The 20th anniversary edition of the Slave I (set #75243) was a Christmas gift from my building partner. It was such a cool build that I tried to make it last by only completing a bag a day for a while.
The highlights of this 1,007-piece set? The side wings and cockpit rotate to mirror when the ship is posed vertically or horizontally (referred to as "self-leveling" by Lego). The Technic-based carrying handle is a nifty touch, as are the rotating guns on the back and the well-hidden spring-loaded shooters. In some quarters, the presence of new Lego pieces -- "left/right angle stone 3x3 elements" -- is a pretty big deal as well.
Additionally, the minifigures are spot on. The coup for collectors, of course, is the Princess Leia duplicate of the 2000 version of his minifigure, complete with cinnamon-bun hair and a 20th-anniversary stand to display her on. Han Solo (plus his Carbonite sleeping chamber) are on hand as well.
For me, 4-LOM is a great addition to our collection, but it is the brand-new Zuckuss minifigure that is the highlight of the included figs. This mercurial bounty hunter has a very detailed and unique design.
The Boba Fett figure is really good, but apparently there is some controversy in Lego "adult collector" circles that the version with arm printing that came with the Ultimate Collector Series Slave I should have been included here as well.
Now for the lowlights, although these fall mostly in the "quibbles" category. The rear storage compartment is cleverly designed, but a bit clunky. The included Carbonite element does not attach to anything within this compartment, so it can (and does) slide out of the ship when tricky maneuvers are underway.
The cockpit is also a pretty tight fit and lacks detail, but the self-leveling feature balances (get it?) that. However, it would have been neat to have some vision into the middle of the ship or some way to display the ability to go from the cockpit to the cargo hold. But with all the Technic structuring holding the ship together, I can definitely see how and why that would be difficult to pull off.
All in all, this is an intricate and well-engineered build, and though the scale of the Slave I is somewhat smaller than anticipated, the carrying handle makes up for it. It was a blast to put together and came with multiple minifigures that we didn't have, and I don't ask for a ton more than that from my Star Wars Legos sets.
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