In preparation for the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, hitting theaters December 16th, LEGO has released a mini-fig scale Rebel U-Wing Fighter. This massive flyer includes five minifigures, 659 pieces, and hours of fun. The fighter has four massive engines, a cockpit, a cargo bay, and 4 built-in weapons.
The U-Wing is named for it primary position, shown above. I love the sleek design. Directly in front of the pilot are two missiles. Pressing the nearly-invisible “buttons” sends them flying from spring-loaded cannons.
The U-wing pilot may look a bit non-descript, but I love that there’s no clip-on visor. They can be annoying when you’re trying to close the hatch with the mini inside.
The wings of the U-Wing have, true to Star Wars tradition, multiple positions. Thankfully, small details allow the wings to lock in place. It was when I reached this part of construction that I realized that the legion of confusing placements all had a purpose. All over the build, little details are built in that make the overall design an amazing feat of engineering. I definitely learned new building techniques while putting this set together.
When the wings are snapped back, the fighter is enormous. I love the look of it, but it’s extremely difficult to put on a shelf in this position. Instead, I’ll likely suspend it from the ceiling with some heavyweight fishing line. That way, I’ll be able to have the wings in any position, and not risk the cats knocking it from a precarious perch.
The cargo bay was decidedly fun. Each side features a sleek sliding door. Once the door is retracted, mounted guns swing out to fire single-pip ammunition. The bay is also large enough to store the minis and their plentiful weapons. I love this because I don’t like separating minis from their kits, when there’s such a distinct purpose.
Speaking of mini-figs, there are four rebels to accompany the pilot on his mission. The infantry consists of Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, a rebel trooper, and Bistan. Not shown are the fistful of weapons and ammunition provided for the minis to wage war with.
The MSRP for this kit is $79.99, which is a bit steep. With 659 pieces, this comes to about 12 cents per piece. Considering the number of mini-figs, though, I’m not entirely surprised. They often raise the price of a kit above my soft limit of 10 cents/piece. Thankfully, Amazon has them for $67.69 currently, bringing it down to a much more reasonable 10.2 cents per piece. Of course, I must also consider the large sizes and number of specialty pieces, which also drive the prices up.
Overall, I’d consider the LEGO Star Wars Rebel U-Wing Fighter a great value. For hours of building fun, and the chance to play as many of the upcoming movie’s heroes, kids of any age (over 8) will get their money’s worth, without fail. If you build one, snap a pic, and tweet us @GeekDads. We’d love to see your build!
Disclaimer: The author received a unit for review purposes. That didn’t keep him from shooting missiles in the general direction of the cats for ages, though.
