I'm a long time fan of the Galactic Empire, Return of the Jedi is my favourite Star Wars film, and I love Lego, so getting hold of the Imperial shuttle was a must for me! For a long time it was the centrepiece of my Lego Star Wars collection, but the UCS Star Destroyer has claimed that spot for the forseeable future.

As far as builds go it's very in-depth and detailed, with 6 numbered bags which otook me, as an adult, roughly 3 hours to build. If bought for children on the younger end of the age range (or even younger still!) then adult assistance will probably be required in a couple of places. That being said, it's an extremely rewarding build, and it feels fantastic when you first start attaching the fin and wings, bringing that iconic shape together.
There's a relatively small amount of repetition in the build, which will please the younger crowd - the only mirror builds are the two wings, both of which are surprisingly basic and quick to assemble. For the size of the set there's also a surprisingly low sticker count of half a dozen, most of which are part of the interior detailing.
The shuttle's a very sturdy model once assembled. I have to admit I was worried about the top fin being a little fragile as it's a tall and thin structure, but it's pinned in several places, and the entire thing holds together well.

As far as playtime goes, the model has a lot going on. The cockpit opens up, as do the side hatches, giving enough room to house all 5 minifigures plus a couple of supply crates and spare missiles. The missiles themselves are fired from a clever little push-button mechanism on each hinge. The shuttle's multiple lasers can all be moved, the landing gear lowers and then folds back into the base of the ship, and then of course the wings fold up and down for either flight or landing mode. There's enough to keep a grown man entertained, so it should certainly be enough to keep younger minds happy!

The only real downside is that it would have been nice to include some way to display the shuttle with the wings folded out in flight position, but this can be rectified by diving into a spare bricks box and getting creative, or picking up one of the many acrylic stands available on eBay.

The minifigure selection is very nice. You get Han Solo and Princess Leia, both of which have reversible heads with different expressions. Of course Han wouldn't be ready for action without Chewbacca, and then there are a pair of generic Rebel troopers to back up our intrepid heroes! On a personal note I would have liked the inclusion of Luke Skywalker, and maybe even an Imperial Scout Trooper, but I certainly can't complain at the group provided!

All in all, it's a good lengthy build, a very detailed and stunning looking model, and a great selection of minifigures. Fantastic set.

Box/Instructions

The booklet is quiet big (158 pages), as you can expect for a 900+ pieces set.

Parts

With no surprise, most parts are white and light grey. There are a lot of Technic pieces (mostly pins) to build the wings mecanism, to maintain the vertical wing, and to set the cockpit. The ship comes with a yellow creates with thermal detonators, a backpack, two blaster rifles, two blaster pistols, one crossbow, and one cookie !

Minifigures

The paradox of the set is that this imperial shuttle comes with rebels minifigures. Of course, this makes sense in the way the set represents a scene from RotJ, where the heroes use a stolen shuttle to land on Endor. Although I'm collecting imperial forces, I think the minifigures choice is interesting : three of them are main characters (Han Solo and Princess Leia with Endor Outfit, and Chewbacca), and the two others are exclusive rebels soldiers. I don't like the one with a strange smile (it supposed to be beard, but its color is almost the same as the skin, it's confusing), but the printing of every minifigure is highly detailed.

The build

It took me almost three hours to build the ship. It uses a lot of interesting technics, such as the way the panels are connected to the vertical wing. The cockpit uses the SNOT technic to recreates the distinctive imperial shuttle "face" in a very clever way. Even if there are a lot a white pieces, It's not a hard set to build and the instructions are really clear.

The completed model

The set recreates perfectly the Tydirium shuttle. There are room for two minifigures in the cockpit, instead of four in the movie, but it's enough in my opinion.

I see only one problem : the short landing gears. It has two positions, but there is almost no difference when you lay the ship with the lading gears folded or unfolded. The consequence is you won't see the iconic ramp when opened (and this ramp takes a lot of space in the ship, so I'm considering to let it closed and add two or three seats on it). And you can't compeletly unfold the wings when the ship is on its landing gears.

