Speaking of shuttles, I completed the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium. Now, I never figured out if Tydirium was the type of the shuttle or the specific name of this one, but either way it's part of Return of the Jedi so it's always interesting. It also doubles as the Emperor's transport if I want to (although I don't think I own him yet).
Anyway - this thing is HUGE! At just over 900 parts it dwarfs the Falcon, but admittedly it's mostly wings. The same thing happened with the B-Wing, it has a rather small parts count but it spreads out. The build was cool and above else it's amazing how solid it is. There is nothing you can break off even with effort, except possibly the guns. And I'm almost happy that I don't have the UCS one - that would take up all my space ever.
The figures are nice too, especially Leia. I had the Endor Battle one with a new face, but this is much nicer with the cloth piece. One of my very first Kenner figures was Endor Leia and I distinctly remember liking her until I lost the cloth and her hat in our garden, and then the figure was severely plain. There could have been more figures, maybe an Ewok or two, or R2, 3PO or Luke, but you only fit five in the shuttle anyway.
I built stands for both these recent ships. Now I think I'll wait for the A-Wing and Y-Wing to get at least 25% off. After that, I don't think there's a Star Wars ship I find iconic enough to bother with.
I feel ya, I'll be dropping about $500 on the launch.
