The LEGO Star Wars Imperial Assault Carrier set (75106) is based on one of the Empire’s spaceships from the Star Wars Rebels TV show. It featured prominently in the finale of season 1. Continue reading Review: LEGO Star Wars Imperial Assault Carrier (75106)
Tag: Review
Win This Fantastic Rockabilly Lottie Doll!
My daughter recently received a new Rockabilly Lottie doll, kind of as a thank you from them for our previous post about these great dolls. For a general overview for why we like Lottie so much, please have a read of it.
However, while those other Lotties are awesome, I think this new one might be our favourite yet.
We like this one so much we’re offering you the chance to own one too.
What’s so great about the Rockabilly Lottie doll?
The first thing that struck me about Rockabilly Lottie is her outfit is exactly like the kind of cool and quirky mash-up my daughter would put together. We’ve been letting her choose her own outfits since she turned 3, and she comes up with some amazing combinations.
Mixing a tutu with leggings and a vintage Letter Jacket is her kind of outfit. In fact, the other day we tried to replicate Rockabilly Lottie using items from her wardrobe – we came pretty close don’t you think?
The only condition we really place on my daughter when choosing an outfit is that it needs to be weather appropriate. Other than that, pretty much anything goes (though I admit I did persuade her not to wear her micro-skirt as an even smaller dress recently).
I feel Rockabilly Lottie is a character who exhibits the same exuberance, of a child not yet confined by social strictures of how you should or should not dress.
This is yet another Lottie that will help reinforce my daughter’s self-esteem as she grows, supporting her in making choices that may be outside of what is considered the norm.
If Rockabilly Lottie were an actual little girl, I would love my daughter to be friends with her. She is a character who truly embodies her slogan of “Be Bold. Be Brave. Be You.” – an inspirational message for all of us.
====
Disclaimer: While I was not paid to write this piece, my daughter did receive the featured doll free of charge.
====
See below for your chance to win your own Rockabilly Lottie doll, or alternatively you can purchase one here.
LEGO Star Wars Imperial Shuttle Tydirium Review (75094)
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 **
======
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?
======
Disclaimer: While I was not paid to write this piece, we did receive the set reviewed free of charge. All opinions remain ours.
LEGO Star Wars – Death Star Final Duel set review
My daughter loves LEGO and loves Star Wars, so naturally she enjoys playing with LEGO Star Wars. This week we were lucky to be sent a trio of sets to build, play, and review. When they arrived my daughter was rather overcome with excitement.
Honestly, her choice of a LEGO Star Wars t-shirt that morning really was a coincidence.
I assumed she’d have trouble deciding which one to make first, but she opted straight away for the set with Darth Vader. She loves Darth Vader. I like to think it’s because he’s Leia and Luke’s daddy.
This new Star Wars LEGO set recreates the iconic setting of the final showdown between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi in the Emperor’s Death Star throne room.
My daughter and I spent an afternoon making this together, while listening to the Return of the Jedi soundtrack (her idea). Given this set is recommended for 8+ and my daughter is a 3-year-old, I was the Master Builder with my daughter assisting. Playing LEGO is a great joint activity for us, and while she can’t make a set like this herself, it helps her develop her fine motor skills, ability to follow instructions, general concentration, as well as her imagination, when we build LEGO together like this.
She did have sole responsibility for the minifigs though, of which there are five – Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and two of his Royal Guards.
The detailed 100+ page instruction booklet was easy to follow, and by afternoon’s end we had an awesome LEGO Star Wars playset. It recreates the key spaces of the movie setting, such as the Emperors throne:
The Stairs leading up to it where Luke and Vader duel:
The shaft where Vader sends the Emperor to meet his maker:
And the Darth Vader figure is particularly nicely detailed, with a two piece helmet so you can recreate the big reveal.
As well as the adapted setting, this also has interactive elements such as a collapsing walkway and stairs, sliding doors, plus a minifig ‘force jump’ lever, and even mechanism to fire a lightsaber in the air. There are also hinges and siding parts so it can be opened up or closed between play sessions.
“Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed.”
I actually have an early precursor to this set. That one wasn’t very impressive.
The most boring Star Wars LEGO set ever? Luke being brought to meet Vader & Emperor, without Vader & Emperor. pic.twitter.com/KueYRwun0U
— Man vs Pink (@ManVsPink) March 4, 2015
To call this new set an improvement is clearly an understatement.
