So I picked this up at a garage sale because it was hard to pass up a ship of this size for only $30. I had no idea what the ship was and I kind of just assumed it was from the prequel trilogy. Well I was wrong, turns out it is from a Lego cartoon show that I’ve never seen, but that hardly matters because it looks great and is designed flawlessly.

Disassembly

So the ship was built when I bought it, so naturally I had to take it apart so I could build it myself. Never have I had such a difficult time taking apart a Lego set. Taking it apart was a puzzle in itself and was definitely the most difficult part of the build. A handful of bricks can be easily removed, but the structure of the ship (which is the vast majority of it) is built with so much redundancy that I feel fairly confident this would actually survive in outer space. Let’s just say that this probably isn’t a set that you are going to want to take apart and rebuild again and again.

Assembly

Obviously if disassembling the ship is impossible, assembling it won’t be easy either. Well the instructions are very easy to follow, although in my opinion many of the steps are out of sequence forcing you to squeeze parts in to very tight spaces. Not to mention, a handful of bricks are very difficult to snap together. This is not a build for little kids, it is a little bit frustrating at times and requires patience and dexterity.

The ship is perfectly symmetrical, so everything is done twice, but it does not feel repetitive. Only the wings are really repetitive, but they are very complex and mirrored, so while you’ll be able to fly through the second wing, it still is a lot of fun.

The Model

The ship is incredibly sleek and looks amazing. Even better, the cockpit is large enough to fit 3-4 minifigures with plenty of legroom for them. There are stickers, but they really do look great, nothing cartoonish about them. Of course I’d prefer printed bricks, but at least these stickers are justifiable as they are major design details only and look great.

Playability

As for play features, the ship is rather lacking in these. Yes, the battering ran flips over, but there is nothing smart about it. I would have loved if pushing something in the back caused it to flip, but all you get is a tiny lever immediately adjacent to it, so don’t expect to learn any engineering from it. After that, it has 2 missiles, but nothing to activate them with, you just need to push them down themselves. And the cockpit top simply comes off, it has no moving parts. But what saves this ship is it’s incredibly strong and easy to hold making it very easy to fly with one hand (two for a child). This is not something that you usually find in sets of this size, so I really do like this aspect of it a lot.

Extras

The minifigures look nice, but who are they? I suppose if you watch the show you know them, but if you only watch the movies then you’ll be scratching your head. There is a stormtrooper but I can’t understand why, is he just randomly floating through space waiting to get clobbered by a battering ram? You also get a little service car which seems rather unnecessary. It can’t fit into the ship (there is no storage space) and is overly simple and undersized when compared to the ship. This in my opinion should have been a polybag.

Overall

It would be hard to justify paying full price for a ship and minifigures that no one knows. Plus the price per brick is really outrageous. While my son does watch Lego cartoons, he has not seen this one yet, and the build is way too difficult for a little kid. But it looks great and definitely looks like Star Wars, so if you are looking for a large ship to fly around the house, this is your ship. It is 100 times easier to fly than a Millennium Falcon, but of course it lacks all the great interior space of those sets. I like it, and if you can find one cheap, definitely pick it up!

Summary

With this set entering retirement and still being on my wishlist, it was time to go and get it. Underneath what seems to be a fairly bland exterior, there is a nice bit of construction going on. One ends up with quite a big, swooshable spacecraft. It is fairly easy to handle, though arguably slightly large for smaller children - they will definitely need two hands. Adults with fairly large hand can fly this set around with one hand. The internal Technic structure is nicely covered up. There are five minifigures, four three of them quite nice, the rest more common. The big issue - arguably - for many could well be that this spacecraft is not part of the (semi-)canonical Star Wars Universe. That said, it is still a spacecraft that in its design fits in very nicely with the canonical vehicles. Overall, IMHO it is a good set, with a reasonable price - especially for a Star Wars set this size.

Build experience

Overall this quite enjoyable build took me about 2 hours to finish.

The build starts with building up the small support vehicle, and then constructing the Technic core of the spacecraft. Next up are the ram, the wings, and then finally the engines and the upper fuselage. Altogether there are 6 bags in total. There are no truly difficult parts; I would argue many kids younger than 8 years old should be able to finish this set without too much trouble.

The designer has done a great job in integrating the Technic core into the structure, and integrating the wings - which are built as sub-assemblies. The ram mechanism is simple but effective. The cockpit is well done, and nicely lowered. Four of the minifigures actually fit inside!

The whole thing seems to be extremely sturdy; the weakest part seems to be the rear of the propulsion system.

Minifigures

There are 5 total minifigures in this set. Three of them - Quarrie, Kordi and Zander - are unique to this set. The other two are RO-GR and the Stormtrooper.

The Stormtrooper can be found in 8 other sets, first appearing in 2014 and still being used in 2018. The prints are well done. He is armed with a blaster.

RO-GR is also found in the Starscavenger (set 75147). I like the way this droid seems to be bodged together from different parts. Overall, a well done figure. He can be fitted/folded facing the rear in the back of the cockpit.

Quarrie has a nice torso and back-print. His face (and head-gear are one mold of semi-hard plastic). He reminds me a bit of Admiral Ackbar. He fits in just in front of RO-GR in the cockpit of the Arrowhead.

Kordi has a nice torso print (front and back). The front-torso print is continued nicely onto the legs. It is also printed completely in register. The clothing is really clean. The metal parts are nice highlights.She has a nice fairly neutral face print, and no alternate print. Officially her seat in the cockpit is just in front of Quarrie's.

Zander - just as Kordi - has a very nice print on the front and back of the torso, which is continued very nicely onto the legs. Just as with Kordi, his clothing is very clean, and highlighted by a few metal prints. Officially he is the pilot, but - of course - he can be the passenger with Kordi being the pilot.

The build

Overall, the Arrowhead is arguably one of the more well-finished space-craft in the whole Star Wars line-up. This is - of course - an advantage if the whole starship is of Lego's own creation. The Technic bars at the core of the ship are by and large well-covered, only visible close to the front edge. The stickers definitely add to its looks. It is a little tricky though to have them line up nicely, to make sure they have the maximum effect.

The spring-shooters are well integrated into the 'regular' wing-cannons. The cockpit canopy looks to be an integral part of the design. The ram can be retracted (swung back), but IMHO it looks much better swung outwards (in attack position). I like how the minifigs all fit into the cockpit. I miss a place to properly store the weapons for the minifigs. The cockpit canopy is fixed with two pins, and squeezed in by the cockpit side-wall. It works well.

Play vs Display

This set is in many ways a display set. I think it is on the large side for a play set for smaller kids. They probably need to use two hands to hold it, making operation of the spring-loaded shooters difficult. The set is also quite heavy. On the other hand, the set is also very swooshable. Operating the ram is simple. The model is impressive enough to be a stand-alone display piece.

The verdict

Overall, this is a good set, that IMHO does fit into the Star Wars Universe. That said, its non-canonical status might lessen its appeal. The Arrowhead is a fun build, and actually - in the end - a pretty and impressive big vessel. The minifigures are nice, and the construction was enjoyable. To top it all off, it also has a reasonable price. If you like Star Wars style space-craft and this set is being retired, I would say, go for it.