Xinh Star Wars The Force Awakens Set 1 Review

I have been quite impressed with Xinh minifigures recently. I don't have many but I did get a few of the Deadpool ones they recently released and I liked the quality of the printing and plastic used. The accessories are nice and they don't plaster their logo all over the base plates. They have also been producing figures that other companies have yet to attempt. The quality has not been as good as Sheng Yuan usually is but it is definitely close. This is a review of their first set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens minifigures. Most of these figures are copied from Lego Star Wars 75103: First Order Transporter. Most of the figures in this set can be used for army building with the exception of Kylo Ren and possibly Captain Phasma.

When I ordered this set I thought this figure was actually Rey. I looked at it thinking this figure is really bad because it looks nothing like her. However with a bit of research I found that this is actually a nameless female Resistance soldier. I do not have the official version of this figure but from reviewing pictures she does appear to be accurately printed apart from a few slight colour differences on the torso. She has two face prints, one is a simple smile and the other is a slightly more series look. There is not a lot of difference in the two face prints which is disappointing. I would have much preferred if one of then was more of an angry battle style expression, after all she is a soldier. The legs are a nice olive green colour with but they contain no printing. The short pony tail hair piece has been used many times before in this reddy brown colour so there is nothing special about it. I'm not a fan of this figure even in it's official form it just looks a bit lazy. Xinh have done a decent job copying an overall boring figure. I'm guessing people may want this to army build some Resistance troops but I personally could have done without this one.

Now for the second resistance soldier of the set who I feel is equally as boring as the female Resistance soldier. The male Resistance solider is an ok copy of the official version with a few colour differences in the print. The main annoyance for me is the eyebrows which appear to be for a red haired character but the hair piece used is dark brown. Looking at images of the official version the character is meant to have dark brown eyebrows to match the hair. Again the figure only has print on the face and torso however the he has only one face print which is a rather serious looking expression. Similar to the female Resistance soldier this figure is a decent copy of a really boring and lazily made official Lego minifigure.

Unkar's thug seems a strange choice for this set as it mostly focuses on Resistance and First Order troops of which he is neither. I do not remember this character actually appearing in the movie but he seems like a generic thug who would not have much focus. The official version of this figure appears in LEGO Star Wars 75099: Rey's Speeder. The figure itself is a little more interesting than the resistance soldiers mentioned above. He has leg printing, front and back torso printing and a single face print. The printing looks fairly accurate when compared to the official version. I quite like the silver face print and the golden crowbar accessory. He also has a hood piece in grey which makes him look a little more sinister. I'm not sure about the army building prospects of this one as he is quite unique looking but I suppose if you really wanted you could create a gang of thugs to terrorize your MOC of Jakku.

Kylo Ren is probably one of the main reasons people will go for this set. Unfortunately there was a quality control issue and my Kylo Ren was missing his right arm. Luckily the arms are nothing special and I could easily put a spare black arm in it's place. The printing on his torso and legs is pretty basic but effective. His face print is nicely done in silver. He comes with two head pieces, one a large version of his mask and the other a black hood. The star of the show is obviously his cross guard light sabre which isn't very accurate to how it appears in the movie as the the side pieces don't protrude from the hilt. Despite the accuracy issue it is nicely done and conveys the effect of this new kind of light sabre well. Again I do not own the official version of this figure but from looking at images it appears to be a fairly accurate copy.

Captain Phasma was a disappointing character in the movie for me but I won't spoil it for anyone who has not seen it. Both the official Lego and the Xinh version of this figure use a gun metal grey plastic for Phasma although in the movie her costume is a very shiny chrome colour. The Xinh version however has a few stand out problems with the gun metal grey plastic as you can see a lot areas where the plastic is not one solid colour. Sometimes I look it the imperfections and think it adds to the chrome effect but most of the time it just looks a bit cheap. The print on the torso and legs are quite accurate to the official version and most of the helmet print is also accurate however there is print missing from the forehead of the helmet which is unfortunate. The figure has a completely black head, I'm guessing this is because nobody knows what she actually looks like without the helmet. You also get the a uniquely shaped cape which drapes over one shoulder for a nice effect. This is a OK figure and an OK copy but it could have been so much better. Some people might be a bit luckier than me and not get as much mixture of colour in the plastic.

