7151 - Sith Infiltrator

Rating:
Pros: Good parts
Cons: The set is based on a weak vehicle design
Contents: 243 pieces including 1 mini-fig
Price: $29.99
Reviewed: 10-Sep-2000
Reviewed by: Gareth Bowler

Darth Maul sped his Sith Infiltrator toward the desert world of Tattooine. He was hot on the trail of the deposed Naboo Queen and her Jedi friends. At least he thought he was.
With no navigational or sensor equipment, no way to steer, and nothing to see out of, he couldn't really be sure. However, he did have his keen Sithly instincts to guide him. When it came to tracking down prey, the deadly instincts of a Sith hunter were more accurate than a thousand R2 units.

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And here we reach a prime of example of what's wrong with the Star Wars Episode I Lego sets: there are too many of them. There are almost as many sets from this one movie as from the entire original trilogy. As a result, they have wound up producing some sets of things that are really not all that interesting. There are THREE sets devoted to the pod-race scene alone. Granted, the pod-race is arguably the highlight of the entire movie, but all three sets contain Anakin's pod-racer. While I find the pod-race an exciting scene, I don't feel the need to spend $140 to own three copies of the same thing. Neither do a lot of other people judging by the amount of Mos Espa sets gathering dust on the shelves.

This ship really shouldn't have been made into a Lego set. It's only in the movie for about thirty seconds. Frankly, it looks pretty stupid there too. It almost seems as if they took two old designs (TIE Fighter and Star Destroyer) and mashed 'em together into an entirely impractical and unpleasant design. Big Episode I fans will probably argue that it IS a cool ship just because it happens to belong to Darth Maul and this is probably why Lego made it. However, if you ask me (and by reading this, you have implicitly asked me), the inclusion of Boba Fett doesn't make Slave I any less stupid. Maul doesn't do it for this ship either.

You're probably beginning to wonder why I bought it at all. Let me explain... Half-price + coupon = very cheap set. For what I paid for it ($10), it's a worthwhile purchase. It does have a large number of useful bricks and plates in blue, gray, and dark gray. This is especially nice since most sets nowadays are sadly lacking in normal pieces. You also get a few hinges and space-gun-type parts to sweeten the deal. As nice as the part selection is, the same is true of any Star Wars Lego set. For example, the X-Wing has mostly the same parts but forms a much cooler set.

Now for the features... The ship is very modular. The front flat part can detach from the blocky, rear half. However, since this just makes the flat part look flatter and the blocky part look blockier, it's best to leave them attached. The wings also detach from the body and then can split into two parts. I'm not sure what all this detaching is in aid of, since there's no useful alternate configurations and the separate components aren't "mini-vehicles" by any stretch of the imagination. I guess it's so you can swap wings with the Vader TIE, which is actually a surprising improvement.

There is a large, flat cargo bay in the big, flat part. It contains the three probe droids which are all-black mini-fig heads with control sticks on top. It's also a handy place to store Maul's lightsaber. The back of the main pod opens to reveal Maul atop his little Sith hover-bikey thing. It's the same one that's in the Lightsaber duel set. The problem is that there is nothing in the cockpit for Maul to see out of or steer with, just a blank gray box. The other problem is that the bike gets stuck in the rear hatch, and generally falls out when you open the hatch, leaving Maul and his bike upside-down on the floor.

All in all, this a pretty sub-standard set unless you're a REALLY big, drooling Sith fan. The only thing that keeps it from being a one star set is the piece selection.