Today we take a look at another of the Star Wars Microfighter sets, 75031 TIE Interceptor. The companion to the X-Wing, this Imperial fighter might not have been the obvious choice, but it certainly fits. If you'd like to see how this set stacks up, read and watch on!

Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

The box bears many expected similarities to that of the X-Wing. We've got the Star Wars and Microfighters logos, and the ship zooming out at you, lasers firing. The back takes the pilot out, highlights the flick-fire missiles, and shows off the other sets in the line as well as the associated app.

Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

This set goes together quite fast. It's rather straightforward and the wings are a bit repetitive. There is a little SNOT at least, but this isn't a set that's going to blow you away with its techniques.

Set Design
Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

There's some reasonably cool pieces in this set. You get a 4x4 dish with a cockpit pattern printed on, as well as a 4x4 round plate with a 2x2 round hole in the middle. My favorite is the 2x2 inverted tile in dark gray though. Outside of that, there's a lot of black and light gray in a variety of pieces. It's a good selection but nothing particularly outstanding.

The set mostly captures the shape of the TIE Interceptor, but the wings are a bit off. It mostly works, but I find it a bit jarring, personally. Additionally, the flick-fire missiles on the bottom look a bit tacked on and ruin the flow of the curved cockpit. In all, you can definitely tell it's a TIE Interceptor, but I can't help but feel it could have been better.

The set comes with a single TIE Pilot, and he's a mixed bag. From the front he looks great, with lots of detailed printing on the helmet, torso, and legs. Turn him around though, and the problems begin. Because of the design of the helmet and the color choice of the head, there's a big pink splotch visible. Not exactly a good design for a sealed pressure suit. The face is pretty generic, and I believe this is the same one used for most Stormtroopers as well.

Playability
The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

There's one lone play feature here: flick-fire missiles. As mentioned above, the missiles are rather tacked-on, and they get another strike because they are very difficult to flick. Personally I would have rather done without and focused on the ship's swooshability. Of course, if you buy more Microfighters, you can have more fun! Who doesn't love recreating the dogfights over the Death Star II with chibi spaceships?

Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

Pros What's to like? Adorable little spaceship Compliments the X-Wing microfighter Includes a bunch of inverted tiles Cons What's not to like? Poor minifig design Flick-fires tacked on and hard to fire Wing shape a bit off

I don't regret my purchase of this set, if only because now my X-Wing has someone to fight. While 92 pieces for $10 may not seem like a great value, the inverted tiles are still pretty rare and make up for the lower piece count in my mind. I think the design of the set could be a bit better, and the TIE Pilot needs some help. If you're looking to pick up just one Microfighter, you can skip this and go for the X-Wing instead.

Thank you all for reading and watching - I hope you enjoyed the review! Your questions and comments are always welcome in the Talkback topic on the forums. We've got more reviews coming up, so keep checking back on BZPower to read them and see all the latest LEGO news!

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