WOW! This set is amazing. The tie interceptor is the best part, but the figures and the fang fighter both look great. The build experience was fun too. The only bad thing is that the spring-loaded shooters have a mind of their own and fire with only a little touch.

The minifigures are nice with the mandalorian helmet update, the fleet commander has a hairpiece yet mando does not. The droid has no back printing, but that is alright also, It's weird as there is nowhere for it to go in the intercepter. The tie pilot looks great in her outfit. Overall I like this set. One of my favourite lego sets in my collection.

Once lego released this set I knew I had to have it, so I bought it for May the 4th on LEGO.com.

Minifigures

TIE Fighter Pilot; once again you get a tie pilot to pilot the ship. But honestly you can't have too many pilots.

Imperial Astromech; a typical black R2 unit that is perfect for adding to your imperial base.

The Mandalorian; most people by now who collect Mandalorian sets have now amassed a large army of Mando's. The interesting thing is that you get a new darksaber piece.

Fleet Commander; I really have no idea why they chose to include this minifigure I would have chosen to include Axe Woves instead.

The build for the tie interceptor is quite fascinating and intricate. The fang fighter however is quite boring and straightforward.

Pros;

- You get two ships for a hundred bucks.

-New darksaber piece

-New Mando helmet molds.

Cons;

-fang fighter only looks good from one direction.

-odd choice for good guy minifigures

Overall I think it is a great set and would recommend it.

This is the set I was looking forward to and queued early for the first time at a Lego store on the 1st May, if only to avoid the traditional slow despatch times from ordering on lego.com.

I wasn't disappointed and feel vindicated. I'll split the review in 3, both builds then figures.

Firstly the Mandalorian Fang fighter. This is the first build in the set (although you can build either with separate instructions & bags). This is a solid ship with some lovely shaping. It's not the 'rebels' version with rotating wings but looks great, detailed cockpit and a couple of play features in a storage compartment and shooters. It's not the main attraction but it's a ship I've wanted for some time and doesn't disappoint.

As it's very plate heavy the build isn't the most exciting but neither is it taxing, a few nice techniques employed.

The main event is the interceptor and this does deliver. It's impressive and much larger than I'd imagined. Having seen YouTube build comparisons with the tie fighter and recent bomber I wasn't expecting just how large this is, not just the extent of the foils either.

Build is enjoyable if as always a little repetitive with such a uniform design, lovely techniques used around the central cockpit and struts ensure some variation. On completion it just looks fantastic. I would offer advice around the foils, as the weight places some strain on both lower foils I built a technique stand to ensure against any long term damage.

The figures have been criticised somewhat but I like them. A great Mandalorian loyalist with great printing, Mando with the new, funky helmet from the UCS set, a tie pilot (same as the bomber but good and appropriate) and perhaps the strangest, the imperial astromec but as I didn't own one was happy to add to my collection.

£90 UK actually feels about ok compared with some other, recent, sets but can see the argument for maybe £10-15 cheaper. However, to have a tie interceptor of such quality and a new Mandalorian ship (new to Lego), I can highly recommend.

It has been ages since the last Minifig scale rendition of the TIE interceptor. Its return was certainly the most exciting aspect of the set. The problem was that the rest of the set appeared somewhat unenticing. It wasn’t exactly on my want list because of that, but after finding it discounted, I thought it’d be a decent buy. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed for the most part.

The Build

Mandalorian Fang Fighter: I had my reservations about this vehicle going in. It looked serviceable but not anything special. I mean, it was slightly better than expected, but I was still pretty much right on the money about it. This might just be the flattest Star Wars ship out there, with its construction mostly consisting of stacked plates. It represents the source material fairly well, aside from the notable lack of a rotating feature, which is easily its biggest issue. If you can get past that though, it’s a fairly decent ship. I like the white and gray design for the vehicle and the pattern even remains consistent on the underside, unlike a certain other set that actually features a rotating function *cough Ahsoka’s T-6 Shuttle *cough. The cockpit went surprisingly hard, like dang, it might be the smoothest looking seating area for a Star Wars ship, and the printed X-wing windshield complements it splendidly. There are laser cannons mounted on either side of the windshield and spring-loaded shooters can be found on the underside. Overall, it’s not the most compelling thing, but it is fairly enjoyable for what it is and its swooshability is pretty great, so there's that too.

TIE Interceptor: Now for the star of the set, the interceptor turned out fantastic! Starting with the fuselage, the prints on the windshield and the dish atop the roof hatch are excellent, and the way the windshield closes up with the cockpit and lines up with the surrounding curvature is so satisfying. The pilot is seated with no stud attachment and a printed control panel is included, as well as the expected spring-loaded shooters. The fighter has a great element of sleekness to it, the wings and side of the vehicle have a really smooth, almost MOC-like finish to it, it’s some phenomenal texture/detail. Lastly, the size of this thing is pretty awesome, it came out larger than expected, and it certainly gives the build a strong presence on display. Huh, I guess I had slightly more to say about the Fang Fighter… Yeah, I don’t have much else to add honestly, it’s everything I could’ve hoped for, it looks the part and it’s excellent for play. What more could you want?

