In a recent “Disqussion”, I had stated that I now get more excited about environments and playsets than I do about figures (most of the time).  After reviewing a fairly lackluster wave of figures consisting mostly of repaints and slight retools, it’s things like this that keep me positive about the line.  If you’ve read most of our recent reviews, you may have noted that I’m not exactly down on the wave - I actually like the figures for the most part. They just weren’t particularly inspiring.  Of course our coverage was amplified by Chris’s editorial on the warning signs for TVC that were evident in this wave.  So this is an item that definitely snaps me back into the swing of things.

This playset has the rather long name of Moff Gideon’s Imperial Light Cruiser Hallway.  The location was featured in two completely different acts of The Mandalorian series.  In season 2, we witnessed Gideon in command of his ship, as he plotted to capture Grogu.  It was also the home base of his Dark Trooper unit.  After imprisoning Grogu on board, Din and his friends staged a rescue, which culminated in the memorable appearance of Luke Skywalker.  Later, in Season 3, we revisit the Light Cruiser as it had been taken by Axe Woves and his privateers.  It was then used by the combined forces of The Privateers, The Tribe, and the Mandalorian Resistance survivors to attack Gideon’s Imperial Base on Mandalore.  Woves piloted the ship into a nosedive and sacrificed it to destroy the base and liberate Mandalore.  So you have plenty of display options to choose from.

The set is very well engineered from the aspect of being modular with interchangeable parts.  The set is most closely related to the Tantive IV Corridor playset, but improves greatly upon the design.  The Tantive IV is a great display piece, but leaves something to be desired with respect to modularity.  Yes, multiples can be connected to increase display options, but I found the design to be a bit limiting in that not all the pieces worked in concert to provide fluid modularity.  I was sometimes frustrated that the floor didn’t always connect to the walls in the way I might want, so I was more at the mercy of the pieces than I would have liked.  This light cruiser hallway is much more versatile, and gives a lot of satisfying options.

I didn’t get too much into showing all the different configurations in the gallery.  You can get a great idea of all of that by watching Hasbro’s Emily demonstrate some of the possibilities.  But you can see that you get 11 total pieces (1 wall, 2 hallway struts, 1 large doorway with working double doors, 1 small single doorway, 2 floor pieces, and 4 translucent light pieces) to build what you want.  If you go the route of adding additional sets, you have a lot of choices.  For this gallery, I added a second set to show a configuration that was similar to one that I used for a couple of the diorama shots. 

The pieces are easy to put together, and as long as you do it on a flat surface, you shouldn’t have much of a problem.  I found that if I tried to put the hall and floor pieces together while holding them in my hands, they would easily fall apart, so use a tabletop or floor for support while assembling.  The sliding doors snap shut and snap fully open with satisfying clicks, which is nice.  One thing I noticed on the large doorway is that there are a pair of vertical slots on either side of the doors.  When you have a single setup, one of the slots is covered by the hall strut that you assemble, but the other is bare and open.  I thought this design choice was weird, since you can see right through to whatever is behind it.  However, after playing around with a second set, I see exactly what the point was.  If you look at images 30 thru 34 in the gallery, I demonstrated this purpose.  When creating a corner with two sets, you’ll notice that without the slot, the double doors would not be able to open fully, but the slot gives the opening door a place to fully clear, so it opens all the way. 

The 4 red lights are intended to provide some lighting options, as are the vertical translucent parts of the hallway struts, which create a passthrough for white light.  A few decals for the door controls and some wall panel readouts break up what is otherwise a monochrome set.  The plastic is shiny, which is appropriate for the well-kept hallways of an Imperial cruiser. 

Included in the box is a carded figure, VC326 Mandalorian Privateer.  This guy is a generic member of Axe Woves’ group.  I would have preferred an alternate headsculpt, since it was an important cultural aspect of the show that most Mandalorians did not adhere to the stringent helmet rules followed by The Tribe.  That team is filling out nicely with TVC figures, but the Privateers are still a little thin.  They’re not as interesting looking since they are a fairly uniform blue among the group (versus the colorful patchwork palette of The Tribe), but it would be nice if we had an opportunity to add some unnamed members to Axe’s privateers.  I’m sure a lot of folks are Mando’ed out, but I would welcome a troop builder pack with a couple of male and female privateers - with removable helmets.  I’d also love the 3 members of the Resistance (especially Skinny Pete).  I think it’s likely we get the Beskar troopers and Dark Trooper Gideon at some point, so we’re close to having a full suite of figures for the climactic battle of the series.

The Privateer is exactly what you’d expect as far as sculpt and articulation.  It’s a little frustrating that he doesn’t have a holster for his single blaster.  But the range finder is articulated, the jet pack removable, and the paint looks nice.  There’s a bit of weathering on the chest armor, but otherwise the figure is clean.  I’d have been much more excited if it had a swappable head, but it’s a nice figure.

I love this set.  The configuration options are great, and it serves well in multiple scenes that you might want to have on your shelf.  I really wish we could get a more traditional Star Destroyer (TCW or OT era) hallway set at some point soon.  I don’t really have anything to complain about.  This isn’t anything that’s going to completely blow your mind, but it’s a very well executed set, and I am excited about the display options.  I want more stuff like this!