Set:

This set is one of the unique LEGO Star Wars vehicles from The Phantom Menace. I really enjoy this set as a whole.

Price:

For $90, you get Anakin's Podracer (The 2019 set is $30), which means that Sebulba's podracer is pretty much $60. I would probably give this a $79.99 price point at the time, but since sets are overpriced these days, $90 would work. I picked up this set in 2018 for $124 (Brand New, Sealed)

Playability:

This set lacks playability features. The only feature that caught my attention was the hidden tool on subulbas huge "wings", which you could pull out and "throw" at the other podracer. You are also able to use the "invisible" handels to move around the podracers.

Display:

This set was two sand-colored display pieces that lock onto the transparent pieces, which the podracers are connected to. Pretty neat to display, but may look odd from some persectives.

Minifigures:

The minifigures include Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Sebulba, Wald, and Watto. A good selection with some figures that are completely unique to the set!

Overall:

This is a set that I would recommend more to collectors, rather than kids. This set hasn't gone up too much in price if you get it used, so take all the time you want to purchase this set.

The new versions of the great Podracers!

Box/Instructions The box is big. The instructions were quite easy to follow.

Parts This comes with a lot exclusive and interesting parts. There is even the possibility to create your own podracer with these pieces. For other MOCs this is not the best set.

Minifigures New versions of Watto and Sebulba are great with their details. Anakin is nice and kind of must because there is his podracer but otherwise its not a must-have minifigure if you have the earlier pilot Anakin already. Obi-Wan is a little weird add to this set, because he wasn´t watching the Podrace. Gui-gon would be better and Shmi Skywalker the best choice. Wald is a great new minifigure.

The build When I bought this I thought that the Podracers would be difficult to build and maybe breaking easily. I was wrong, it wasn´t to hard to build and it´s not an easily-breaking one.

The completed model The Podracers are great for display and I think nice for play though there are not loads of ways to play with them.

Overall opinion A Great set for Episode 1 collectors and fans as me. I recommend this.

The famous podracing scene from The Phantom Menace has been a favorite of mine ever since I was a little kid. Like it has been mentioned in my other reviews, I missed out on A LOT of larger sets during my childhood, and likewise I have been purchasing their far better remakes the past 5 years. Now I intended to buy this set when it first came out, but balked at the 90 dollar price tag. I understand that there are 810 pieces, but a majority of these are rather small. Luckily they weren't selling very well at my local Walmart and were put on clearance for $55! So I quickly bought this set, saved myself $35, and had a blast overall.

Box/Instructions

Nothing special about the box or instructions.

Parts

Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of the pieces are smaller than your average set. There are barely any plates and bricks, and a lot of the parts are technic to support the large undistributed weight (especially in Sebulba's podracer). The color orange tends to be a rare color, so if you are a parts cannibal you might want to get this set.

Minifigures

Not all of the minfigures were new for me, as I owned the previous version of Obi Wan from 7203 Jedi Defense I, and young Anakin from 7131 Anakin's Podracer. Naturally these two minifigs look way better in this set, except for the fact that Obi Wan doesn't come with any hair. I imagine this has to do with his unique hair cut in Episode I, but it seemed like kind of a rip off in my eyes.

Watto was definitely a minifig I was looking to get my hands on, and I must say he looks great and very film accurate. The only problem I have with Episode I sets (and minifigs) is that many of the characters introduced in that film were systematically killed off or never appeared again, due to the 10 year gap between Episodes I and II. Watto has a brief appearance in Episode II, but he really only fits in with Episode I sets (which I don't own that many of), so he sits next to this set, hoping for a Watto's Shop kit to come around...

Wald is yet another Episode I fringe character that I will probably never see a use for outside of displaying with this set. I always wondered why George Lucas didn't make this young Rodian Greedo instead, as it would have made Episode I slightly more interesting. He looks good enough compared to his film counterpart, but he only has like 1 minute of screen time.

