Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
 A bit more durable than it looks, Apr 18, 2023
When I saw the new selection of Star Wars Episode 3 Lego sets, this was the one that grabbed my attention at first glance. The Arc fighter sort of resembles a classic X-Wing fighter. Nevertheless, I approached this set with some tredpidation because the model looks somewhat fragile, what with the long wings and guns at the ends of the wings that would probably fall off easily. It turned out to be a bit more durable than I was expecting.
The Arc 170 Starfighter comes with three identical clone trooper pilot minifigs. Two of them carry blaster guns. Also present is an R2 droid who rides along with them.
The model goes together easily enough, with a nice assortment of regular parts and Technic parts. There's some clever usage of some vertical hinges to create the sloping sides of the front of the vehicle. Colors here are primarily white and red, with some light gray and black here and there. A good blend. There's an unusual hodge podge of colors on the vehicle's underside, but it's not all that noticeable unless you're looking directly at it. The Arc Fighter has a pilot's cockpit up front, and a larger cockpit behind it that seats two gunners and the R2 droid. The canopies of this larger cockpit open outward, and the sides of the vehicle also open (a really nice touch that makes it easy to place the pilots inside). There's room in here for the two blaster pistols. At the rear of the vehicle is a rotating gun turret.
This interesting spaceship has six wings. The middle wings have guns at the end of them. A Technic gear mechanism causes the "X wings" to spread apart into "attack position". The same mechanism is also used to drop little blue "bomb" pieces from the underside of the ship. These two actions (wing spread and bomb drop) can be performed independently of each other. The way the same mechanism is used for both features without forcing us to do both at the same time is clever. The wings tend to wobble a bit as they're being spread. I'm not sure this is the best wing-spreading mechanism, but I have a feeling that a better one might end up being more bulky and thus affect the look of the ship. As it stands, the mechanism used here gets the job done.
This model looks absolutely fabulous with the wings extended, and it's loads of fun to play around with. There's plenty of play value here, and the underside of the vehicle is easy to grip with your hand (another nice touch, how they used some slope pieces to create a sort of "handle" for us to grip it with). As far as durability goes, the main body of the ship is solid. Great design. The middle wings tend to sag a bit when the model is picked up and handled. The extendable "X wings" are on Technic connectors that allow them to be turned at unusual angles. If you accidentally bump a wing, you may have to set it so it's straight again. The design here is inventive, but the durability suffers a bit at the expense of the extendable wing mechanism. I haven't had any problems with the guns breaking loose from the middle wings, but I can imagine them falling off if you're rough with it. A nice feature concerning the guns is that they support the middle wings when the vehicle is set down on a flat surface (we have to close up the "X wings" before setting it down).
The Arc 170 Starfighter is solid fun and earns a thumbs way up from me. Nice vehicle with some very nice features, inventive Technic mechanisms, and loads of play value. This is an impressive effort on Lego's part to deliver a fun building experience and a cool Star Wars model with playability. That effort hasn't gone unnoticed. In spite of a few minor flaws, I'd say that the Arc Fighter delivers very nicely.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Great Lego set, but could use more support, Apr 7, 2023
This is a great Lego set for kids and collectors alike. The model is very close to the real deal, and has a TECHNIC mechanism that moves the wings and drops small "bombs" from the bottom.
PLAY: Very sturdy for "swooshing" and for attacking evil droid armies. The main wings are solid and are well supported. When using the mechanism to open the x-wings, the wings do have a tendency to move around a bit on their axis. This has the effect of making them non-parallel with the main wings. This only affects the display of the model and doesn't detract from the fun. Clone pilots are well secured inside the model, which opens in two directions to provide easy removal of the troops in case they need to escape. The bomb-release mechanism is interesting and easy to use. I was surprised to find that even with the model's unusual shape, the entire model sits flat when places on a tabletop (with the support wings closed) - no worrying about drooping wings here.
LEARNING: All Lego sets have an advantage over normal toys in that they can be taken apart and built into whatever an imagination can create. These are great for building creative skills.
DURABILITY: The only real concern is the relative looseness of the support wings as described above. Additionally, the main wings have large gaps close to the hull where the TECHNIC mechanism for moving the wings pokes through. This hole is larger than it need be, and adding a white plate to the wings here greatly improves the wing stability as well as the overall look of the model. There are also some minor gaps between the hull and cockpit canopies, which can be resolved using flat white 1x4 pieces.
DISPLAY: Looks great on a tabletop or shelf. Surprisingly, its size and fairly good detail allow it to look nice even next to a UCS Tie Fighter or X-Wing.
Great toy with plenty of potential to be rebuilt into some fun models. Can be improved using existing parts to make it a little more structurally sound and closer to the movie model.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
THIS IS COOL!, Apr 3, 2023
I got this set a while before it was out. It is really cool. the wings never break off. it is very solid, you can grab it from almost anywhere and it will still hold together. it comes with 3 awesome pilots and a droid! buy this set!
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