Very nice set. I think it looks amazing with black and red pod and black outline wings.

The tie has two seats and two pilots — First Order Tie Pilots. Their helmets are almost completely black, and they are nearly invisible through the windows. I placed Lego Inferno Squad inside (they have custom Tie helmets) and they look much better because helmet eyes contrast with the helmet and are visible with the hatch closed.

Locking wings to the arms is a little tricky. Sometimes 4 connectors don't close correctly. I've had to remove wings centrepieces to see inside. But when the parts lock correctly, the wings are fixed nicely and don't fall off easily at all.

There are 3 hatches total — top, front and back. The front one is typical tie in translucent red. The back has a custom, which I think unique to this set — it looks very nice and might be useful in MOCs.

The cabin is only divided halfway through, upper part is open. This is for two reason: 1) to be able to put a mini through the upper hatch, 2) for the helmets to fit because minis sit only one stud apart from each other (the wall would interfere). For me, it looks rough, especially when both hatches are open, you can see through

Spring-loaded shooters are not concealed and are hard to reach — the missiles just stick out at the bottom, and it is not obvious how to shoot them with one hand. More modern sets have it solved better — like Vonreg Tie or Sith Tie

To sum up:

• (+) two seats and three nice hatches
• (+) sturdy build
• (+) Looks great
• (-) Cockpit is not separated
• (-) hard to reach spring-loaded missiles

Arguably the most recognisable Imperial and/or First Order vehicle in Star Wars is the classic TIE Fighter. At the time of release there was no Imperial option on general release, but since the release of the Solo wave, both the Imperial grey and First Order red and black colour schemes are just as easy to track down.

The TIE comes in a pretty sizable box, so when you/your child/your partner/your parent gets their hands on it, you'll know it's going to be a build to set aside some time for. In my case, as an almost fully capable adult, it took me roughly 1 1/2 hours.
As with all of the larger sets, the pieces come in a set of numbered bags (four, in this case), so you can build the TIE in stages without getting all 500ish pieces muddled together in a nightmare pile. The central part of the TIE is a very enjoyable build, with very little repetition and some clever Lego trickery to make curves from angular pieces. The cockpit roof and windows are all moulded round pieces, but the rest of the set are squares, rectangles and pyramids, so the overall rounded shape is cleverly achieved.
The wings are a nice build, although not as much fun as the cockpit, and this is where the set suffers from repetition which younger minds might find frustrating. Obviously due to the symmetrical nature of the TIE Fighter, the wings consist of two identical builds, and in fact bags 3 and 4 are both exactly the same - one bag per wing. Younger builders might find the wing construction a little tricky as well and might need an adult on hand to help them out. It's not that the wings are particularly complicated, but a couple of the instruction diagrams are a little unclear as to exactly where you're adding the pieces, turning almost into a game of spot-the-difference from the previous diagram.
For a large set, the TIE contains very few stickers, which many will find a relief. There are only four small ones, although two fit onto disc-shaped bricks, and so care should be taken to make sure they're orientated correctly.
In terms of sturdiness, the assembled fighter seems to be quite robust. There were a few stages during assembly where it felt a little wobbly in places, but once it all came together that soon passed.

The TIE doesn't feature as many interactive parts as some other ship like the X-Wing, but the cockpit opens up to insert the pilot and gunner, and there are two missile launchers beneath the cockpit for flinging small plastic projectiles across the room like a maniac.

The mini figures are probably the only letdown in this set, coming with a pair of TIE pilots, a First Order Officer and a technician. The pilots are nice, but the officer and technician seem a little run-of-the-mill. A much better idea would have been to include Poe and Stormtrooper-Finn to allow reconstruction of the Star Destroyer escape scene from early on in the film.

To summarise: A nice large set resulting in a great looking model, and good value for money. Let down slightly by an unimpressive minifigure selection.

Slowly catching up on my Force Awakens sets and I am happy to have gotten the revised version of the First Order TIE Fighter. How has this set held up and what if anything does the revision add to the mix?

Packaging and Parts:

We get a very tall box, so tall in fact I could hardly fit it into my softbox. It depicts a scene over a desolate world with the set's main vehicle flying above and discharging some laser bolts.

The back of the box shows off the cool holographic spec sheet of the vehicle, as well as, what comes in the box for the figures and our vessel. This is mixed in with other shots of the TIE in other situations.

Inside we will find a manual with a small sticker sheet and 4 bags.

For parts we do not get anything spectacular but I do like the three printed canopy pieces. Each one is different and they are simply amazing.

Your left over bits will include the usual pins and one by one studs but we also get a pair of roller skates in black which could be useful for other themes or other detailing.

