You may recall us mentioning that, for some reason, series 4 of the Star Wars Planet sets have made an appearance in shops in some mainland European countries already. They are not due in the UK until August, apparently, and I don't think they are in North America yet, either (correct me if I'm mistaken).

Thankfully being in the EU enables us in the UK to bypass anomalies such as this, especially so when the European Amazons stock them. So, I ordered the two I didn't already have from Amazon.es and they arrived today.

You may also recall that when I reviewed 75010, the B-Wing from series 4 that was kindly sent to me by Ahrien a few weeks ago, I thought it was the worst Planet set ever. Surely this one was going to be better that that...

Box and contents

All Planet sets look the same inside and out and contain the same. I don't know why I bother writing this bit of the review, to be honest :-) However, look closely at the picture above and you will notice a difference: it's shrink wrapped. This is a first for me and I suspect it's been done at Amazon's request, or maybe even by Amazon, because I don't believe other shops sell them like this. It certainly helps to keep the planet protected and if you're paranoid about such things, Amazon.es would be a good place to buy them. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has found them shrink-wrapped like this.

The Minifigure

The set hasn't been inventoried at BrickLink yet so I don't know for certain that the Snowspeeder Pilot is unique but I suspect it is. To torso and legs look the same as Luke Skywalker's in 75014 The Battle of Hoth, but of course this one has a different head and helmet. Regardless, it's very nice.

The Snowspeeder

This is the first micro-scale Snowspeeder to have been made by LEGO. There was a pico-scale one in 4486 AT-ST & Snowspeeder and also 8029 Mini Snowspeeder, which was designed but never actually produced.

As you can see below, it's excellent. The nose slope is printed and everything looks right and well proportioned. My only complaint is that the black 1x2 plate used in the cockpit should have been trans-black like the 1x1 cheese wedges.

After taking these pictures I noticed that two of the four white 1x2 jumper plates used beneath the cockpit are the old style without grooves, and two are the new style with them, which I thought was a bit weird. It doesn't really notice when you look at the model normally but this photo has accentuated the difference.

The completed model

As usual, a stand is provided, with a unique printed 4x4 tile, to display the minifig and ship on. The planet looks suitably cold and icy.

Overall opinion

Series 4 of the Planets appears to have one of the worse -- the B-Wing -- and one of the best spaceships in it. This Snowspeeder is big, chunky, swooshable, looks great, and just as it should, and with the exception of the black plate issue, could not really be bettered. The minifig is nothing special, but is perfectly acceptable and appropriate for the set.

Recommended.

I hope 75011, up for review next, is as good as this.

So what's the story with this latest planet wave? Some parts are good, some aren't - yep, it's more of the same! Which is no bad thing if you liked the previous sets, but if you didn't this set isn't too likely to change your mind.

The minifigure is a big mix of annoyance that it's yet another bog-standard character.
On the one hand he's no-one specific, just the standard angry visor-down face and the used-to-be-rare-but-it-isn't-any-more blue rebel logo decorated helmet. (Remember when Dak Ralter was really rare in the Hoth hangar door set?)
But on the other the torso is superb. It's exactly the same as Luke's from the 2013 Snowspeeder set, but then that's the only other place it's turned up. The vest is redesigned, not all too different to the last version, but sharper and not quite so see-through in the white sections. The white gloves are specific to Hoth and a little annoying if you want to army build or upgrade older figures. And the legs are really terrific with straps and tubes printed on.
Curiously, his accessory is a set of sci-fi binoculars; common enough from recent battle packs, but nice to get some variety from the standard blaster.

The planet is the part that really lets the set down from my point of view. Yes, an ice planet won't have much to it, but what detail they have added looks distinctly cartoonish and leaves it seeming quite sparce and bland (and not in the way that would feel right for Hoth!). There's also a little orange splot that's on both hemispheres so it must be intended, but it does look rather odd.

The vehicle is of course the main draw of the set, and while it's pretty good I'm not completely happy with it, adding to the overall nice-but-meh sort of feel.
The printed slope for the nose is nice to have, but the grey lines down the side strangely make it look like a sticker! Whoops! Cue much misplaced sticker rage from spectators!
The overall look is quite good, the way the pods (engines?) on the wings are integrated with the guns is really nice, but closer inspection lets it down.
The wings have quite a gap to the body when they're tilted properly, probably unavoidable, but it seems lazy when you attach the wings and just tilt the down to any old angle. The instructions also aren't all that clear about where to fit the wings. Strangely you put a wing piece with clips onto the main body, and then build the wing separately and drop it on top. Surely building the whole wing and then clipping it on would have been better. I agree with Huw about the black 1x2 plate in the cockpit too, it really should be the same dark clear shade as the slopes at either end. I didn't have the same issue with the jumper plates being half-with-groove, half-without, but though I can't think what could have been done differently somehow the cockpit area just seems a bit too dull.

Pros

• Great detailing on the pilot
• Nice overall look to the snowspeeder

Cons

• Bland, cartoony planet
• Unsatisfactory feel when you get closer to the snowspeeder
• The nicely detailed pilot is just that standard, random pilot in a new jumpsuit

There's certainly no reason not to get this set if you're into the planets or a snowspeeder or Hoth fan, I'm happy enough to have it in my collection. But it's certainly not a stand-out set, it's just a bit too plain to win anyone over to the mini-theme.
The other obvious thing to mention with this latest wave is the price increase. You can hardly judge these sets value-wise as they're all the same, and even if the value is poor they're so small it doesn't matter all that much. That being said, it's hard not to resent the increase on this set when it only has 69 pieces and such a bland planet! And with the way all the previous waves are on sale price absolutely everywhere I can't quite work out why Lego added the extra £2 anyway.