Review: 9490 Droid Escape

[Masked Builder]

When we got the first pictures of this set I thought; "Well that's a good deal for $20." As I went on my hunt for SW LEGO at TRU, I looked for the Geonosian Cannon first, I was going to pick this one up second, but they were sold out, so I picked this up. It had looked like it was worth the money, but I just wasn't sure until I held the box in my hands. You guys know I'm all about the minifigures, so with three new ones, I could not get this. Enough talking though, let's get started!

Name: Droid Escape

Set Number: 9490

Pieces: 137

Price: $19.99

Ages: 7-12

Minifigs: 4

Theme: Star Wars

Year of Release: 2012

Bricklink

Brickset

S@H

See the Flickr set for more pictures.

Land the escape pod and hide from the Imperial sandtroopers!

C-3PO and R2-D2 have the secret plans to the Death Star, and must avoid capture by heading to the desert planet Tatooine in their escape pod. Will they land safely and avoid being captured by the Imperial Sandtroopers on their swoop bike? Includes 4 minifigures: C-3PO, R2-D2 and 2 Sandtroopers.

Box:

The front of the box has the excellent Maul art, and it seems that the "Droid part" jumps hands between the pictures. We've got a large "Warning" image, which manages to block some of the box art.

On the back of the box has the same lovely blue color scheme as the front, and LEGO has designed the images in quite a "Star Wars" way if you ask me.

The 1:1 image is of one of the new Sandtroopers, along with the "new" image.

Contents:

So we've got two bags, two loose pieces, the manual and the sticker sheet. Large parts usually aren't put into the bags, as usual.

The sticker sheet is very large, with six stickers, none of which I will apply.

Manual:

We've got the same art as on the box here on the manual, though it's a much wider print.

The inside is quite clean too, a light tan and a nice gray color scheme.

Darth Maul appears in the top right corners where there is room.

A good looking layout of the set on one of the last pages, a good blue color.

There's a simple one page "comic" on one of the later pages.

Again we see a one page ad showing what figures come in what set.

And then on the next page we have a great layout of all of the minifigures in every set.

For some reason, we've got a one page ad for Ace Assault II in here.

On the second to last page we've got an ad for LSWIII, why we have an ad for this a year after it came out, I don't know.

Minifigures:

My favorite part of most sets, the minifigures! LEGO has done a complete overhaul of all of the figs but R2. C-3PO is a much better color, the two Sandtroopers, and have totally new print including sand to complete the dirty effect. I just can't get over how amazing these figures are, I'm still drooling over these guys.

The Sandtroopers have backpacks just like in the film, and 3PO has some wires showing on the back too.

R2 and 3PO are both really nice, though R2 isn't new. C-3PO is though, and he looks so much better, the droids are really the duo in all six films.

A quick comparison between the 3PO that came in the original and the new one. The new one is so much better, printed eyes, exposed wires, better colors, need I say more?

LEGO is no printing faces onto the black heads, making a great Clone head. I really like this addition. I will say that I've moved the pauldrons above the back brackets so that they don't become mashed.

These guys are so detailed; they even have sand printing on their backs. It really adds a lot to the overall figures.

I do happen to have a Dewback, and the Sandtrooper really enhances the creature.

Parts:

We've got three interesting parts in this set, a half circle brick, the curve wall brick, and the cone piece. While none of them are new, they're rather rare in my collection, so I've included them here.

We've got four extra parts, no cheese slopes in this set, but the chromed 1x1 plate is good to have another of.

The Build:

First you build the speeder, nothing special, but you use some good parts to build all of the angles.

Then you build the bottom half of the escape pod.

And then build the top out of about seven pieces, really simple.

Here are the two small items that the set includes instructions for.

Complete Model:

Ah the joy of completing building a set. Overall, I really like it, the minifigures are great, and it's just so much better looking than the old one.

I have no idea what this speeder is based on, but it is a fun little build. We've got two little air scoops on the front, not sure where the air goes.

The back is pretty ugly; all of the structural bits are visible here.

Now onto the escape pod, I'm not too sure that it had thrusters on the front, other than that it looks pretty accurate.

And the back has a fairly nice looking engine array, the whole 'pod is very clean.

You can remove the top to play inside, though it's rather small. I wouldn't want 3PO piloting though.

I really like the angles that the engines are built in, it's really just cool to look at.

Final Thoughts:

I'm really still in love with the minifigures from this set, even six months after it came out. I definitely bought this for them; I had most of the parts already. The rest of the really is lacking, the minifigures really are the selling point of this for me. It is always good to get some brown parts though, I still don't have enough. There is some playability, but I wouldn't recommend crashing your set into the floor, or sand for that matter. Where the speeder came from, I don't know, probably just to bump up the part count.

Ratings:

Playability: 6/10 While there's not too much to play with totally in this set, you can play with it a good bit.