The First Order Stormtrooper is another one of the main draws of this set as it has the most potential for army building. The figure is nicely made with sharp printing however some of it is slightly misaligned and again the colours are not 100% accurate. The helmet seems print seems slightly off but not too bad and the leg printing is not perfectly orientated. There is only one face print which is one of the standard grumpy clone trooper faces. I'm not sure what the face is like on the official figures (I have seen pictures suggesting the face is correct) but I would probably keep the helmet on if I was displaying it so it doesn't matter all that much. I may get the Lego battle pack that is available and compare with the standard trooper you get in that set.

The First Order Snowtrooper Officer is another figure with major army building potential but it suffers from the same flaws as the other figures. The printing is fairly sharp but again inaccurate colouring. The helmet print seems to be aligned properly this time though and the body/legs print seems pretty close to perfect in alignment terms. This trooper has the same face print as the Stormtrooper. The more interesting parts are cloth piece for the legs and the officer shoulder cape. He also comes with a back pack type piece and a 1x1 tile with printing to put on it.

Lastly we have another army building possibility, the First Order Flametrooper. The Flametrooper again suffers from the same problems as the other too troopers. Nice printing but again colour and alignment issues. He features leg printing on the front and torso printing for both front and back. The head beneath the helmet is the same as the other two troopers. He comes with a brick built tank on his back to fuel his flamethrower.

I am quite disappointing with this set actually. Xinh create decent quality figures but they definitely have a few quality control issues. On there own they might be able to pass as official Lego but when compared to the original you will definitely be able to tell the difference. This set has a few good things about it but some of the figures just seem a bit pointless. I don't think I would recommend this set. In my opinion you will be better off waiting for another company make a set which includes some of these figures but also a few more interesting ones.

SY (Sheng Yuan) 295: Super Hero Minifigure Set Review

Another mixture of DC and Marvel Super Heroes minifigures by SY (Sheng Yuan) toys. This set includes eight figures five of which are copies of official Lego figures and the other 3 are custom designs. The set of figures I received are all sharply printed and barely distinguishable from actual Lego. SY do a really good job and you can tell that the plastic and prints are of very high quality. They are one of the best if not the best custom minifigure manufacturers at the moment. Each figure comes with various accessories and bricks for building little display set pieces.

I'll start with the least exciting figure for me and the easiest to obtain in official form. Yellow Jacket is the villain of the Marvel movie Ant-Man. I really enjoyed the movie from which this figure is based on, it is not your typical super hero movie and it has plenty of action and humor. The official version is available in Lego 76039: Ant-Man Final Battle. This SY version of the figure looks amazingly close to the original. I have a few copies of Lego jacket now and SY is the first to actually use transparent pieces for the visor in Yellow Jacket's helmet. The print is sharp and accurate and matches the official very closely. The figure includes two face prints and the elements to build his weapon pack. I will try to do a post with a comparison of the official version at some point. If you're after a minfigure of Yellow Jacket I would always recommend buying the official Lego set which includes him. However if you aren't interested in the official set this is the next best version I've come across.

 

The second easiest to obtain an official version of is Harley Quinn. There a few versions of Harley Quinn available at the moment but this one is only available in Lego 76035: Jokerland. The set is a bit on the pricey side but I really like the look of it and you get some great figures with it including the exclusive Beast Boy and Starfire. I'm hoping for a figure of Raven to show up so I can have a set of Teen Titans. I quite like the shorts and no sleeves costume used for this version but I'm not so keen on the face. Something about the eyes just don't look right to me. However this not just a problem with the copy as it is the same face as the official version. She has two face prints, one an evil smirk and the other a smile. You also get a buildable version of her signature weapon the over sized hammer. Once again this copy is almost identical to the official version and you would find it difficult to tell the difference. Harley Quinn is very popular right now especially with the upcoming release of the Suicide Squad movie. So if you're after this version of Harley Quinn and don't want to spend a lot of money on the set then this is a good alternative.

