Set #75099 Rey’s Speeder: One of a handful of Force Awakens sets that are priced reasonably, this set is ideal if you want to own Rey in Minifigure form without having any of the larger sets, which sad to say are somewhat overpriced due to reasons beyond my complete understanding. Definitely a fun set, and one that is already sold out.

Box/Instructions

Box: As with all Star Wars products over the past several years the design of the box matches the design found across all of Disney’s license holders for merchandise. You have a dark red colouring with a picture of Kylo Ren in the upper right corner. The shot on the front showcases the set very nicely, depicting a scene almost completely out of the movie.

The back shows all of the features included with the set and an all blue schematic of the real world counterpart to this LEGO model, real in the sense of course that it would look that way if it actually existed and wasn’t made of bricks. It’s a sharp design and stands out on the shelf, definitely a real eye catcher.

Instructions: Breaking up the model between the two numbered bags, the instructions are functional and include a detailed Minifigure checklist in the back for the new Force Awakens sets.

Parts

The parts in this set include a lot of nice dark maroon pieces, capturing the look of the vehicle from the Force Awakens very nicely, they also make great pieces for MOC fans, from what I’ve seen. Some of these pieces include car hood pieces and the unique spoilers used in sports cars and for some of the Speed Champions sets in dark grey.

Minifigures

Rey: Featuring a very accurate on-screen replicating print to Rey’s main outfit from the film, this Minifigure looks great. She features leg and torso printing, with the torso being double-sided. She also includes a double-sided facial print showing off two distinct expressions, happy and angry, she also gets to tote around her mentors former satchel as an accessory. (First introduced with Indiana Jones sets this satchel has seen a lot of use since then, but hey it works well so why change it.)

Her headgear is twofold, you get the wrappings and sun protecting goggles or a newly sculpted hair piece which replicates Daisy Ridley’s look in the film to a T. Her weapon, the long pole staff thing is also included, made with two lightsaber hilts in black and a rod between them. Overall the stand out minifig from the set and a big draw for fans.

Unkar’s Thug: An all grey minifig with an awesome looking chrome head piece with single-sided printing, this alien looks great, his torso is double-sided as well with a sandy rumpled looking jacket whose print goes down to the legs cutting off at the knees. His accessory is a gold crowbar, which, while not in the movie, looks great in the pearl gold colour.

The build

Bag 1: This section of the build makes the central foundation of the speeder and includes the Unkar’s Thug Minifigure. It’s an ok build and gets sturdy fairly quickly, the only really tricky parts that might get to younger builders are the placement of the technic piece used as part of the opening play feature for the side panels, which will be built in bag 2.

Bag 2: As I said above you finish with the side panels to close up the model here and finish off with the top of the vehicle, you also get Rey in this bag. Here is where the majority of the stickers are used, yes there will be stickers used for details. Actually there are a lot of stickers which some may find disappointing. The build itself isn’t too tricky here though, so there is that.

The completed model

Rey’s Speeder is a nice looking vehicle, it’s a great likeness to the on-screen counterpart which may be slightly larger in scale compared to the Minifigures due simply to the nature of the Minifigure. For play features there are two stud shooters attached to either side, and a device designed to open up the compartments to access the interior storage areas of the speeder. I’m a huge fan of this model, it’s unique and deserving of being part of the Star Wars universe.

I am not a fan of the overuse of stickers though, it is a cheaper set, however I feel that some elements should have been printed, especially the control panel, which looks ugly being a grey tile with a sticker full of red on top of it. The compact nature of the model however makes it fun to play with, and it is nice to see that they included the extra tools clipped onto the side for Rey to use.

Inside you can store spare studs for the launchers in a crate, this makes keeping track of the studs easy, and is a great idea since it means you won’t have studs just sticking on the side of the model in an ugly fashion like with some of the other Star Wars sets where spare studs are placed haphazardly on the model.