The fundamentally great thing about this is that it’s a playset. It provides my daughter with a detailed LEGO Star Wars environment for her to recreate scenarios with her minifigs. We have a bunch of LEGO Star Wars vehicles, which are great, but this is our first playset (the one above clearly doesn’t count) and the way she interacts with it is a joy to behold.
My daughter loves to improve upon the existing stories, usually by adding more female characters (for instance, she made her own Princess Leia minifig and a brand new scenario to go with it). As this scene is all male, she addressed the lack of women by bringing in a couple of female characters from the other sets we received.
Eventually, we came up with our own alternative finale.
And that was rounded off with an epilogue that my daughter created all by herself.
I think she knows daddy often likes a glass of wine or two at the end of the day. :s
This is a perfect LEGO Star Wars set to enable any little girl (or boy) to create new adventures with. While it was satisfying to construct, it’s far more fun to play with. My daughter usually tries to pull apart any sets we build, but she hasn’t even attempted to with this. She far too busy coming up with more stories in the galaxy far, far away. The force is strong with this one.
=====
The LEGO Star Wars – Death Star Final Duel set (75093) has an RRP of £69.99, and is available to buy here.
=====
Disclaimer: While I was not paid to write this review, we did receive this LEGO set free of charge. All opinions stated remain our own.
REVIEW: Star Wars at Madame Tussauds
If you’re a Star Wars fan who’s always wanted to know what it would feel like to sit next to Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon, or opposite Han Solo in a Mos Eisley Cantina, then the new Star Wars at Madame Tussauds attraction sounds perfect for you.
A long time ago (now), in a galaxy far, far away… (London) – Star Wars at @MadameTussauds. #StarWarsatMT pic.twitter.com/tWwBId4wR5
— Man vs Pink (@ManVsPink) June 19, 2015
My wife and I took our little Star Wars fangirl along to it this week. With 16 different characters placed in a variety of iconic scenes from the movies, this latest addition to the famed London attraction offers Star Wars geeks plenty of opportunities to post selfies from the galaxy far, far away.
First up we sat down next to Chewie in the cockpit of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
As with the whole attraction, the attention to detail was great, and Chewie looked terrific.
But the best bit was…
…this big red button next to you. Hit it and you launch into lightspeed!
Chewie’s Corellian co-pilot was stuck in Mos Eisley, so my wife and daughter sat down next to keep him company – then an uninvited guest joined them.
Our droids? They had to wait outside.
These are definitely the droids we’re looking for. I was also really happy to see these guys.
I will never, ever, not get a kick out of seeing these original Stormtroopers. They were perfect 🙂
Generally, the models were great and the environments they were set in have been nicely realised. I personally felt that the non-human characters worked best as they look just like you imagine the ‘real’ ones would, and this is the most immersive aspect of the attraction. The others that are based on actors, while they’ve been finely realised, are more similar to the traditional Madame Tussauds figures. Still great for taking photos with though.
The choices of characters and scenarios is mostly satisfying for any Star Wars fan. However….
I was disappointed that there was no place for Padmé Amidala, and especially sad that the chosen setting for their Princess Leia figure was with Jabba wearing her ‘Slave’ outfit. Princess Leia is a badass, but this is the character’s lowest, most powerless period in the whole trilogy and it’s a shame it’s become the default Leia image to many.
Overall though, I feel that Star Wars at Madame Tussauds London offers us fans another fun way to interact and engage with the galaxy far, far away.
It’s worth noting that you can’t just visit the Star Wars exhibit on its own, but as part of entry to the whole of Madame Tussauds. This is a very linear experience, with all visitors starting at the same place and following the same route through various themed zones and rooms, the ‘Spirit of London’ ride, and the Marvel Superheroes 4D Experience, with the Star Wars attraction right at the very end. This journey through Madame Tussauds can be quite an overwhelming audio visual experience, and if your Star Wars loving child is prone to overstimulation, then a visit here may not be right for them.
But if this wretched hive of scum and villainy sounds like the place for you, head along and share your pics! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #StarWarsatMT, and tag/mention Madame Tussauds on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
While it may not offer the bells and whistles of a theme park ride, Star Wars at Madame Tussauds is a more elegant attraction for a more civilized age.
=====
Disclosure: While I was not paid to write this piece, we did receive free entry to the attraction.