One of the main reasons I wanted the set was for the Silver Centurion Armour Iron Man. If you live in the UK the only way to obtain this figure is to pre-order Lego Avengers from a Game store. However the figure is only available with console versions of the game. I love the Lego games but I wanted to get this one for PC. So when I saw this set I thought it was great that I could get a Silver Centurion Armour Iron Man and still get the game for PC. This figure is fantastic, it has lots of detail and even includes detailed arm printing. The Side of the legs have nice printing also. The torso has a great design on the front and the back. The chest and shoulder piece looks good and there's a 1x1 printed tile for the core on the front and a 2x1 printed tile for the detail on the back. The helmet has some extra black detailing on the top. The head has two face prints of Tony Stark with a red visor like print on his left eye. The copies of the Tony Stark head always look a little silly to me, I think they might stretch the print a little but it doesn't  bother me too much as it is hidden behind the helmet. I don't have the official version to compare but looking at pictures this does look very accurate. So if you're like me and want this figure but don't want to make an unwanted purchase to get it then this is a great way to obtain a copy of it.

Now for one of the very difficult to obtain figures in the set. The Arsenal, aka Roy Harper figure was released as San Diego Comic Con exclusive in 2015. I believe this version of Arsenal is based on the Arrow TV Series which sadly I have not got around to watching. If you find it difficult to attend SDCC and don't want to pay the ridiculous after market prices for this figure then this is a good way to obtain it. The figure is nicely printed and both legs and torso. He comes with a black bow/arrow and a dark red hood piece. He has two face prints, an angry face and a smirk. Looking at pictures online the figure is a very accurate copy of the official version.

Another SDCC 2015 exclusive is the Sam Wilson Captain America figure. The print on this one looks fairly accurate however I believe the official version uses the dual plastic legs for the red boots and this version just has red printed onto blue legs. The torso is fine on both the back and the front. The had has a grinning and a slightly worried looking face. The hair piece was a little too tight and I found it difficult to remove. He has a shield which is nicely printed but uses silver printing instead of white. I think this figure looks alright and it is as close to the official as possible but a few little details let it down.

Now for the custom figures of the set. An official version of Deathstroke is available in 76034 The Batboat Harbor Pursuit but it is completely different to this version. This version appears to be based on Deathstroke's appearance in The Squad DLC for Lego Batman 3. The helmet is also a custom mold. This figure also appears in another SY vehicle set but this is probably the better way to obtain it. The torso and leg printing look great. I really like the design of this figure and I hope they use the games to help design even more characters. The helmet mold is good but I feel it could use more printing on the eyes to make it really great. Another problem with the helmet is the back of it. The back does not cover the head which makes it look a bit silly as the head has double sided printing so you can see a face from behind. The print on the face underneath the mask is nicely done so you can use the face design if you aren't a fan of the large mask piece. The shoulder and back piece is also nicely designed and look good on the character. You also get a katana sword as an accessory. Despite the few problems with the helmet, I really like this figure and think it's a good alternative to the official design.

No official version of Green lantern Batman but DLP toys have also recently released a version of this figure. DLP have really impressed me recently with their print quality and choice of figures to produce. The DLP version has the same design as this version but I think DLP did a better job in printing the legs. If you really want a Green Lantern Batman I would suggest getting the DLP version instead but this one is still quite good. This figure comes with a strange flying contraption which seems a bit silly as if Batman was a Green Lantern he would be able to fly without gadgets. This figure uses the new style cowl in Green which is unavailable in actual Lego. He has two face prints both of which are not the standard batman faces and both of which have a slightly different angry face. This figure is good but definitely go for the DLP version if you have a choice.

The final figure of the set is a bit of a strange one. I'm not sure of the source material on this one but it is Batman in a red costume possibly as a Red Lantern. It would be good to see a yellow Lantern Batman being produced as I know that has happened in the comics before but I am unaware of an instance when he was a Red Lantern. If anyone would like to point me at the source material for this costume I would greatly appreciate it. The torso and leg print on this figure is nicely designed and is well done. The figure includes a hard plastic bat glider and the standard black version of the new style cowl. The biggest let down on this figure is the faces. they don't look too bad when he is wearing the cowl but if you remove it, the face looks ridiculous with his eyes too far up and too far apart. There a still two face prints, one with a side smirk and the other looking rather worried. I really like the torso and legs of this figure and it doesn't look too bad with the cowl on but I think if I was going to display it I would swap out the head for one of the Batman heads which use the white bar for the eyes.

In conclusion I would definitely recommend this set. All the figures are of high quality plastic and print. You get three custom designed figures which you can not get from Lego. You also get another five figures four of which are very difficult or costly to obtain in official Lego form. This is a great set with many pros and very few cons.