Overall opinion

One of the best Star Wars set I got so far. It will please Star Wars fans as it's an accurate representation of an iconic ship of the Empire, but it also as a good play value with the minifigures, the moving wings and moving panels.

I am not a huge collector but among my sets are several tie-fighters, x-wings, mid-size millennium falcon, large and magnificent Tantive 4, large Slave I and even UCS R2-D2 along other 11,000+ pieces, reason why I consider myself something like a progressed novice. Please bear that in mind because I am going to say some serious things about this model.

Box/Instructions

Large box, sturdy, it made it OK after overseas shipment, I didn't touch the instruction booklet as I got used to pdf instructions on a tablet. Instructions are clear enough for a straightforward build except for the feet design I comment on down below.

Parts

I was unsure of this set since it has so many white pieces but it does provide a great mixture of technic and standard pieces.

Minifigures

Lovely minifigs, nice paint and represent the scene well enough, for some reason I don't like the new chewbacca as much as the classic / unpainted one.

The build

Okay folks this is my first review ever and the build section of this set is the whole reason why I am here today. In my humble opinion, the design of this set is just superb in so many aspects.

First of all it is amazingly strong.

Second, It is incredibly accurate considering the piece count, with the exception of the cockpit, but the designers balanced towards playability there and I appreciate that. I must admit that there is some serious engineering behind the design of this vessel, and being an engineer myself, it deserves all my respect.

I saved the best for last: I do feel this is the most exciting build I have ever gone through. The way everything comes together is very engaging and entertaining from the first to the last piece. It is beautiful at the same time.

Every major section of this model is worked individually and then assembled in a clever way. I was WOWed several times during this build, and by the end I was inevitably in love with the design. I would have never anticipated that such a monochrome model was going to be so much fun to build. Hats-off to the designers: outstanding.

The completed model

I can't stop looking at this ship every day (yes, it made it as a permanent ornament in my home office). I play every once in a while with it, and I would say it's the only ship on my fleet that gets to be played with. It's like a magnet to humans.

Everything that should move moves: wings, door, cockpit, side doors, landing gear. No matter what angle you look at it from, no matter if it is in flight or landing mode, it's just beautiful and accurate.

** One piece from the cannon was missing, LEGO promptly replaced the part with an apology letter, so no worries there.

**There is one small detail I felt it could be improved: It seems to me that the landing feet are placed in the wrong position against the landing arms both in the manual and also in every photo I've seen. I made my own design choice and snapped both feet at the very edge of the L-shaped landing arm as opposed to what the instructions state. As a result, both feet retract deeper into the ship and also provide better balance when the ship lands on them. I like to think the designers did that on purpose only to provide an even better building experience.

Overall opinion

I am so glad I went for this model, the highlight within my collection. If you are on the fence with this set, grab your money and get it. That's my overall opinion.

I love this set. Its great in so many ways.

Box/Instructions

The box of this set is really big. The box is very square like rather than the normal rectangle shape and this box is very thick. It shows the shuttle flying over Endor, with some explosions in the background. You can see the second Death Star behind the shuttle.It has the 2015 Stormtrooper logo in the top right corner. On the back of the box it shows us some of the play features the set has and some nice comic style pictures on the right side.

There is one instruction manual to the set an it is quite thick.

Parts

There are 937 parts to this set, and they are divided into 6 bags. The parts to this set are great. The value of price per part is good. There are not too many stickers to the set, 5 in total. I like the inclusion of thermal detonators but i'm not quite sure why they have an orange piece on the bottom of it.

Minifigures

The minifigures of this set are great and highly detailed. The set contains 5 minifigures. They are Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Han Solo and two rebel troopers with different prints.

