More LEGO Star Wars fun with my daughter this week as we built another new set, the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium.
Firstly, a confession. I’ll admit it. The reason why we selected this particular set for review was because of one of its smallest elements – the Princess Leia minifig.
(As you can see, we also have Sabine, from another soon to be reviewed set.)
This is not to put down this LEGO Star Wars set by any means. But we have wanted a Leia figure for some time (that WASN’T in her ‘slave’ outfit) and we’re stoked to finally have one. My daughter was so desperate for one she started making up her own from what we had, creating brand new adventures for her too. Now we have one, sporting a rather cool if fragile looking camouflage poncho.
As well as a LEGO Princess Leia in her Endor outfit, you also get Han Solo & Chewbacca, plus two similarly attired Rebels. Accessories include the usual guns (Chewie gets his crossbow one), some thermal grenades, plus what appears to be cake – presumably the food Leia offers to Wicket the Ewok in the movie.
This is the latest in a line of Imperial Shuttle LEGO sets, but is the first one to include the rebels, and is taken from the scene in Return of the Jedi when they attempt to sneak onto the moon of Endor to sabotage the force field protecting the under-construction Death Star.
The build took us a few sessions of an hour or two, with my 3-year-old daughter helping me out with this age 9+ recommended set. I can see why the age is relatively high, as this is an intricately engineered model, with hinged ramp and cockpit plus fold up wings and doors in the cargo section.
It also features fold-out guns and fireable rockets/torpedoes – the set comes with (or at least ours did) much needed additional spares. It also has retractable landing gear, which is cool but we have found to be a little temperamental.
While the dominant white colour scheme is not reflective of the colour of the ship in the movies, it makes for a more eye catching model, that is visually different from our other grey Star Wars sets.
Being a vehicle, to me it lacks the full on creative storytelling led playability of the Death Star Final Duel set, but my daughter still loves opening the doors, ramp, landing gear – and of course firing those missiles! It has prompted many creative play sessions, involving new adventures and scenarios.
While I found the Imperial Shuttle to be one of the less interesting craft in the movies, as a LEGO Star Wars model it looks great. It’s still one of the iconic ships of the original trilogy, and adding these classic minifigs to your LEGO collection is a nice bonus. My daughter and I had fun building it, and a great time playing with it too.
The LEGO Star Wars – Imperial Shuttle Tydirium (75094) has a RRP of £79.99, but please see below for your chance to win one.
** This giveaway is now closed, but the LEGO Star Wars Imperial Shuttle Tydirium set (75094) can still be purchased here **
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I think it’s important for boys and girls that female characters such as Princess Leia are included in merchandise like this. What do you think?
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Disclaimer: While I was not paid to write this piece, we did receive the set reviewed free of charge. All opinions remain ours.
I have to admit I am not a massive Star Wars fan, but my boys are. I would like to see the trash compactor scene as it is the only one I know!
My son loves the Star Wars LEGO, he says there should be NO Princess Leia at all. Only boys stuff – sorry!
And therein lies a big part of the problem – a boys believing anything for them shouldn’t involve girls (or women). •sigh
I NEEEEEEED this. We have recently found a circa 1999 (ish) lego set including mini figures of darth maul and qui gon jinn in the loft – my 3 year old boy is loving it, and my husband is sharing really nicely 😀
Ha, sounds like us! We have that ’99 Darth Maul set too. 🙂
my son is the lego fan and he’s not too keen on princess leia he though maybe more jabba the hut
Fantastic set!! I think both of my kids would love it! 🙂
Looks fantastic, even through I imagine my daughter and I would argue over who gets to play with Chewbacca
I total agree that female characters should be included in these as my daughter would be so much more inclined to play with them. I am really looking forward to the new Star Wars films, as I believe there are some very strong female leads and hopefully this will help to get more girls interested in this type of play.
I totally agree. Normalizing boys and girls playing with female figures makes a world of difference.
I agree ’cause sometimes female characters aren’t included in merchandise and people think and say that girls aren’t allowed to play with the toys, ’cause them were made “to boys”, but including female characters make boys and girls (especially boys) grow up knowing the importance of women, that sometimes is not given.
I totally agree. Girls need to be introduced with “boys” toys (trucks, Star Wars, Batman etc) and boys need to be introduced to “girl” toys (dolls, pink Lego sets, Wonder Woman etc). Boys and girls need to know that girls and boys can be and play with whatever they want, no matter what people say. Girls need stronger role models who aren’t singing about being sexy for their man. I love Princess Leia’s attitude, she doesn’t take sh*t from anyone. Great giveaway!
