[REVIEW] 7962 Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba's Podracers

[Brickmamba]

Have been waiting for a review and see the opinions of other members on this set. I for one voted outstanding and consider this a must have as a SW collector from the current wave due to the rarity and inflated prices of 7186 and 7171. The mini figures included are perfect and the pod racers look improved and beefed up from the originals (the orange bricks are sexc)

Got this already at 30% discounts so no complaints about the price, though it is still sealed up due to space

Thanks for the review parchioso

PS i occasionally look up 7186 on eBay since i would like to get the pod racers from that set and i see prices for Watto alone for USD80+

[CaptainCRO]

Thanks for the review. Both racers are huge improvements over the old versions and the minifigures look great as always. I'm a little dissapointed Watto has a rubber torso though. Would have prefered the harder plastic like the old figure, even if its the cheap chinese one.

Hopefully this set will be successful enough for Lego to release more podracers in the future.

WHAT????Please tell me thats not true. What a disapointment(spelled wrong probably) .Are you sure about this?

What kind of rubber is it? Is it Plo Koon/Kit Fisto rubber or Shaak Ti/Saesee Tiin rubber?

Edited July 2, 2011 by CaptainCRO

[parchioso]

This set is AWESOME!

Thank you for great review!

Could you please take better picture of translucent pink pieces used for lighting beams?

Thanks all for the comments, it is great to see that the set receives very positive rating, as it is indeed a very impressive and high quality SW set.

By the way, here is a picture I have on the pink bar (good that I have the picture taken before, the set is already packed and hidden away from my family, who would complain about me playing lego):

http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/42445 ?

The part and color used for this item in the new set is different from 7171, but would a transparant neon orange technic beam make the podracers look even better?

[Brickdoctor]

The part and color used for this item in the new set is different from 7171, but would a transparant neon orange technic beam make the podracers look even better?

No, the purple-ish power coupling color is movie-accurate:

[Hollander]

Although I thought 7962 was the best set of this wave, I'm now not so sure about ik anymore. First, the podracers certainly look good and are very realistic. But the over detailed Sebulba, as mentioned before, nah, I don't know if I like that. And those 4 big pieces on Sebulba's racer, might be the most accurate, but I don't like 'em neither.

I might get this set, but I'm still hunting for some of the 2009 and 2010 sets, so this SW wave has to wait a couple of months, for me at least.

[Ki-Adi-Mundi]

Thanks for this decent review on a pretty average (IMO) set.

[Aanchir]

Typo, gentlemen... sorry. Of course I meant PT. I will say, the new Naboo Fighter will probably tempt me more than any Prequel set before... I've always loved the design of the craft, and it just seems to be really well executed this time around. But as I said earlier, this set is certainly impressive as well.

The new Naboo Starfighter set is good, I'll admit that, but at the same time it's almost identical to the last one which had a pretty great Vulture Droid as a bonus.

Anyway, as for this set-- in general, I love it. I don't hugely prefer PT to OT, but I feel the prequels fit well into continuity and since they occurred right in the midst of my childhood I have a great deal of nostalgia for them.

I happened to have the Mos Espa Podrace set when I was a kid (this was back when I could afford to collect LEGO Star Wars sets), and I really loved MOCing podracers. I had the movies, video games like Star Wars Episode I Racer for the N64, and several Star Wars cross-section books at my disposal for reference when MOCing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When this set was first revealed, I actually had to second-guess my decision to avoid collecting any more Star Wars sets, even more than I had to with other beautiful set designs like the last Luke's Landspeeder set. After all, this year has most of the sets I'd need to update my collection of Star Wars Episode I sets from my childhood with new, superior designs and more expressive minifigures.

I love all of the Episode I minifigures this year, and the ones in this set are no exception. Watto and Sebulba no longer feel like emotionless statues-- rather, they've got just enough detail and posability to look all right next to regular human minifigures. Anakin and Obi-Wan both wonderfully represent the actors from Episode I in the stylized way necessary for minifigures. Wald isn't hugely necessary to the set, but he's a nice addition.

The podracers themselves are also amazing. Sebulba's Podracer in the original set was the best representation I could imagine, but here it's been clearly trumped by this detail-packed design. In the early days of LEGO Star Wars, we couldn't have anticipated this level of greebling in a non-UCS set, but here such building techniques are prolific. The small details mesh wonderfully with the larger, more specialized Power Miners wheels at the back of the engines.

Anakin's podracer is also amazing, although I wish the dome shapes from the front of the engines could have been kept somehow (even with the air intake-- maybe a printed R2-D2 dome could have allowed this), and the pod itself doesn't have the same sleek swooshiness as the actual thing had in the movie. I suppose for that we'd have to wait for TLG to release suitable parts in other sets-- otherwise, it would require specialized parts for this set, which would be no good at all.

Now that the sets are out, I'm afraid to say they still won't be enough to get me back into the Star Wars theme. Frankly, I don't have the shelf space or the finances for a substantial collection, especially now that I'm collecting the Hero Factory theme. But at the same time, I'll keep watching the LEGO Star Wars theme with much interest. Don't expect me to comment often in this subforum, as I often simply don't have the know-how to make meaningful comments. But I'm certainly very happy with TLG's designers for this set, and it shows me that yes, there are still Star Wars designs that can be improved without feeling like tiresome remakes. Thanks so much for the review!

[Brickdoctor]

I wish the dome shapes from the front of the engines could have been kept somehow (even with the air intake-- maybe a printed R2-D2 dome could have allowed this),

I'm not sure that would work, since the dome does have to be skinnier than the intake. If you wanted a better looking mod, you could use yellow lever bases.

