In which two combat ships dock in our TV cabinet.
There was a Star Wars precursor to my recent dive into Lego mania.
A few months earlier, in a galaxy called the Milky Way...
When I bought a physical copy of Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga for the Nintendo Switch, Amazon Japan was giving this away as a freebie: A mini Naboo Starfighter (30383).
The bundle of game-plus-freebie was only 4,572 yen (roughly $30 at the time). A nice deal, considering the full retail price was $60 for the game and $10 for the Lego, which came in a polybag.
I decided to involve Little Miss S in building the Naboo Starfighter. It would be a good trial to see how the kiddo behaved.
Would she snatch the pieces and run off with them? Or would she exercise self-control and follow instructions?
Turns out she was more excited about the instruction leaflet than the blocks themselves. She plunked herself on a futon nearby while I assembled the starfighter, asking for her help occasionally. She found it hard to handle the smallest pieces, but mostly succeeded with my help.
When we finished, I let her run around the bedroom to "fly" the ship. Then we placed it in a glass-windowed cabinet above the living room TV.
She hasn't asked for it since. I think Miss S isn't much of a builder or vehicle fan. The other day we bought her an old Lego Duplo zoo at the secondhand store, and she lost interest after two days.
Anyway, emboldened by our positive first experience with the Naboo ship, I bought another mini ship: The Razor Crest Microfighter (75321), which comes with a Mandalorian figure.
These guns actually shoot. Pulling one of the side triggers launches a springloaded round ruby with surprising force.
In the ship's rear, a back ramp can be lowered. It's a nice addition, though there's scant space for cargo within.
I had intended to build the Treehouse with Miss S, but her daddy said it was a bad idea—"Imagine her losing a piece. How mad would you be?"—and I agreed. So I planned to build the Mandalorian's ship with her instead.
But in the end, I made the Razor Crest myself and now two ships have found berth in the cabinet above our TV.
Actually,
I wasn't very impressed by this microfighter's design, in terms of looks—the Millenium Falcon counterpart looks much better. But I did
like the Mandalorian figure, even if his head happens to be
faceless under that helmet!
I bought this set to represent my
childhood love for Boba Fett. There's a specific Boba Fett I'd love to
have for his fabric-like cloak (9496), but he's impossibly overpriced in
Japan. But I'm content with the Mandalorian I have.
In just a
few days, a new microfighter will be released: the Boba Fett counterpart
to this Mandalorian (75344). But even at a reasonable $10, I'm not
setting my sights on it. While it does do a good job of representing Slave 1 (which, by the name, isn't called Slave any more but simply "Boba Fett's Starship"), it doesn't wow me with beauty, slickness, or
cuteness either. So I'll pass.
The mini Razor Crest is probably the
first and last Star Wars set I'm buying for myself, because the Lego
Star Wars line is pricey (licensing costs, after all), even for Lego, and I don't
want to get sucked into it. I like Star Wars too much to plunge into
collecting, if you know what I mean. I'd rather spend on more flexible sets with a larger number of pieces.
Anyway, Miss S hasn't seen my new Mando yet, because the cabinet is much higher than she can peer into.
Next to the ships' berth is where I intend to display the Treehouse, which is still under construction as we speak. And at last we arrive at the Treehouse... in my next post.