Today we have another set review from the buildable figures based on The Last Jedi for you to check out. BZPower Blog Assistant Ta-metru_defender is taking a look at 75526 Elite TIE Fighter Pilot, the modern version of the iconic aces that Wedge Antilles loves shooting down. To see if this set soars high through the vastness of space or if it crashes into the bridge of a Star Destroyer, read on!

If you crack open a TIE Fighter you will probably find a TIE Fighter Pilot (or a renegade Stormtrooper helping the Resistance's best pilot escape). So when LEGO sent BZP copies of the new The Last Jedi buildable figures (thanks LEGO!), I, as a fan of TIE Fighters in general, volunteered for the TIE Fighter pilot.

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

I feel like at this point we all know what we're getting with a Buildable Figure box. You've got the figure on the front, a name, pieces, etc. This one has our dear Elite TIE Fighter Pilot standing in the hangar of what I presume is a Star Destroyer with a flurry of activity behind him. Of particular note is the very stock image of a Stormtrooper running in the background.

The backside shows off the set's play features, herein being a spring-loaded launcher and, uh, his helmet. It is a cool helmet.

The parts are in a couple bags, with the helmet and the torso being inside smaller bags inside the big one. There's an instruction book (useful) and no stickers (hey!).

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

The Elite TIE Fighter Pilot (or TIE-Pie as I refer to him in my head) builds like just about any other standard CCBS figure. The one deviation is the build for his life support vest, but elsewise, it's click, snap, 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.

There are a few cool pieces in this guy! We get the rounded shoulder armor with the First Order insignia, which is neat, and the buttons for his life support vest are printed on a couple slopes, also neat!

There are also an abundance of black pieces, with the trooper torso piece thing appearing unprinted! There are some solid bits here for making MOCs.

The helmet is delightful. It's well sculpted, as all of the CCBS Star Wars figures who aren't dead-eyed mannequins are, and replete with a hose that connects to the vest. My favorite detail has gotta be the red stripes, which are a neat callback to the grey stripes on the TIE Pilots in the original Star Wars. All in all, cool head. Bet it looks great on a body.

Look, a body!

TIE-Pie isn't the most innovative thing to come out of the CCBS line, and that's even ignoring the Really Cool Ones like Grievous and K2. He's really just, well, just is. Does he look like a TIE Pilot? Well, sure. But that's mostly the helmet talking.

But it's when he's built that TIE-Pie's big flaw becomes apparent: his life support vest. Look, it should be there, yes, but its attaching leaves a lot to be desired. Some technic building on the back of his waist connects to liftarms that wrap around his torso on which is the vest itself.

It looks... clunky. It sticks out and makes him look a bunch burlier than he should. At best, it's blocky, at worse, it's out of place. I can see why it was done, but I'd almost rather they'd just printed the buttons and stuff on his chest. (or given us stickers). Or even raised the price point a bit and gave him a custom built torso of sorts. It's not the Worst Thing Ever, but seeing as it is the main point of interest in TIE-Pie, it's certainly disappointing.

His rifle, however, is pretty neat. The red-and-black color scheme means the red 2-axles don't stand out and, overall, it's got a nice shape to it. I know it's fairly standard as far as CCBS rifles go, but, hey, what can I say.

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?

The rifle fires, obviously. Nothing new to that but I'll never not love those spring launchers. I do think my roommates are tired of being shot with them, though.

Beyond that, there is, as told by the box, a helmet.

Look, TIE-Pie is, fundamentally, an action figure. He's meant for roleplaying, for acting out scenarios and stuff. It's up to you and your imagination for the escapades you'll get up to. But, of course, you can pose him.

And with all the possibility offered by a CCBS skeleton, that's cool. But there's not much, well, more for him to do.

Honestly, I'm a little bummed there's not much more to this guy. He's a pilot, so he feels lacking without a ship or anything else to go with him. I mean, there is the First Order TIE Fighter from 2015...

...but the scale's a little off.

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

Pros What's to like? I mean, he looks like a TIE Fighter Pilot Nice parts Cons What's not to like? Uninteresting build That ugly vest

TIE-Pie doesn't have a lot going for him. He's a standard build that's worsened by that darned vest. He doesn't do anything except stand there, and even that isn't super great because he's not as iconic as, say, a Stormtrooper.

It's not an awful set, but it doesn't do much to rise up against "oh look, it's another CCBS trooper." If you really, really like TIE Fighter Pilots, then I guess TIE-Pie's up your alley; it's hard for me to recommend the set elsewise.

Noooooo, a negative review from TMD!!!

Many thanks to LEGO for sending BZPower this set to review. More thanks to Josh for actually doing the review for you all to enjoy! We'd love to hear your feedback in the Talkback topic or the YouTube comments, so we'll see you there, and also right back here on BZPower for when our next review rolls around!

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