Sebulba is probably the most interesting minifig here, considering the fact that he doesn't have a single regular minifig piece on him. I figure that if Lego hadn't released him with the Tatooine Planet set, more people would have been more pressed to get him. It isn't too hard to balance Sebulba on his hind legs, and his printing is VERY accurate to the film. It never occurred to me as a kid, but how in the world could this guy ever have an actual hatred and rivalry towards a ten year old slave boy?

The build

The build was very interesting to me, as both podracers are worlds apart in design, size and color. Anakin's podracer is small and nimble, and naturally the build was as well. Unlike the 1999 version of this vehicle, the fins don't fall off all of the time and are well secured. Sebulbas pod was probably twice as fun to build, and had a mixture of technic and standard building for the big turbines powering his monstrous pod.

The completed model

Both pods come with identical stands, which are great for display or sliding across the carpet. The set is a little hard to display unless you have a shelf with considerable width, and you might find that together the pods take up a lot of precious display room as well. I also might add that separating the two pods would be like splitting Abbott and Costello.

Overall opinion

This set brings back fond memories of cheering Anakin on during the Mos Espa Podrace in my pajamas, and it also gives me good memories in that I saved $35.

Pros:

5 new-ish minifigures

Great for display

Rare colors and pieces

Cons:

Heavy Price

Wald seems out of place

Overall

This is a beast of a set. I managed to pick it up half price via another member on here and it is huge value! It is a really enjoyable build, it looks fantastic when done and has loads of playability for kids. I love the scale of the set also. The pod racers look like the stupidly fast, big racing machines that they are. It is currently on display in our living room and just look the business! The stands are excellent.

Minifigs

Really cool figs, particualrly Sebulba and Watto. Young Anakin has a fantastic expression. A couple of the parts are of Chinese origin but I'm not good enough to tell the difference.

Parts

810 parts in all. Great colours with loads of orange flats in there. I particularly like the clear technic beams. I haven't come across them before but they look brilliant in this set. The huge orange engine casings work really well.

Build

Loved it! 6 numbered bags so there are never too many pieces to hunt through. There is some repitition in the build but I didn't mind it. The engines have to be similiar after all. It all fits together fantastically well. Lovely detail on the engines and the 'reins' fir beatifully well. The use of the technic beams to bring it all together is well thought out and the fact the Lego have nice stands to put them back on when you have finished racing is a very good idea indeed.

Pros

• Cool minifigs
• Fantastic playability
• Awesome build
• Some unusual parts
• They look excellent on display

Cons

• Full price is a bit steep

Buy it and enjoy it! If you get the chance to snap this up on offer then do so. If you are a fan of Star Wars or just want a fun build this is a top set. I loved it and I hope you do too.

Got this set from our local TRU here in Oregon, I was about to get it when I got the 20% off on one item promo, then TRU gave 25% off on some Star Wars sets. Sweeeet deal even if TRU usually jack-ups their lego prices.

On to the review, minifigures are awesome and most of them are exclusive on a podracing set. First time I got a Sebulba, Wald and Watto figures. Obi-wan is a usual figure, but Anakin's racing face with the goggles is fantastic. The build on both podracers are intricate and lego gave justice to both vehicles. I loved how they used clear bricks to connect the Podracer Machine to the pod, unlike the old set I see. One thing they could have improved though is instead of using flesh colored pegs, they could have use see through as well. Also the vehicles are well balanced (as it should be) and is actually removable from the stand for playability. Would have been better if the vertical brick that connects the stand to the pod machines is foldable or removable, but then again they are awesome as they are, swooshable is fantastic. Sticker is always a minus to me, as having the lego pieces printed makes it more personalized to that set. Other than that i am very very satisfied with this set, would love it if the price is a bit lower but hey, it is what it is. Atleast if we wait enough, there will be a deal to get this sets and other sets at a bit lower price right.

I would highly recommend this set for those who love the Star Wars movies and lego collectors. I dont think lego will me the other podracers on the movie but that would be awesome to complete the entire racing scene in the movie. I don't know if lego just did the backing board for the building instructions, but that would have been very nice if it was continued to all lego sets. Mine got folded in the middle, and the edge got folded really hard. One more thing i liked on this set is that it has only one instruction. I dont know about other people, but i preffer only one instruction regardless if its thick or not.