9494 Anakin's Jedi Interceptor, part 1

 

  • 9494 Anakin's Jedi Interceptor, part 1

    Posted by Huw, 07 Jan 2012 14:50. Filed under Set review.

    9494 Anakin's Jedi InterceptorToday I'm taking a quick look at 9494, Anakin's Jedi Interceptor, in particular the minifigs. I'll finish building the ship and photograph it tomorrow.

    This set is the most elusive of the new Star Wars sets in the UK at the moment. I believe it, and the Y-Wing, are not part of the normal retail assortment offered to most shops, so Argos is not stocking them. The Brighton shop was also out of it when I went in just before New Year's day, so I had ro resort to good old shop.LEGO.com...

    9494 Anakin's Jedi InterceptorOnce again LEGO has stuffed it chock-a-block with minifigs, most of them superfluous to the model, in order to increase its appeal to collectors. 

    It comes with five: Anakin, with new head, Obi_Wan with new head (which is less cartoonish than the other Clone Wars one) and torso, a dark red battle droid, R2-D2, and leaving the best until last a brand new Nute Gunray, the ever popular Neimoidian from The Phantom Menace.

    He now sports a 'skirt slope', a new dark red hat and most significantly, olive green head and hands. Compare him to the one in the advent calendar and you'll agree this one is far superior. However quite why he's been included in this set (other than for the reason stated above) is anyone's guess.

    Once again, LEGO is pulling out all the stops with the Star Wars minifigs this year: they are improved in every way and it seems certain that minifig collectors will feel obliged to continue buying every set, which is of course what LEGO wants...


    37 comments, latest one posted 16 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by George G. in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 15:08

I may be wrong, but is Nute the first ever male figure to sport a skirt-piece?

Posted by powerpig in Canada, 07 Jan 2012 15:14

Anakin uses that Jedi Interceptor to go to Mustafar to slay the remaining Trade Federation diplomats, which includes good 'ol Nute Gunray. This is where Padme finds him and where Obi-wan and Anakin have their final duel.

Posted by The_Box in United States, 07 Jan 2012 15:18

^This. There is reason behind the placement of the minifigs but I feel It should have been more of a Mustafar placeset then just the green jedi interceptor. Besides my opinion, I can't wait until you have the rest of the review up.

Posted by Nerd in United States, 07 Jan 2012 15:18

^^ And Anakin kills Nute Gungray, before the duel.

Posted by The Brick Life in Australia, 07 Jan 2012 15:29

I agree with the reasons for putting Nute Gunray in this set. He is the main reason Anakin goes to Mustafar with his "angry eyes". Nice figure too and interesting note about the first male figure to have a skirt/robe piece.

Posted by TheCahleySlash in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 15:38

Great review huw, sadly this won't be making my collection.

Posted by nodnarb162 in United States, 07 Jan 2012 15:43

^^ angry eyes...lol I like that, and at that point in the movie Anakin is technically already darth vader ;) And about the skirt/robe I know in the old lego starwars game in level 2 of movie 3 Chancellor Palpatine has a skirt/robe....but he wasn't technically a real fig soo maybe that doesn't count.

gee...we are a bunch of nerds :P

anyways great review so far!

Posted by wunztwice in United States, 07 Jan 2012 15:44

Hrm, If this set had enough dark green (that isn't wedge plates) I may have to pick it up. That new skirt piece and accompanying torso would make a nice castle dress.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 15:55

Thanks everyone for the information, I'm obviously showing my ignorance of the movies! I received the sextrilogy on Blu-Ray for Xmas so I think I'd better watch it ASAP :)

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 15:57

"Please...the war is over...Lord Sidious promised us peace, we only want to...argghhh!" Nute Gunray's last line before he is viciously executed by Anakin and one of my favourites from the entire saga. Anyway, these figures look great but in my opinion the highlight is Anakin, all of him except the hair is new, not just the head, and my favourite bit is the torso which has so much detail. I have not written a review for this set :O but it will be coming soon...

Anakin does not go to Mustafar to kill Trade Federation diplomats, he goes to end the war by killing the entire Separatist war council which includes Nute Gunray, Wat Tambor, Poggle the Lesser, Rune Haako, Sate Pestage, San Hill, Shu Mai and Po Nudo as well as all their aides and guards. I wish we had got Poggle the Lesser instead though. Now I am concerned because I could list those guys from memory :/ too much Star Wars obviously!

Posted by LukeSkywalker in Ireland, 07 Jan 2012 16:02

Is Anakin's hair a darker shade of brown now? Fits perfectly with his turning to the dark side. ;)

Posted by DrDaveWatford in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 16:09

Thanks for another interesting review, Huw - appreciated !

FYI most of the Jan 2012 Star Wars sets will be available from Amazon in the UK in the next couple of days; per Huw's comments, however, the Jedi Interceptor is indeed elusive and it doesn't look like it'll be available from Amazon, at least initially. Same for the new Y-Wing. I suspect therefore that these'll be retailer exclusives, e.g. TRU, John Lewis etc.

Posted by tigmon74 in United States, 07 Jan 2012 16:12

These are ROTS figs, not Clone Wars, thus the less 'cartoony' eyes. =P Yeah, we're nerds!~H

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 16:12

If you count the cars in Cars sets as Minifigures then they use these slope pieces! Otherwise I am pretty sure this is the first.

Posted by LostInTranslation in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 16:18

@DrDave: 2012 sets are on Amazon.co.uk already.

