9677 X-wing Starfighter and Yavin 4

 

  • 9677 X-wing Starfighter and Yavin 4

    Posted by Huw, 15 Jun 2012 15:21. Filed under Set review.

    9677 X-Wing Starfighter and Yavin 4Yawn... there's an England football match on the TV, my wife is glued to it, so I have a bit of time to post another Planet set review...

    This, then, is 9677 X-wing Starfighter and Yavin 4. On first glance it's not as interesting as the cloud car one, and on closer inspection it's even less interesting. Read on to find out why...

    9677 X-Wing Starfighter and Yavin 4Two bags of bits, 77 of them, stuffed into the planet.

    9677 X-Wing Starfighter and Yavin 4The minifig is a generic X-wing pilot. BrickLink claims it's a new figure, but everything but the helmet is the same as Dutch Vander in last year's Y-Wing set. The helmet has appeared many times before, I believe. So, all in all, pretty boring.

    9677 X-Wing Starfighter and Yavin 4The X-wing itself looks pretty good, until you look closely and notice that it's virtually identical to the one in 30051, which was given away free with The Sun, and was available in US stores, last year.

    9677 X-Wing Starfighter and Yavin 4Here's a shot of the two together, 30051 on the left. The only differences are the use of the new 1x2 half-slope on the nose, the cockpit has been dropped down a plate, and the clips on the ends of the wings have been put on the top instead of the bottom. So, really not very interesting at all.

    (Update: turns out my 30051 is assembled incorrectly, the clips should be on the top. That's one less difference, then.)

    9677 X-Wing Starfighter and Yavin 4Here's the completed model. A boring minifig and a mini-model we've had before...

    9677 X-Wing Starfighter and Yavin 4This printed plate is the only interesting thing in the set.

    So, after extolling the virtues of the Planet sets in the review of the Cloud Car one, I'm going to have to eat my words. I can't recommend this one at all. Strictly for Star Wars collectors only...


    30 comments, latest one posted 11 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by xcrossx in United Kingdom, 15 Jun 2012 15:54


This is the perfect thing to keep me entertained at half time! ;-)
Great set of recent reviews as usual huw.
These planets sets look good, I never got any of series one as I already had the figures but I will certainly be investing in these ones.
Thanks Huw. Hope your wife is enjoying the game! :-)

Posted by DarthLuke824 in United Kingdom, 15 Jun 2012 15:55

"Yawn... there's an England football match on the TV" My thoughts exactly!

Posted by lovaquero in United States, 15 Jun 2012 16:01

Ouch! Take that Lego =)

I imagine that this may still do well since kids love the X-wing and it may not be as prevalent over here in the US as it may be in Europe...

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 15 Jun 2012 16:06

You honestly seem annoyed there, Huw... :P

Posted by Firox 5000 in United Kingdom, 15 Jun 2012 16:29

Although it is the weakest planet set (from both series so far) I will probably still pick this up as I don't own the older one.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 15 Jun 2012 16:30

It seems like a fair review, this is probably the dullest set of the entire year! I am watching the match, it is not going very well at all for England at the moment!

Posted by mountebank in United Kingdom, 15 Jun 2012 16:31

"Yawn... there's an England football match on the TV"

This warmed the cockles of my heart. Also, liked the brisk and vaguely cross style of your review.

Posted by icey in Denmark, 15 Jun 2012 16:33

"...and the clips on the ends of the wings have been put on the top instead of the bottom"

I think you assembled the 30051 wrong! The clips on it's instruction are on the top as well!
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=30051-1

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 15 Jun 2012 16:34

Doh! They look better on the bottom -- maybe I changed them because of that.

Posted by tomchiverton in United Kingdom, 15 Jun 2012 16:47

At least it's better than the free one I skipped on...

Posted by Leggo my LEGO in Canada, 15 Jun 2012 17:15

I was going to get this for the X-wing, but seeing as the only difference is the cockpit being a plate lower, I don't know... I plan to get Endor though.

Posted by 22896mbw in United States, 15 Jun 2012 17:17

England won, didn't they? I think the planet looks like a big green bowling ball... Fail.

Posted by multiplex in Canada, 15 Jun 2012 17:24

agree. boring set but need to buy so i have another planet to hang on the christmas tree :)

Posted by The Reviewer in United States, 15 Jun 2012 17:26

You can use the Pilot as Dak Ralter(Luke's gunner). But the Planet looks nothing like Yavin IV and it's too green.

Posted by expos94 in United States, 15 Jun 2012 17:46

Wow... no love for your footballers, huh? They did pull out a tough win over Sweden in Euro 2012 group play after a draw with France. Seems the most unique part of these sets is the planets themselves.

