This one is a really detailed one forthe size. The choice for them not wanting to buy the largest one. Not to difficult build either.

So after many "Friends" and "Disney" purchases for my nieces, I started looking at sets for myself again. I played with Lego until I was about 14yo (some 22 years ago) and little did I know that my nieces (sis and bro in law lol) had purchased this set for me for Christmas 2014. This is my first SW set and I suppose my first set again, I have no comparisons to other models of this and mini figures, so please bare with me while you read this review.

Box/Instructions

It is quite a large box, one of the biggest I saw sitting on the shelves when shopping for my nieces Lego, but I guess when I compare it to the sets I bought for them it would be about the right size. When I opened it and saw all the pieces I must admit I felt a little overwhelmed. There are three booklets of instructions and a sticker sheet.

Parts

When I first opened the box and poured out the contents I did feel overwhelmed. I never really got into the Lego Technic series when I was younger so most of these parts were new to me - all the pins etc. As you would expect, most of the parts are of the grey variety.

They came in 16 plastic bags, which is probably what gave me a daunting feeling.

Minifigures

You get a total of 6 mini figures in this set, and I thought they all looked pretty cool. There is a mouse droid and a holographic image of the Emperor which I also really like.

The build

The build was extremely enjoyable for me. To enjoy it more I built this set over three days, taking a slow pace of 7 hours, but like I previously mentioned, I am new again and wanted to prolong the build time for my enjoyment.

It was fairly repetitive being a symmetrical model of course, the bulk of the ship is either a left side or right side then attach to the main skeleton.

The completed model

I think it looks fantastic either closed or open. The size is good, it is about as long and wide as the box it came in, but you cant really compare the size of a ship to mini figures (can you??). Again I can't compare it to previously released versions.

The ship feels extremely rigid and I thought the handle was a good touch. The gun turrets on either side are also pretty cool, they racks themselves can be moved front to back and the barrels can be individually positioned. I was surprised also by the missile launcher parts, they shoot extremely well, but don't point them at anyone.

Overall opinion

I think this is a great model, looks good either opened or closed. You would need a large-ish shelf to display it on however, especially if you were to have it open upon display.

I have to confess, the only other Star Destroyer I own is 8099, the delightful but very small midi-scale effort. So I can't say from experience that this is the best Star Destroyer, but 6211 was hideous with its open fronted bridge and visible framework, and 10030 is famously fragile with its magnet system. Those faults apart, this model looks so much more coherent and well scaled according to the aesthetic I nearly always mention from the 8038 AT-STs.

This is a beast of a set, but next to the Sandcrawler and the Super Star Destroyer it somehow feels more attainable than the other mammoth sets. In fact for the same price as the last Falcon this should prove a popular set.

Box/Instructions

The box is the standard large size used for most bigger sets and is bigger than I expected with the other releases this wave being more compact, but of course it deserves it! The instructions are over three books and so come in a plastic sleeve, which mercifully means the sticker sheet is protected.

I did find the instructions a little patronising to start with. Keeping things simple for younger builders is good of course, but the first step is selecting one piece, the next is selecting another and putting them side by side, and the third puts one more piece on top of them. That ridiculous start didn't fill me with confidence but it did pick up pace, and though I would have liked a faster pace (this is a large set after all) I can't complain, it's not too bad.

Parts

You won't be surprised to find a good amount of Technic and a lot of grey plates, and I can't quite understand how this set could be marked down for that given what it's meant to be. Given that the part selection was actually quite good, a lot of the still new to me 3x3 plates, some of the 2x2 inverted tiles, the parts that make up the rotating guns, a host of clips and hinges, and a good variety of sizes in the other obligatory parts.

Minifigures

For a group of Imperial troops in shades of grey this selection of minifigures is actually pretty good and varied.

Darth Vader is a great figure as I think in all the sets I have I still only have 4, though again it should be noted he's in a £100+ set. The printing is excellent and the leg printing is an improvement on previous versions. The biggest difference is his head which is in light tan and has generated a little discussion on what colour Vader's skin actually was. If you are happy with this shade (and presumably this is an Episode IV set so actually who's to say it's not right?) it's a great head, especially with a little printing on the back that are a good representation of the scars you see briefly in ESB.
I do have to say though, regardless of how accurate it may or may not be, having such a light colour visible between the helmet edge and his shoulders always bugs me. That's been a bugbear of mine ever since Stormtroopers lost their black head though (Boba Fett too), so it's hardly new, but I still think it's a shame.

The Stormtroopers are slightly mixed. The helmets are great with very clear and crisp printing, though I wonder if it's crossed a line and is starting to look a little too stylised and cartoonish. The torsos are well printed in keeping, but the glaring error of the leg printing that hit the Cantina Sandtroopers is here, with the printing cutting off before the knee pad design is finished. Why TLG changed the design from the Droid Escape legs where the knee pads were perhaps a little high, but the whole design could be printed I don't know. Maybe the scale is better now, but the unfinished edge is embarrassing and surely a hardly noticeable scale issue is worth the trade off.

