Back in Fall of 2000, Lego S@H did a small promotion where if you ordered anything above $99 (or some amount of money like that), you would get a free set. In this case, it was 3439 Spy Runner. When I received my birthday gift that year, the huge UCS TIE Interceptor, the little spy plane and ground car seemed hardly exciting, and I assumed I was going to be building it as a matter of principle to my then-12 year old self. In fact, I think I built it first just so I could quickly get it out of the way before embarking on the construction odyssey of the TIE Interceptor.

Box and Other Superficialities

Parts, Building, and the Final Model

The plane had some very nice "Space" pieces, including the canopy and booster rockets on the wing tips. Be aware that 2000 was the middle of huge slump for me in terms of collecting. I only collected Star Wars, and even that was showing signs of losing my interest (not to mention my parents' burgeoning hope that I was very soon going to grow out of Lego). Therefore, my appreciation of the parts in the plane that I associated with only Space or Star Wars before was quite a mark in the set's favor. Another big plus was how solid the little thing was. The color scheme was not so hot; ideally, I would've liked the wings to be black, but it's not such a big deal now.

Aside from the opening canopy, the propellers spin and the wheels on the plane and car roll. Whoopdy-doo. So I left the completed set to go off and build my TIE Interceptor.

The REAL Fun is in the Playability...

Long after my TIE Interceptor was collecting dust like a good display model should, I was running back and forth between my room and my sister's, holding the Spy Runner aloft as it prepared to dive bomb some unsuspecting Barbie villages. Other times, I spun around my room with it as it did reconnaissance missions for my Lego government. But most of the time, it was blasting enemies into oblivion from the air. More so than other iconic Lego flying craft that I owned, like 1999's incarnation of the X-Wing Fighter or 1997's Alien Avenger (from the U.F.O. theme), I took this Spy Runner constantly on my flights of fancy. In retrospect, it got such heavy play because unlike the X-Wing or Alien Avenger, it was small, easy to pick up quickly, and sturdy as heck. It is generic-looking enough to be more than just what the name on the box says it is. That's why in spite of the mediocre build and parts selection, I rate this set very highly. It was a surprisingly wonderful addition to my Lego collection, a breath of fresh air in a stagnant period in my Lego collecting pre-teen years.

I thought my racing days were long over. By 2002, it seemed obvious that my Lego dollars would be spent only on Star Wars and the newly-captivating BIONICLE sets, and unless there were any really awesome re-releases in the Lego LEGENDS line, I didn't foresee myself venturing into the more exotic themes like "Alpha Team" or "Jack Stone" (blech). However in late 2001, around Christmastime, I found myself looking at the Nitro Pulverizer on the shelf in Wal-Mart and thinking, "Whoa. Cool car!" I knew I had to have it.

The last substantial Lego race car I got was the huge RC car from several years prior, so it was a bit of a thrill opening a "small" Lego race car, the first since my Mud Runner and Race 3-in-1 Value Pack days. The parts selection I was presented with was quite awesome. I marveled at the new windshield and the light-blue wedge plates, which, unbeknown to me at the time, would become staples of future Star Wars sets. The big balloon tires were also quite cool, as they really gave a "destructive" feel to the set, appropriate considering its name.

Building went by rather quickly due to the bulk of the chassis being the pull-back motor piece. This dismayed me somewhat, but the nice integration of Technic with System construction in the front half of the vehicle impressed me, as well as the addition of an actual engine block in the back of the truck. All in all, it was over rather quickly, which wasn't such a bad thing.

This set was definitely made for racing! I had doubts about the usefulness of the pull-back motor, but its power and ease of use soon cast such thoughts from my mind. Clearly, while this was not a car that could easily navigate the roadplates of Lego town, it didn't belong there. This monster was made for the badlands, the rough, junk-strewn wilderness of Lego parts lying on the floor beyond the fair domains of the Pizza-to-Go and Police HQ. The gritty look of the driver complemented this; his countenance and physical appearance even was a modern upgrade of the look of the driver in my beloved 6510 Mud Runner.