The Minifigures:

This set comes with 4 figures and they are all excellent to have if you are amassing a First Order fleet of ships or just need First Order personnel in general. We get one First Order Crew member which has been seen in a few sets already and one officer. The officer seems to be an older fellow with graying hair and a dark tan skin tone. I love his prints but really like his First Order cap with the faction's logo right in the center.

The highlight figures though are the TIE Fighter pilots. They have that nice sleek design to their outfits and the helmet moulding is amazing. Of note is the hose piece that extends from the right nozzle of the helmet to their chest respirator. Another indicator that the TIE runs on a minimal life support system in the cabin. Though that does raise questions about certain scenes in the film when folks pilot this thing without said gear. Either way though, these guys look great.

The Build:

The build is not complicated, and in fact, the pieces are very common pieces except for the printed canopies. Nothing was surprising and there is very little technic involved. It is a straight on brick built set and it works very well here.

However, as noted in my title and my intro this is the revised version of this set. Somewhere along production LEGO changed a small part of the build and added more pieces to the set. It now clocks in a bit over 530 pieces I believe and the alterations were made to the radiator assembly. In particular where the radiators connect to the hull of the TIE.

I am not certain why this changed at all since the connection method remains the same as the unrevised version but the framing that encases this point of the build sure is beefier as a result. I wonder if some of these were coming loose around the frame or preventing the clips from attaching fully since the build would rub up right up to the slats on the hull.

Still it was an enjoyable experience perhaps more so by the fact that this is only the 2nd TIE I have ever built, my first being last year's TIE Advanced.

The Completed Model:

The finished model looks amazing. The red and black color scheme really make this thing pop along with the lighter grey radiator paneling. While I wish that color was lighter the ship, nevertheless, looks amazing.

Though the revised version does make the radiator connection point look far too bulky. The first version's certainly looks more accurate to the in-movie vehicle than this. Despite that it adds great presence to any First Order fleet and is a must have if you love TIE fighters.

I also modified the sitting arrangements for my pilots since the official build only had them on 2x2 tiles. I made mine to sit on a 1x2 grill piece and a 1x2 plate piece.

Overall:

All tolled this thing is fantastic. The ship and its pilots are great to have and its size is perfect for swooshing. Though I cannot compare it to the original version I would say this revision is 99% the same and I don't quite see why a revision was required. But either way getting a TIE is fun. It looks great on the shelf and the twin spring loaded shot make for fun strafing of Resistance positions.

My only beef is the price. Though I did notice a lot of very large pieces for the radiators I am not sure they add up to the price I got this for. If you can find this for a good price still go for it. Your First Order army and navy will thank you!

*ladder not included in set*

Just a quick review...

This TIE fighter looks amazing. The red inserts are really nice and the way it is built is really clever I think.

The only issue is the price.. I think it's too much just comparing it to the other Republic vehicles of the same price band (in terms of size, action figures, etc...)

But it's so cool!

First Order Tie Fighter from Star Wars Force Awakens. .

Box/Instructions:

Striking box, which stands out on the Shelf, Kylo Ren looking on in the top right corner, The now standard action shots on the back of the box. Nice compact instruction booklet, gone where the days of the big books or even sheets. Instructions are easy to follow. I've not noticed this before but my instructions came sealed in a bag with the stickers, I can't remember this with other new sets but I may of missed this.

Parts:

This set is 517 pieces. Plenty of Black and Grey, there is lovely addition of red into to the set which breaks the colour, The 2 pilot screens and cockpit cover are a nice size and add to the set really well.

Minifigures:

There are 4 figures in the set, 2 Pilots, Ground Crew and First Officer, all members of the First Order. The First Officer is in what I would class as imperial grey, but nice to see a different colour tone used on the head piece. The 2 pilots have great helmet pieces, with oxygen tubes added which go down to rest on there torso. The Ground Crew figure has an excellent helmet, which is styled and matches from the movie excellently. I like the fact that we do not have the "Stud" guns for the figures and the actual blasters, which I personally prefer, although my son prefers the stud guns.

The build:

You build the cockpit and main body first then the wings are last, The build is relatively straight forward, The wings are constructed well and are very sturdy. The instructions for the wings are repeated. There is one wing each in the last 2 bags in the pack, if you wanted to you could build both wings at the same time. There is use of some stickers but these add to the effects on the star fighter. The fighter also comes with 2 Spring Shooters.

The completed model:

Once complete you can fit both Pilots in the cockpit facing outwards one front and one back, My only downside is the fact that the pilots sit on 2x2 tiles and not on studs, so the pilots are not secure, this seems to becoming more popular with sets which I am not a fan off, You could if you wanted swap the tiles for studs if you have the pieces available.

Overall opinion:

The First Order have improved a 30+ year old model from the Empire and this is reflected in the Lego Set, I like it, it looks good, and it goes really well with Poe's X-Wing (75102) It reflects the movie very well indeed.