Review:75155 Rebel U-Wing Fighter/Brikkyy13
Brikkyy13
Country: Australia Gender: Male
Joined: December 30, 2012 
№ of Reviews: 15 
№ of Featured reviews: 0
Building Experience: Lifelong
Hello everyone! Today I have with me one of the brand new Star Wars Rogue One sets, 75155 Rebel U-Wing Fighter - due for release on September 30. Special thanks to the guy at the store who went out back to grab this set for me. This set was released in 2016, contains 659 pieces and has a retail price of $79.99 USD.
Box and Contents[edit | edit source]
The box is on the larger side, and is quite thin. It's decorated with the new Death Trooper motif and it looks excellent.
Included in the box are 5 numbered bags and a single instruction manual packaged with the sticker sheet. Thankfully, one of the bags isn't open this time.
The back of the instruction manual has an ad showing all 5 Rogue One sets, the minifigure selection and a really cool image depicting a few of the sets in battle.
Build[edit | edit source]
Bag 1 builds the base of ship, and includes Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso.
Bag 2 continues to build up the ship and builds the wings
Bag 3 builds the undercarriage of the ship and includes Bistan and a Rebel Trooper.
Bag 4 adds some detail to the ship and includes a U-Wing Pilot.
Bag 5 builds the engines and finishes the U-Wing. In total, the build took me approximately an hour and a half. I'm a fast builder, so it will probably take a lot of people longer. Only a handful of people have this set at this time, so I cannot give an average build time. It's a very interesting build with a few different techniques used.
Minifigures[edit | edit source]
The first minifigure included is Jyn Erso. She is currently exclusive to this set, which is a shame considering she is the main character of the movie. Jyn is a unique figure, including an exclusive dual molded hair/helmet piece and a fabric poncho. Her accessories are a blaster pistol and what I assume is a rocket launcher. The torso printing is excellent and appears very faithful to her on screen appearance. As good as the figure is, the poncho feels very weak and I won't be surprised if someone complains about the fabric tearing. Also, it is disappointing to see that a hairpiece is not included.
The next minifigure included is Cassian Andor. Much like Jyn, he is currently exclusive to this set and also has a significant role in the film. He will be appearing in 75171 Bunker Battle next year, although it will be a different variant. The printing on Cassian is very good, and looks very accurate. The figure includes a blaster as an accessory and has a double sided face. My only issue with this figure is the double sided face. While the printings are different, they look too similar to me.
The last named figure included in the set is Bistan, a rebel gunner. He's a new species called Lakaru, and appears well represented. The green printing does seem a bit bright to me, but there is a lack of images of this character for accurate comparison. The printing is excellent as always, but the figure seems a little tall to me. I feel like short legs would have been more accurate.
Also included is a generic Rebel Trooper. This figure is great, and I can't wait to see more in the upcoming battle pack. I believe the helmet is a brand new piece. It's very reminiscent of the Rebel Fleet Trooper, except is a bit more square. This figure includes a blaster as an accessory.
The last minifigure included is a U-Wing Pilot. The printing is almost identical to the standard rebel pilot, except is dark blue instead of bright orange. As good as it looks, it looks awkward to me as I've always known rebel pilots to be dressed in orange. The head is the same as Wedge Antilles and Wes Janson from 75098 Assault on Hoth, so I assume the head is the new default pilot print.
Overall, the minifigure selection is excellent. I would have liked to see an imperial trooper or two included in addition to the current selection, but the set is fine as is.
The Completed Model[edit | edit source]
Upon completing the model, I was blown away by its size. The U-Wing is massive, yet it is still smaller than it should be. In the movie, the ship's cockpit will be able to hold two pilots. I think it's fine the way it is, and if the set was size accurate it would probably cost twice as much. Though the scaling is a bit off, the ship looks very faithful to its onscreen appearance.
The ship is primarily white with accents of blue and yellow. Each wing is detailed differently, giving the ship a little bit of personality. The detailing behind the cockpit looks very nice.
Pushing the two upside-down studs on either side of the engine forward will open the cockpit ever so slightly. This design is quite ingenuous, and I don't think we've ever seen anything like it before. The cockpit is positioned one stud lower than the rest of the ship, so it can be quite difficult to open manually.
The cockpit comfortably seats one minifigure, which attaches via that really useful piece which I cannot remember the name of :P The control panel is a printed element, which is always nice to see.
On the underside of the ship, directly below the cockpit, is a large windscreen - represented by an upside-down canopy piece. Using the clear canopy piece and holes in the floor, the pilot can see out the bottom of the ship. I think this is a very cool feature of the U-Wing and it's great to see it so accurately portrayed in LEGO form.
Spring loaded shooters are a shoe-in for every LEGO Star Wars set nowadays, so it's no surprise to see them here. They've been hidden into the body of the ship very well. Designers are getting more and more creative with hiding the firing mechanism, and this set is no exception. Pushing down on the two raised 1x2 tiles will send the missiles out the front of the ship.
At the back of the ship there are four large engines, very reminiscent of the ones that feature on the X-Wing we all know and love. These ones are very detailed, including an ice pick piece being used on the inside. The design is quite nice, though the connection is a bit lose. The engines have a certain degree of vertical mobility.
The back of the U-Wing has a bit of an angular design. I don't think this was intentional, but a small storage area can be revealed by using the hinge. Since there is nothing to secure anything, stored items such as blasters will move freely throughout the compartment.
Unlike previous rebel ships, the U-Wing is actually a troop transporter rather than a starfighter. The entire underside of the ship has space for the included minifigures, as well as one stud shooter on either side. There are hinged doors, much like the ones on the republic gunship, that swing open to reveal the inside.
While all included figures can fit inside, there isn't much room. It's very hard to position the figures inside, and it did take some time to put Cassian and Jyn in their positions for the above photo. If the underside had been designed to be detachable, it would be a lot easier to fit figures in. However, it is secured with technic beams, so it cannot be removed easily.
The last feature of the set is its transforming ability. The wings can be swung back into flight mode, making the already large ship appear even bigger (if it was named Y-Wing instead of U-Wing nobody would argue - if it weren't for the fact that Y-Wings already exist). The U-Wing looks absolutely awesome with its wings moved back, and is very "swooshable."
The design is quite impressive. The wings are hinged, and are locked in place by small ball joints. The only thing that would have made this feature better is if it was connected to a mechanism much like the one included in 70721 Kai Fighter.
Conclusion[edit | edit source]
This set is amazing. The minifigure selection is great, the play features are excellent and the ship is massive. The underside is a bit of a disappointment, and it would have been relatively easy to fix the access issues, but I think it can be excused. The designer has done an amazing job on everything with this set - especially with the missiles and the cockpit (whoever the designer is, they deserve a raise for their work on this). I definitely recommend picking this set up if you get a chance, and I can't wait to see it on the big screen when Rogue One is finally released in theaters. Thanks for reading this review, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
| Overall |   4½ / 5 |
| Playability |  3½ / 5 |
| Build | 5 / 5 |
| Value for money | 3 / 5 |
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