fairly impressive looking model, the design stands out much better than you might expect, we’ll discuss pros and cons and then give an overview.

Pros:

• Design captures likeness of your standard Imperial Shuttle quite nicely, in flight or landing mode the model is quite faithful to the larger model found in the films.

• Fun little model to play with, very kid friendly and easy to build and play with in under twenty minutes.

• Price per piece count fairly favorable for a Star Wars polybag.

Cons:

• Lack of display stand for shuttle when in flight mode means that there is limited display potential for this set when put on a shelf amongst fellow Star Wars Polybags.

• Not a fan of colour choices, too much white compared to larger model, a small gray 1x1 to break up the white in the large central fin might have been more appreciated to break up the too white colour choice.

Overall opinion

I enjoyed this polybag after picking it up off the secondary market, it is actually a nice little model in spite of certain comments above. I would recommend trying to track this down as you missed it, you can never go wrong with LEGO Star Wars Polybags, it’s a cheap alternative to the increasingly more expensive sets, if only LEGO would start including Minifigures in these sets, although it isn’t entirely necessary. Hope this review was helpful enough, it can sometimes be hard to find enough to talk about when it comes to Polybags.

Box/Instructions

Polybag with the usual folded instructions.

Parts

There are a few cool parts, like the 1w x 2l x 2h white piece. Otherwise, pretty standard.

Minifigures

N/A

The build

I like building polybag models - it's short and the end model is usually fun to play with. It's a fun way to spend my time at work while my code compiles :-). Nothing to gripe about here.

The completed model

I'm very disappointed in this model for two reasons: 1 - it's not sturdy at all, and 2 - it's poorly designed.

The top part of the shuttle just comes off randomly while handling the model, and you can't have it stand on its wings the way it was obviously designed - it will just tip over (see picture). If you decide to have it stand with the wings folded up, the three round pieces at the bottom will make the model wobble a lot, which ends up making a poor model to just display on your desk at work.

Overall opinion

OK build, poor design, very fragile.