Lego Star Wars: Imperial Shuttle Tydirium

So this was the set from the Summer Star Wars releases that I had to get.  I am a classic trilogy ship junkie and did not yet have an Imperial Shuttle.  They had an Imperial shuttle model for a while previously but it was one of the Collector Series models thus large and expensive.  It was also supposed to be pretty fragile which is a problem for me because I think I get daily requests from the little one to play with the Star Wars Lego ships.

Above we have the front on the ship with the wings folded up but the cannons down.

Here we see the back of the ship with rear defensive lasers and engines.  This picture highlights one of the flaws in the set which is the unfinished lower sides of the wings.  Those exposed Technic bricks are certainly not ideal.

Both sides have hatches that open to allow for access to the inside.  One has two seats while the other one seat and a storage trunk for the explosives.  It also has a place to store spare spring loaded missile shots.

The front cockpit opens on upward to allow two minifigures to sit is s staggered position pretty common in the play set style ships.

With the wings down in flight mode it looks much better.

They hid the springloaded shooters well.  You can just see the green missile under the cannons on the wings.  The launching mechanism is on the outer edges and concealed well enough that you are likely to fire them on accident if you are not familiar with its placement.

They put a ramp under the ship with the landing skids but it is so short that it is not even really a play feature.  You cannot get anyone into it without lifting up the ship.  I also found the skids are a little weak at holding up the ship and ship will often fall down as they retract if everything is not balanced right.

The minifigures include 2 Rebel Troopers, Han, Leia, all in Endor camo and then Chewie.  It is strange that the troopers did not get 2 sided heads.  Leia comes with a cookie to feed to any friendly ewoks about.

This is the new Chewie which is taller and darker with more printing than my previous ones.  It is probably better but still seems strange to me after having more than a few of the other ones for like 5 years now.

Overall it is a pretty good set.  You have to watch how you hold it by the top fin but the technic bricks in part of it can hold the whole weight.