I think that lego is a great tool for showing everyone (boys and girls) the wonder of building and constructing something from a random pile of ‘stuff’
We love lego and think there should be Princess!!
We just love Lego and Star Wars! It will be my son’s birthday theme this year! We so much want this set! Please send it to Brazil? I don’t mind paying the shipment!
There’s something I’ve always liked about the original Imperial shuttles – perhaps that they’re sleek with a classic 70s styling. Completely agree about the inclusion of female characters. It’s something the original films were weak on but the franchise is huge across the genders and toys should reflect the full character range to allow all the main storylines to be played out.
great prize. i agree there should be!
Every main character should be considered to be included depending on the set, shouldn’t matter on Gender of the Character
Very important for both boys and girls
It does matter-boys and girls will only play with the characters they like
I think it’s very important too. My little one, he loves Princess Leia, she’s such an important part of the whole Star Wars enterprise <3
I couldn’t agree more!
i think assigning colours and toys to be aimed at just boys or just girls is madness.both my children play with toys aimed at either.every child is diffent xx
Without a doubt! My son was amused to find my daughter had paired up a “Mummy” R2D2 & “daughter” R2D2’s in one of the Lego Star Wars console games 🙂
Definitely! Children need to realise that heroes arent all male.
Definitely, why not. If you watch the earlier films (I did) you will see that she’s a strong character in them, so why would you leave her out? On another note, heroes such as doctors/nurses/police/firefighters aren’t all male either and they are heroes in real-life. 🙂
I totally agree – important for both girls and boys
Sex-equality in all things is essential to give children a balanced approach to real life.Yes, the boys may veer towards male characters and girls vice versa but they need to be aware of their existence and contribution, be it an imaginative role play or a real life situation.
I would agree
no reason at all why they shouldnt be included
i think it is very important for equality thankyou
Definitely; I’m really into having diverse toys and good representation. Because while there is stuff out there, a lot of the time you really have to know where to look – there’s still plenty to be done to get high street toy aisles reflecting the real world.
I agree my daughter loves playing with Lego and loves when she can play with a girl figure along with her brother x
More female figures please! It’s most definitely a positive thing – how can it not be??
i think its cool for girl figures to be included in these sets to make it girl and boy friendly however my son begs to differ ! x
Absolutely agree with your statement. Princess Leia is a strong female character and it is important that boys and girls realise that strong characters aren’t all male.
I totally agree, we dont do girls or boys toys just toys. I’ve go a son and daughter and it usually ends with my daughter playing trucks and my son playing with a glittery princess crown, both happy as larry. No problem x
i agree – it is important for the kids to know that not heros are male
I think it is important for children to see strong female role models, even in Star Wars lego. Plus Princess Leia is a fab mini figure 🙂
Totally, both female and male can play lead parts.
Absolutely; as was demonstrated by the understandable furore at the relative lack of Black Widow merchandise compared to the male protagonists in Avengers: Age of Ultron, equality should now be the norm.
I would agree, though it should be aimed at the manufacturers to stop the boy/girl marketing strategies…….
Definitely! Shouldn’t matter if its a female character, she is important in the storyline and should be included in the set!
I think it is really important for girls to have strong female characters to identify with ad also female characters in creative toys that will encourage them to get involved in what may be considered more ‘boy’ish games.
I agree that it is so positive for boys and girls to see strong female characters being included in play sets like this and not just male characters. 🙂
Princess Leia is needed in Star Was Lego, she is one of the main characters! It is important that there are heroes for kids to look up to, male or female!
It is vastly important, my little girl is really girlie but still loves rocket,s, superheroes and space! I want both my children to know that gender is not a barrier!
it is important to have female figures as there shold not be male/ female toys for kids they should all enjoy playing with everything as all sorts of toys develop different areas of learnng and development so if this encourages girls to play with toys seen as for biys all the better
I always liked how Leia made her own decisions and wasn’t some damsel in distress like the fairy tale princesses. She isn’t just a helpless girl, she’s a motivated, influential woman.
I think it’s really important that we have more female role models in the toys our kids play with. I have a girl and a boy and don’t think gender roles should be so defined by the toys they play with. Lego should be unisex. My son is too young to form sexist opinions so I would love for him to have a Star Wars Lego set including Princess Leia.
I think it is important not to teach gender specific roles to children, but sadly, society has ingrained them into our psyche and we have very little awareness of what we are doing regarding this xx
She is part of the whole Star Wars empire and should be in there, but children will only play with what they want to, bit like grown ups really, but little!
i think its extremely important to hav strong female characters
It’s really important, there shouldn’t be this great divide of ‘boys toys’ & ‘girls toys’, just toys. Equally though there should be male influences in more stereotypically female toys. I think packaging is the biggest issue -boys would be more likely to pick up a nurses dress up kit if the person wearing it on the box was male, & girls more likely to pick up a fireman’s dress up kit if the person wearing it was female.
