The LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series set 75367 Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser is already available in a store at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia and we are therefore discovering this new feature which has not yet been officially announced by LEGO. In the box, 5374 pieces to assemble the 109 cm long ship and two minifigs: Captain Rex and Admiral Yularen.

The official announcement should logically not take long now that the product is revealed via its early release on shelves.

(Pictures via Long Ji Ming on Facebook)

Good news for those who have not yet pre-ordered their LEGO Ideas set 21343 Viking Village at LEGO at the public price of €139.99, FNAC is currently offering a pre-order for this box at the price of €114.99 with effective availability aligned with that of LEGO, i.e. October 1, 2023.

Please also note that FNAC has exclusivity in France for the marketing of this box which should therefore only be available directly from LEGO and in this brand. It is difficult to know at this stage whether this exclusivity is temporary or not.

LEGO IDEAS 21343 VIKING VILLAGE ON FNAC.COM >>

Today we take a quick tour of the content of the LEGO Star Wars set 75354 Coruscant Guard Gunship, a box of 1083 pieces available on the official online store since September 1, 2023 at the retail price of €149.99.

To put this derived product in its context, it should be noted that it is indeed a LAAT type ship (for Low Altitude Assault Transport) as LEGO likes to regularly decline it in the form of playsets and even in an Ultimate Collector Series version on occasion, but this version has nothing to do with those seen so far in the manufacturer's catalog.

This Coruscant Guard Gunship is indeed inspired by the very brief appearance of the ship on screen in the 7th episode the 6th season of the animated series The Clone Wars, the capture below being arguably the best view of this gunboat available (0:52 in the relevant episode).

It is obvious that LEGO knows that this ship is very popular with fans and that we must try to regularly offer a new version without tiring potential customers and this variant, admittedly anecdotal, was perfect to put the cover back on without having too much seems to insist.

It should also be borne in mind that this is a simple toy for children, developed taking into account the constraints linked to this target clientele, and not an ultra-detailed model. And the result seems quite convincing to me, even if the product takes the usual aesthetic shortcuts and certain details inevitably fall by the wayside.

A toy intended to be manipulated obliges, the internal structure of the vessel consists of a frame based on Technic beams which guarantees the necessary solidity of the construction. It's well designed, fun to put together and the toy looks great. The two cockpits can accommodate minifigs that will have to be slightly lengthened so that the helmets do not come up against the two canopies, the scale of the ship is obviously reduced to make it an easily manipulated product and the designer has also integrated a handful of transport which falls into the bowels of the machine when it is not used and which therefore knows how to be relatively discreet.

No special arrangements in the hold of the aircraft, we will console ourselves by noting that there is still room to install a few minifigs and simulate a landing. The two side doors are well designed with a mechanism simple and strong enough to withstand the onslaught of the youngest fans and the two panels placed at the front just under the two cockpits are movable but they do not really allow access to inside the ship.

Both wings are equipped with Stud Shooters vaguely integrated into an outgrowth which in my opinion lacks a little roundness, it's perfect for having fun even if this simplification does not really pay homage to the reference ship. It was difficult to envisage the presence of transparent or slightly smoked half-bubbles at the end of the wings, the risk of them falling off during slightly agitated phases of play was undoubtedly greater than with the solution used.

We could discuss for a long time the obvious simplification of the ship, especially if we compare it with the other sets that feature the classic Republic Gunship already marketed in the past, but LEGO has changed scale here, as has been the case for two years. in many sets of the Star Wars range, and approach and you will have to deal with it anyway.

You have to stick a few stickers to make the ship conform to the version seen on the screen, but there are only five stickers. As often the background color of these stickers is not perfectly matched with the color of the parts in Dark Red on which they take place and it is a bit of a shame. I note some slight differences in color between the pieces in Dark Red, but nothing catastrophic.

The endowment of minifigs here is both interesting and a little disappointing: even if the figurine is successful, Padmé Amidala is not in the pretty outfit seen in the episode concerned, it lacks the senator from Scipio Rush Clovis who would have easily been able to be part of the cast, Palpatine's pad print doesn't line up perfectly between the torso and the skirt and the white area on Commander Fox's torso frankly turns pink because LEGO still can't print a clear color on a dark colored piece.

The manufacturer has necessarily noticed this defect during the production of the figurines but no one will have deemed it useful to try to invert the colors with red pad-printed on a white torso. The design of the figure provided, with his kama vaguely printed only on the front side of the legs and his arms that lack pad printing, is anyway a bit rough compared to the character's outfit on screen, I would have gladly exchanged some details for a more accomplished finish of this minifig. The official visuals once again promised us a perfect finish, there is reason to be frankly disappointed when unboxing.

The two Clone Shock Troopers of the Coruscant Guard are very successful on their side, that's always a bonus. We. will also welcome the fact that Palpatine's skirt is stamped on both sides, it's always better than having one face that remains neutral as is often the case on miniatures that use this element, and that the character takes advantage of two very appropriate facial expressions.

I think that this toy is on the whole successful, with a ship rather faithful to the reference version if we take into account the chosen scale and the necessary adaptations to make it a solid product. There's plenty to have fun with, this gunboat will be able to end its career on the shelf without having to blush (it's already very red) and the few figurines provided are interesting despite the technical faults noted.

The subject covered is anecdotal, but we know that the most assiduous fans of the animated series The Clone Wars never get tired of getting merchandise. It's not worth spending 150 € right away for this box, it will necessarily be available at a more attractive price in the weeks and months to come.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at September 18, 2023 next at 23:59 p.m. Simply post a comment below the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid “I’m participating” or “I’m trying my luck”, we suspect that this is the case.

New LEGO flash sale at Amazon with a small selection of LEGO Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter, Technic, ICONS, Architecture, Minecraft, CITY and Ninjago products.

Legislation in force obliges, the percentage of reduction displayed on the respective sheets of each of the products concerned by the offer is not very impressive, but it is based on the lowest recent price practiced recently by the sign which is already well below the price charged by LEGO, and not on the usual public price of these boxes. Many of these products are sold at the cheapest price currently offered in France.

DIRECT ACCESS TO FLASH SALE AT AMAZON >>

Discount -23%

LEGO 75347 Star Wars The TIE Bomber, Maq Kit

64.99 € 50.19 €

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LEGO 21331 Ideas Sonic the Hedgehog – Green Hill Z

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LEGO 75325 Star Wars The Mandalorian N-1 Fighter L

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LEGO 76389 Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets

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The September 2023 issue of the Official LEGO Marvel Avengers Magazine is currently on newsstands for €6.99 and, as expected, you can get a minifigure of Groot already seen in the set. 76193 The Guardians' Ship as well as in the Advent calendar 2022 of the Marvel range (76231 Guardians of the Galaxy Advent Calendar 2022).

The next issue of this magazine will be available on newsstands from December 4, 2023 and it will be accompanied by a minifig of Iron Man in Mark 85 version already seen in a handful of sets since 2019 and which will also be available soon in the set 76267 Marvel Avengers Advent Calendar.