Of all the new Star Wars sets to find first this is probably the one I was looking forward to least of all. Still since I have restrained myself from purchasing any sets for the last two months, as soon as I saw it in Woolworths , I had brought it before I even realised what was happening..

The pictures I had seen on the web made the ship look rather odd I thought, and the picture on the instructions above isn't much more inspiring. Compared to the original blocky version it's a marked improvement, but even so I'm afraid it just doesn't do it for me. Before I carry on to the construction let's talk about price. £35 is a lot of money for this kit in my humble opinion, the price point seems to have gone up a bit with the latest sets. I counted 310 pieces from the inventory in the instructions , I may be out by a couple and there are the usual small spare pieces, even so thats a higher ratio than earlier sets this year. Compared to the Y-Wing fighter for £40 I feel a little bit put out. Maybe I'm unlucky and this should retail at £30 and Woolies are pulling a fast one with the first wave, unfortunately as it doesn't even exist on Shop at Home yet, I'll have to wait and see if that is the standard retail price in the UK.

Enough moaning about the price of LEGO and onto the kit itself. Of course the figure included is Darth Maul, probably my favourite minifig and he has changed slightly in this incarnation.

It's difficult to tell from this picture but the eyes are a little different to the previous version.He now has black pupils where originally they were orangey / yellow. By the way I'm colour blind so if that's not an accurate description then sue me.

The speeder bike is a huge improvement on the original attempt as can be seen in the picture here. It looks much more realistic and the scale is vastly improved. When Darth Maul rides this one he doesn't peer menacingly over the handle bars like a six year old who can't quite reach.

So then onto the ship itself, one feature that does impress me is the modular design. The top of the front nose is connected via a technic axle and slides firmly into place. This gives access to the probe droid storage area , and Darth's binoculars and light sabre hilt clip into here as well. The droids are simply represented by a black minifig head with an antenna on top and there are three of them.

The mid section is also a separate build and attached to the winged section by two bricks with technic pins. When everything is clicked together it holds nice and firm. It's certainly not flimsy like other models in the past.

The final section houses the cockpit and the aerofoils which are also hinged with click hinges. Unsuprisingly the cockpit hatch is hinged too with the usual clip and bar arrangement.

This rear view of the ship shows the hatch in the opened position, allowing access to the cockpit. There is a simple sloped control panel and the small railed plates allow Darth Maul and his speeder bike to slide in nicely and not rattle around. Finally when the hatch is closed, he's ready for takeoff.

The complete arrangement looks rather like this. It's actually not too bad and has a certain swoosh factor.

I still can't help feeling that there isn't a great deal for the money though.

Being the Star Wars enthusiast that I am , it was a a relatively easy decision to get this kit, and I do already own Lightsabre Duel. However for the more discerning or budget conscious amongst you this may not be the kit of choice this year.

Darth Maul is likely to be the main reason for purchasing this model. If you don't already own him, then I think this is a better option than trawling Ebay, however if you do own him already and need to budget this year then I really don't think you can justify buying this set.

Don't forget the MTT is just around the corner and if you buy one set this year , that ought to be it. Hopefully they'll appear soon as well, I just can't afford to place an order at Shop at Home, my wallet wouldn't stand it.

As part of our affiliate program you can buy this set direct from LEGO Shop @ Home using this link.

The official RRP is now £25 which is cheaper than Woolworths even with their £5 reduction