Design: 7/10 It's definitely an improvement over the first iteration of the set, but still nothing too special.

Price: 8/10 The prices was okay, $20 is a good median price point, and with 137 parts it's not an awful deal.

Minifigures: 10/10 Three completely new minifigures, all of which are gorgeous, get's this set a 10.

Parts: 9/10 LEGO has done a very good job making use of the parts they already had to build this set.

Total: 40/50 Forty-out-of-fifty is a good score for a midsized set.

"How did that come out of me?!"

Want to learn to make excellent reviews like this one? Then join the Reviewers Academy!

[Bob De Quatre]

Nice review

I'm new to the whole minifig thing, but these seems very detailled, and 4 in a small set lie this is great.

But I'm wondering if that speeder will work well with all that sand

[K-Nut]

Nice review. I never thought this set was that great. It's really just an escape pod with nohting to hook onto, not even like a spaceship that you can fly around for hours. But I may pick it up for the figs, just because they're awesome.

[Hartfan]

Great review. I really like this set.

[Gandalf the Purple]

Love the set, the Sandtroopers( ) are great!

[HawkLord]

But I'm wondering if that speeder will work well with all that sand

A similiar one worked well enough for Anakin on Tatooine in AOTC...

Great review. The set itself is just not exciting enough for me. I have Luke's Landspeeder, so I already have a good C-3PO, R2, and a decent Sandie. The Sandie detail and orange pauldron in this set are nice, but not enough to warrant a purchase. An excellent review - thanks for posting it.

[legomr]

Great review. I thought the set is pretty decent. I especially love the big conical half-shells which you otherwise get only in much more expensive sets.

[tvih]

Nice review. The minifigs indeed seem nice, although I must say that while the Sandtroopers look nice, regular stormtroopers would work better with the stuff I have planned.

Biggest problem is the price though. $20 is indeed nice as you say, but 30 euros - the price in Finland - is just too much for what's included

[Masked Builder]

Thanks guys!

Nice review. I never thought this set was that great. It's really just an escape pod with nohting to hook onto, not even like a spaceship that you can fly around for hours. But I may pick it up for the figs, just because they're awesome.

Yep, pretty much my thoughts.

[Ceroknight]

Thanks for the review!

This set really is just for the minifigures.. I'm still hesitant to buy this

[Brickdoctor]

Thanks for the review, Masked.

[DFOL]

Very nice and professional review Masked Builder, thanks a lot for putting in the effort and posting it here!

My thoughts on the set:

The escape pod has a nice and decent design, it looks like what it is supposed to be. But on the other hand, it doesn't really stand out in my collection either. The little speeder is a nice extra, but too small to be taken seriously in my opinion. I am a bit jealous of your dewback though, would've been nice to have that included instead of the speeder.

Four minifigs is nice enough for a set this small though. R2-D2 is nothing special, but C-3PO has a nice new print on both the body and the head. I'm not sure what to think of the Sand Troopers though. Their exquisitly detailed printing puts them among the finest minifigs recently released, but the sandy spots only makes them suitable for a desert environment which limits their use.

The official retail price in the Netherlands is 27,99 EUR. That's rather a lot for a mere 137 parts and 4 minifigs. I received this set as a gift and i enjoyed it, but i don't think i would have spent quite that much money on this set myself.

[Bilbo Baggins]

Great review, the Sandtroopers are simply awesome.

[The Blue Brick]

The set is great for the figs, but nothing else. I love the new sand trooper heads.

Sadly, I won't be buying this, mainly because of the price point.

Edited July 18, 2012 by The Blue Brick

[Masked Builder]

Thanks all!

Sadly, I won't be buying this, mainly because of the price point.

I buy a lot of sets under $50 so this was a good price point for me.

[THENOOB]

May pick it up for the fantastic minifigs.

[BrickCommander]

For a $20 price point this is a really nice, classical Star Wars set. The designer made the most out of a rather dull assignment: make a new set with an escape pod including the usual suspects and 2 sand troopers. The pod is much more accurate and functional than the can from the first version, and there even was enough money left to add a small swoop bike.

[Masked Builder]

For a $20 price point this is a really nice, classical Star Wars set. The designer made the most out of a rather dull assignment: make a new set with an escape pod including the usual suspects and 2 sand troopers. The pod is much more accurate and functional than the can from the first version, and there even was enough money left to add a small swoop bike.

I agree with you there, totally seems like it.

[JackJonespaw]

Nice review of one of my favorite sets! I love the detail and thought put into these figs - it really pays off!

[Leo604]

Great review on what looks like a set worth buying. I really like the detail on the sandtroopers; plus their backpacks come with pieces that could be used as lightsaber hilts.

[just2good]

Excellent review, 'Masked Builder'!

I always say this with these nice 2012 Star Wars sets, but this set is great. I'm really coming close to buying one of these new sets...