7101 - Lightsaber Duel

Rating:
Pros: Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn; speeder is well done
Cons: Pointless evaporator; hair/hood fall off; one-sided lightsaber; too expensive
Contents: 50 pieces including 2 mini-figs
Price: $5.99
Reviewed: 3-Aug-2000
Reviewed by: Gareth Bowler

Dashiel Hammet had been a moisture farmer his entire life, as had his father before him, and HIS father before HIM. "Neither Jawa raids, nor sand-people ambushes, nor Bantha-attacks will keep the moisture from being farmed on time!" was the family motto. This is why tears ran down Hammet's face when the dueling Jedi and Sith accidentally sliced his best evaporator into a hunk of useless garbage with a single misplaced swipe.
"Pesky Jed-aye and yer duelin'! We's decent folk around here! We don't go in much fer yer lightsabers and duelin' and force-usin' an' all!", he shouted, shaked his fist...

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As is usually the case with very small sets, there's not an awful lot to say about this set, but fear not! I intend to write a lengthy review, even if I have to resort to repeating myself in order to write a lengthy review, which will have many repetitions in it because I have been repeating myself in order to make the review longer.

This set consists of Qui-Gon Jinn, Darth Maul (both with lightsabers), Maul's Sith speeder, and a standing thing of some kind. I guess it's supposed to be some piece of moisture farming equipment -- an evaporator perhaps. Yes, an evaporator. That's what we'll call it.
It's made of a bunch of 2x2x1 bricks stacked on top of each other, with some ladder/trellis type pieces attached for looks, and four antennae on the 6x6 base plate. Nothing special and no real functions.
They did a good job on the speeder, considering how small it is in relation to the mini-figs, the only problem being that the piece on the back makes Maul's cape stick out at a weird angle.

Maul himself is neat as a mini-fig, and if you're after him this set is cheaper than the Sith Infiltrator. (Although, at the time this review was written, eToys was having a sale on the Infiltrator. You might want to check their site and see how much it is.) He has a molded plastic hood which fits over his head and like most mini-fig headgear, falls off all the time.
Qui-Gon is the same as the one in the Mos Espa, Naboo Swamp, and Naboo Sub. His hair comes off all the time too. Both Maul and Qui-Gon sport the two hole capes (which, in my opinion, just get in the way) and lightsabers.
Here's the kicker; Maul's lightsaber is only one-sided! Yes, I KNOW he didn't actually USE both blades in this scene, but would it have KILLED Lego to toss in a second red blade? What's the point of having Darth Maul without having a double bladed lightsaber?

Anyway, to cut a long story short, since there are very few pieces, zero rebuild potential, and half the main model is pointless, the only reason to buy this set is the mini-figs. It probably would've been better served by ditching the evaporator and dropping the price a couple of bucks. Still, if you just want cheap lightsaber-toting mini-figs to kill each other, this is probably the best place to get them, since Star Wars figure packs seem to be only a rumor.