I cracked mine open last night, and boy am I impressed. I don't have it 100% put together and tried out, but so far its fantastic.
Some things I really like:
- The paint job is amazing
- I like all the pop off panels. Not sure I'll ever display it that way but it seems like an easy, fun thing to do.
- I like how the side wall and top pop off to get access to the stuff
- I love the stand. I was imagining some big heavy lucite stand, but this is a simple, light plastic design that works well. There isn't any real flexibility to the pose, but it probably only cost a buck or two to make. It'd be great if they could include something simple like this in all big ships going forward (e.g. Rogue One X-Wing).
I think my only couple of gripes:
- As everyone has mentioned - the weapons locker is tough to manage, but overall still pretty cool.
- It would be nice if there was an opening between the cockpit and the cargo hold. I haven't looked at any cross-sections to know if this is more accurate or not, but it would have been nice if they found a way to make that work.
- I had no problems getting my ramps and everything else open / pop-off. The only thing that was tough was getting the cockpit open. It doesn't seem like they've built in much of a slot to get your fingernail in to wedge it open. I would think this should be the easiest thing to open and close on the whole ship. Maybe its just mine, but it seems like a design issue.
I was thinking some electronics would be fun, but I guess this isn't directed at the kid/retail market, and really the ship wasn't in many battles and there aren't necessarily any iconic lines from the show that you would want said while playing (gasp) with your $350 toy.
Overall this is a solid 9.5 out of 10 in my book. Its really, really well done.
