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    Discuss This Story ReviewThursday, September 25th, 2014 at 8:03pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager
    [Source: Zatth]

    Today we take a quick break from Ninjago Month to bring you a review of a licensed set. BZPower Forum Assistant Zatth has decided to share his thoughts on 76019 Starblaster Showdown from the LEGO Marvel Superheroes line of sets. Will you let this set back into your heart or is wanting it just some silly phase you're going through? You'll have to read and watch the review to find out!

    Hopefully by this point you have seen Guardians of the Galaxy. If you haven't, ooh child, what are you doing with your life? Also, it means this review might spoil parts of the movie. Anywho, ON TO THE REVIEW!

    Presentation
    From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 01

    One of the reasons why this set stood out to me was the graphics on the box. Not only does it depict the climactic battle scene from the movie (you know, the one with all those spirits in the sky), but it includes sets to help recreate various scenes from the film; after all, the set includes a Nova ship with a Nova officer, a Sakaaran ship with a Sakaaran pilot, and Star Lord with the Infinity Stone (if you thought it was a cherry bomb, you were mistaken). Plus, it was a Guardians of the Galaxy for the set, I had to go and get my love.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 02

    The back of the box is also nice and important, as it shows you that you can replicate the function of the Nova ships in the movie. You can also get an idea of how the minifigs look, and the poseability of both ships included.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 19 76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 20

    Of special note is a mini-booklet included in the set, which acts as a LEGO-style comic book. It doesn't really follow any plot, but rather it's used to display the different sets in the X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy lines in action. I'm not in love with it, mostly because instead of giving us a fun LEGO-ized comic book, it's just used to promote the other sets with no real semblance of story.

    Building
    Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 03

    The Sakaaran ship build is pretty straightforward, though, considering the limited number of pieces and shades it uses, it recreates the ship much as it is seen in the film. It is slightly smaller and different from the one from the Milano Rescue, so at least there's some variety there. However, you can't escape the feeling that there could be more done to this build.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 11

    The build for Peter Quill is also pretty straightforward, but I'll elaborate on it a bit later.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 04

    The real highlight of the set, though, is the Nova ship. The color distribution works to the set's advantage, and the build, though a bit monotonous, makes you feel a sense of satisfaction once it's said and done.

    Set Design
    Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 05

    Since most of the System pieces included in this set are just recolours, I'm focusing more on new and unique minifig pieces. And the set doesn't disappoint. As I've said many times before (and will say over and over again), the detail in comparison to the film is fantastic. The body pieces for the Nova Corps officer, the Sakaaran weapon, and just about everything from the Star Lord minifig.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 06 76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 07

    The faces aren't too unique, but they add a bit of variety to the set. Of personal preference is how one of the Nova Corps faces has the strap from the helmet, and the other side doesn't, and that the Sakaaran face includes one with two eyes and another with only the one.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 08 76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 09 76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 10

    Looking specifically at the sets, we first arrive at the Sakaaran ship. The design feels sleek and organic, much like it looks in the movie. A personal favourite design choice of mine, however, is that the minifig fits perfectly in the cockpit, even if it's holding its weapon.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 12 76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 13

    The Star Lord minifig is really wonderful in this set. The detail when it comes to the movie (the torso and legs decal, the starblasters) is wonderful. The variety of having two blasters, of having the orb, of having the yellow flying pieces (which are absent from this review because I play with my LEGO sets and lost both pieces, and I do admit I want them back), allows for a variety of ways to use/model this minifig.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 15 76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 16 76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 17

    The real highlight of the set, however (at least in my opinion), is the Nova Corps ship. The sleek and futuristic detail is wonderful when examining the ship's aesthetic by itself. The blue and yellow work very nicely to bring about that this is the ship featured in the climactic scene of the film. But to find out why I love this part of the set the most, keep reading.

    Playability
    The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 18

    YOU CAN REPLICATE THE SHIELD OF FRIENDSHIP! That's what I call the gigantic, yellow forcefield we see trying to stop Roman's Kree ship in the movie. But yes, even with just the one set, you can open up the �arm� thingies and act out the Nova Corps ship pushing back. I know that, personally, after fooling around with the Nova Corp ship I fell in love with that function. And if you have a lot of cash on you, you can get a bunch of the ships and replicate it on a larger scale!

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 21

    In all seriousness, though, playability is not that bad. You can replicate scenes from the film. You can make up your own adventures. It certainly has good, bad, and Chris Pratt characters to round out a good ol' battle scene.

    Final Thoughts
    Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

    Pros
    What's to like?

    • Nice minifigs
    • Good assortment of colours and pieces
    • Detail to movie is great
    • SHIELD OF FRIENDSHIP!

    Cons
    What's not to like?

    • Sakaaran's ship is less impressive
    • Not too big a set
    • Not that many super unique minifigs

    If you have the cash, I'd say you should go all the way and buy this set. It's got nice ships, minifigs, and it's a Guardians of the Galaxy set. It'll get you hooked on a feeling, I can guarantee that.

    76019 Starblaster Showdown Review 22
    There ain't no mountain high enough for Emmett to hide from Star Lord. Or from Andy Dwyer.

    Big thanks to Zatth for taking the time to put this review together. Make sure you thank him in the Talkback, where you can also ask any questions or leave any other comments you might have. I hope you enjoyed this break from Ninjago - but it's just temporary! So keep checking back on BZPower for more news and reviews of Ninjago, Bionicle, and everything else LEGO!

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