[wokajablocka]

I bough this set yesterday but havent built it yet. I did notice that the picture on the box has Obi with two diffrent faces when looking at the frount and pics of the figs on 1:1 sacle. Dose he have a double sidded head or is this another one of TLG artwork mistakes?

[CaptainCRO]

This is the only set I've seen so far without any "poor" and "belov avarage".

[wesker]

I bough this set yesterday but havent built it yet. I did notice that the picture on the box has Obi with two diffrent faces when looking at the frount and pics of the figs on 1:1 sacle. Dose he have a double sidded head or is this another one of TLG artwork mistakes?

Double sided head. Both he, Anakin, Luke, Leia and Padme all have them.

[Aanchir]

I'm not sure that would work, since the dome does have to be skinnier than the intake. If you wanted a better looking mod, you could use yellow lever bases.

Perhaps the dome/globe pieces first introduced as eyes for the BIONICLE Barraki could have worked, then. After all, they are coming out in white in the Ninjago Skull Truck, so obviously producing them in non-transparent colors isn't a problem. Bit too late, I guess.

[Brickdoctor]

Perhaps the dome/globe pieces first introduced as eyes for the BIONICLE Barraki could have worked, then. After all, they are coming out in white in the Ninjago Skull Truck, so obviously producing them in non-transparent colors isn't a problem. Bit too late, I guess.

Agreed, those would work even better. No gap in the front. Though they'd have to be integrated well to prevent a gap at the back end.

[wesker]

WHAT????Please tell me thats not true. What a disapointment(spelled wrong probably) .Are you sure about this?

What kind of rubber is it? Is it Plo Koon/Kit Fisto rubber or Shaak Ti/Saesee Tiin rubber?

Same rubber as Plo Koon, Kit Fisto and CW Yoda.

[pedro]

Great review parchioso, does the set justice.

I built mine yesterday and was very pleased with all aspects of the model: parts, techniques and of course a nice selection of minifigs. Bulding Sebulba's pod was the highlight, interesting use of techniques to create some complex shapes and lot's of greebling. Great fun. Really like the new minifigs: Wald is cool and provides a new Rodian head for MOCers and Watto is a massive leap over his original counterpart

If there were are any drawbacks it would have to be the lack of printed parts and the DSS. I literally groaned when I saw just how many stickers there were. I would have been over the moon had just the bonnet/hood piece of Anakin's racer been printed. O well. Also, it would would have made more sense for Qui-Gon to have appeared in this set and Obi in the Infiltrator set. No big deal though.

This figs and racers are quite nice (not as nice as 7159) but I wont get this set as my focus is on armies, so civilian racers are not for me.

Are you implying that 7159 is better than THIS set? Seriously, the Star Wars Bucket? Given that the Bucket is an old set, even for it's time it was bad. It's your choice, I'm just very surprised. 7962 is lightyears ahead in my opinion.

[gratefulnat]

Thanks for the review, parchioso!

Are you implying that 7159 is better than THIS set? Seriously, the Star Wars Bucket? Given that the Bucket is an old set, even for it's time it was bad.

I keep 7159 with 7186 watto's junkyard - it's the junk for Watto's yard , (although I bet (hope) Mr Man meant 7171 Mos Espa ).

I think 7962 is the best of the summer line-up. It's a fun build and has some interesting parts, it looks great and it's also very swooshable.

Edited August 1, 2011 by gratefulnat

[Nightshroud99]

I'm torn with this set, it's so expensive. But I may get it, I love the podracing scenes and the figures rock.

[Brickdoctor]

Also, it would would have made more sense for Qui-Gon to have appeared in this set and Obi in the Infiltrator set. No big deal though.

They probably wanted Qui-Gon in the Scimitar to battle Maul and didn't want him in both sets.

[White Cat]

I'm starting to think that somehow TLG hate Obi-Wan. In the 99, we got the young Obi-Wan with hood and only hood combined with Luke's face, then our Old Ben at first looks plain. Then after that we got the new color skin and still the same old face with old hood, new Ben got a angry or annoying face which never shows up in the movie. And now, we got another hood with a confidence and cheeky face for a never seen before attitude which never shows up in the movie, too.

[pedro]

I keep 7159 with 7186 watto's junkyard - it's the junk for Watto's yard , (although I bet (hope) Mr Man meant 7171 Mos Espa ).

I think 7962 is the best of the summer line-up. It's a fun build and has some interesting parts, it looks great and it's also very swooshable.

Ah, Mos Espa would make more sense! I missed a lot of the original PT releases but I'm really pleased with these new versions. And you're right - it's super-swooshable!

They probably wanted Qui-Gon in the Scimitar to battle Maul and didn't want him in both sets.

Aye, that'd seem to be the case. It's not a big complaint at all - the 'fig selection is great!

[Super Soap]

Anikans pod is okay but Sebulbas is AWESOME, the minifigs included all look pretty cool too.

I'll be getting this set for sure! (Thanks for the review!)

[TheBrickHitHouse]

Really superb set - I think one of the all time great star wars sets

The detailing is just fantastic, Lego has still got it

[Raider]

Awesome Set. Love!!!! the figures the Pods are Brilliant and the idea of The Flip around head on Anakin is annoying but intelligent. Love!!!!!!!!! Anakins Helmet

[Ackbar]

Finally put this set together! And I clicked the "outstanding"-button! For Sebulbas pod racer and the minifigs. The stickers are really annoying though, especially on Anakins pod.

[CaptainBermuda]

This is a great set, and is very...uh...large. It should've come with a small bleacher stand, even if it wold raise the price