Overall opinion

An extremely well designed set. It matches the look of the on-screen counterpart quite well and features minimal play features, it also is very well priced and includes the main character from The Force Awakens in a cheap set. Definitely recommend this set as a good one with a new style and design which works well in the Star Wars universe. It’s just such a shame that it is the cheapest set out of the first wave of Force Awakens sets, the prices for Star Wars are just crazy these days, so I recommend waiting for sales on the larger stuff, but definitely grab this while you can.

Sorry in advance for my English.

Minifigures

There are 2:

-Rey- Amazing minifig. She has very nice printing, and very good accessories. There's a bag to collect junk, her stick and goggles to protect from sand. Surprisingly, she can look left and right with the goggles on. I love the shape of this mini helmet.She also has a nice hair piece.

-Unkar's Thug- He has impressive amount of details, both on the body and the head, but because of his 10-second movie appearance he's not really important. It's just a bad guy for kids to play with. I still like him though. He comes with a gold crowbar.

The build

Fast, interesting, and very enjoyable,

The completed model

Let's start with things I don't like: STICKERS!!! They're not that bad here, but still, applying them is a pain, and if you mess it up it looks Really ugly. Another thing are those stud shooters Lego forces everywhere, the don't retract That much from the look of this model, but it would look much better without them and sadly you can't take them off because there are no other pieces to cover the black studs underneath. My last complain is that the left side looks rather boring, though you can fix that with spare parts so I guess it's okay

Now the positives and, oh my, there are lots of them. I love how does this model look, it's simply gorgeous. The shape, the colors, accuracy to the film, ALL OF IT! Some say that it has a wrong color, but I think it's good, maybe one shade of red/orange off. I also like the 'junk' on the side of this speeder. I know it should be in a net, but it still looks great. There's also an awesome play-feature: opening and closing. I know this doesn't sound that awesome, but it is. You open the right or left flap bu turning the lower engine. It's hidden so well you wouldn't know about it, if someone didn't tell you (or build the set). Inside there's some space for studs(ammo) and a sand sled that Rey uses. I prefer storing her hair here, and putting the sled on the side of this flash drive.

Overall opinion

Probably the best set of the first wave of TheForceAwakens.

pros:

-Rey

-her goggles/mask

-all the details

-storage space

-playability

cons:

-Unkar's thug (BB-8 would be better)

-stickers

-ridiculous price (30$ in Poland)

75099: This was the first set I wanted from the new Star Wars release. Before I go on and talk about the set, I think the art department of Episode VII deserve to take a bow, they have done a fantastic job with the source material.

The first thing we saw was Rey powering out between a fallen X-Wing and a Star Destroyer draped over the horizon like a mountain range. I don't know if it's the ascetics of the design or the tease of the trailer but I wanted that speeder straight away. Episode VII started well. Despite being the smallest of the Ep.VII LEGO sets Rey's speeder improved on it.

I love the dieselpunk look of the machine, Star Wars always had these little nods to contemporary Earthling style - the Millennium Falcon is a flying saucer at heart, the Y-Wing and X-Wing a clear reference to the Hurricane and Spitfire - one workmanlike and scruffy the other a worrying beauty. Has anyone not looked at our 'small moon' and made out the laser dish from Copernicus crater?

I love the ascetic of the steam and dieselpunk universe, to see crossover into that other Galaxy far far away makes me tingle. We haven't seen anything yet.

Box/Instructions

The box shows Rey knocking down Ungar's Thug, I'm sure this occurs in the movie, but kicking up dust in front of a wrecked Star destroyer and this would probably have been the first LEGO box I kept for good. The back shows the lid of the scavenger box being used as a BTTF hover board, I hope we get to see that in the movie.

Parts

Two bags full of interesting colour. The dark red is a favorite of mine in LDD and I hope to see greater use of it. There are a lot of stickers and they do enhance the weather beaten look, printing would have made it exceptional. The new 1x2 stud shooters might not be entirely accurate but still add muscle to the design.

2x2 clear trans slide shoes are used to give the impression of flying. Strange then that a 2x2 dark grey inverted square is used at the back, ruins the perception. At first I thought a round slide might not have given enough stability under the tail, but I exchanged it for a spare shoe and it works fine.

