I kicked off my Toy Fair 2017 LEGO Star Wars coverage with my discussion of the Rathtar Attack set on Star Wars Toy News–and now, let’s look at a new set here! Way back in 2005, TLG released a little set called Darth Vader Transformation 7251 depicting the legendary scene from Star Wars Revenge of the Sith where Anakin Skywalker is reconstructed as Darth Vader. That simplistic set was badly in need of an upgrade–and this year, it will get it! LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation 75183 is one of the Summer 2017 sets! Over the past few years, TLG has released new and improved versions of virtually every single major vehicle in the Star Wars mythos. But while vehicles are covered at this point, there are still plenty of scenes needing an upgrade–and the LEGO Darth Vader Transformation is one of them! Luckily, while the 2005 version of this set was the barest of bare-bones, the Summer 2017 set is going to be the definitive brick-built version that this signicant scene deserves!
Whereas LEGO 7251 consisted of only a couple dozen pieces, we’re getting close to ten times the number of parts that were in the original version of this set. And whereas that first iteration was basically just a baseplate and a table, we’ve got a whole scene this time around! LEGO Star Wars has come a long way in the past decade, and that’s more than evident in the superior detail of this set compared to its predecessor. The set contains three Minifigures, although there’s technically a fourth character included: the brick-built prequel Medical Droid FX-6! The original LEGO FX-6 figure was completely the wrong color and desperately in need of an overhaul, so this is a major selling-point for this set. The actual three regular Minifigures included in LEGO 75183 are Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader and Extra-Crispy Anakin Skywalker. No, seriously–we get a mostly-dead, post-Mustafar Anakin Skywalker minifigure in this set! Creepy and crazy (and non-canonical, since he still has all his limbs)!
The Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine minifigures don’t seem obviously different from their usual minifigs (correct me if I’m missing something, readers!), but what is unusual is getting these key characters in a low-priced $24.99 set. If you’re lacking Vader and Palpatine minifigs, I doubt you’ll ever see this duo in one set this cheap ever again! And speaking of the price: this set retails for $24.99 and contains 282 pieces for an average of 8.9 cents per piece. That’s right–this set gives us four rare characters and is also an above-average value of less than 9 cents per piece! Quite a bargain for a licensed, desirable Star Wars set! The 75183 LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation set will be available online and in stores officially on June 1st, 2017. I’ll post an update with hi-res, official photos of the set once TLG adds them online. Also, I’ll be continuing most of my LEGO Star Wars Summer 2017 sets coverage at Star Wars Toy News, so be sure to follow the Star Wars Toy News Facebook Page for new articles and photos.
It took twelve years to get it, but what do you think of the upgraded 2017 LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation 75183 set, brick fans? Is this the perfect brick-built version of this scene, and will you be picking it up this summer?Earlier this year, LEGO announced that they would be releasing a new wave of LEGO Star Wars Buildable Figures. Although I’m not that into the Contstraction sets, I do love Star Wars and this news raised my interest in these sets. They are separately available for purchase but Toys R Us has a special 2-in-1 Battle Pack (66536) which includes both Luke Skywalker (75110) and Darth Vader (75111). For this review, I’ll be taking a look at one of the most iconic movie characters of all time with Darth Vader. The TRU Battle Pack has 243 pieces and retails for $49.99 but Darth Vader himself consists of 160 pieces and retails for $29.99. One thing you may notice is the high price for the amount of pieces you get but I feel it’s comparable to what you get with the LEGO BIONICLE sets especially for a licensed theme like Star Wars.
The contents of the box includes three un-numbered bags, a bagged cape, and the instruction booklet. As shown on the box, Vader is from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi where he is dueling Luke Skywalker which you can recreate with this Battle Pack or if you got the figures separately. I’m not that familiar with Constraction sets so I’m not sure where the builds start from but with Vader, the build starts at the torso. At first glance, you probably can’t tell what you’re building until the middle of instructions when the torso is completed and the armor pieces go on. The torso uses a lot of TECHNIC parts to give it the foundation. You can see where the ball joints are at for the arms and legs but you don’t really notice them when the armor pieces are on. The arms and legs are what you normally see with Constraction sets with the bland skeletal frame. Again you probably won’t see much of that in the final build when the armor goes on. Note that all the armor pieces are printed pieces and not stickers which I appreciate.
For the lightsaber, the red blade is exclusive to Vader however there are a couple of other characters that utilize the same hilt. I have a feeling that the hilt will be used in vehicle MOCs in the near future. The blade is made of a soft rubber that is about 90% opaque. You can probably shine a light through it and get a cool glowing effect. Finally, Vader’s cape and head goes on. The cape is attached to the back by the way of a TECHNIC piece to the pins. It is made of a very soft high quality fabric. The head itself is probably my favorite piece of the set. It has a lot of details and very accurate to Vader. It also probably contributes to the higher price point for the set itself since it is a pretty large head piece. Like with the arms and legs, the head is on a ball joint and he has a fairly wide range of motion. After all of that, does the LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Buildable Figure (75111) live up to the hype when it was first announced? I feel that it does and no only that, it exceeded my expectations by a long shot.