LEGO Star Wars 2015 Sets T-16 Skyhopper 75081 Revealed!

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With 2015 being the first year with a Star Wars movie being released in theaters in over a decade (the Clone Wars movie absolutely does not count), most Star Wars licensees are focusing on producing Original Trilogy Star Wars toys and collectibles in 2015. LEGO…? Not so much. There’s only one true regular-sized LEGO Star Wars 2015 set celebrating the original trilogy, and exactly how canonical that set is is definitely up in the air: it’s the LEGO Star Wars T-16 Skyhopper 75081!

75081 LEGO Star Wars 2015 T-16 Hopper Set Box

Whether or not the T-16 Skyhopper counts as a Star Wars Original Trilogy vehicle or not is up for debate, and the answer will vary depending upon who you ask. Luke Skywalker brags about his skills shooting womp rats with his T-16 in Star Wars A New Hope, but we only see him holding a model of his T-16 and never the actual ship. In fact, the ship isn’t seen at all in the original cut of the Original Star Was Trilogy–it’s only in the much-reviled Star Wars Special Editions that the T-16 Skyhopper made an actual appearance, flying above Mos Eisley in Return of the Jedi Special Edition.

So the validity of calling the 75081 LEGO T-16 Skyhopper an actual OT Star Wars vehicle is definitely up in the air, but for all intents and purposes, it’s the closest thing to a (non-Micro Fighters) LEGO Star Wars 2015 OT set that we’re getting, so we’ll continue with the assumption that it is in fact from the Original Trilogy.

The 2015 LEGO Star Wars T-16 Skyhopper build is definitely an improvement over the 2003 LEGO T-16 Skyhopper (as you would hope after a dozen years), though I’m not sure exactly how many collectors were screaming out for a new iteration of this particular vehicle. That poor LEGO womp rat will never know what hit him, though, with the spring-loaded missiles on the new T-16 Skyhopper LEGO vehicle!

LEGO 75081 Minifigures T-16 Skyhopper 2015You get two minifigures (and a LEGO womp rat) with the 2015 LEGO Star Wars T-16 Skyhopper 75081 set: a LEGO Skyhopper Pilot minifigure and a LEGO Tusken Raider minifigure. Unbelievably, this is not the first time we’ve gotten a Skyhopper Pilot LEGO figure–there was also one included with the 2003 version of the LEGO Skyhopper (although that LEGO Skyhopper Pilot figure was meant to be Luke Skywalker himself).

I think for sales purposes LEGO probably would have been better served including a second LEGO Tusken Raider minifigure to really entice army-builders (as we haven’t gotten any LEGO Tusken Raiders minifigures since the 2002 LEGO Star Wars Tusken Raider Encounter 7113 set), but perhaps LEGO is thinking that collectors who want three Tusken Raider LEGO minifigures will buy three entire LEGO 75081 T-16 Skyhopper sets to get them?

At an anticipated price-point of $24.99-$29.99, the 75081 LEGO T-16 Skyhopper set is an “okay” value, though I don’t know that kids would exactly be lining up for this particular vehicle no matter how it was priced.

LEGO Star Wars Winter 2015 Sets T-16 Skyhopper 75081The LEGO T-16 Skyhopper 75081 set is part of the Winter 2015 LEGO Star Wars sets wave due to be released in January 2015, although I’ll send out alerts via the Bricks and Bloks Facebook Page when (not if) this set slips out to some retailers early (in time for the holidays!).

What are your views on the new LEGO Star Wars 2015 T-16 Skyhopper set, LEGO fans? Is this set a large enough improvement over its 2003 counterpart that you want to add it to your collection? Is the T-16 Skyhopper vehicle itself even a vehicle you feel you need for your Star Wars collection at all, given its exceedingly high level of obscurity?

Comments

LEGO Star Wars 2015 Sets T-16 Skyhopper 75081 Revealed! — 6 Comments

  2. An actual t-16 is in the background behind Luke in the garage scene. Look closely!

  3. I definitely want this one. Didn’t get the older version, and I played a lot of Rogue Squadron so this vehicle is not so obscure to me.

  6. I had to look the Skyhopper up online to see the original pics from the movie. Yes, certainly an obscure vehicle, but I like the look of it, as it reminds me of the Imperial shuttle Tydirum. I really like the look of the Tusken raider’s head, as the wrapping, the teeth, and the little head studs all are nicely detailed. That is the entire head, as there is not a face head underneath it, but that does not bother me. Even though the other figure is officially a Skyhopper Pilot, I’m still calling him Luke. It can be a bit tricky to get the pilot into his seat if you have bigger hands. I like the storage bin behind him which can hold his pistol, and the main cannon in front is nice and sturdy and straight. It doesn’t rotate or move like the AT-DP, for example, but I like things like this to be nice and solid, which it is. A fair number of stickers, so take your time with them. This was the first of the new 2015 series I bought. I like it a lot, and it’s happily joined my expanding Star Wars Lego collection.