While this shuttle is terrible value for money at MSRP in USD (12.9c/piece), as is now fairly standard for Star Wars sets, it's an impressive monster of a craft that is also pretty fun to build. The main cabin is well-greebled, and the spring-loaded mechanism for unfolding the wings was fairly interesting to construct. This mechanism means that the wings unfold easily and satisfyingly once the ship is constructed. I think I casually collect Star Wars shuttlecraft given how many I own at this point, but this is up there with #75094 as the best to swoosh around my living room while humming some John Williams classics.

The figures in this set are nothing to scoff at, including two menacing-looking Knights of Ren as well as their leader, and General Pryde, who is suitably both stuffy- and evil-looking, plus one each of an (in my opinion) excellent Sith Trooper and a run-of-the-mill First Order stormtrooper. Still, these pale in comparison to the shuttle, which is both surprisingly large and incredibly sturdy, making it great to swoosh or display. If I had bought this while I was in the target age range for this set, I would have certainly spent hours swooshing it around the room and menacing the "good guys" with it, and even as an AFOL it's a lot of fun. I would highly recommend this set to anyone who has even a passing interest in the sequels if they can get it at a moderate discount.

Well after 4 years Lego has finally released an updated and correctly coloured Kylo Ren's shuttle. I am not going to compare it to the previous model as I do not own that one. But for your convenience here it is 75104.

I am quite surprised with how low the rating of this set is here and to add to my shock there is only one classic user review. So let's dive into this because this is going to be a long one. Probably.

PRICE

Well would not it be Lego community if any set outside the perfect 10c per piece ratio did not spark an outrage. Usually when the set is pricey I tend to hold it in my hands and evaluate whether the amount of stuff included in the set is worth the money. And compared to other sets I must yes in this case. There are 1005 pieces here and some of them pretty large. Half of the set's minifigs are exclusive as for April 2020. Thusly my conclusion here is that the set is fairly priced at the 130$.

MINIFIGS

• First Order Stormtrooper. A classic very well printed First Order Trooper. The detailed print is all over the torso, back, waist and legs. There is no arm printing. The helmet is pretty thick and has few small details beside the classic black visors and a mouth. As per usual the face is of an angry clone. A medium blaster is included as a weapon.
• Sith Trooper. This new trooper is actually pretty different from the First Order Trooper. Obviously the colour is red and not white, but the print is different all over the body and is much more detailed. There is just more going on. Again there is no arm printing and the face is of an angry clone. The helmet is the same mold but the printing is again much more detailed. The weapon is this strange blaster gun with a red lightsaber hilt as a scope. I have replaced this weapon with a medium-sized blaster as I did not like the size of the original weapon. Also, the material is little different. Feels cheaper.
• Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. There is a print pattern done on the torso and on the legs. It is suppose to represent the vest he wears in the picture. And it does so pretty faithfully. There is again no arm printing. Kylo comes with a large cape and cross bladed lightsaber blade. The hilt is of gun metal grey. The helmet is pretty large but the amount of detail printed on it is excellent. The red scars on the helmet are pretty tame and do not shine. Lego used a darker shade of red here. There are two facial expressions printed here. A regular frown face and a tantrum face. You will not be using these expressions too much since there is no hair piece included here. I think Lego should have given us a hair piece in this set, especially since there is an actual face this time.
• General Enric Pryde. The first exclusive figure of this set is the weakest of the group. The grey robe print is decent but there is no arm and leg printing done whatsoever. I think that the face looks little older and more tiered than in the movie. The hair mold is great but adds to the elderly feel of the minifig. The first face is with a slight smirk and the second one looks more worried than angry. Honestly this is pretty bad minifig. I like its exclusivity but I think Lego has failed to capture the real person it should represent. General is armed with a blaster pistol.
• Ushar. This a magnificent minifig. Unlike Vicrul and Trudgen the body is in black. The print is of a splendid quality. There are grenades printed on the torso and the robe print goes from torso through the waist to the legs. The print on the back is pretty mundane but does its job. The helmet mold captures the breathing apparatus very well and it has a cut through for the added depth of the mold. The head is a regular black one. No arm printing here as well. Ushar is armed with two thermal detonators and a mace. The lightsaber hilt is in black but the middle section is done in bright red. I would go for a darker red colouring in this case.
• Ap'lek. Even though this guy wears just a robe in the movies, Lego managed to make the robe look pretty interesting with the detailed printing. The print is present on the torso, back, legs and the waist. The head is an exclusive face print which looks pretty fierce. The trickster of the Knights of Ren comes with the new hood mold in black and a large cape piece identical to the one of Kylo Ren. The large axe has a red lightsaber hilt in the middle which I would again welcome in a darker hue. Pro tip: If you want your minifig to hold the axe in both hands naturally, just turn the bottom arm around so that the pinky fingers face each other.