Minifigures

Rey became an instant hit with my daughters, the hair, freckles and bizarrely her headscarf and goggles were the first thing they replicated with sunglasses and a shawl. They haven't seen any trailer and Star Wars means nothing to them, but I don't think I'm getting that one back.

I still think of two faced heads as new and Rey's two expressions: cross and crosser, don't show a huge range of emotion but work really well with the muscular speeder and her hard existence on Jakku.

There were enough spare parts to modify Ungar's thug. His simple golden crowbar became the cross piece for the spare shaft, and with the two spare lightsaber hilts and remaining small rim it all became a shoulder launched multi-red-1x1-stud SAM. Went together so easily from the spares I almost thought it was meant to end up like that. Looks far more menacing.

The build

Straightforward and yet interesting. It's a small set with few chances for creative methods, but for a model I intended to display the assembly process was a welcome bonus.

The completed model

I love the big front grille, the long nose and twin stacked engines. Together with the opening side panels, tools, scavenge pod, hoverboard and controls there's an awful lot going on in something no bigger than my hand.

The box art suggests Rey should be seated leaning backwards saloon style. But the film suggests a motorbike riding stance would have been more appropriate. The model works well if you push Rey as far forward as possible, but it's an opportunity for modification.

Score

I’ve decided to use Brickset’s format for continuity but will add my own LEGO standard, the 4x4 system.

The first 4 concern how many building phases you had to go through: 1) first build, according to the instructions; 2) rebuild and try to improve it; 3) rebuild because you have to improve it; 4) give up and turn it into a spaceship.

The second 4 concern how you keep it: 1) a thing of beauty, put it on display and disassemble only if absolutely necessary; 2) disassemble carefully to enjoy putting it back together; 3) disassemble to work-in improvements as required; 4) disassemble immediately and turn it into parts for a spaceship.

For example: 21108, Ghostbuster’s Ecto-1 was an almost perfect 1x1, turning 1x2; 7140, X-Wing was a fun 2x3 that turned into a 2x1; 7754 Home One was a good for parts 4x4. My system is based on the premise that even the worst set in original configuration was a good source of spares and ideas, therefore a good kick for the imagination.

Overall opinion

I love it, well priced, interesting and lovely to display. A 1x1 by my reckoning, I might see if I can't modify the seating arrangements so it could end up a 2x1.

I've waited too long to buy this set, one whole week after Force Friday!

(Gosh I have not written in English for a long time, so this review may contain some errors, please forgive me!)

Box/Instructions

The LEGO Group have a new policy about boxes, they're smaller and less deep. The instruction manual is the right size to fit in the box.

Parts

I'm not a MOC builder but I think that all these dark red pieces and rare parts I've never seen before, such as the flaps towards the back of the vehicle, could be very useful!

Minifigures

REY: nice minifig, head with little cute freckles. nice printed head, torso and legs.

THUG: he's not a main character but the minifig is really nicely done, with excellent printing all over

The build

If you're a slow builder like me (I want to enjoy the construction) it will take about half an hour. I really enjoyed this build as it uses some SNOT techniques to create an incredibly sturdy but detailed model!

The completed model

Perfect. Maybe a little oversized compared to "the real" vehicle from the movie but I really like it as it is highly detailed. It's perfect not only for display but also for play because it's very sturdy and has some cool features including the shooters, the opening hatches and a lot of tools ready to be used by the minifigs!

Overall opinion

It's a must have. If you're a child, a teen, an adult fan of LEGO or a general fan of Star Wars you will like this set.

As a very big Star Wars fan (look at all of my reviews and you'll understand), I was VERY excited for Force Friday. It has been 10 years since the last Star Wars film came out (The Clone Wars is a different discussion for a different day), and I vividly remember purchasing the Revenge of the Sith sets, which for the most part started my Lego Star Wars collection. Fast forward 10 years later,and I'm jumping up and down in my living room like a little kid again after the first trailer for The Force Awakens comes out. The speeder that Rey pilots in the first trailer really stood out to me as something that came straight out of the Original Trilogy. Honestly, if Rey wasn't piloting it, It could have been Luke riding it in Episode IV instead of the famous Landspeeder. Other than liking the design a lot, this was the cheapest Force Awakens set that they had, so it was a no-brainer for me to purchase it anyway.

