Sheng Yuan's Star Wars Shadow Troopers, which is an imitation of Lego's same named set.
The packaging of Sheng Yuan's:
As you can see, the packaging is almost identical to Lego's, save the logos and information. Box shows the vehicle, the two Shadow Guards, and the two Shadow Troopers.
The back of the box shows more of the set's features:
Not much features as I think the main focus of the set are the minifigures. Despite that, the vehicle looks sleek and just right when paired with the Shadow Guards and Shadow Troopers.
The instruction manual:
Instructions weren't that long since it's a pretty small set with minimal building required. Though that doesn't mean the vehicle was crap. It's a simple vehicle, yet it does it job well. It's job being well, the minifigs' vehicle.
The vehicle with its four minifigs:
Vehicle isn't big, pretty small and can actually only accommodate two minifigures, sadly.
The Shadow Troopers:
Two included in the box. They also come with blasters that are actually stud-shooters. They don't really shoot well and just fall to the floor when you press the mechanism. I think it's actually Sheng Yuan's fault this time as I've seen Lego stud-shooters shoot at longer distances.
If you look closely, Shadow Troopers' helmet isn't single shade of gray. There's a weird lighter gray that's kinda splattered on the helmet's face. Honestly, I hate this design. It would have been better to have a sleek, unified, simpler, and more basic design: one color of grayish silver. This is in fact actually not Sheng Yuan's fault since it's not their design but Lego's, or maybe even Lucas' of Star Wars.
The face of the troopers themselves:
Generic Clone faces. Despite them not being meant without their helmets on, quality of the head is still great. Clear prints and correct displacement of print.
Another view of the helmet and the splattered gray:
And down below is a view of Lego's, look at that hideous splatter of gray. :(
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7537/16138150670_8efae6e7c2_b.jpg)
Now onto the Shadow Guards. Also two come out of the box. They look great to be honest. Not really characters you'd see in the movies, except for their red counterparts. Anyway, great prints and parts, cape included is fine.
Without the helmet on, they don't have faces and just red blank heads. I guess we won't know if the Shadow Guards are droids, aliens, humans, or even clones. Still, the red makes a very good pair with the open visor of the helmet.
No back print for the torso. Doesn't matter much anyway since their's a cape included to cover the back, and without the cape the Shadow Guards don't look as great or menacing anyway.
Side by side with the normal, red Imperial Royal Guard. Shadow Guards have better weapons than Royal Guards, as you can see, the Shadow Guards come equipped with Lightsaber Staffs (?) and Royal Guards come with simple staffs/blades.
The minifigs' equipment:
Staff Lightsaber and Stud-Shooter Blaster. That's how you build the weapons. Note that the staff lightsaber doesn't come with the generic lightsaber hilt piece but instead comes with a telescope looking piece, not sure what it's called.
Now for the vehicle. Great simple design overall. Black - gray - red design is sleek and fitting for the Shadow Guards and Shadow Troopers. It comes with blasters that (should supposedly) shoot and parts that look like blasters but are simple for design. It also comes with two flaps that can move quite well as seen in the second image below. Also, it seats two minifigures. I would have loved a slot for all four minifigs but can't really complain much because at that size, I really doubt it could fit and lift 4 minifigures.
Now for the shooter on the vehicle. I'm not sure at all how to shoot it. I tried pressing it but it's too hard. I didn't wanna apply too much force anymore because my fingers would start to hurt and I was afraid the parts would break. For a children's toy, that's a pretty bad design since kids wouldn't be able to apply enough force to shoot it.
The vehicle with the minifigs piloting it:
The minifigs can either sit on the vehicle, or stand on it. Both setups look just as good in my opinion. With the open setup of the vehicle, they can actually point and shoot with their blasters. Good, simple design from Lego!
The final setup!
Just for extra information:
Some of the original Star Wars art of the Shadow Troopers and Shadow Guards for reference!
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/wyjmjlvhuwncavie5v7c.jpg
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/5/50/Dark_Side_Apprentice.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130606001820
Share your thoughts down below!
Thanks for the feedback.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that Bela is selling the same set (under the reference 10366).
I wonder if it's the exact same stuff.
I saw a Bela Geonosis Troopers set video in Youtube from Digger318 I think, 1 of the 4 SY sets like this as well.I have the same set from SY and I think it's safe to say that SY's minifig quality is better, in terms of plastic materials and prints. Not sure about bricks though. Despite that, I'm still willing to buy Bela's version next time because of the good reviews on their Scooby Doo sets that have been coming out. :)
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