Hello guys, it's AlkkuV, back with another review. Today i'll be reviewing set number: 75003 A-wing Starfighter. This set came out in January 2013 and retired in December 2014.

Box and Instructions: Box art was nothing special just the ship flying in space with some explosions and blaster bolts. The instructions were clear and had 59 pages. It also came with a two-sided paper that shows the minifigs and sets, that came out that year. Btw: I have reviewed almost all the first batch of sets of 2013 (sadly I can't review 75005 Rancor Pit, because I don't own it).

Minifigures: This set comes with three minifigs, and one of them is unique. The minifigures are: Admiral Ackbar, who appears in four sets, Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs with Holster Pattern, Vest with Pockets, who appears in two sets and Rebel Pilot A-wing (Open Helmet, Dark Green Jumpsuit, Frown/Scared) (Arvel Crynyd), who is unique to this set.

Parts: This set has 177 pieces, and there is some good New Dark Red, and White pieces for MOCs.

Build: This set comes with three numbered bags. In the first bag you build the minifigs, and the base of the ship, and the motors. In the second one you build the front of the ship, and the part between the motors. The third one contains the rest.

Complete Build: Overall this set is very good the only downside in it is the playability, because there are no Imperials. The minifigs are good, and there is three of them! The value of money is okay, the price was $25 when it came out. There is some good parts and the build was pretty simple. Overall I would give this set a 4.97/5.

Thanks for reading and stay boon for more reviews!

This is one of my favourite sets of all time, so this review might be subjective. Anyway, here are my thoughts on this set:

Play value

This A-Wing was released in 2013, one year prior to the introduction of stud shooters and spring-loaded missiles. As a result, the cannons incorporate four classic flick-fire missiles, whilst being aesthetically pleasing. Other play features include retractable land gear in the front and the ability to open up the cockpit and place a figure inside the interior space, albeit crammed. A very fun play feature is the fact that you can take out the vessel's engine, situated behind the cockpit. The included wrench helps simulate repairing the ship, but doubles as an item that can be stored in the engine compartment.

Display value

This A-Wing is relatively accurate for its time. Although the top is basically covered in stickers, they are optional and the model could still hold its own without them. That being said, they add quite a lot to the look of the set. The ones on the side faithfully recreate the battle damage present on this particular model, although the panel detailing combines other models. Some details have never been seen before, nor after on a regular classic RZ-1 A-Wing (For example, the straps around the cockpit or the red dots in the front). Some notable inaccuracies include the thickness and straight angle of the rear fins and the disproportionate gap situated in the front. However, for what they are worth, the details of this set are marvellous, considering it is, at the time of writing, almost 9 years old.

Build

There is nothing revolutionary about the build. It is very simple (brick on brick, in fact), but the shape of the final product is satisfying, although way blockier than the real thing.

Minifigures

I consider 2013 to be the beginning of the "Modern Era" of LEGO Star Wars minifigures. In 2013, LEGO began polishing their older designs and introduced new ones, some still in use to this day. Including 3 quite valuable figures in such a small set is uncommon, however welcome. The A-Wing pilot is spectacular. His torso and legs are very richly decorated and the quality of the white printing is better than some that comes out today. Admiral Ackbar is such a unique figure. His torso is also appropriately detailed, and I love the inclusion of a coffee mug - classic LEGO humour. Han Solo is particularly notable: the torso first seen here is still in use to this day!

Overall

My nostalgia might be blinding me, but I consider this set to be fantastic. It is certainly a classic and I recommend picking it up if you can find it at a reasonable price.

Video review

You can find a video review of this set on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEZiIySggBM&t=394s

Shortly:

- Great set - at reasonable price gives you great model with great minifigs

Cons:

- quite a lot of stickers

- hard to modify/improve the build ( I was unable to build anything more interesting then the A-wing - perhaps because the model is so great in the first place)

Pros:

- the model looks amazing

- very solid build

- nice colours

- retractable landing gear, opening canopy, removable "generator"

- great playability esp. for a star wars fan

- great minifigures

- Admiral Ackbar!

Summary:

usually I'm a fan of simple bricks and love upgrading/modifying - but this model is so amazing as is that it's just nice to have it build on desk - play with kids with it - for me it's a absolute must for a star wars fan. Reasonably priced as for the value and playability it gives you. I recommend.

...and the Admiral Ackbar is amazingly well done (love also the fact that they gave him a mug) I think this set is worth buying even if just for this mini fig!

Though I tend to collect larger ground based vehicle sets from the Prequel Trilogy, I have a fondness for the Original Trilogy's space battles, which were massive, epic, and had a very human quality to them since neither side used droids. I missed out on the Y-Wing, (which I plan to buy on eBay), but was able to purchase this, and I have to say I was VERY impressed with what I bought.

Box/Instructions

Nothing special about the box or instructions, very standard.