Posted by Graysmith in Sweden, 07 Jan 2012 16:24

Obi-Wan looks really nice, certainly an enormous leap above the Clone Wars variation which is an absolute abomination. His head in that one quite frankly looks like an entirely different toy brand. This new one might be a bit too cartoony orange, but it's still nice.

Actually, I just clicked on the link to the set, and in the promo shots Obi-Wan has light brown hair, which actually looks even better. Strange that the promo shots used to sell the product don't match the actual product.

Posted by Greyface in United States, 07 Jan 2012 16:27

@CapnRex101 - Sate Pestage, no, Passel Argente, yes! I love Star Wars. :)

Posted by DrDaveWatford in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 16:41

^^^ Yep - they're listed but I don't think anyone will get them until Monday at the earliest as I think Amazon only started to ship the 2012 Star Wars sets today (7th Jan) in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Pretty much all of the first wave of 2012 sets are listed now - Superheroes, City, Dino etc. - although a few sets are not available in each theme which I assume will be retailer exclusives, including the Funhouse Escape set.

Posted by Plasmodium in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 16:42

Ahhhh....finally, a good Obi-Wan. I really liked his character, but, excepting the Ep.I minifig, I felt the minifigs were never particularly good! Plus, Anakin looks pretty good, too.
I can see why Gunray was included in this set, but it does look rather like they shoved another, exclusive minifig in there so they could make it that bit more expensive.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 16:42

@Greyface - Oh yeah, Sate Pestage is Palpatine's aide, oh well, fairly accurate! I would still rather have seen them make Wat Tambor or Poggle the Lesser.

Posted by TBOC in United States, 07 Jan 2012 16:48

I don't see why Padme wasn't included, I mean, she has two minifigures and there both THE SAME. That's why I can't wait until we get Queen Amidala...

I think this and the Clone Battle Pack shall work their way into my collection. The X-Wing would, but I'm not dishing out $60 for that...

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 07 Jan 2012 16:53

Shouldn't it be Darth Vader's Jedi Interceptor? Anakin was Vader at that time. Then it would be a Sith interceptor, I guess.

Posted by Margot in United States, 07 Jan 2012 16:58

Love the new Anakin, don't like the new Obi Wan. Why does he have red hair? I don't think it looks anything like Obi Wan.

Posted by Greyface in United States, 07 Jan 2012 17:14

@CapnRex101 - Of course, far better than most. :) Agreed, better variety. As an enormous fan of the Council, I would love to see them all made. I don't really collect SW because I hate the vehicle-oriented nature of the sets which don't fully represent all of the wonderfulness of SW, but all of the Councilors would make this a must-buy for me.

Posted by zjygkmatt in United States, 07 Jan 2012 18:00

I think this is going to be a Target Exclusive in the States maybe?

They just fixed the Lego isle up at my store and added a sign with the Naboo Starfighter and this one (even though its not out for another few weeks) saying exclusive.

Posted by Legolover9531 in United States, 07 Jan 2012 18:15

Quote from Huw

"I received the sextrilogy on Blu-Ray for Xmas"

That sounds so wrong on so many levels :P. Anyways, I've pre-ordered this and the ARC170 Fighter.

Posted by DrDaveWatford in United Kingdom, 07 Jan 2012 18:29

Dead right - shouldn't it be "hexalogy" ?!

Posted by swlego@hf in United States, 07 Jan 2012 19:21

@Huw, he's included because he is killed by Anakin on mustafar just before the climatic duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Posted by yani777 in United States, 07 Jan 2012 19:33

I know why Nute Gunray is included in the set. When Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader journeys to Mustafar in his Jedi Interceptor, he is on a mission (he is sent by Palpatine) to destroy the remaining Separtists stationed there. In a crazy rage, he kills all the Neimodian operators, Geonosian workers, and Battle Droid operators. The last Separtist left is Nute, who is slashed by Anakin's lightsaber and is killed.

Posted by el_rey95 in United States, 07 Jan 2012 20:48

I saw the same sign at Target today here in the US so it looks like it will be pretty easy to pick up once it is released.

Posted by The Reviewer in United States, 07 Jan 2012 22:04

I can't wait to get this set.

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 07 Jan 2012 22:32

This set looks like the best of the bunch. I actually just rewatched Episode III over my winter break and enjoyed seeing the whole sequence, as I had forgotten quite how everything went. The Nute Gunray minifigure is especially movie-accurate, as is the new Anakin.

Posted by IamLegoman1475 in United States, 07 Jan 2012 22:44

The set looks nice, but their's one thing I can't help but notice. The set apparently says this is Anakin's Interceptor...But Anakin was already Darth Vader in an scene just after *SPOILERS* Windu's death (Another set that sould happen, Windu vs Sidious). This has happened before, with the Shuttle. Seriously, do they think the suit makes him Vader? Or, maybe it's just me.

Posted by Darth Yorec in Canada, 07 Jan 2012 23:34

i absolutely love the new Gunray!!!!! the colors are great but i don't think i will be getting the set just to get this one figure...........but i might just pick him up on ebay.

Posted by Dlakii in Australia, 07 Jan 2012 23:50

I certainly intend to seek this set out at some point. I am quite disappointed that they didn't make one of Anakin's faces a more normal-looking pre-Sith face, especially since there's no reason to do any other non-Clone Wars Anakin figs for a while, but it's not quite a dealbreaker.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 08 Jan 2012 04:22

@IamLegoman - It might well be happening if you look here: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=9526-1

Posted by sarlacc98 in United Kingdom, 10 Jan 2012 10:53

@CapnRex101 that will be a good way to get mace kit Plo koon palpitene and whoever that other Jedi is.

Commenting has ended on this article.