I agree (though ‘Firefighter’ perhaps more apt).
I agree. It is something that too many manufacturers have been missing. It teaches children that they are all equally important.
I don’t think Princess Leia is a particularly good character as a female role model. But yeah, given that virtually all the other characters in Star Wars are male, it’s important that she’s included in sets like this.
I think its important too when its people
Man, I’m jealous of both the Lego and your Lego photography skills. Good to see that your daughter got her Leia eventually.
Ha! I’d have hardly any blog images if I didn’t take pics of our toys…
It is really important. I always wanted to play with my brother’s toys.
I’m sure plenty of girls do like Star Wars.
They most certainly do!
I think people put too much importance on it all to be honest x
Agree to disagree. I don’t think this issue is taken seriously enough.
I definitely agree that it’s important!
I cant see why they shouldn’t put in a female character for both boys & girls, could you imagine how the film would of gone without Leia.
Hooray for getting a Leia! As a huge LEGO fan I’ve always played with the male mini figs which never bothered me tbh. It is nice now I have a son that they are introducing more female figs so he can play more realistically 🙂 x
No reason why they shouldn’t
i think there shouldn’t be so much focus on what gender toys are targeted at, me and my brothers shared all our toys
Of course, as long as the character figures are there that is included with the theme then that’s great.
l totally agree. There is far too much emphasis on gender specific toys.
I hate typical girls’ toys. As a child, I adored Star Wars, Indiana Jones and superheroes. I hated ponies and dolls. My favourite toys were Lego and the original Star Wars figures. I have two boys and equally, my husband and I aren’t pushing them into football etc, just because they’re male. My best friend is doing a fabulous job raising her little girl and letting her choose for herself. She loves bikes, getting muddy and Star Wars. She prefers Big Hero 6 to Frozen. I was told to like girl’s stuff and act like a lady all the time as a child, or got called a tomboy. It destroys confidence and makes girls less likely to take up sports and be interested in male-dominated careers. It’s wrong to push boys and girls to like certain things and I wish pink wasn’t seen as just for girls!
I agree with everything you’ve said. I particularly hate the term ‘tomboy’. It’s not being a boy, just a different way of being a girl.
well, certainly seems a good idea to me
It is important but I don’t think it’s ever a big concern with LEGO. They have always put female characters in their sets for boys and girls! Now LEGO Friends should have some male characters!
Yes, LEGO is better in this regard than many other companies.
i think its for boys and girls xx
Of course she should be, she was an important part of the films too!
Great idea – all individuals should be valued.
i think its very important, not just for girl but for boys also. gender stereotypes are so old fashioned and its ridiculous how we still need to push through them in certain circumstances.
I agree, shows strong female characters.
I think it’s great to see female characters, but have been more pleased to see mini figures like the female scientists.
Love the female scientist set 🙂
Very good idea
I don’t have any children but would love to win this prize to donate to charity, to go to Romania.
How wonderful! I pick a random winner though 🙂
I totally agree. I always wanted to have a girl toy when I played with my Brother’s toys! Usually ended up with a pink car 🙂
I think it is a good idea too
I agree, she was one of the main stars of the films
I strongly agree! Barbie is not everything.
Not really crossed my mind but now I’m thinking about it there is a lack of female Lego characters, hope this is the first of many.
Hahaha…..of course there should be female characters. There are female characters in real life, and that should be reflected. There should be more men in the LEGO Friends too 😉
There are girls and boys playing with Lego, girls and boys watching star wars and girls and boys LOVING Leya!! Of course she should be included 🙂
I think more female characters are a great idea in Lego.
Of course there should be a female character – why are we even having this conversation in 2015?!
But sadly, we still are. While LEGO include them, many others do not.
female characters should always be included – sometimes the boys prefer them
Very true!
It’s good see female characters included, I think it’s important that both male and female character are used
Certainly, it’s important to have as many role models as possible, male or female
Absolutely
Not just because she is a strong female character, but because she is an integral part of the story – No Leia – No Star Wars – No Way!
I think it’s important that there are male and female characters with any toys!
I think it is important that there are female characters in Lego and that there should be many different role models, both male and female, to enable children to learn and understand the ways of the world be they real or virtual!
Couldn’t agree more. Especially as a Dad who spent 16 years unsuccessfully trying to turn his daughter into a tomboy. She loves her football, hate dolls (“They’re evil”), throws a mean cricket ball but cries on a 1:1000000 ski slope!