Parts

If you love purchasing Star Wars vehicles to create new aircraft or starfighters, this set is for you. There are plenty of dark red and white pieces to satisfy any aircraft enthusiast

Minifigures

The price is great for this set, as you get a sleek Rebel fighter and 3 minifigs!

Arvel Crynyd (A-Wing Pilot) is a brand new minifigure, and looks wonderful piloting his aircraft. He is most known for being irreparably damaged while fighting in the Battle of Endor, and crashing his A-Wing into the command bridge of Darth Vader's flagship The Executor, effectively destroying it and all on board.

Admiral Ackbar was a first for me, although his head mold wasn't. He can be associated with this set because immediately after Crynyd crashed his A-Wing into the Super Star Destroyer, he is seen breathing a sigh of relief with his other Mon Calimari allies in the bridge of the Home One Cruiser.

Han Solo was not a new character for me to own, but his torso made him exclusive to this set until 10236 Ewok Village came out. He is a great improvement over the Endor Han Solo included with 8038 The Battle of Endor, with a new vest with cartridge pockets and a new head design (strangely enough, my 8038 came with Han with his new head design, possibly due to me buying it after production ceased). He comes with a rather accurate depiction of his sidearm in the films, and looks great next to the shield bunker, although he really is out of place in this set.

The build

The build was not over complicated and included some very nice SNOT techniques. The SNOT really gives this set a sleek look. Another thing I enjoyed about the build, although it was small, was the building of the engine compartment behind the cockpit. I loved when in older sets you could take out the engine of the model. It gave the set more character, and allowed more play. However this build was not without it's drawbacks. One very notable problem is the amount of stickers. There are a total of 16 (if I counted correctly), and would be very hard for a younger builder to put on. Luckily I was blessed with incredibly stable hands (I have actually considered becoming a surgeon due to this trait), and was able to put all of the stickers on nicely. The stickers don't detract from the model at all, and I especially like the white stripes on the thrusters. The cockpit stickers were necessary in my opinion, but the long side stickers could be omitted and the craft would still look great.

The completed model

The completed model looks great next to my 6212 X-Wing Fighter (I have heard great things about the new s-foil mechanism on the new one, I plan on purchasing it soon and making a comparison to the old one), and also looks good next to 4504 Millennium Falcon. I would recommend getting the Y-Wing and X-Wing before purchasing this set, as the A-Wing only appears in Return of the Jedi, while the X-Wing and Y-Wing appear in all of the Original Trilogy films. I imagine this set will look great next to the 2014 B-Wing, although I am clueless of where I'll have room for such a long fighter as that!

Overall opinion

This set looks wonderful, the stickers weren't, but it was definitely worth $25 in the end.

Pros:

3 rare minifigs

Very sleek looking A-Wing

Great design

Looks awesome next to other Rebel spacecraft

Cons:

Stickers

Overall I highly recommend this set, unless you have a mortal fear of stickers.

I got this set a few months back for my birthday, and I have to say that I love this set. I got this mainly because I currently didn't have an A-Wing for my Rebel Fleet. It is very well-designed, and it looks very sleek and beautiful next to the other ships of the Rebellion. There is one thing that irks me, however, but it isn't that detrimental to my overall opinion.

Pros

• How much better can minifigures get after such an amazing past few years? The Admiral Ackbar head is a marvel in minifigure heads, Han Solo's pants look brilliant, but the real standout here is the A-Wing pilot, whose helmet really is one of the most amazing pieces in the history of Lego.
  
• The ship is nice and sleek; it is visually a masterpiece in brick building. It's actually a bit larger than I was expecting it to be, and has a chunky, sturdy feel to it, but it still looks beautiful and accurate to the movie model.
  
• The color scheme is ideal to my tastes for an A-Wing; I could never quite enjoy the green in the Home One Calamari set, so the return to red is definitely a plus for me.
  
• Another small thing I really liked were the accessories given to each minifigure; it was a small, yet nice, touch to make it that much better.
  

Cons

• SO... MANY... STICKERS! I have counted sixteen stickers in this one $25 set. SIXTEEN! They really make the ship stand out, but they are just so dreadful to put on, and the number of them really puts you on halt.
  
• I also am not a fan of the flick-fire missiles here; like the 9492 TIE Fighter from 2012, the missiles here should have been an actual part of the ship, not something easily removable. This doesn't bother me insanely like the stickers, but it is something that I don't really like.
  
• Also, although I love all three minifigures in here, I think that I would have been happy with just the pilot in here. I know that Lego is becoming a minifigure frenzy-based company in the past few years, but Han Solo feels a little bit out-of-place to me.
  

I think that the ship here is presented on tip-top form. It's probably the best thing in this set, which is really great. The minifigs are also on top form here, but one of them in particular makes the $25 mark seem a bit extraneous to me. Either way, if you find it on sale or not, I highly recommend this set to any Star Wars fan. It is one of the best ships ever assembled.