Judging by that title, you know they could've done better. Let's dig in.

Minifigures (9/10)

It was pretty good choice of minifigures. Not counting the mouse droid 8 was good. It has the imperial inspection Darth Vader, which was a good choice of a Vader. Tarkin was a basic Tarkin and was pretty basic. The storm troopers were exclusive with flesh colored heads, JUST flesh. The rest were good.

Star Destroyer (9/10)

There was a lot of unused space. Why did they do this, I really don't know. It gets rid of the greatness of what they could've made. It was still good though. The play features is the escape pod which you can drop out of the bottom. Another is the Darth Vader helmet loader, which never works. And finally a lightsaber bolt launcher. Those are some pretty darn good play features. On the outside you can open the bridge and put two minfigures in there.

The Flaw (No points needed)

This should be a Empire Strikes Back set, because it has the Emperor Hologram and the Vader Helmet putter on thing (lol). Tarkin shouldn't belong here because he would be dead and this should be a Super Star Destroyer.

Overall

Really nice and I thought it was ok.

9/10

I got this set for my eleventh birthday, and it's one of those sets that is sitting on a shelf in the basement, speeding toward my White House. It's a phenomenal set with so much in store.

Box/Instructions:

This box is HUGE. It shows the monster flinging an escape pod into space, while shooting at Rebel scum around it. Inside the box, you find two big manuals, and twelve numbered bags. The instructions were fun to look at during the entertaining build of the set. Here's how it breaks down:

-Bag One contains the minifigures and weapons.

-Bag Two contains the floor of the ship and Vader's meditation chamber.

-Bag Three contains the skeleton of the monster.

-Bag Four contains extra detailing. (hangar details, meditation chamber helmet mover, Palpatine hologram)

-Bag Five contains the engines and escape pod.

-Bag Six contains the bottom panels of the ship and the front panels of the ship.

-Bag Seven contains the main panels that exposes the main ship.

-Bag Eight contains the main part of the command tower.

-Bag Nine contains the deflector shield domes.

-Bag Ten contains the port-side rear panels of the command tower.

-Bag Eleven contains the starboard-side rear panels.

-Bag Twelve contains both front panels of the command tower.

The instructions are split into two manuals. Book one builds bags one through part of six, and book two constructs the rest of six through twelve. It was a fun build.

The Stickers:

There are thirteen stickers, which is a small number for such a massive ship. But I like applying stickers, unlike many others, so it was an enjoyment to me, even though only one of them is really exposed.

The Pieces:

There are mostly gray wing pieces that are included here, along with a few neon green lightsaber blades for the green lasers, which is actually kind of clever. All in all, there is a very good parts selection here, and there is a fail mix of technic and system.

The Minifigures:

There are nine minifigures here, so from here on out, I will do this part a bit differently. The minifigures also are the only contents of bag one. So without further ado, let's get going!

Bag One:

Darth Vader - This is the first undamaged Darth Vader minifigure I've ever gotten. At the time, he was a great minifigure (until of course I got the latest versions, but that's not important now). His helmet is very cool, and the detailing was pretty good at the time. He has the amazing chrome lightsaber, although the silver ones aren't that horrible.

Stormtroopers - I've always loved collecting stormtroopers. They may be weak-minded, but they sure do look cool. I got the star destroyer with the new-style helmets, and I really like those. The one thing I dislike about the stormtroopers were the blank flesh heads. Even though they had black heads eventually, they got faces in 2012, which you can't get much better than that.

Imperial Royal Guards - These are probably the coolest minifigures of the set. I love their red garments and the fact that they carry spears. Even though in the instructions they have black hands, mine came with red. It doesn't matter to me, they still look great, and I always welcome red capes.

Imperial Officer - These are always great minifigures too, although I wish more of them were included here. You can't go wrong with Imperial officers.

Grand Moff Tarkin - Another great figure. His face is great, he really looks angry and sinister, like he's gonna use the star destroyer to blow up a planet.

R2-Q5 - I know the box says R2-D5, but it's actually Q5. Unfortunately, my star destroyer didn't include the fully-detailed head like the new R2-D2. Never a bad thing to include a black astromech droid, though.

Mouse Droid - These are cute little things. Unfortunately, I only own one, but I can always make more out of the many parts in my basement.

Overall, a great selection of Imperial reinforcements.

The Star Destroyer:

Bag Two:

This is where construction of the actual ship begins, and this constructs the floor. It also constructs Darth Vader's meditation chamber, a reference to The Empire Strikes Back. It's a good design for the chamber, and Vader fits nicely in there. Bag two also constructs the storage where two blasters are kept, as well as the hangar and escape pod track. The one con about this part is how breakable the base is.

Bag Three:

The skeleton is constructed, and even that has features. It has the button that ejects the escape pod into nothingness. It also has the place where you can hold Vader's lightsaber. The triangular construction is very interesting with all those elbow hinges.

Bag Four:

Bag four builds the structure that holds the command bridge in place. That structure also holds Palpatine's hologram, the gun rack cover, and Vader's helmet placer. The helmet feature is somewhat flimsy, but if you press the handlebar pieces on the helmet, it's actually quite effective. The hologram is very cool, and the two-sticker technique to make it look real is very clever. I think a transparent blue minifigure of Palpatine would also serve well as a hologram, but it's not likely that they will develop that.