The officers are really good and nice to have. The hats are the same on both and look brilliant with just the tiny silver dot in the centre. The more junior officer in light grey has great printing all over his body and has a good concerned looking head with a microphone, and the dark grey officer has only torso printing, but the fantastic mutton chops make him a superb figure, reminding everyone of the very 70s and 80s haircuts they had long, long ago in that far, far away galaxy.

And the Death Star Trooper is good as he has been since the TIE Fighter set he first appeared in with this helmet. He's got the same printed legs that just about every black Imperial figure has had this year, and a face that has appeared on an Imperial officer before, but not on this particular one, and so all 6 figures are NEW!... just! ;)

There's also a mouse droid (surely the cutest brick build droid ever and still appearing after all these years) and a truly fantastic holographic Emperor in micro scale. The minifig selection seems perhaps a little small, but these are nice little inclusions and with them included it seems a like a fair selection.

The build

As such a large build it was always going to be hard work, being entirely symmetrical (except for the superfluous cavern-not-quite-filling interior) I knew it would get wearing, and I've already mentioned that the pace of the instructions is frustratingly slow to boot. The brilliant points where modules attach and the skeleton instantly becomes fleshed out do offer a good amount of reward to offset all of that, but I did still feel a little bored towards the end.

What the build really has going for it is its simplicity. I didn't notice all that many nice techniques given the size and shape of the model, and reflecting on it that means it's actually very impressively designed! The way the main bodywork folds into place is fantastic, and putting the rotating guns together is really pleasing when you work out how all the various parts contribute to the mechanism.
For lovers of SNOT and technical building the bridge section does have some nice plates, angles and very elegantly side-mounted pieces. And for lovers of greebles there aren't many until late on but when they come they come in bucket loads!

I suppose what I enjoyed most of all was how I was reminded of 8099 throughout (particularly with the greebles), but fulfilling all its potential at this larger scale.

The completed model

Particularly given the deficiencies of previous models this set comes up trumps. I didn't like the look of the front of the bridge in any of the photos, but in the, er, brick, it's not as empty and fragmented as I thought, so the main fault of 6211 is well avoided, and in stark contrast to 10030 this set feels really solid.

The way it sits and looks is really great, and I don't know what others think but I really like the flat bottom that lets you set it down without worrying about it sitting on a point, or needing a bar coming down from the front. It does make it sit a little low next to other ships I'm displaying but I guess I just need to give it a stand. And though that means it won't have the bottom detail of the massive round whatever-it-is and the docking bays I don't think that's a huge loss given how awkward playing with is upsidedown would be and how nothing is the right scale to dock with it anyway.

The chunkiness and coherence of the look is, I think, fantastic. The upper section is strangely loose to move around a little, but the way it sits inside the main bodywork sunken down just a little and the way the body panels fold together tightly look really great. The top section looks imposingly solid too, and every detail works together well.

One thing that's a first for me is the carry handle, and it is integrated really well into the model, barely visible when it's tucked away, and is very solid and very close to the ship's centre of gravity. It makes it very easy indeed to hold and move. The ship tilts ever so slightly forward on it, and though it's pretty heavy I think it's just about swooshable. In fact, being the hulking juggernaut it is, having to swoosh it slowly and steadily is pretty true to the ship!

The one thing that disappoints me a little is the interior when the ship is opened up. Pulling the top section off and folding out the main panels is very easy indeed and is actually quite fun, but I can't imagine anyone but the youngest of kids will ever really want to. The area at the front with a walkway over engineer's pit area is really poor considering how good the section in the Super Star Destroyer is, just a little raise part and some stickered pieces on the side frame.
And the area at the back is just pathetic! It looks lost in such a cavernous space, and the rotating gun holder is a bit of a joke.
Saying that, the elements themselves are very nice. The tiny hologram of the Emperor (belongs in an ESB set, no? Great to have though!) and the Death star graphic (any kind of graphic on a trans panel is always welcome for me!) are good things to have, but they came straight out of mine and into a vignette I have where they look like they belong and can be seen.

(I've not mentioned the flick fire missiles - they are what they are, good, but of limited value in such a large ship, though not unusable with it being slightly swooshable. And the carry handle makes using and aiming them difficult, but possible where it wouldn't be at all if you couldn't hold it one handed.)

Overall opinion

There were a few niggles, but really they fade to nothing faced with all the set's triumphs. It's a huge and bulky set, but all looks right and together unlike previous clumsy versions. Most importantly it is solid and easy to hold, move, open up and display. I'm delighted I bought it and I think that actually this will satiate my longing for the still unattainable Super Star Destroyer. I imagine if you own 10221 then this set is a must have, and maybe the only question is how many you buy!

I was at the LEGO store with a truck load of cash, then I noticed a new star destroyer, I was sceptical because I didn't want to buy a set that was £119.99 (Or $129.99 in America), but I was pleasantly surprised.

Box/Instructions

Box: The box states that there is a poster & spring-loaded shooters inside.

Age: 9-14.

Set number: 75055.

Instructions: I don't know if this is the instruction's fault, but I had to keep going back to find where pieces I missed went, it might just be the build time that makes me miss pieces. They also got rid off that annoying kid on the back of the instructions.