Unfortunately, I never picked up any more of this particular sub-theme. But let that not discredit the Nitro-P, a wonderful set that came out in a great year full of wonderful sets. Its inclusion in my collection in spite of this speaks volumes as to how worthy it is to any collector of Lego race vehicles.

In the pantheon of great films of the 20th century, there almost always will be a place for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. While that means this is a film that can be celebrated and enjoyed at any time, now, at its 40th anniversary, is a perfect moment to regale it with marketable tributes. So of course, LEGO must get in on the action! The result is a static display model that zooms in on one of the most intimate and dramatic moments in the film, one that shatters what came before and sets up everything else that is to come (for better and worse).

Coincidentally, the 40th anniversary of this darker, more serious film comes about as LEGO provides darker, more serious packaging for its "adult" collectors. The box is as small as some $20 sets, but is black and austere, the image of the Cloud City weather gantry almost garish by comparison. The "18+" label seems inconspicuous, but effectively teases the buyer that he or she is in the big leagues now with LEGO, chain-smoking packs of Kools whilst idly browsing a pornographic magazine prior to opening the box and opening the three numbered bags of pieces.

A couple of pages at the start of the instruction manual contain screenshots from the film and a quote from Jens Kronvold Frederiksen regarding the obvious choice of scene to represent in LEGO form for the 40th anniversary celebration. I whole-heartedly agree, and I excitedly get to work building the set from bag 1. This contains just the foundation and the supports for the walkway. Pretty simple stuff, what with laying out tiles (nice 2x4s, which I already have in abundance) and stacking bricks and slopes.

More fun happens in Bag 2, which begins with the construction of Darth Vader, a splendid variant with printed arms and that new-ish helmet and head part. He definitely puts my previous Vader minifigures to shame! Back ot the model itself, the walkway itself starts to take final form, and the gantry is added to the model. Some smaller, more interesting parts come into play, particularly clips for the railings and a pitchfork for the vane at the end of the gantry.

As far as construction itself goes, Bag 3 gives us some delicate pipe bending for the railings around the main dais, and there is a fair measure of rod insertion through multiple parts for the slashed antenna assembly. Nothing an 18+ person can't handle, I reckon. At least, this 32 year-old managed alright. And of course, I can't forget Luke Skywalker's minifigure which makes up for the inaccuracy of having two hands by having a second face that truly captures the physical and emotional wounds wrought upon the overeager Jedi Padawan by the Sith Lord.

After a short trial-by-sticker-placement, the set is complete. As you might imagine, it looks impressive as a display piece. You can pose Vader on the 2x4 plate with central stud to look out towards a fleeing Luke, but the effect is somewhat minimized by how tall the slashed antenna looks compared to Vader. Honestly, it looks like he is having to peek around it at Luke! Also, while I admire the attention to detail on the whole assembly, I pine a bit for the main walkway before the steps to be another four to eight studs longer in order to accommodate more fighting space for the two combatants. Of course, the simplicity of the design means I am always free to add more walkway in the future, but for $40, I can't see the harm in the design including a few more bricks for the fans' sake.

Overall, I really enjoyed the set. It is a relatively quick build that indeed looks great and focuses on a scene I've wanted in LEGO form on its own for a long time. It is a fitting tribute to the most pivotal moment in Star Wars, and for the most part, it earns its place of prestige and prominence in any LEGO Star Wars collector's collection.

I acquired the Tri-Wheeled Tyrax unknowingly from a large garage sale when I was about 5 years old. My mom found all these Blacktron: Future Generation pieces for some cheap price (to this day, I do not know what it was, but knowing my mom and the financial constraints my family existed under at the time, the entire lot of it had to be under $10 or no dice). Of course, being only 5 years old and totally ignorant of any Lego themes outside of Town at the time, the pieces ended being used for a myriad of my own fantastical creations. Even after I became aware of the fact that I had several complete Blacktron sets on my hands (including the awesome Aerial Intruder), I had no idea how to correctly assemble them all, since I did not discover Brickshelf and their instruction scans until 2001.

