Sunday, December 27th, 2015 at 11:36pm by Benjamin, BZPower Reporter
He's the hot-shot pilot from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and no I don't mean Han Solo. Poe Dameron has a fancy black X-Wing, already immortalized as a LEGO set, and now he's fully articulated in constraction form. Today we review Poe Dameron of the next Star Wars "Buildable Figures" line, to see if he is worth your galactic credits or if, like Stormtroopers, he misses the mark. Read, and watch, on to find out!
A special thank you goes to LEGO for sending BZPower this set before they hit the store shelves. I know fans will enjoy seeing these a head of time to make some buying decisions. Poe Dameron comes with 102 pieces and retails at $25 USD.
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
The box is the same kind that many of the first wave of Constraction Star Wars sets had. Tall and about the size of the completed set. It clearly shows the set inside, with an X-Wing hangar setting in the background to flesh out his character. The back of the box puts him in a different pose, sure to show off his sidearm attachment as well as the play function of the new blaster rifle design.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
Building Poe is pretty straightforward, for a CCBS set. Some Technic comes into play when building the small blaster, big rifle, and his vest, but the bulk of the set's Technic resides in those details. Surprisingly, you will notice the orange System slopes, which attach to the back of the legs to round them out, which I think is a great design choice to add a bit more color to an otherwise empty design. In the end, he stands about as tall as his box, similar to the smaller builds of the first wave of constraction Star Wars sets.
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 a lot of great new parts in Poe, which I feel will be the main reason to pick him up. We see the orange pauldrons returning, first seen in the Commander Cody set. There are also a slew of orange #5 and #6 shell armor parts, some with printing, which will be nice to add to a building collection. The rifle is a new part for these Star Wars sets, which has many uses and looks good as a part, with numerous Technic holes and even a few System studs. Finally, the chest armor part does not come printed, that is what the sticker sheet is for, which will allow for more versatility in building, barring you can utilize its single connection point.
Poe Dameron is your basic CCBS armored character. Having his vest built out of Technic parts gives him a few points for style, but nothing really sticks out in revolutionary design or build technique. However, it is cool to see the hip holster again, as seen in the Jango Fett and Luke Skywalker sets. His head is a good design, but suffers from the blank expression through plastic eyes, which is a common characteristic cited with these sets. To add to his uneventful design, his back is plain and featureless. In short: He just stands here at attention.
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.
Poe is a fairy simple set, but he can still strike a pose like the rest of the figures. He has the blaster, he has the rifle, and he has the stare. Other than that though, he does not have much. He will look cool on your shelf, ready for a bit of the action, but he does not really have much going for him until he has a chance to use the guns against a bad-guy character. Unfortunately, looking cool just is not impressive these days, at least when there are other sets out there that look cooler. For the Oscar Isaas fan though, this might be enough.
The rifle provides most of the play features of the set. Housed inside is a spring-loaded missile, which attaches via some internal studs (see video for more). The trigger on the bottom fires, and a spare is kept outside the rifle for a quick reload.
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Pros
What's to like?
Lots of orange CCBS pieces.
Hot-shot character.
Looks cool with the guns.
Plenty of new pieces.
Cons
What's not to like?
Boring set.
Action-less without conflict.
For all that Poe has to offer, from parts to some Technic builds, there are numerous things that detract from his value, like his simple build and “just stands there” demeanor. There are more interesting CCBS Star Wars sets out there, which will allow for more play and look flashier on the shelf. Poe is best used as a parts pack, because that is where his true value shines. But as far as Star Wars characters go, he is pretty cool.