Parts

Some of the good pieces are the Palpatine hologram, the spring-shooter & spring-shooter ammo. There's also a lot of grey plates.

Minifigures

The first & most important of the figures is Darth Vader. Vader has new torso printing which is more detailed than the previous versions released. He has leg printing which I think has been way overdue. He also has new head printing.

The only figure that this set includes multiple of, is the Stormtrooper. He's got new helmet and torso printing which is not that much more detailed than the most recent version. His legs have got printing which is a step-up from the last one which didn't even have any.

The Imperial officer is more than a plain officer, he's the guy that question the force in a new hope. He has an exclusive head piece & torso. He is the only figure in this set not to have leg printing.

Next up it's the Imperial crew. He uses the new imperial figure head with a headset. His hat, torso & legs have an exclusive print. There are two versions of his head, one with a calm look on his face and another with a worried look.

The Imperial navy trooper uses a different version of the head used on the imperial crew. His helmet is only included in this set, the TIE fighter & the Ewok village. His torso and leg pieces are exclusive to this figure.

You might not include the Mouse droid as a figure but I'll talk about it anyway, wait a sec, there's nothing to talk about it's so boring.

The build

The build is fairly challenging. It blends system & technic which makes it very interesting. It is the normal style of building you have come to expect with most LEGO star wars sets.

The completed model

The completed model is larger than I expected even though if it was smaller it would be a stretch for the amount of money paid.

The cockpit area is cleverly build using hinges holding slopes to make it have more shape than just using a square piece. The window is a sticker sadly like most of the detailed parts in this set.

The engines are nicely detailed with the very fitting blue weapon barrels as the light coming from it.

This set includes the "new spring-loaded shooters". If you push the long green part of it down it will shot out the ammo which are very easily lost,

but there's a solution, the back of the cockpit opens up to reveal two more pieces of ammo if you lose any of the others which you will probably do.

You might notice this but there is black area on the back of each side of the ship, if you pull one of these...

it will move these canons which I think uses a very good technique, but I won't be able to explain it to you.

If you lift up a handle you can use it for playing or transporting the star destroyer, although it might be to heavy for some people.

If you pull this section of the star destroyer to the tip of the vehicle it will reveal the inside of the ship.

You can reveal more by pulling the sides of the ship down.

This part of the ship has swiveling chairs & ship controls.

The inside also has a stand for the Palpatine hologram. You can see a screen showing the death star which also has a cup for some reason or another.

I presume this thing is a gun rack, but don't quote me on that.

Overall opinion

I would recommend this to anyone who loves the original trilogy & has enough money to even buy this thing.

Box/Instructions

Box is a sturdy cardboard that stands up to wear pretty well. When I bought mine, I kept it in the trunk of my car for a few days and it didn't seem to get banged up at all despite my commute. I was also happy to see that the instruction booklets (there are 3 of them total) were shrink wrapped to some cardboard, to keep them flat and undamaged.

Parts

There's a ton of pieces in this set. You can't see it from the BrickSet pictures, but the inside piece (underneath the bridge) is all technic pieces in order to give the structure some form and to make it easy to pick up. It hides well, but there is a little handle that comes out to give you some leverage on the set.

The parts themselves are almost all exclusively blue/grey (this is a star destroyer, of course!) and with over 1,300 pieces there is a fair amount of variety. If you're looking to put this on display or break it down and use for parts, I think this is a good value.

Minifigures

It says there are 7 minifigures in this set, but there are technically only 6. One of the minifigs brickset refers to is a mouse droid, which can be put together from regular lego parts if memory serves me correct. I enjoy building out my Imperial fleet, and picking up Imperial Officers was definitely nice. Stormtroopers are fairly generic, but I don't think you can ever have enough of them hanging around!

The build

I am a fairly experienced builder, and over the course of 2 nights this set took me somewhere between 4 and 5 hours. The parts are separated by bags, of which there are around 10. If I had more time on my hands I would've dumped all the parts into a bin and done the build "old school", but as it was my first large build since getting back into Lego after a few years I opted to go bag by bag.

The build was fun, and I especially liked seeing how the model took shape over time. One thing that I did find disappointing was the amount of detail the Lego designers would go into, just to completely cover up. For instance, where the main gun sets are there are areas that during the build you go and put many grills and clear/red studs in. After you put those all done, you slap a grey plate over them and can only see the outer edge. It seemed like a cheap way to up the parts count for something you literally cannot see. I did appreciate the level of thought and detail put into it, I just wish it was more visible somehow.

The completed model

The model wasn't as large as I expected due to the box size and online photos, but was still pretty big. I think the model does a wonderful job at matching what the films portrayed as the might of the Imperial Navy. The interior of the model is quite nice and well thought out, and the banks of guns move with a piece that sticks out the rear. My favorite part of the completed build are the engines in the back, as they are very unique and look wonderful.

Overall opinion

If you're a Star Wars fan, this model is a must have for your collection. The MSRP on it is a little high in my opinion, but it's fairly easy to find these sealed for much less (I got mine for about $16 USD less as it was on sale at Target at the time; I've since seen it on Amazon and other retailers for around the same price). If you can get it on sale, I wholeheartedly recommend picking one up!