Bag Five:

The engines and escape pod are constructed. The engines are first, and they are a thing of beauty! The ball cups are used for the smaller ion engines, but the half ball pieces aren't used, but transparent 3x3 disks, which surprisingly fit snug into the socket. The look of it is great, and looks awesome next to the three larger engines. The large engines use the turbo tank wheels, and I like them as engines rather than wheels. The escape pod is also great. It's held firmly in place before the button is used to shunt it out. The pod can fit a minifigure if leaned back far enough. I've fit the two droids in there a lot and just cast them into "space".

Bag Six:

Not much to say here, just the first few panels are put on. The front two top panels open up to help shunt the pod out of the ship.

Bag Seven:

This bag makes the big gray panels that make up most of the ship. Also, the four (which should really be six or eight) turbolasers are constructed, and I love the design of those weapons. They can rotate and elevate.

Bag Eight:

Bag eight makes the main section of the command tower. You can attach and detach this entire section from the main ship by pulling up a lever at the back of the ship and simply lifting it off. The command bridge also opens from the rear, and here you can fit two minifigures, as long as they are standing right next to each other and one of them is touching the other's butt.

Bag Nine:

The deflector shield generator domes are constructed here. I like the technique used to build them, with all the wing plates and such.

Bags Ten and Eleven:

These two bags make essentially the same thing. Here, there is a red button at the side you can push to fire one of the green laser things. You have to more flick the button to give the laser some distance. It's not bad, actually. It's better than some of the flick missile designs in later sets.

Bag Twelve:

Not much so say here, either. All it does is complete the ship, giving it a sinister appearance.

The Final Verdict:

Stickers - 9/10 - Thirteen is a lot, but for a ship this big, it's not a lot.

Pieces - 10/10 - Great parts selection, especially for the engines.

Minifigures - 10/10 - All great selections, but it could've used more Imperial officers.

Star Destroyer - 10/10 - An excellent design loaded with features, though breakable if you drop it.

Final result - 9.75/10 - It's an amazing set with a lot to offer. If still available on eBay, I recommend it!

This is a great set for lego sw fans. With an rrp of £80 or £100 its a good price. With 1367 pieces that is a lot for set costing £80. I got it for 60 which was a great price as some sell for £130 on ebay.

Pros

large

good price

a few minifigs (9)

a good amount of pieces

Cons

way to delicate

Should be a bit bigger (obviously not the size of the ultimate collectors edition from 2002 but I wouldn't mind paying £140 or so for a bigger set)

As a Lego SW late-bloomer, there was no chance of me getting this set brand new. I was quite hesitant about buying a slightly overpriced set on the secondary market but the need in me had simply taken over. I managed to get a used set in a pristine condition, so the whole experience was comparable to building a new one - even the stickers haven't been applied yet (not sure if it's a blessing or a curse, see below).

The build is not for complete beginners and can take some time, especially some of the technics solutions require precision and patience (and trained fingers). But I like to cherish the time spent building, so I didn't rush through it. Once finished, the set looks stunning and although it's not as big as we would like it to be (about 60 cm/2 ft), still is a good representation of the 'real' thing. The various shades of grey fit perfectly in the SW universe. The bottom section seems somewhat poorer, almost unfinished, however, it's very unlikely that you're going to be swooshing around with this model, so no one really notices this flaw. Some builders have complained about the set being too brittle - let me tell you, if it's built properly, nothing falls apart or breaks. Obviously you must lift the ship with both hands holding the sides and the bottom but considering the size and the weight of the model, that only seems obvious.

The inside of the ship offers great playability, including Darth Vader's chamber, a number of work stations, Emperor's hologram, the escape pod, the command deck, etc. The minifigures are great and plentiful. You get eight minifigs (some of which are exclusive to this set) and the Mouse Droid (not really a minifig), all that is fun.

As far as the drawbacks go, I have to mention the escape pod which doesn't look that great and I haven't even dared to apply the huge sticker on it - I hate when stickers get misaligned. So it's a big white box in my case. Luckily the rest of stickers are applied on panels, which is manageable. Also getting inside the ship might be a nuisance for some and requires some getting used to.

All in all, this was definitely one of better Lego models in that price category. I'm quite positive that a rebooted version would have to cost at least 150 dollars now but somehow I'm sceptical that Lego's going to reboot this model. While the UCS model is out of reach now, this one is still available on secondary markets even in mint condition (but for a hefty price). If you consider expanding your Empire fleet, it's a must. If you get a used one from a private collector, you can even stomach the price. I personally love the ship, it looks fantastic, nevertheless, after I bought the 2011 Millennium Falcon, I wish it were twice its size since the two models are almost the same size. And that doesn't seem right. So maybe a nice 100-120 cm/3-4 ft long UCS model for a reboot?

I was given this set for my birthday a few years back and it has fallen apart numerous times since then. I have three younger siblings and a crazy dog so I keep it up in my loft.

Box/Instructions

The box is one of the biggest. The studs and other pieces on the front are textured, so it feels like it is built already. There are two huge instruction books.

Parts

Most of the parts except the minifigs are repetitive.

Minifigures

The set comes with the 7 must have star destroyer minifigs and there is not much to say about any of them.

the build

The build is very difficult and repetitive: not for builders under 11 years of age.

The completed model

The completed model is very large and magnificent, although not minifig scaled.

Summary

The Star Destroyer is a great set for collecters, but not for young kids.