Posted by vexorian in Bolivia, 15 Jun 2012 17:46

This is probably the least value in a 9.99 set since years.

Posted by bricksan in United Kingdom, 15 Jun 2012 18:04

I feel the opposite, I would rather watch football then build with Star Wars LEGO and by the sounds of the review I selected the more exciting option. Sorry but Star Wars LEGO does nothing for me.

Posted by mysteriouspi in United States, 15 Jun 2012 18:32

I agree with Huw, the clips do look better on the bottom of the wings. Actually leaves some of the white metal exposed...
It's a shame that the X-wing is very similar to the polybag, but LEGO can only come up with so many unique designs. At least I haven't acquired the polybag, so this will be new for me. The front doesn't look right though.
Concerning the Yavin 4 model itself, it looks like a green version of Bespin; not at all like the actual moon. It should have a lot more blue and tan, and actually be organized with physical shape (not like a gas planet). So I'm somewhat disappointed with this one, especially considering the much better pair of Series 1 planets.
Just hoping they feature Coruscant in the third wave; that would more than make up for this.

Posted by Legolover9531 in United States, 15 Jun 2012 19:23

Since I don't have the poly bag, I'm getting this set with the rest of the planets.

Posted by spacysmoke in United States, 15 Jun 2012 20:27

This was a great opportunity for TLG to create an actual pilot from the movie and they totally wasted it on a generic one. They could have at least updated Wedge or Biggs.

Posted by Mars Needs LEGO in United States, 15 Jun 2012 22:45

Notwithstanding Huw's boredom with this set, the X-Wing is a classic vehicle from the original SW film and even with the polybags still floating around, the addition of the Rebel Pilot minifig make this a must-have from my perspective.

I do agree with spacysmoke though; the inclusion of a named pilot would have made this set even more attractive. And I don't believe they've done a flesh-toned Biggs yet.

Posted by bradbean in United Kingdom, 16 Jun 2012 03:21

I'm dissapointed about the set and IN HUW. I agree the set is clearly the sun x-wing with a few little tweaks. Infact the only interesting feature is the minifig in my opinion.
On to why I'm dissapointed in Huw and half the people here; it's England!! They need all the support they need!! So excuse me if I will be watching England in four days time.
Please tell me you'd watch the final if they got there though...

Posted by brix in United Kingdom, 16 Jun 2012 03:36

I'm really not keen on the planet sets in general, especially this one though - I'm not bothered by the figures or the mini vehicles and the actual planets are just a waste of space. Maybe for £5 but certainly not for 10!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 16 Jun 2012 03:48

^^ Yes, I'd probably watch the final. In fact my wife got us tickets for the Olympic mens football final, which should be a good event, I concede :)

Posted by Corellian Engineering in Belgium, 16 Jun 2012 05:49

... a lot of people seem to agree with Huw's statement the set is boring because there is nothign realy new to it.
But what people from the US or the UK sometimes seem to forget (not only in this forum), is that there is still the rest of the world outside both your nations.. A world packed with countries where these (free) polybags arent available. Or very limited.
Of course we can get it via bricklink or something. But if at the aftermarket I have to pay 5-6€ + postage for a polybag some get for free, or sometimes even more for the more exclusive ones, while now I can get the same "set" for around 10€ in a local shop, including a minifig, planet and display stand... I know what to choose.

Posted by iannn29 in Australia, 16 Jun 2012 06:02

england!

Posted by Brickman193 in Australia, 16 Jun 2012 09:28

@Corellian Engineering, thank you for articulating what I was thinking about this! Down here in Australia, we don't get the polybags, and the last X-wing minibuild I have any recollection of in Australia was at least 8 years ago. It's a finely built model, accurate to the movie, and whilst the planet is a dud, who doesn't want another Rebel pilot to add to one's homemade Rogue Squadron?

Posted by WedgeAntilles in United States, 16 Jun 2012 10:43

i agree with spacysmoke, LEGO missed an opportunity by making it a generic pilot. Wedge and Biggs are definately overdue for an update. I'll probably end up getting this one since I never end up seeing the polybags in stores around my area. When does the next wave get released?

Posted by The Reviewer in United States, 16 Jun 2012 18:13

Why is everyone so down on this set? In case you all haven't noticed the Pilot has Dak Ralter's Helmet so use it for the Hoth Wampa cave set as a Co-pilot. Still am I the only posative on this set?

Posted by itsaturkey in United States, 16 Jun 2012 19:01

Looks like a rebel pilot that I have a million of, and another mini X-Wing...let me repeat that, ANOTHER MINI X-WING.
Even if it was completely different, it'd still just be a mini X-Wing, which IMO we have plenty of. I sincerely hope this is the last we see of mini X-wings for a long time. Though I guess it's a good price for the pilot if you don't have one yet...

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