Set Review: 75297 Resistance X-Wing
Saturday, February 13th, 2021 at 9:00am by Andrew, BZPower News Manager
We're back today with another LEGO set review, this time venturing into a galaxy far, far away, in a couple of areas. Obviously that's mainly a reference to Star Wars, which means we're taking a look at 75297 Resistance X-Wing, which is a '4+' set in the popular sci-fi theme. This is the first time I've ever built a set in this age range, at least since I was in that age range, which was a long time ago itself. Should you buy this set? Who should you buy it for? Is there anything interesting about it at all? You'll have to read on to find out!
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
Aside from the Star Wars logo emblazoned on the top, the '4+' logo is one of the first things that catches your eye. For the unfamiliar, the '4+' moniker replaced what were previously called 'Juniors,' sets for kids who are moving past DUPLO bricks but aren't quite ready for the piece counts and choking hazards of larger, more intricate sets. Anyway, we see the X-Wing, which looks pretty cool from that angle, and the minifig and droid included in the set. The back of the both is a bit barren compared to what I'm used to. There only seems to be one feature highlighted - the opening canopy - and a callout that this set helps you 'learn to build.' We'll have to see about that!
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
At only sixty pieces, there's not a lot to this set, and within five minutes or so it was assembled. I was a bit surprised that they actually had you build two wings at a time, which was nice to see. Otherwise it was a lot of straightforward stacking and snapping, not the most engaging of builds but not unpleasant.
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.
Here's where the '4+' name really comes into play. From what I've seen of these sets and Juniors before them, they tend to feature at least one large base part to give builders a sturdy starting point. We definitely have that here, with the main fuselage of the starfighter being composed of one big piece. It definitely looks like something you could build out of other parts, but it plays a key roll in tying the set together for the target demographic. In addition to that, there are two nice printed elements - no stickers anywhere here - which could probably find uses outside of Star Wars for clever builders. Finally, I'm not sure if the fender piece if new or just new to me, but it definitely had some interesting geometry that I liked.
What you get at the end definitely looks like an X-Wing, albeit a small and simple one. BB-8 looks a bit exposed in the back and the lack of engines or really any details on the aft side make it look a little bland. From the front though you get that iconic look, and for the kind of set it is, it's not half bad.
Since I happened to have it assembled and sitting around, I thought I'd do a quick comparison of this set to 2016's 75149 Resistance X-wing Fighter. The older set has over twelve times as many parts and costs four times as much, so it's not really a fair fight. While the side-by-side shot immediately shows the areas the new set is lacking in, it also shows that there's a good bit it got right. The colors are spot-on for the most part, and the shape is there. I'd also say the printed parts add some nice extra detail that's lacking on the larger set. You can see they share the same ancestor - a model on a movie set - but were both designed to fit a different need.
Based on my comparisons with the above 75149 Resistance X-wing Fighter, this is the exact same Poe Dameron minifigure, except without the hair piece, and this is the first time this look for Poe has shown up in the past five years. He definitely captures the appearance of the character from the opening of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, although it would have been nice to get the hair as well.
As far as I can tell, this is the same BB-8 we've seen since the first sets from The Force Awakens released. Still looks great, so no complaints here!
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?
There are two main play features in this set: the canopy opens and closes and so do the wings, although you have to adjust each one individually. That's to be expected in such a small set, so it's not a big deal. Somewhat surprisingly, there's no launchers or shooters of any kind in this set: my guess is that it's a safety or choking concern, and I really don't miss the tacked-on stud-shooters or 1x4 spring-loaded launchers. With the s-foils locked in attack position, it's quite swooshable and I'm sure kids will have a blast flying it around making spaceship noises.
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Pros
What's to like?
- Great entry-level build for young builders
- Immediately recognizable as an X-Wing
- No stickers
- No launchers
- A second chance to get a minifig that only appeared in one $80 set
Cons
What's not to like?
- No hair for Poe
- The back is kind of plain
75297 Resistance X-Wing contains 60 parts and will retail for $20 when it releases in March. That may not seem like a good value, but let's be real - this set isn't for people like you and me. If you have a young child in your life, whether it's yours, a sibling, a niece or nephew, or whatever, who likes Star Wars and you want to get them into LEGO, this is a great set to help kickstart that passion. If you can find it on sale, it could even be worth picking up for yourself for the parts and the semi-rare minifig.
Many thanks to BZPower's Ambassador Tufi Piyufi for orchestrating getting us this set to review. Thanks also to LEGO for sending it to me. My thoughts and opinions above are my own and are not influenced by the fact that I got this set for free. Hopefully you enjoyed this review - let us know what you thought in the Talkback! We have plenty more coming up soon, so keep checking back, right here on BZPower!
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