She’s my girl.
I totally agree, I think there should be a range of both male and female figures dresses in a range of clothes etc. Life is so diverse and toys should reflect that!
I have to totally agree it shows that both boys and girls are equal 🙂
I agree, the playsets should have all the characters regardless of gender!
It’s very important. My 5 yr old daughter loves Star Wars but a lot of the toys are aimed at more boys.
My little girl loves star wars lego I feel that it should have more female characters but she loves it no matter what
Its important but then peer pressure & the media steer kids to boys & girls stuff. Seems like we have been discussing this subject for ever
Which is why we’re still discussing it – because boys and girls are still feeling pressured into like/not like certain things because of their gender.
yes i agress, very important
theres no reason for her not to be in range as she is part of flims
she should be included because she is just about the only strong female role in all the films , all the films have mostly strong male leads, and lego is for boys and girls and of cause adults
Very important, all series should have a female hero
I completely agree. Lego has tried really hard to include girls with the introduction of Lego friends. My daughters both love Star Wars though so this set would be amazing for them
Yes I totally agree
I completely agree. And children shouldn’t feel under any pressure to play with toys targeted at their specific sex.
Of course it’s appropriate for both sexes to be included, just like in real life!!
Just let boys and girls play with what they want !
Lego shouldn’t be gender dividing as girls and boys love to build whatever is in their imagination!
Really important for all the characters and both sexes to be represented – Love that your daughter created her own Leia too!
I (clearly) loved that as well! 🙂
I think it is great they include both, it is great for children to have both to play with.
I completely agree. It’s really important that children feel that they are able to play with the same playset with each other.
I totally agree that equality should have no age limits – the younger a child learns that men and women are equal the better in my opinion.
I definitely agree, it’s important that there’s equality. Lego are getting there though…slowly 🙂
It is good both male and female characters are included
I think it’s good for children to play with both sexes because it reflects real life. Also they can be even more creative when playing.
I think it is very important. I always buy boy and girl figures for my boys
It is of course good that action sets such as Star Wars are (or could be) marketed at both boys and girls. What sort of weirdo would claim otherwise? But equality and challenging entrenched gender roles should also be about marketing all sets at both boys and girls, not having a two-tier system where girls are occasionally gifted a female minifig character so as to legitmise them playing with a ‘boys’ set.
As a kid, I don’t think I would have wanted any female figures. But I see my son playing with his Marvel Lego & he’s quite happy playing with the Black Widow, Storm, Gamora & Scarlet Witch minifigures and I realise that, thankfully, times have moved on!
I agree it is important, male and female should always be included so children can choose which they prefer
yeah very important
In Star Wars, Princess Leia is one of the strong main characters – so it would be wrong for her to be left out of a game set intended for boys and girls. Any film/tv show that has an exclusively male or female cast should reflect that. And anything that is showing ‘real life’ should have a ‘mixed cast’ (just like real life!)
a sensible approach .. full agreement xx
even for boys it’s good to see strong female roles
Boy or girl they should be able to play with all toys, grown ups don’t adhere to whether they are male or female when choosing a career path
Exactly 🙂
both role models important
Yes very important, especially if little boys will be playing with them. It helps to teach them about equality.
I think these days a lot of toys that were just known for been boys/girls toys are now for both. My daughter loves playing with Lego and its nice that they include figures of both sexes so that all children can get involved 🙂
I absolutly agree
I completely agree by adding in a princess it becomes appealing to girls aswell as boys and I think its so important that kids don’t have stereotypes about what they should be playing with
I’m all for having both male and female heroes
Definitely! It’s important for both girls and boys to see women included – and in powerful roles.
In this day and age it’s imperative. Equality should stretch from childhood right the way through and should be promoted.
She’s equally part of the films so yes!
Definitely it makes it more appealing to girls and shows boys that it is acceptable to play with female characters. I think there is far too much stigma surrounding that subject. But kids should play freely.
it is important to show that women have an equal place with men
Very important but I do think we need to stop over thinking things I have boy girl twins and she definitely heads towards the more classically girly but they choose themselves. Sometimes we can end up getting too obsessed and media almost shames those that fit conventional stereotypes
Far from being ‘shamed’, children who enjoy traditional gendered interests aren’t the ones teased or bullied about it on the playground.
Completely agree
Yes I agree we need to teach children that there are strong females out there as well as males!
Of course there should be both as it should be reflective of life.
girls and boys play with the same toys its thier choice.
Definitely agree. 🙂
Yes, for sure although I’m all for kids being allowed to play with any toys, regardless of gender.