• Princess Leia has bluish grey legs, a belt and a jacket printing for a torso with a pale yellow texture for the arms. The print continues over to the back, where she has a belt. Her face has two expressions, one with a smirk and the other with an angry face. Her hair piece has been seen before and it is a dark brown hair piece with a hole in the top. To Finish her off, she has a camo poncho to go over the top of har torso, and she is equipped with a blaster pistol and the food she feeds to Wicket. (That is a cool addition)
• Chewbacca is the same as in the droid gunship set. His legs have some detailing for fur and his torso is left blank in a dark brown colour. This is okay because he has a head and torso piece with an amo belt detailing and more detailing for a face with some lighter colour fur on it. The amo belt continues onto the back. He is equipped with his bowcaster.
• Han solo is an amazing figure in this set. His legs are dark brown with an olive green coat continued onto the legs. His torso shows his black and white cloths with his olive green jacket over the top. The jacket is continued onto the back with some small detailing. He has two expressions, one with a slightly concerned face, and the other with a smirk/smile. His hair piece is the same as it has always been. Han is equipped with a blaster pistol.
• The Endor reblel troopers are my favorite minifigures in this set. They both have the same olive green legs with some pocket detailing on them. The first ones torso is bluish grey with a dark tan jacket over the top. The second figure has an olive green jacket whick blends perfectly into the legs. Their prints continue onto the back where they have some small detailing. Also the belts are split in half between the legs and the torso. (Awesome.) Neither of these figures have alternate faces although they are still detailed well. Im not quite sure what is going on with the first one. It looks like he has some facial hair covering his mouth. the second one has an ordinary looking face, nothing too special to it. The cas look really good. They are dark tan with a green stripe. They are both equipped with a standed blaster.

I think the minifigures are great in this set. What I wish The set had was an Endor camo Luke. Im pretty sure we only got one of them in an old set. 1999 or something.

The build

The built to the set was average, it wasn't too interesting. The main pointy thing on the top of the ship (I don't know what its called) is made so well. It is so strong. When I heard people say this I beleived them but I never knew it would be this strong. If I wobble it by the pointy thing It will not break, and I even feel confided picking it up from the pointy thing. (Note do not hold at the top as the point thing will break. Hold from the middle instead.)

The completed model

The completed mode looks great. The cockpit has space for two minifigure, three if you cram them in. The troop area is well detailed with a nice access to the interior. I would have liked it if you could access the interior better but that might detract from the stability of he set. The wings have a cool feature to them to move down. It would be so cool if they could move together. There are two spring loaded shooters to the set. As much as I hate these shooters, they are hidden so well in this set that I actually like them. You get 4 shots in total with storage space ror two in the troop area.

Overall opinion

Such a great set. Its so hard to point out floors in a great set and so far I cant find any major floors. I just with we got an Endor camo Luke.

In China LEGO Star Wars forum, one common word always talked by some senior collectors is:" Always wait and buy UCS, LEGO will provide every space shuttle/ship UCS version eventually." And in fact I choose 75094 instead of 10212 not only 10212 is deadly expensive and hard to find, but also limitation of space in my cabinet.

Box/Instructions

Comparing with other sets with similar bricks, The box of 75093 is nearly square while other old sets are rectangle. The box is not large, about half of 75055(Imperial Star Destroyer).

Parts

Not like other sets of LEGO Star Wars, briefly large amount of the parts is in white. You could not imagine that after you finished Imperial Star Destroyer and AT-AT, when you see these white parts. You are excited and even want to finish it right now.

Minifigures

5 person, like other reviews say. I'm a little disappointed that there is no Darth Vader and Luke. This is understandable that it need to has some difference with 10212.

The build

Not hard to build it. About 2 hours done. The duplicate parts are not a lot so it's enjoyable.

The completed model

Actually I don't want but still need to compare, in detail comparing, 75093 is not in the same level with 10212 who is the UCS and the most strength is in detail. In my opinion, the biggest strength in 75093 is playability! Smart design makes the model true to reality. Expandable wings/Gear down/Open the door/Fire in the hole. It only has less than 1000 bricks.

Overall opinion

I can not understand why LEGO do not import this set to China(The price list of LEGO in China is very higher than other country). China local dealers resell this set from other country and mark it higher than 200 USD which make me dead firstly. In the end, we find our own way to buy it directly in Amazon US or Europe.

I think this set is perfect to a very large number of players in China. Most of them know Star Wars just from the force awakens. They download EP1-EP6 to their PC and start to love Star Wars. The price of this set is acceptable, playability is high, so as my title says it is an exciting set to start on the Star Wars road in LEGO.

p.s. The price of several Star Wars sets doubled even tripled in last one year in China......