u/NotAgedWell

I posted about the Tantiv IV MOC awhile back and people (rightfully) complained about the Stormtroopers. They were the only ones I had on-hand at the time though.

https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/1sehgfy/\_/

Anyways I ordered 20 of the WM2038 ones that were recommended from AE (it was $22USD for a pack of 20) so here's just a quick comparison for anyone else who might be looking.

The old one is on the left and the WM2038 one is on the right. Definitely an improvement, especially for the helmet and they came with a better blaster rifle as well.

I feel like they should have black hands though. But I have twenty of these now and only 4 sets of black hands.

I bought this off AE for $25 on a whim so about $45 cheaper than the official version. Had some fun with it.

COST: $25 USD

PIECES: Good quality and I had no missing pieces. I actually had about a dozen extra. Unfortunately they didn't come in numbered bags and at less than 700 pieces didn't want to sort. So I just dumped the whole thing into a tray and dug for each one old-school style. Finding each piece was its own reward and provided sense of pride and accomplishment :)

INSTRUCTIONS: None were provided but you can contact the store for them. I just used the official instructions and had no problems.

CONS: No printed pieces or stickers provided. There were 6 printed pieces in the official version (3 TIE Fighter cockpit windows, the R2 on the X-Wing and two plaques for the front). I did price them on Bricklink but they were $27 before shipping and just decided it wasn't worth it.

BUILDING: It was actually fun to build. The "randomly" placed objects on the floor and wall went together well and actually seemed to make sense ("pipes" connecting to each other, structures having details, etc). It was fun watching it come together as you kept building and adding more details.

OVERALL: The little things with some parts overflowing onto the frame is a nice touch and of course the turbo laser turret and lasers from the TIEs chasing the X-Wing looks pretty cool and action-packed. I'm pretty happy with it. I might try to print a small sticker for the R2 piece though.