Yes, I believe children of both genders should be able to play with toys aimed at one particular gender.
My Daughter loves Lego – I don’t see why she can’t play with sets that are more male orientated x
Its fab to see that they have included more female characters outside of the Lego Friends range. x
yes i defiantly agree with you
I think it’s good so girls have a character they can identify with while the set being fun for boys to play with too
I am happy for my children to play with girl and boy characters and I know my kids like it so its good!
Definitely! It wouldn’t be Star Wars without Princess Leia.
i thik it is really important, because lego is one of those rare toys that everyone young and old play with and love, so role models for everyone is equal and fair
Yes i think its really important for kids to see both genders fill an equal role!
I have two boys who love Lego I also have a little girl she is nearly 3 but she plays with her brothers toys and they play with hers – I think its nice to have the best of both
Absolutely 🙂
Absolutely for sure!
i used to play with cars when i was little, i think kids should be able to choose whichever toys they prefer. x
Absolutely important!
I completely agree. As a child my brother and friends all played Star Wars, and had Star Wars figures – all I had was Leia. I had to be Leia. when playing outside, and wasn’t even allowed to use the ewok figures in my dolls house. (Which, incidently became a spaceship too) I attribute this experience to my becoming a huge Buffy fan as well as becoming a feminist 🙂
Nice one 🙂
I think that it is good if girls & boys can have the same interests.
Kids can play with whatever they want regardless of gender. There are no gender specific toys, it’s 2015 for goodness, pink for girls and blue for boys is outdated and archaic.
I think it’s so important. If they’re not included, girls will grow up thinking that they shouldn’t play with ‘boy’ toys. This manifests itself in a lack of female scientists / engineers later on.
Totally – I hate all these gender themes toys – pink kitchens etc, it’s just nonsense. Hopefully boys will play with Leia as much as the others!
Definitely. My daughter identifies with female characters and figures more, it also says ‘it’s okay to play with this’ to her. She has a brother only 13months younger than her so they are very close and play together all the time. Lego is a favourite of theirs.
as a mum of 5, 3 girls and 2 boys who have all loved lego then yes i agree that both sexes should be included in the lego range
Absolutely
Star wars is for all male and Female fans, so why not make the toys for both girls and boys.
My girls play with whatever they want, some days it is dolls and others it is cars. I leave it up to them
Absolutely!!! There should be both sexes in there without a shadow of a doubt. Looks like a super lego set – thanks for a fab giveaway 🙂 xx
of course 🙂
I agree! My grandson pushes his Mr tumbles around in a little blue buggy and has a play tea set. He has two female cousins his age and is constantly dressing up and playing with their toys. Toys are toys all kids should be able to play without this gender specific nonsense
Yes, absolutely.
I think children should play with whatever they like, it’s how they build their individual characters by experimenting. LEGO is a great all rounder for everyone as it helps coordination, builds concentration and is great for those budding imaginations xxx
Yes, my little boy likes playing with Wildstyle just as much as Emmet
Absolutely for sure!
I agree, I have all 3 boys but they enjoy playing with female lego minifigures as well as males 🙂
Absolutely, as long as they are not dressed in pink!! My youngest son started school this year, and it is sad to see him start to think there are some toys he shouldn’t play with or colours he shouldn’t wear because they are too girly. Love Lego because it is (with the exception of the ‘Friends’ range) so unisex and can really be enjoyed by both boys and girls (and parents too!).
To be honest, I don’t think the gender is important but really the type of characters portrayed.
I agree completely – I have a boy and a girl and their toys are very much shared x
a true Jedi can play with any Star Wars toys – use the force and make them buy you the toys
Totally agree.
I think so too, most children want to play with both usually anyway! 🙂
I dont think children should be restricted to boy or girl toys – there should just be toys and they should be allowed to pick and choose what they want to play with – lego is great (as are megablocks for smaller kids) as it doesnt generally differentiate between boy and girl lego its just lego 🙂 I think included princess leia is great shes an important character in star wars so any fan young or old boy or girl would want her to go with the shop 😀
yes I agree both boys and girls should play with any toys they want.my son used to play with his sisters buggy when they were younger and his sister used to love hot wheels
Oh yes, we find that ours love to play with all toys, there should definitely be female characters in these things as females are heros too!
I completely agree.. she’s a central figure in the movies, so i’ve never understood why she’s not in much of the promotional items it seems bizarre.. it shouldn’t be just for the girls either. she should be there on her own merit as a character from the movies. and boys should be taught that this is normal!
I agree
Yes my daughter loves the girl characters in lego
Absolutely. Princess Leia is a strong female character and role-model, except for kissing her brother