When I did obtain instructions via floppy (no USBs for me back in at the start of the millennium), one of them was for the Tri-Wheeled Tyrax. Because it was such a small set, I had tried multiple times before to recreate using just images I had in catalogs. I got close, but was continually frustrated by the asymmetry of the vehicle.

As it turns out, it was a lot simpler than I thought. Still, I was fascinated by the "trike" design, which is what prompted me to construct the set in the first place. It was also the first set I owned with the mid-size space wheels, and I liked that. The slight forward inclination of the entire vehicle gave it a bit of a menacing profile, which I thought went hand-in-hand with a faction that had a very "dark" look to all the sets. Other pieces of interest to me were the antennas and the canopy strip that served as a windshield.

It was fun to play with, especially considering I had a veritable army of Blacktron sets to accompany it. Often I would team the Tyrax up with the Sub-Orbital Guardian and Grid Trekkor to form a sort of "perimeter" guard for an imaginary Blacktron HQ (note that I do not have the Alpha Centauri Outpost nor the original Message-Intercept Base). The Tyrax could also serve as a ground assault vehicle, with the front wheel used for battering and the antennas switched around to form "laser cannons." My imagination went wild with that set, so I enjoyed playing with it a lot.

The advent of 2006 heralded the beginning of a slow-down for me and collecting Star Wars Lego sets. After the glut of goodness that came about with the release of "Revenge of the Sith" the year before, I was a bit dismayed at the early 2006 releases. At the same time, BIONICLE was stepping up the game with the release of the Piraka, and even in early 2006 I highly anticipated the summer's release of the Toa Inika and all the larger sets associated with them and the quest for the Mask of Life. It was also the beginning of the end of my high school years, and my parents were heavily discouraging my continued purchases of Lego sets of any kind, not to mention school was giving me plenty of distractions, both good and bad, from Lego.

But the V-Wing Fighter caught my eye. I loved how it looked to be the "predecessor" to the TIE Fighter in Episode III, and I was somewhat satisfied with myself at predicting it would be released soon after Revenge of the Sith came out. Naturally, sometime after Christmas in 2005, I saw it on the toy shelves of Wal-Mart alongside some the new BIONICLE sets I wanted as well. At $10, it was hardly a decision. I had to have it, and took it home promptly to build. The box it came in, I recall, was rather thin in material, and it bruised easily. Upon opening it, I tore the flaps rather badly (mind you, I was 17 at the time and a veteran of opening many Lego boxes. This kind of tear rarely happened to me). Even today, the box looks a bit shabby for such light usage.

Let me succinctly describe it in a word: quick. I write that with no pretensions towards negativity. In this case, I wanted to swoosh around and see how the finally product looked next to my ARC-170 and Vulture Droid. I was ready for it to accompany Anakin in his starfighter for some massive space engagement during the Outer Rim Sieges. So I was pleased to see the set go together so quickly. Thanks to the small size, there was no major repetition of building particular sections. I had to make some judgment calls as to how far I wanted to push the black rods in to create the laser cannons, but that was about it. A straight-forward, pleasant build with nothing special.

When I was done, I was very pleased. The overall set looks very much like the V-Wing in the movie, though I was a bit disappointed with the blunt end and flatness of the nose (I think the V-Wing has a bit more of a slant and point to it). However, I was more disappointed by the complete disregard for an actual control panel in the cockpit. Instead, there is a "joke" in the form of a common, white 1x2 grill tile. Haha. It's like when designing the set, it was obvious the pilot needed controls, but to spite those like me who appreciate that a lot, it was decided not to include an actual control piece, perse. I usually swap that piece out when displaying, so it is a minor issue in the big picture. Still, is Lego that nervous about including printed pieces?

On a similar note, I was confused by the Republic logo being behind the astromech. I had thought there would be two logos, one for each side of the craft on the nose. Also, the engines had trans-green disks to represent the glow of the engines. It was definitely NOT green in the movies, so I was equally confused. I don't recall building any Star Wars ships with green engine glows, so this one really sticks out.

In spite of all this, I enjoy this little set. It would be the last before battle packs completely took over the price bracket for it and ended the release of sets like this.