Review: 20021 Bounty Hunter Assault Gunship

[Inconspicuous]

As you're all aware, Lego discontinued the Brickmaster program last year. New subscriptions were stopped, but models and magazines kept on coming out for the customers who still had subscriptions. I was lucky enough to subscribe at the last possible moment, and even though the program is dead, I'm still receiving exclusive sets in the mail. Every month, fewer and fewer people receive these sets so I feel that it is my duty to bring you a review of the penultimate Brickmaster set that will ever be made: Set 20021 Mini Bounty Hunter Gunship. This set is a minimodel of the Halo, a mercenary ship that has made a few cameos through the Clone Wars series in addition to being made into a full-sized Lego set this year. Even if it's not the coolest ship or the most accurate design, this mini has some nice things to offer, so let's take a look.

BASIC INFORMATION:

Set Name: Bounty Hunter Assault Gunship

Set Number: 20021

Number of Pieces: 81

Minifigs: 0 (Minimodel)

Price: N/A (Brickmaster Promo)

Theme: Star Wars / Mini (Clone Wars)

Year Released: 2011

RESOURCES:

Brickset

Bricklink

Flickr

THE REVIEW:

BAG:

Front:

First up is the set's large flashy polybag. I've never understood why Lego makes Brickmaster bags so big considering the sets are quite small, but it's kind of nice to have a large stock image of the set for my unofficial box art collection. The usual set information appears on the left and the cool dark blue Captain Rex logo appears on the top.

Back:

The back has the usual warnings and a clear strip that gives you a sneak peek of the set's contents. The parts for this set were made in Denmark, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

Bag:: Thoughts: Lego's box size reduction changes clearly haven't hit the polybags yet, but at least the art is nice.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Front:

The manual is of the typical folded variety and showcases the same image as the polybag. It kind of looks like the background planet disappears halfway through, but there's actually a faint line the continues around the nighttime side.

Random Page:

The instructions are quite bland, featuring only a drab gray background. In this case it makes the set's colors seem even brighter. Tan boxes and arrows direct the building and placement of the ship's subsections.

Parts Inventory:

The parts inventory for anyone interested.

Back:

The back shows the 2011 wave of Star Wars sets, including the model's bigger brother: Set 7930.

Instructions:: Thoughts: Simple to the point of being bland, but nothing obviously wrong with them.

PIECES:

Pieces:

Here are the set's pieces, carefully spread for your viewing pleasure. The set has a unique dark green and yellow color scheme, but of course every space ship has to have a good mix of black and gray. There's a fair amount of slopes and plates since the ship has a good amount of SNOT. I especially like the green slopes and black arches. For some reason, I've forgotten to include one piece in the picture: the Black Plate Modified 1 x 2 with Handles. Click the picture to see a larger version.

Pieces of interest:

Some of my favorite pieces, including the slope and arch I mentioned. The rocket pieces are not all that common, and cheese graters are always fun.

Pieces:: Thoughts: A pretty nice selection over a variety of colors and piece types. There's quite a good amount of them for a promo set.

THE BUILD:

Build:

The build starts with a nice, solid SNOT center. Next, the slopes and tiles are added, creating a smooth and pretty cockpit area. The tail of the ship is built separately and then the engines are attached. After 16 quick steps, the model is done!

Extra Pieces:

A few meager pieces are left over. Cheese slopes are always good to have.

Build:: Thoughts: Not too much repetition and a good amount of SNOT for a small model. It was a nice process although it was short because it's a minimodel after all.

COMPLETED PRODUCT:

Front:

And we have our completed product! The SNOT cockpit is well done and the wingspan is quite nice. The yellow on the engines looks rather jarring from this view, but there's more yellow being blocked.

Back:

From the back, you get a nice view of the rear guns and the small boosters. The red tile is awkward the way it's attached, but it doesn't break off too easily. You can see how light and empty the back is, so it's no surprise that the ship collapses backwards without the support of the main engines.

Top:

The top view shows off the ship's impressive wingspan and the beautiful dark green tiling on top. The rocket/blade pieces are really neat against the round yellow plates.

Side:

The cheese graters are tucked away under the wing. You can also catch a glimpse of the smooth piece holding the wing together. That big gray tile bothers me, because the actual ship is green in that spot. More on the accuracy in a bit.

