Which Lego Star Wars set for a 6YO?

[alien_host]

Ok so I SWORE I would never start buying the SW Lego sets, we collect A LOT of Lego and I just didn't want to "go there" b/c they are expensive and there are so many and they seem boring (all white/grey dull colors).

Anyway DD watched the Star Wars and Clone Wars w/ DH over the past few months and she is really "into" SW at the moment.

So which SW Lego sets do people recommend. She loves Minifigures the most (typical characters like Luke, Leia, R2D2, C3P0, Han Solo, Anakin, Vader etc.) but I would like to get a "ship" that won't fall apart when you move it around or look at it funny

Any recs?

[alien_host]

Anyone a Star Wars (Lego) Expert out there?

[artvandalay]

My 6 yo has Star Wars Luke's Landspeeder, it's somewhat sturdy (I think) because he has flown it around without it falling apart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/LEGO-Star-...eeder/13377932

It also comes with quite a few minifigures.

The next one he wants is Plo Koon (it's a blue and white ship).

[katydid1971]

Well we seem to start with which mini figure comes with it and then go from there We HAD to get General Grievous' ship just for the general. It did come with a Jedi and a droid. The ship does not stay together super well. The ARC-170 my mom found at Walmart on sale for half off last January (I think it was a mistake) holds together well and has these cool wings that open and close but no one that DS was super excited to get. We also have the Bounty Hunter's Assault Gunship, it comes with a lot of guns but doesn't stay together very well. We also have a Tie Fighter that I bought on sale last year it holds up well but I don't see it on Lego.com anymore.
I really want the Millennium Falcon, it comes with lots of cool characters. I think we might have to talk to Santa about that one
For the most part I don't think any of them hold together very well, they have some cool features like sliding doors etc but because you often have heavy engines hanging from thin wings they just fall apart a lot.

[wimama]

My 6 yo has Star Wars Luke's Landspeeder, it's somewhat sturdy (I think) because he has flown it around without it falling apart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/LEGO-Star-...eeder/13377932

It also comes with quite a few minifigures.

The next one he wants is Plo Koon (it's a blue and white ship).

We have this set and it stays together very well. And, it comes with good minifigures. DS also has the Imperial V-wing fighter, which has also managed to stay together.

Well we seem to start with which mini figure comes with it and then go from there We HAD to get General Grievous' ship just for the general. It did come with a Jedi and a droid. The ship does not stay together super well. The ARC-170 my mom found at Walmart on sale for half off last January (I think it was a mistake) holds together well and has these cool wings that open and close but no one that DS was super excited to get. We also have the Bounty Hunter's Assault Gunship, it comes with a lot of guns but doesn't stay together very well. We also have a Tie Fighter that I bought on sale last year it holds up well but I don't see it on Lego.com anymore.
I really want the Millennium Falcon, it comes with lots of cool characters. I think we might have to talk to Santa about that one
For the most part I don't think any of them hold together very well, they have some cool features like sliding doors etc but because you often have heavy engines hanging from thin wings they just fall apart a lot.

DH and I were eying the Millennium Falcon up at Toysrus the other day. I am unsure if DS is ready for such a big set yet. DS will be 5 1/2 at Christmas. But, I think DS definately "needs" a Millennium Falcon at some point. DS also thinks he needs the Death Star. And, when we told him we thought that was too big and expensive for Santa to bring, he said he was going to buy it with money from his piggy bank. Poor boy might be a teenage by the time he saves up enough for the Death Star.

[alien_host]

Thanks for the input.

I bought the X Wing 6212 today because it is out of stock on Lego.com and I think it might be discontinued soon. While we were there DD was eyeing the Death Star...yeah right! $399.99!

I might get the Landspeeder next. I'm putting aside the Xwing for later anyway. Truth be told, she really likes the minifigures and it's a bummer that the magnets are now glued.

[BeachBum]

I'm curious how much help your kids need building these lego sets? My DS is almost 6 and he really can't do any of it without us sitting right there. He really tries to follow the instructions, but you know how it is...you get one piece on wrong and then it just goes downhill.
Plus, all the ones he wants/ thinks are cool are 9+ so there are out of his league. Are you guys doing these as family projects or are your kids actually capable of doing them alone?

Also, once you build it once--do you store the "set" together with the directions? or do you just dump all legos together?

[wimama]

No way DS could build the sets by himself at this point. Even for the easy sets we have to sit with him and help him build them. It is a team effort to build a set. DS's two Star Wars sets have stayed together. Some pieces of his Toy Story Woodies Round Up set have stayed together. But most of his other bigger sets are Toy Story and and they have been working their way into the regular Legos.

[alien_host]

I'm curious how much help your kids need building these lego sets? My DS is almost 6 and he really can't do any of it without us sitting right there. He really tries to follow the instructions, but you know how it is...you get one piece on wrong and then it just goes downhill.
Plus, all the ones he wants/ thinks are cool are 9+ so there are out of his league. Are you guys doing these as family projects or are your kids actually capable of doing them alone?

Also, once you build it once--do you store the "set" together with the directions? or do you just dump all legos together?

DD is 6, she can build sets herself (for her age range), some "techniques" are tricky for her. I let her work on it and I check in periodically to make sure she isn't too off base. I also help "squeeze" the bricks together since she sometimes leaves hairline gaps. DD is VERY puzzle oriented so that helps.

Bigger, complicated sets, we do together so it isn't a mess.

I keep them built for the most part since she plays with them, some are on display on a shelf. I don't mix w/ the masses. If I were to disassble, I'd put it in a ziplock w/ instructions or a plastic bin.

[katydid1971]

DD is 6, she can build sets herself (for her age range), some "techniques" are tricky for her. I let her work on it and I check in periodically to make sure she isn't too off base. I also help "squeeze" the bricks together since she sometimes leaves hairline gaps. DD is VERY puzzle oriented so that helps.

DS can put together the harder sets pretty well by himself. I find that the only time he is asking for my help is when he can't find a piece.
When he has built a set it stays out for a few days or so (depending how much he plays with it) and then I take it apart and put the pieces back into ziplock bags then back into the original box with the instructions. I am going to have to stop keeping the boxes though because they are about 70% air and we are running out of room. I store most of his sets in roller boxes under his bed. He has about 5 or 6 super large sets (the airport, the fire station, some of the big Start Wars sets) in his closet. He likes rebuilding the sets. Its funny because my DN doesn't and wants all of his sets broken up and put into his big lego collection.