written by Juice / photos by Juice

Hey all! I just received my Thunderbirds LE in the mail, and thought I'd do a fairly detailed review of the set. Thanks DVDetective for having it up for order! :) Hopefully this review will help those who are on the fence about ordering this LE.

First thing I want to call to attention is how different this LE looks compared to the early released image that was on many websites. Here is the image when first released for pre-order. A marked difference than when the set was finally released.

The first thing you'll notice when you get this box is just how big it is. I believe that DVDetective had to up the postage a bit on this package, which is completely understandable. Here is a picture of the Thunderbirds box next to the Aliens box. Even though the Thunderbirds box is bigger, it is lighter.

When you open the box, you notice that it's packed nicely. Even though the box had some scuff marks on it, the contents were well protected. The DVD, a postcard, a nice full color booklet and some instructions sit in a cardboard slot that rests on top of the ship inside.

You can see the black and white instructions to the left, dvd in the middle, postcard in front, and the full color booklet to the right. The booklet is well done, with a spread of the family, diagrams and schematics of the various Thunderbird ships, and some pictures of the movie. Pulling it out, you notice it's lighter than you'd expect, but of a solid build. Here are some shots of it from different angles.

The foam piece that is below it is from the box. There is a mat that comes with the set though, it is made of a black rubber material that feels like a cheap mousepad. It comes with Thunderbirds written across the lower right side. As nice as it is, for some reason it's easily markable, and at close inspection appears to have marks and scratches across it. A nice thing about the ship is they paid adecent amount of attention to detail. Although everything isn't perfect (if you look into the cockpit..there's really nothing there) it still looks nice. The engines are made of a clearish red plastic, and the "paint job" looks nice.

And here is how the dvd and contents fit in the bottom of the ship. As mentioned in a thread at the dvdetective forum, the small area the dvd fits in will only house the dvd, booklet, instructions, and postard.

There was a request to see how big the ship is in comparison to a person. :) I took a picture of the ship with the Alien head next to it, and then a picture of myself holding it. I'm 6'4" (193 cm), so you can get an idea of how big the ship is.

I hope this review helped out! It's a nice set, I was pleased with the build, even though it appears more "toyish" to me than I'd hoped. You'll need some serious space to showcase this thing...I've put mine back in the box for the time being until I figure out where and how to put it out for show.

- Juice's Verdict -

- Build Quality: 9 -

Although the paint job is nice, it's solid, and has good attention to details, it is light, making it feel cheap, and has some inconsistencies, such as the empty cockpit and areas where the seams do not quite match up

- Content and Extras: 7 -

The postcard, 12 page booklet, and "display mat" don't overwhelm you with any sort of "cool" factor. The booklet is well designed but small.

- Overall Rating: 8 -

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