The minifig selection in this set is very strong. Except for the weak print on General Pryde the minifigs are brilliant. There are few details I would do differently, but they do not disturb the overall aesthetics of the set.

BUILD

Like the minifigs Lego went full with the build. The shuttle looks menacing and malevolent and is quite simply astonishing. The structure and the colour theme represent the great evil of the dark side perfectly.

Detailing is one of many strong suits of the set. Once you are done with the building process, you feel like every single stud has a meaning and was placed at that exact spot on purpose. The darker grey does not stick out like a sore thumb. On contrary, it adds to the meticulous detailing of the ship. There are several small transparent red pieces spread over the build to finish the terrible visage of the ship. There are two large thrusters at the back of the ship and one of them is used as a control handle in the wings opening mechanism. Between these two thrusters there is a small storage compartment. The red front glass is just an add-on and cannot be seen through. The wings have two double-barrel laser canons at the front next to the face of the craft.

I just want to throw in that there are two ice skates used for the detailing on the cockpit of the ship.

The cockpit can be opened and inside there are 3 seats in the row which are able to accommodate 3 minifigs comfortably. The cockpit area also enables some of the crew members to store their weaponry as there are two carrying handles on the sides. There are no stickers in this set and all 3 panels inside are printed. A section with two seats can be opened by pressing from the top to simulate a loading ramp. But the ship is not large enough to fit a minifig under its body so the loading ramp is pretty useless.

The large wings do fold and can be transformed into a parked position. The mechanism inside of the ship is operated by the right thruster and as you turn the thruster around, the wings do open. There are also two little handles at the back of each wing which are connected to the folding mechanism. The wings do fold in half so that the ship is more compact in the parked position. You can fold each wing individually but you can never open just one wing to the side and keep one in the straight position. The opening mechanism connects both wings. Furthermore, the wings open automatically once you pick the ship up from a surface. They do not close when you land the ship. In the parked stance the shuttle is quite compact but when you pick it up and transform it into its flight mode its quite large and takes a lot of space. While the wings are opened the overall width is little larger than of the box. When the wings are in the straight but not folded position the height is the same as of the box.

Are there any shortcomings? Yes, but actually no. The wings in the opened position do wiggle a little bit. The body is not connected air tight so when the craft is landed you can move the body like 5 millimetres up and down. The build is pretty sturdy and strong but you cannot grab the ship by any part you fancy without any care. I have once picked the ship up by its face, pressed little harder and did break into a lot of pieces. The craft is not as fragile as I just made it sound but you have to be little cautious. Beside this I think the vehicle is perfect. Everything works the way it was intended and the sinister look is just incredible.

PLAYABILITY

Yes the set has some. As you might have guessed there are two spring-loaded shooters somewhere. They are on the right and the left part of the main body. Perhaps a little more discrete inclusion would be in order, but since there is so much going on with this build, I think it is safe to say that these will not disturb anyone. The firing mechanism is at the back. There are two small leavers that you need to press in order to shoot out the missiles.

I think the whole opening mechanism counts as a playability feature too.

CONCLUSION

Do I recommend a purchase of this set? Yes I do! As already thoroughly explained the ship looks just right. The amount of detail, the right amount of working playability features and a damn perfect selection of minifigs all culminate together into what I consider to be a perfect set. Not completely flawless as there are few inadequacies now and there but not enough to have an impact on my rating.

In conclusion this is a perfect display set which can also serve as an awesome toy for kids.

