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The long awaited return of the Ghost as a LEGO set, and for me, the anticipation of finally building it myself, has not been disappointing. Having just finished watching the animated Rebels series, and looking forward to getting into the new Ahsoka series, I have come to admire Hera Syndulla and her ship the Ghost, and have therefore been wanting to get my hands on this LEGO set ever since it was leaked on Brick News that it was to be released this year.
The Ghost & Phantom II is a fun build with 1394 pieces. LEGO states its dimensions as 34cm long, 26cm wide, and 12cm high. I say that it is large enough to be a good play set for kids, and a nice display piece for a shelf or cabinet; but not large enough for the minifigures to enter easily through the doors into the ship, or satisfy those wanting a larger model than the previous 75053 version.
The first part of the build is the Phantom II (noted as ‘II’ because the first Phantom was replaced after it was damaged and lost during one of the missions in the Rebels TV series… for those of you wondering about that), Bag 1 of the 13 bags is this smaller ship and the Lt. Beyta minifigure. I thought it was a really cool build by itself, which took over 30 minutes to construct, though it does have a couple of flaws which I’ll cover later in the article.
The next few bags give us the base and skeleton of the Ghost, using some technic bricks and pins, followed by some larger plates for the floor, to give a study structure to add the shell of the ship to. The sloping angles of the Ghost’s upper hull are created by a couple of clips on one section, which in turn have a couple of clips attached to the next section… so each quarter of the top area is connected to the main body by only 2 clips, and then adjusting the angles so they rest in place against the ship’s framework. I thought this may make them floppy and fragile, but this is not the case. I did initially have to adjust the front quarters so that they tucked in better to avoid some movement when turning the ship upside down, but found that the hull held in place well after that adjustment.
The engines, or propulsion systems, have nice detail and I like the way the blue opal dish pieces look on the back ends. There are some relatively new LEGO pieces used in this set, or like the blue opal dishes, fairly new colours or prints; I searched up some pieces that seemed new to me and found that at least 3 parts are new in 2023, and another 3 or 4 were brought into LEGO sets from 2021 or 2022.
The cockpit is removable, a cool play feature and the only practical way to get a minifigure in the forward section. The dome window for the front gunner has a unique print on this part, and looking inside you will notice some nice part usage (or NPU) in regards to the control column in which part 18673 is used, or in layman’s terms, the lightsaber hilt with a ring used by the Inquisitors (it has only ever been used as a lightsaber hilt in an official Lego set up until this point).
To get inside the Ghost you remove the roof, which is the final bag in the box, and which also has a gunner turret that can hold a minifigure in it. Inside you can access a number of playable details such as a control console, a sink, a removable container with some sort of a carrot like vegetable in it, and the 2 doors to the outside via the adjoining ramps that can be lowered at each side of the ship. It could be argued that by removing each quarter of the ship’s upper hull you could extend the internal area of the ship, though I do not believe it has been designed that way. My 6yr-old son and I like to think that is where the beds are, or the cargo holds of the ship… though they can only be accessed by totally removing the hull, and no minifigure could fit inside with the hull in place either. From the main internal area, there are steps up to the cockpit’s steering column where Hera takes command of the Ghost.
I had to wait patiently throughout the build to reach bag 12, the bag which had the cockpit and, more importantly, General Hera Syndulla. I’m a fan of the alien type characters when it comes to collecting LEGO, especially those with lekku (head-tails) such as Hera and Ahsoka have, but any new style of character is cool too. Hera has a jacket on in this set, which makes her difference immediately obvious from her previous appearances, though every piece of her is unique. Chopper has also been updated, and the other crew members are also unique to this set… for now. The one biggest flaw with the characters, one which I saw posted online before I got the set myself, is with Jacen Syndulla. Jacen has green hair in both the TV shows in which he appears, but has dark brown in this LEGO set. Either this is a mistake by LEGO, or they got lazy and just used a part which already existed for Jacen; the only other explanation is if his hair colour changes in a future episode (seeing we know LEGO sets are sometimes released well in advance of the time their on-screen counterpart makes an appearance). Perhaps this could be another ‘black-haired Kanan’ situation, for those that understand… but I tend to believe it is simply cost-cutting. This is along the same lines as increasing the piece count of sets by using more smaller pieces. Yes, more smaller pieces make for more detail and complexity in a LEGO set, but what is noticeable with remade sets like the Ghost, is that the included parts increase even though the overall size stays the same. Perhaps by doing this LEGO have an additional reason to increase the price.
But I did enjoy both the build and the outcome, whether is is worth A$259.99 is something each of you can decide for yourself. I believe it is well worth it if you are a fan of the Rebels series, and would really love to have a Lego Ghost, as to acquire a complete set of the retired version you will be looking at double or quadruple the cost, depending if you want used or new/sealed.
Overall I love the shape and design of the set, though due to the design which gives the nice shape, there are compensations. Integrity is lost in a few areas, the most likely to break loose being the Phantom’s windscreen, followed by the Ghost’s missile shooting mechanism. The system they use is all good, but the piece holding it in place is prone to popping off when too much pressure is applied while firing (at least it did for us). Other than the windshield of the Phantom, the sides that slope in towards the front do not lock into place, and as soon as you grab the smaller ship by its sides, those angles open outwards; so when swooshing the Phantom around, make sure to hold it further back behind those leverage points. There isn't a recess in the Phantom to fit Chopper as is, but there is a spot where you can remove Chopper's head and place it at the side of the Phantom as if the droid is in its place on the small scale ship. The Phantom does fit well onto the Ghost though, and so they look great combined or separated.
The Ghost is not too heavy that an adult can’t easily swoosh it around as well, the 3 small stands it sits on are permanent, but are not an eye-sore, nor do they get in the way of any aerial manoeuvring. The cockpit and the roof come off easily enough when you want them to, but don’t fall off easily when attached properly. Another downer is that the LEGO model’s roof gun is fixed, even though its has a 360 degree firing capability in the TV shows. The only other gripe I have is that the doors that the mini figures should be able to enter via the side ramps, aren't quite large enough to get the mini figures through easily, in fact Chopper doesn't even fit through them at all.
My wife quite likes this Lego set, despite the fact she is not really a Star Wars fan. She loves the colours, and the fact that it isn’t all grey or black like most other Star Wars vehicles. She hasn’t watched Rebels, nor has she seen the Ahsoka series, yet she rates this LEGO set 9/10 because, not only does it look great, but it has a number of features that make it a good play set (it is marked as a 10yrs+ set, but I can vouch that it is fun for a 6yrs+ to play with after their parents have enjoyed building it)… and it is of a size that is not too space consuming, as some of the larger LEGO sets can be.
I can’t disagree with her thoughts or her rating, as the positives outweigh the negatives in my mind; and I now have Hera and her Ghost, complete with the Phantom!
If you want to get your hands on this awesome set, you will have to go to either LEGO (online or in-store), or Amazon, as it apparently exclusive to these two shopping sites. This unfortunately means you won’t be finding it at a lower price in any of the department stores. If you are on a tight budget, then lucky for you that Brick News has this set as a build competition prize right now!! So make sure you subscribe and join the Builder Club, then build a scene based on the Clone Wars or prequel trilogy era of Star Wars by the 24th September for your chance to win yourself the Ghost & Phantom II.
Sign-up here: https://www.bricknews.co/monthly-competition?ref=FFF
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