LEGO Death Star’s Tie Fighter with Hanger Rack – how does the GWP measure up? [Review]
It would be an understatement to say that LEGO Star Wars 75419 Death Star has been a Force Lightning rod for controversy since it was formally revealed last week. As you can tell from our review, the hands-on experience left us feeling as fried as Luke after his encounter with the Emperor. Surprisingly, the accompanying gift with purchase 40771 TIE Fighter with Imperial Hangar Rack, has generated almost as much attention, mostly negative. A lot of this stems from LEGO’s publicity photos showing the TIE Fighter with the set, despite it being a limited-time exclusive, garnering the label “DLC” after video games that seemingly lock off part of a complete game under a paywall. Even if that wasn’t the intent, it’s not a good look, especially when this “missing piece” is part of LEGO’s most expensive set yet. Questionable marketing aside, how does the bonus set hold up? And how does it compare with past Gifts with Purchase from past premium releases?
LEGO Star Wars 40771 TIE Fighter with Imperial Hangar Rack | 236 Pieces | Available October 1 as a free GWP with the Death Star, while supplies last | US $999.99 | CAN $1299.99 | UK £899.99
After the marathon construction of the Death Star proper, the TIE Fighter is a brisk build that shouldn’t take you more than 20 minutes to complete. The wings are a decent approximation of the classic design at this scale, but missing the grey edging on the sides. The cockpit pod is a bit flat when viewed from the side, but looks good from the front. Sadly there are no ion engines on the pod’s rear. A pilot can fit inside, but as the windshield is attached to a solid surface, you wouldn’t know it once the pod is closed.
The TIE is accompanied by a Hangar Rack and a maintenance cart packed with canisters and crates of thermal detonators. Thankfully there are no stickers to contend with here, just a few nice printed elements. In addition to the TIE Pilot, you get two extra Stormtroopers to add to the six in the Death Star.
The Hangar Rack slots into two technic sockets on the hangar wall. Once placed, there’s still plenty of room for the Shuttle. Side by side, the inconsistencies in scale between the two vehicles are conspicuous. The Shuttle is beautifully proportioned, whereas the TIE’s pod is far too large relative to the wings. Making the pod smaller would mean no minifig pilot, sacrificing play. Larger wings would make it too large for the hangar. I understand the compromise, and if you prefer a more consistent scale, it would be easy enough to make a custom TIE for the rack that prioritizes accuracy over minifig play.
Final Thoughts
The TIE Fighter and Imperial Hangar Rack is a fun little build in this midi-scale. It’s undeniably cool to have a hangar big to enough to rack a TIE. The concept and play experience are great. That said, the TIE itself is oddly proportioned and fairly basic build that doesn’t feel like an upgrade to a luxury-priced set. I might even prefer the hangar with no TIE. If you’re on the fence about buying the Death Star at full price for the DLC GWP, the added value is pretty low. No doubt options will pop up on Rebrickable that will even fix the scale polish issues of the design.
What makes a good GWP?
Controversy around the TIE Fighter has been understandably more heated considering it’s attached to LEGO’s most expensive release to date, but it’s far from the only GWP to evoke strong opinions.
What makes a good GWP? Ideally, the set should compliment the main set in a way that enhances the enjoyment of a devoted fan who shows up on week one but doesn’t feel so essential as to sour the experience of those who purchase the set later. That means understanding the audience and the context of its release and compliment the experience like a nice wine pairing as opposed to free egg rolls with your wagyu beef.
The TIE Fighter and Hangar Rack succeeds by feeling complimentary but not overly FOMO inducing, but fails to rise to the occasion of plus one to the Most Expensive Set Ever. It’s a plastic ornament on the hood of your Bentley.
Last year’s Barad Dur was a case of a GWP that felt too essential. Maybe the Fell Beast didn’t slot into the tower as neatly as the Hangar Rack, but it complemented the fantasy in such a powerful way that I’m still sore I didn’t buy the set on week one. The bonus with this year’s The Shire, on the other hand, was a fun bonus for fans of the franchise that absolutely isn’t needed to complete the fantasy of the set proper. A set based on fratricide is weird, but strangely enough, a sweet spot GWP.
What would have been a better GWP? I would have gone with a Darth Vader Lightsaber hilt. The GWP lightsabers are an established UCS Star Wars tradition and this would reward long-time collectors with an extension of this small line.
What do you think? Should the TIE Fighter and Hangar Rack have been included with the set proper? What would a better Death Star GWP have been? And where has LEGO got it right in the past? Let us know in the comments!
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