Great job Lego!

I'm sure many of you have struggled with selecting either this kit, or the older version, set number 75104. If you're thinking the way I was before I had either set, you're probably thinking that this new set is the better choice because the color scheme is meaner, the minifigs are better and the wings spread in "flight mode". While these are valid points, this is about the extent of any advantage this newer set holds.

In terms of the build itself, I was surprised at how different the older 75256 was from 75104. You would think that for two sets that are nearly identical in appearance, the builds would be almost exactly the same, but this is not the case at all. In many ways, the designers were able to streamline or correct issues experienced in the older kit. Although the part count is exactly the same on both kits, these updates lead to a sleeker, less "beefy" look and feel for 75256.

The set has several pros. First, I like the more streamlined, cleaner look of the wings better. There is almost nothing on them except for a few grill pieces. Some of the wing detail on set 75104 was a bit clunky and unnecessary, so it's nice to see that cleaned up on 75256. I also like the minifigures better in the new set, as you have two Knights of Ren and a Sith Trooper here, as opposed to the less exciting selection in the older set. The color scheme used on 75256 is also much more intimidating and closer to what you see on the "real thing" in TFA. There are a lot of light and dark grey bricks used, but they are hidden for the most part. The use of more translucent red pieces also adds to the demeanor of this set vs 75104. And lastly, the wings do fold/spread out when "flying". This definitely adds a playability factor that the older set lacks.

That addition of the spreading wings leads to the first of my cons for 75256, and that is the lost storage space. With 75104, you had six minifigures and you could store all of them in the shuttle. In fact, I've been able to cram as many as ten minifigs in there at once. With 75256, you lose half of that space to the parts that make up the wing spreading mechanism. At most, I can jam four minifigs in the useable space of 75256. This means that I've had to store two figures on an imperial transport set. While this doesnt bother me per say, I know many of you are more hardcore collectors and will be bothered by having to split up the set. To compensate, you are given a box on the tail between the engines. This is one of those smaller boxes with the hinged front that Lego has used as a safe, or mailbox in other themes. It might hold a blaster if you're lucky and takes away from the overall look.

Next, for as much as I like the new minifigure selection better, I honestly prefer the Kylo Ren figure in the old set. In 75104, the head had his mask printed on it. This allowed Lego to use a hood piece in place of the helmet, as well as a shorter, shall like cape, which captures the menacing look from his first scene in TFA. They also include an actual helmet in that set, so you get the best of both worlds. Maybe this is just a personal preference, but it just struck me as better.

Here is the biggest con, and what ultimately leads to my recommendation of the older set over the new set. While the wing spreading is great for play, it makes the set feel and look very flimsy and almost cheap feeling when you touch it or play with it in any way. With 75104, the lack of a need to allow slack to spread the wings gave it a very solid, sturdy feel and appearance. It feels like you can drop the thing on the floor and it will just bounce because it's so solid. This is not the case with 75104. I am constantly feeling like it's about to lose a wing, or buckle down the middle. It just doesnt feel right. Even when 75256 is landed/parked, it's still loose and wobbly. You also lose the small lower folding fins that 75104 had at the bottom of the wings. I feel like this added more detail and also helped stabilize the kit when at rest.

Overall, 75256 is a great set. Don't get me wrong. If you dont have 75104 and have nothing to compare the new set to, you would never know of these differences and would likely think 75256 was an A+ set. You would still notice the flimsy wings, but that's about it. Is it worth $130? As a stand alone yes, but when compared to other Star Wars sets, I feel like it may be a bit unreasonable at that price. The purpose of my review is to help collectors and fellow "AFOL" decide between the two. That being said, you can now purchase 75104 on FB Marketplace or Craigslist for well under $100. I happened to snag mine from someone for $50, new in a sealed, never opened box, after I purchased 75256. For the money factor alone, if you have to choose one set or the other and can not have both or simply can't afford both, my suggestion is to go with 75104. My three reasons are the durability, storage and current price. You're getting more or less the same kit, but a bit more sturdy for, in many cases, half the price. Of course if color and spreading wings matter more to you, the new kit isnt bad either.