Friday, September 4th, 2015 at 10:01am by Benjamin, BZPower Reporter
The time for the Force to awaken is upon us, and along with the Star Wars Episode VII sets comes some constraction builds of memorable characters from the previous movies. Today we take a look at Jango Fett, DNA-donor for his better-known clone Boba Fett and heavy-hitting antagonist for Attack of the Clones. He's blue, he's dangerous, and he's ready to be posed in many action sequences against the Jedi. Check out the video and text review to see if he deserves a spot in your purchases as The Force Awakens hype grows.
I would especially like to thank LEGO for sending BZPower some of the new Star Wars sets for us to review. Being able to show off these to the fans as soon as possible is a privilege and a nice perk as a LEGO Star Wars fan. Jango in particular is an 85 piece set for $20.
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
When it came to the box, I was almost expecting a hexagon like this year's Bionicle sets. But the regular right-edged box will fit fine on shelves, not fall over, stack neatly, and be plenty flashy for customers. Focusing away from the prominent image of the set, the box has some essential information (including having 85 pieces, though not shown) and is sure to mention Disney is now in charge of Star Wars. To be fair, we have them to thank for the upcoming movie. It also highlights that this is part of the “Buildable Figures” line, just for clarification. The background also pops showing an action sequence from Episode II. The back then shows off the play features and other sets available in this line.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
While building Jango might at first seem like a basic Bionicle or Hero Factory build, it evolves into something more noteworthy early on. First off, the leg armor is new and the thigh armor is sand-blue. The legs themselves include the grip-extender-joint and a brown Technic piece to accent the leg a bit. After that, the back gets a bit of armor, which is only slightly common these days. But as soon as the jet pack is built—a purely Technic makeup—does the set really start to show off its style.
After admiring the jet pack and its rocket launcher, returning to the rest of the build includes utilizing more sand-blue armor parts and a new pauldron armor for the shoulders. But the set truly comes together once the chest plate is snapped on and Jango is fully realized with his helmet and trusty blaster guns. Absolutely awesome.
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.
There are some obvious new pieces with Jango Fett, and some other noteworthy parts too. The helmet is flashy and solid yet light. The chest armor shows the wear and tear of his job, as does the detailed shell armor. The pauldron armor is nice, and I am ecstatic to get some shell armor parts in sand-blue. The new leg armor is sleek and is seen with many uses already in this line of sets. A few other things stand out, like the brown Technic parts, blue wings, gold spears, and flat silver Bohrok eyes.
From all angles, Jango is sleek and tough. The bone pieces stand out a little from behind, but overall the shell armor does a good job keeping the focus on the overall aesthetic of the character. From the grappling hook in his arm to the guns and rocket launcher jet pack, he looks like he jumped off the screen and into your hand as an action figure.
For comparison, Jango stands almost as tall as his box. I doubt all the sets are like this, but is gives a nice idea of what to expect.
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.
Unfortunately, apart from the rocket launcher flick-fire missile, Jango does not really have any play functions. That said, he looks really cool posed with his guns or ready to launch the missile from his backpack.
OK, so there actually is one other feature that would be considered a “play feature.” But it involves removing some parts and sticking them elsewhere. But who are we to argue with LEGO? Especially since it adds to the character. The brown Technic parts on Jango's legs serve the purpose of being his gun holsters as well, and as you can see he can be hands-free when need be by sticking the Technic pins into his legs. It is rather clever.
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Pros
What's to like?
Cool character
Fun build and design
Some incorporated play features
New parts and colors
Cons
What's not to like?
Few play features
Prequel character
Two things that came to mind regarding Jango Fett were 1) Why Jango and not his much more awesome clone Boba? And 2) Why do these exist in the first place? I was under the impression that the Super Heroes constraction figures did not do too well. But Disney probably requested these, and LEGO went along with it. Or LEGO figured Star Wars would sell better and Disney approved the designs. But why did Disney request a character from the Prequels when the Original Trilogy has a character which would essentially be this set but green and wearing a half-cape? Regardless, if these sets really do well, maybe wave two will have Boba Fett among its roster.
As a final judgment for this set, I think it is a great representation of the character. On top of that, it will look great posed on the shelf next to other sets, and after a while will add some nice pieces to your collection for future MOCs. Jango will be a welcome addition to the role playing the target audience kids will be doing with the sets, creating new Star Wars scenes with all the characters available. And finally, to reiterate, he just looks cool.