Under:

You can see the hidden detailing much more clearly from the bottom. I like the way the black arches seem to match the shape of the green inverse slopes. The front guns break off easily whenever the ship crash lands, and it's easy to see why.

Flying:

With the aid of a few clear bricks, this is what the ship looks like in flight mode. I think it looks much more natural this way.

Halo:

This is what the actual ship is supposed to look like, and the Lego model clearly has some issues. The engines are a bit too long and not thick enough; the cockpit has too much green and not enough gray; the back extends out too far. The list goes on. So in terms of accuracy, it's not all that great. But they captured the shape, and as a standalone model I think it's fine.

Video:

A brief video featuring the set. There aren't any functions to display apart from the rotating engines, but heck, who doesn't like a video?

_______________________________________________

Totals:

Design: 7/10 Although it certainly isn't the most accurate model, it works well as a Lego set. The SNOT cockpit is well designed and it's more or less sturdy and pleasant to look at.

Parts: 9/10 A nice selection of colors and types. The black arches and dark green pieces are certainly highlights, but even the more bland pieces aren't half bad for a promo set.

Build: 8/10 Pretty enjoyable and interesting. For a minimodel, the unique shape makes this a different experience than other sets I've built. A tiny bit of repetition when building the wings, but it's otherwise ok.

Playability: 6/10 It can swoosh around fine, and crashing it is pretty fun. However, the engines get out of line easily, and there's not much else it can do by itself.

Price: 8/10 For an estimated price of $6, you certainly get your money's worth: 81 pieces. But since this was a Brickmaster set, it's unfortunately too rare to be cheap online.

Total: 38/50 Overall, I'm pretty happy with this set. It has a nice color scheme and an interesting design. I wasn't expecting anything like it, so it was a pleasant surprise to find a Star Wars minimodel in my mailbox on May 4th. Right now, there are only a few available online for around $30. Unless you're in love with this set, it's probably not worth it. But if you already have one, and aren't sure whether to keep it or resell it, hopefully this review will help you decide.

Bonus:

Green ship, green thumb.

Thanks for reading!

-Inky

[Ceroknight]

Thanks for the review!

It looks like a decent set

[Brickdoctor]

Thanks for the review. I think this is one of TLG's better MINIs. Nice piece selection and well shaped as far as accuracy at this scale is concerned.

[XimenaPaulina]

Wow, excellent review as always Inky! Just seeing the crisp images makes me wanna have this polybagged set. This is probably one of the best SW minis ever created as it captures the overall shape and design of the real ship really well, as well as the accompanying movable engine boosters functionality.

[Fuzzylegobricks]

Thanks for this review Inky!

The BrickMaster program should have ended I thought

but I stand corrected. I hope I can sign up for the future program like BrickMaster

I think its called MBA.

Edited May 10, 2011 by Fuzzylegobricks

[WhiteFang]

Nice review, Inky.

Looks like this is one of the nice BrickMaster exclusives which will be eventually be quite limited since the subscription has ended. This is definitely one of the nicer minis with the right mini proportion and lots of fun playing feature in it.

[drdavewatford]

Thanks for the review.

This is a good-looking model. Just a pity that most people won't get to build it because it's being wasted on Brickmaster.........

D.

[Enpaz]

Unbelievable... those mini sets are getting better and better! First the Slave I, and then this...

[mutley777]

Thanks for the review!

I really like this set and even think you a little over critical on the design . It ia a mini after all so design flaws are always going to be more evident than in system sets.

The overall shape looks very well caputured to me, with most of the cockpit shape very well reproduced. The colour scheme is also pretty good for a set of this size. Can't wait for the 2 I have ordered off BL to arrive. They were no where near $30 either!

[The Flying Dutchman]

Thanks for the review: you've done an excellent job and made it all clear with nice pics!

[KimT]

I've been a fan of those Brickmaster Star Wars sets since they started doing them.

A shame that this is the end for Brickmaster.

I'll miss them

Thanks for doing such a great review for us

[lightningtiger]

Excellent review 'Inky', actually looks alot like the larger set, of course within reason of being a mini creation.

True by the looks of it too, the engines are always the weakest link !

May the brick be with you !