Box/Instructions

Now that the rant is over, let's get started! The box was of an average size, typical for this size of set. The instruction booklet was phenomenally flat, and I don't think I have ever seen one that flat before. I am very impressed with Lego's new packaging system, and let's hope they keep it this way.

Parts

You get a rather large and attractive selection of Dark Red pieces with this set. This is great for part scavengers especially, as I do know that Dark Red tends to be a trickier color to stock up on. There were a couple of parts that I had never seen before, such as the crowbar piece and the two fins on the back, which I believe are new because I can't find them in the database.

Minifigures

This set comes with two minifigures, and luckily they don't spoil too much to the story. I feel like the past 4 months have been a constant struggle against spoilers, so this is definitely a good thing.

Unkar's Thug is the first minifigure that you build, and since I have not looked too far into it, I have no idea what his purpose/role is in the story. He looks like the cross between a Jawa, a mummy, and a Tusken Raider to be honest, and considering that he carries a crowbar I am going to assume that he is a scavenger of some sort. He is also exclusive to this set.

Rey is the other minifigure that is included, and she is far more interesting than Unkar's Thug. Her torso/legs are printed with very Tatooine-esqu garb, and she even has a knapsack, which I haven't seen since I collected the Indiana Jones sets. She comes with a helmet/head cover thing that slightlyresembles that of the Tusken Raider, and a hairpiece that is a pretty complex ponytail. I don't know much about Rey either, although she is almost definitely the female lead. I was assuming she would be the Jedi, as female Jedi were largely ignored in the saga. But according to a new movie poster, Finn, the black stormtrooper that everybody was really bothered about for some bizarre reason, appears to be the Jedi. She comes with some sort of staff thing, a blaster, a buzzsaw, and a blaster pistol which all are able to clip onto her speeder. She is also available in 75105 Millenium Falcon, although I think purchasing this set might be your better option to obtain her.

The build

I was very curious as to how Lego was going to pull off such a unique design without compromising accuracy and play functions. The first half of the build is the frame of the large motor section and the cockpit/exhaust portion. There weren't any techniques that really surprised me, at least not until the second half. The SNOTting was all done in the second half, along with the construction of the sides of the speeder. There are two clicker stud shooter things, which I have no problem leaving loaded unlike their pesky spring loaded cousins. One feature that puzzled me at first while building was a long technic axle that runs through the middle interior of the speeder, out the back, and connects to the bottom exhaust port. There is a Comb Wheel element on this axle, and when you twist the bottom exhaust port left and right, it pushes the side panels of the speeder out so you can access the supply crate. I thought this was a very interesting and fun inclusion, and it reminded me of the 75054 AT-AT hatch feature.

The completed model

There is more SNOT on this model than a 2nd grade classroom in the middle of winter, and that's a good thing. It is very sleek, yet robust looking, and is perfectly scaled to the on-screen version that we saw in the first trailer. I was hoping that the supply crate would fit Rey's hair, but there isn't enough room, so I stuffed as many of the clicker shooter studs into it as I could. There are a total of ten stickers, although none of them are very big. You could definitely get away with not putting most of them on, although I would definitely put the top three orange ones on, as it keeps the symmetry with the orange highlights on the bottom.

Overall opinion

This is definitely a great way to start off another product collection. All of the sets look very interesting to me, even if they are overpriced a bit. The one problem I have is that the only sets that look like they are meant to compliment each other are 75102 and 75101 (the orange X-Wing and the negative TIE), so there is no companion piece for this set. I doubt I will purchase the new Falcon, as 4504 still holds a very special place in my heart, and I could never shelve it in favor of the newer one. It looks very nice though, so I might consider having TWO Falcons on my shelf...

Pros:

Amazingly built

Great SNOT techniques

Solid

Much cheaper way to get Rey

Cons:

Probably should have been $15

No companion piece

Overall this is a VERY nice set, and if you don't have too much money, I would recommend getting this set before any of the others in the Force Awakens line.