Review:75101 First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter
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$69.99
€69.99
£59.99
$99.99
$89.99
€76.99
Reviews
Brikkyy13
Country: Australia Gender: Male
Joined: December 30, 2012 
№ of Reviews: 15 
№ of Featured reviews: 0
Building Experience: Lifelong
Hello everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful Force Friday! Today I have with me one of seven new Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens sets, 75101 First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter. This set has 517 pieces, 4 minifigures and retails for $69.99 USD.
The box and contents
To be in union with the rest of the Force Awakens product range, the boxes have been updated from this year's Rebels motif to a shiny new Kylo Ren one. The logo features Kylo Ren wielding his signature lightsaber. Also present on the box is a Disney logo. The box showcases the set and all its functions, including its opening cockpit and spring missiles.
The instruction book offers the same picture of the set as the box. The back of the book provides a look at the lineup of minifigures for this wave of sets and images of the other 6 sets.
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The set
The final product looks absolutely amazing. It looks like a TIE from the original trilogy, but not quite. The colors on the wings have been inverted, part of the cockpit is red and there is a little more firepower. The overall look of the ship is very nice and in my opinion is an improvement over the old TIE Fighters.
The first of the four minifigures included in this set is a duo of First Order TIE Pilots. Each of these include a little pistol as an accessory and have a standard head under their helmets. I really like the printing on these guys, it's really accurate and makes them look great. These figures also sport new helmets, which features a slightly new shape and an actual hose connecting to the breathing systems. These figures are currently exclusive to this set.
The third figure included in this set is a First Order Crew member. This guy looks a bit like an updated version of the Death Star Gunner. The printing on this character is simple, and his head is reused on other characters in this wave (such as the Resistance X-Wing Pilot in 75102 Poe's X-Wing Starfighter). I really like his helmet, and I'm glad that it also appears in 75104 Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle. This figure includes a pistol as an accessory.
The last figure included in the set is a First Order Officer. His uniform is different to the rest of the First Order members in this set as it is a light blue and not black. The design on his torso is very simple. I like how he appears to be an older man, it shows that he has been in the First Order for a long time and has worked hard to get to where he is. His hat is also really cool, and appears in black on General Hux. This figure features no accessories. This variant of the figure is exclusive to this set. A female variant is available alongside Hux in the Command Shuttle set.
Like older versions of the TIE Fighter, there are two sections: The cockpit and the wings. The cockpit on this version of the TIE is built mainly with black pieces, with an accent of red.
The cockpit features two spring loaded missiles in place of lasers. They are fired by lightly tapping on the back of the missile on the back side of the cockpit.
The entire left side is structured out of red pieces, except for one black piece which has red stickers on it. Another interesting detail on this version of the TIE is the part that connects the body to the wings.
This design utilizes 1x2 plates angled to make a circle. It looks really cool and makes a great connector.
While one side of the TIE features red coloring, the other features increased firepower. The right side of the TIE features a gun that can fold up or down to adjust its position and aim at targets. Unfortunately, the gun can't turn.
The back of the TIE features two droid heads as engines, and a second cockpit. The new Special Forces TIE has room for two minifigures instead of just one. That's a pretty big improvement over the Empire's TIE Fighters.
Both cockpits and the roof use the same cover piece, so they all open up to allow access to the interior. Both cockpits feature the same droid body as controls. The TIE Pilots fit in the seats nicely and stay in place.
The second section of the TIE Fighter, the wings, is built nicely. The wings are built using bags 3 and 4 (one wing in bag 3, one in bag 4) and are exactly the same. The wings are very simplistic but have excellent detail.
The outside of the wings is surrounded by plates to give it a look older versions of the TIE model didn't have. On previous iterations, the wings would just be plates and the details would be tiles. This new design, introduced in 2012 on 9492 TIE Fighter is a major improvement over the old design and looks a lot better.
The center of the wings are decorated by a few small pieces (including minifigure roller blades! 
) and a sticker on a 2x2 round tile.
The wings attach to the cockpit via clips on the inside of the wing. The clips are hidden by the round connector parts.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am impressed! The new TIE Fighter certainly pays its respects to those used by the Empire but sports a look that makes it its own. The new color scheme works on the TIE. The set is really good. For the price that you pay you get an epic ship and some decent minifigures. The build is a bit unconventional and extremely fun. If you're looking for a fun time and are willing to drop the extra cash, look no further than this set. It's a great representation of a Star Wars set, and above all: It's from Episode VII! I can't wait for this movie in December! Thanks for reading this review, and stay tuned for more The Force Awakens set reviews.
| Overall |   4 / 5 |
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