The Minifigs

Mando: Look, I get it, Mando’s the main guy, he’d naturally be included in many sets. However, this one feels like the only instance where his inclusion felt unnecessary and his slot could’ve been filled by someone else like Bo-Katan, Axe Woves, Moff Gideon or heck, even another nameless Mandalorian. Oh well, the figure itself is still as great as ever with its impressive printing. This is actually my first time getting the Pedro Pascal head as well as the updated helmet with additional print, so it’s nice to finally get those. Finally, his accessory is the darksaber which thankfully got a new piece that replaced the former poor excuse of a darksaber. It could still use printing, but hey, I’ll take the improvement. Overall, a practically perfect minifigure of Mando that I’m glad to have, but his inclusion in the set is still pretty disappointing.

Mandalorian Fleet Commander: I find it kinda sad that the highlight of minifigures in this set is some nameless dude, but hey, Mandalorian figures are always cool, and this one’s no different. It has what you’d expect with the beskar armor and belt print, as well as a jetpack. I like the bright blue bits that contrast the dark blue and the silver prints with metallic shine are great as always. The helmet comes with a gray rangefinder that I replaced with an extra blue one I had as it matches really well with the rest of the helmet, just a wee lil mod I’d recommend. Underneath the helmet, there are 2 face prints with a grin and a raised eyebrow/smile, originally introduced in the Eternals Marvel wave and has since appeared in a few other sets. A hair piece was provided (the “Finn” hair piece) and finally, his accessories are a blaster and a thermal detonator. Overall, a really great and beautifully detailed figure. It’s… just a shame that the minifigure selection peaks with “some guy”.

TIE Pilot: The pilot in this set is practically identical to the one that appeared earlier this year in the TIE Bomber, with the only difference being the head piece. Honestly, don’t have much to say about it, it’s really good and some of the prints are slightly more detailed when compared with previous TIE pilots to make the best version yet, great stuff.

R2-E6: This is perhaps the most questionable Minifig inclusion in the set. At no point did an imperial astromech appear in the season, and TIEs don’t even have spots for them. And if they REALLY wanted to include an astromech droid, R5-D4 would’ve been a way more relevant choice. As for the droid, we basically got R2-D2 but evil and without back print unfortunately. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good imperial astromech droid but I’m still kinda left scratching my head with its inclusion.

Overall Opinion

The return of the TIE interceptor was well worth the wait, it’s just a shame it had to be paired with a flawed fang fighter and sold together. The weak minifigure selection isn’t doing the set any favors either. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t necessarily anything outright bad about the set, both the builds are fun and the minifigures are still excellent despite the lackluster choices. The issues lie more with what the set could’ve included instead of the quality of the actual content, because what’s here is all around pretty good, though I’d be lying if I didn’t say the TIE Interceptor carries the set hard. Regardless, it’s still a really fun set at the end of the day and it’s a good buy once discounted. This is the way n stuff.

Set #75348 Mandalorian Fang Fighter vs TIE Interceptor is a set of two worlds. The TIE Interceptor is a beautiful build and very accurate. However, the Fang Fighter is a disappointment as it fails to capture the ships sleek, rotating design as seen in other forms of Star Wars media such as Star Wars: Rebels.

Let me start with that Mandalorian Fang Fighter, it really should have been closer to previous Mandalorian Starfighters in terms of functionality but scaled down somewhat... maybe LEGO couldn't make that work but this flat, angular build we actually end up with is a huge disappointment if you're a fan of this ship's other appearances in Star Wars as this really fails to capture it's elegance. I'd also say the Fang Fighter has fairly poor playability, it has no easy way to grip onto it underneath and you can easily fire off its weapons when holding it from below to swoosh around.

Now the positives, the minifigs and ofcourse the TIE Interceptor! This is a beautiful build and really what makes this set, if you can pick this two-pack up on sale of clearance with the intention of just keeping/displaying the TIE Interceptor then I highly recommend doing that. The Interceptor is exquisitely well made and looks just like it does in other forms of Star Wars media. The hatch and window of the cockpit open on hinges and inside can comfortably fit a minifig.

The set also comes with 4 great Minifigs, on both sides. You get Din Djarin; the Mandalorian himself. With a brand new Darksaber piece. A Mandalorian Fleet Commander rocking bright blue armor. Then on the Empire side you get a TIE Pilot and an R2 Astromech in black! Overall, great selection of Minifigs and they all look fantastic.

In conclusion, this is a set of two halves. The Mandalorian Fang Fighter is a disappointment and lacklustre in many ways, while the TIE Interceptor and Minifigs are all impressive. If you just want this set for the good parts, I'd wait for it to go on sale/clearence and try to pick it up a little cheaper.

Watch a timelapse build of this set here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtvJ9wdeFKs