1999's Gungan Sub is such an odd set for LEGO to put out as one of the biggest piece counts for that initial Star Wars wave. Not only notable for its inclusion in the line ahead of original trilogy staples like the Millennium Falcon and Slave 1, but for it's disconnect with the seldomly seen ship it's based on. The Gungan Sub as it appeared in the Phantom Menace is not exactly a vehicle that translates well into the blockier classic LEGO look. Its myriad of stacked sloped bricks attempt to emulate the smooth curves of the film's CGI, but to little success.

It might sound like I don't enjoy the Gungan Sub, but that would be dead wrong. What LEGO created was a set that carves its own identity from the template of a sting-ray shaped submarine. Instead of being flat with a sleek shiny appearance, it is lumpy with the bulbus pods reminding me of an interstellar UFO off of the Spyrius theme shrouded in the cover of the ocean, almost carrying an industrial edge. I love how the windscreens open up, fitting snugly within each of the 3 cockpits, although they are easy to break loose. Those old greys help support this reading, and enhance what is already a distinct model.

The other qualities of this model are top-notch across the board. This set might be the poster child for strange hidden features you'd never guess in a million years from the main box art alone. The Gungan Sub uses a strange modular system, where the centre pod can disconnect from the main build, and attach to one of three other hidden detachable elements. The result is a set that can support a huge number of unique forms, leading to unique play scenarios that would be hard to cleanly replicate with any other Star Wars set. The instruction manual further encourages unique play with its adorable comic highlighting the insane number of alternate builds. The simple terrain build plays into the playability, giving an excellent spot to hide one of the extra engines. When storing them in the ships' actual cargo hold they are tightly kept stuck in place, so they tend to break when you pull them out, which is a bummer. The customizability of the ship is an element that LEGO Star Wars will not explore again, at least in this capacity. Its inauthenticity to the source material wasn't as much of a "problem" then as it would be now.

The minifigures are a simple selection of The Phantom Menace's two primary Jedi characters, and Jar Jar Binks. The latter of which is notable as the first figure with a moulded head. Binks was also included in the small Gungan Swamp set, which compliments the Sub well with added scenery and some antagonistic Battle Droids to pit against the big model. Despite what I first assumed Obi-wan was exclusive to this set in the first wave, an odd call for one of the film's integral characters. Quigon was in many more sets, probably to get ample use out of his unique hair piece, intriguingly the first new male hair piece mold made in 20 years. In general, I do question why the Jedi are so understated in these sets. You'd think they would make a set to try and capture the film's action-heavy climatic battle against Darth Maul, but that circles us back to this set's odd pick for the second-biggest Phantom Menace set. Maybe this was the first example of LEGO being limited when creating sets based off of limited press material. After all we did get multiple sets based on Maul's brief fight with Qui-Gon earlier in the film.

Let's not forget about all the beautiful printed pieces in this set, most of which are completely unique to this set. Also notable are it's elegant tail end using some blue flex tube twirled together, the uncommon manta ray, and the unique blue anchor piece. These add greatly to the set's prestige, but I'd be lying if I said that this set's initial price point of 50 dollars was too much. Adjusted for inflation, that is a staggering 90 dollars. No matter how fun I may think the Gungan Sub is, it was a pretty bad deal.

Like a lot of these early Star Wars and Harry Potter sets, this ship feels like its own thing separate from the source material. Rather than the standard approach of direct emulation. In today's LEGO landscape, its contrasting qualities keep the set forever relevant, as this approach will likely never be attempted again. As I fall deeper into the fell-faced era of LEGO Star Wars, the more I realize that the theme was almost like a cluster of tiny classic Space themes crammed into one, with so many different design styles and sub-themes making up those precious first few years. Single sets could contain enough interesting ideas to feel as if they were their own theme. Like an entire line could be built off the back of one kit and the Gungan Sub does just that.

Okay, the only reason I wanted this set was because it was the only one with obi-wan from 1999, before jedi defense sets. Actually, I played with this quite a bit when I was little. Anyway, this set included some pointless playability:
-front cockpit detaches
-two side compartments and engine compartment house some
extra engine pieces you can use to combine with detached part or
the entire sub
Also, this set includes a stingray. Pointless... well, kinda.
Overall, this set was as faithful to the real thing as you could get in '99. A very unique set, only water-lego star wars vehicle I know.

Only con I see is that it was definitely bigger in reality : the front cockpit sat all 3 people, and the other two were cargo holds.

What an amazing set! It was one of my first but boy, it's fun, well designed, and realistic to the movie. It's the best set of it's year. The parts are great, along with nice minifigs and great functions!
Pros:
1. Great look! Amazingly like the movie.
2. Fantastic Engines and it's moveable.
3. The thing near the engine at the back can fold down to reveal a proper engine room!
4. All the windows for the people (And Jar-Jar) can open and close fully.
5. Front anchor is a nice addition.
6. Rare pieces and minifigs!
7. Opening compartments.
Cons:
1. Engines pieces full off sometimes.
2. The Engine room lacks a few things to it.
Overall a great set and great for it's time.

I'll start by saying that part of what makes this set unique to me is that I didn't actually get it when it was in stores when the movie came out. One of my neighbors actually gave it to me when they were getting rid of stuff they didn't need about a year ago. It was in pretty good condition except for maybe a few missing parts. Enough history though, onto the review. The set in general is pretty good, except for the accuracy of the design in comparison to the movie. In the movie, all the characters sat in the same cockpit, not 3 seperate ones. I also think it would have been cool if it had included the giant fish that attacked them in the movie and not just a stingray. Here are the pro's and con's.

Pro's:

-Cool minifig's including Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. (Personally though I think the character of Jar Jar was kind of lame!)

-Creative sub designs and parts (ex. the design on the windows & storage compartment)

-Storage compartment on back of the sub

Con's:

-Not totally accurate with the design on the movie

-Could have included more (ex. The "Bigger Fish")

Overall, this is a good set and I would recommend it to any lego Star Wars fan!

This is a fun set to build and it is very unique compared to the other episode 1 sets. The design was well thought out by lego. It looks good, and it is very solid. The gungan sub was released in 1999, but it still stands on my shelf to this day, and that is because of its sturdy design. Also, the blue coloration looks very nice and creates that underwater feeling.

The main con to this set is that it is not movie accurate, which kind of bugs me. In the movie, qui-gon, obi-wan, and jar-jar were all sitting in the same central cabin area. In the lego, there are three seperate cockpits, one for each character. To me, that doesn't make sense.

Still, this a great set and well worth the money if you can get your hands on one.