starstreak Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 (edited) This is a review of 8017 Darth Vader's TIE Fighter. I remember when I saw Star Wars for the first time. I was so thrilled with Darth Vader's ship. It looked bad. Later, reading about it, I found out it's supposed to be as good as the X-Wings. It as shields and a hyper drive like a X-Wing. And bigger engines than the Tie fighters. I think George Lucas picked the best sounds for the ships. Roarrrr! Normally, minifig ships I leave for my son. BUT I thought there was a Chrome Vader in this box. Needless to say, I was wrong. Anyways, on to the ship building! Set Name: 8017 Darth Vader's TIE Fighter Theme: Star Wars Released: 2009 Pieces: 251 Price: $39.99/28.67EUR/25.06GBP Here are some quicklinks Bricklink, Brickset Wanna see some pictures? Let's start with the normal box arts and manuals! Front of box Oh shiny! 10th anniversary edition box! Means nothing, but it's nice. Back of box Here on the back of the box, it shows you all the different things this ship can do. From holding Vader's lightsaber, to firing flickfire missiles. I hate those. Allot of times, the missiles just don't stay in the ship. Bag of parts Wow, so much parts... Front of instruction book Parts list Not too much special parts. Rare would be the minifig, the cockpit canopy, and maybe that half moon part #4532853. Back of instruction book Same as the back of the box. Sticker sheet Darth Vader Front view. No, not the Chrome version. Red saber for evil. Back view. Yes, he is ignoring you. Vader is now force choking you to get you to tell him where his helmet is. Left over parts Ok, here is where Lego got me. I know that the Chrome Vader is XX weight. The 4 2x1 grey parts aren't supposed to be extras. Sly... Start of build Not much to the build. Everything is built around the cockpit to the side, to the rear piece to the wings (see final for wings attached). Final photos Here is the final shot. The wings attach using those technic pegs. Both sides are the same during the build. Back of the fighter. Top view. Underside. Ah. Here you can see Darth Vader's light saber being held. Not realistic, but does keep the saber from being lost. Front view with the cockpit open. Very plain. Just enough for him to sit. I couldn't put him in with his cape on. Maybe if they made "softer, bendable" capes. :) Features Missiles that flick, cockpit that opens. Yep. That's about it. Oh, and owning one of the meanest minifigs of all time. It's a starfighter so not much in the way of moving parts. Considering it's only a single person fighter. My rating: Playability: 4/5. It's not office friendly. A bit too big, but perfect for my son to play with. If I let him. So it is very "swooshable" for playing with. Design: 4/5. Although not a UCS, for a minifig play set, it's fine. Just enough details and not too much where it would be falling off while playing. Build experience: 2/5. It's rated low because it's very easy to build. No trouble at all. Perfect for new people to put together. Overall: 3/5. My son would rate this higher as he loves to play with his sets. My rating is based as an AFOL. It's sitting on a shelf. Nice to have. Worth buying if you can get it for $29.99. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! All photos are click able for larger, bigger-than-life picture sizes! You can see all photos used here: Darth Vader's TIE Fighter Edited June 7, 2009 by KimT poll added Quote
HumanPackMule Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 Very good review. I really like the color scheme for this set. Quote
Artizan Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 i really like the top view, looks a lot realistic than the first versions. if only it came with more minifigs. Quote
cottonwood Posted June 2, 2009 Posted June 2, 2009 i really like the top view, looks a lot realistic than the first versions. if only it came with more minifigs. My guess is that TLG was trying to get across the fact that this set was based on the trench scene in ANH, for the anniversary. In this case, the logical choice would be to include just one character, the pilot. That's just how I see it though, I may be wrong... I wonder many more opinions we need on this set? Not to say I don't like the review of course, I think it was very detailed and great overall. Keep it up! Quote
prateek Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 great reveiw someone go measure the weight of 4 grey 1x2 plates!! Quote
starstreak Posted June 3, 2009 Author Posted June 3, 2009 ~2-3 grams. I think. :) great reveiw someone go measure the weight of 4 grey 1x2 plates!! If opinion you mean review, I made just because I like to take pictures. Since I can't just post the pics without words, I did the review. I'm joking. Maybe.. I wonder many more opinions we need on this set? Not to say I don't like the review of course, I think it was very detailed and great overall. Keep it up! Quote
def Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 I really dig this set. It's not mind blowing, it's classic. Good shape, a mild upgrading of the old Tie sets. An important mini-figure, and a fair price. Plus a great color scheme. This is one that I think everyone should pick up. Hey, is this not worth a poll? Quote
Zorro Posted June 3, 2009 Posted June 3, 2009 Good review of a good set, I like his TIE Fighter, reminds me to the first SW games where you could control one. Quote
DS2626 Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 I have this set and it's great! But because of how the wings are attached with the pegs it's a bit shakey.One thing I like about this set is that the wings are adjustable. Quote
Fallenangel Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 One thing I like about this set is that the wings are adjustable. The consensus is that the lack of a "stopper" for the click hinge bricks is a bad thing since the bottom pairs of click hinge bricks could become permanently damaged over time if you just displayed the set flat on a shelf instead of mounting it on a stand. Of course, the set is pretty bad in my opinion (the large inverted slope piece annoys the heck out of me because it does not help the look at all) so this set is now locked up in my closet. Quote
Brickdoctor Posted February 11, 2011 Posted February 11, 2011 The consensus is that the lack of a "stopper" for the click hinge bricks is a bad thing since the bottom pairs of click hinge bricks could become permanently damaged over time if you just displayed the set flat on a shelf instead of mounting it on a stand. Of course, the set is pretty bad in my opinion (the large inverted slope piece annoys the heck out of me because it does not help the look at all) so this set is now locked up in my closet. Not to mention that by 'adjusting' the wings, you automatically render the model even more inaccurate. And yes, the click hinges can be damaged. I had to carefully bend them back into shape after I parted out my 4479. Quote
starstreak Posted February 11, 2011 Author Posted February 11, 2011 Thank you! So far its been on my self and still looks fine. I think it'll need to sit ther for a long time for it to be damaged. Buena review, como quiero ese set! Quote
Tabris Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 Very useful review. Thanks for sharing Quote
Saxon Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 Nice review, but I think that they could add at least one stormtrooper in this set, it would be nice addition... And I have a question:I have this set and helmet of my Vader falls of very easy, is this normal? (I own only one Vader so I don't know) Quote
Fatteh Posted March 11, 2011 Posted March 11, 2011 Nice review and beautiful pics. Thanks. Just need to convince a certain someone that I need to get one more Star Wars set because this has just been listed on a local auction site and my sons can't survive without Vader any longer. And I have a question:I have this set and helmet of my Vader falls of very easy, is this normal? (I own only one Vader so I don't know) I only have the Anakin/Vader fig from Palpatine's shuttle, but I've noticed his helmet is quite loose as well... Quote
legolegolegolego Posted March 11, 2011 Posted March 11, 2011 Nice review and beautiful pics. Thanks. Just need to convince a certain someone that I need to get one more Star Wars set because this has just been listed on a local auction site and my sons can't survive without Vader any longer. I only have the Anakin/Vader fig from Palpatine's shuttle, but I've noticed his helmet is quite loose as well... I have also noticed the helmet is quite loose.- Michael Quote
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