Month: March 2022

The Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama: A Wall-Mounted Slice of A New Hope

Toy Review · Purchased February 10, 2022 · $120.00 CAD via Lego Store

LEGO Star Wars Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama 75339
Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama, 75339. Photo: LEGO

The Setup

Set 75339 is part of LEGO’s Star Wars Diorama Collection — wall-mountable, adult-collector display pieces built to capture a single iconic scene rather than a full ship or vehicle. This one recreates the trash compactor from A New Hope, at 802 pieces, complete with Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, and the dianoga lurking in the murky water.

The Review

What makes this diorama line work is restraint — rather than trying to build an entire ship, it isolates one claustrophobic, grimy moment and nails the details that sell it: the textured “walls” closing in, the murky trash-and-water surface, the dianoga’s single eye peeking out. Building it is a satisfying, moderate-length session, and the six included minifigures (with genuinely good facial expressions) make it feel like a proper scene rather than just a backdrop.

It’s a wall-hanger, not a shelf piece, which is either a selling point or a limitation depending on how much wall space you’re willing to dedicate to a single Star Wars moment. For anyone who’s been collecting the wider Diorama Collection, it’s an easy addition; on its own, it’s a fun, focused build that’s more about capturing a mood than showing off scale.

What I Liked

  • Captures the claustrophobic mood of the scene very effectively at a small scale
  • Six included minifigures with strong facial printing
  • Satisfying, focused build without an overwhelming piece count
  • Fits neatly alongside the rest of LEGO’s Diorama Collection

What I Didn’t

  • Wall-mount format takes up permanent wall real estate rather than a shelf
  • A niche pick if you’re not already into the Diorama Collection line

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

A small, well-executed slice of one of the most memorable scenes in A New Hope — easy to recommend to anyone already collecting the Diorama line.

Where to Buy

The Shark IQ Robot: Set-and-Forget Vacuuming With a Few Asterisks

Hardware Review · Purchased March 1, 2022 · $363.04 CAD via Amazon.ca

Shark IQ Robot vacuum with self-empty base
Shark IQ Robot RV1001AEC. Photo: Walmart

The Setup

The RV1001AEC is Shark’s answer to the self-emptying robot vacuum trend, pairing camera-based home mapping and app/Alexa control with a base station that holds roughly 30 cleaning cycles’ worth of debris before it needs to be manually emptied. It’s positioned as a budget-friendlier alternative to the self-emptying Roomba lineup.

The Review

The self-empty base genuinely delivers on the promise — going a month between manually dealing with the bin is a real quality-of-life upgrade over a standard robot vacuum, and Room Select in the app lets me point it at a specific room without babysitting the whole run. The self-cleaning brushroll also cuts down on the least fun part of robot vacuum ownership: untangling hair and debris from the brush by hand.

The compromises show up around the edges. It uses physical boundary strips instead of app-based no-go zones, which is a step behind competitors at this price, and it occasionally drops debris on its way back to the dock rather than depositing everything cleanly. Larger debris can also clog the bin opening and stop the auto-empty from completing properly. None of it is a dealbreaker, but it’s clearly a budget-tier take on the self-emptying concept rather than a class leader.

What I Liked

  • Self-empty base genuinely stretches a month between manual bin dumps
  • Room Select lets you target specific rooms from the app
  • Self-cleaning brushroll cuts down on hands-on maintenance
  • Meaningfully cheaper than rival self-emptying robots like the Roomba i7+

What I Didn’t

  • Relies on physical boundary strips instead of digital no-go zones
  • Occasionally drops debris on the way back to the dock
  • Larger debris can clog the bin and interrupt auto-emptying
  • Cleaning performance is noticeably weaker on low-pile carpet

The Verdict

Rating: 3.5/5

A solid, budget-conscious entry into self-emptying robot vacuums — not a class leader, but a real step up from a standard robot vacuum for the price.

Where to Buy

Horizon Forbidden West: A Bigger, Better-Written Sequel That Still Won’t Let Me Climb Freely

Game Review · Purchased February 20, 2022 · $335.99 CAD via Amazon.ca

Horizon Forbidden West key art
Horizon Forbidden West. Photo: PlayStation Store

The Setup

Six months after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy pushes further west into a post-apocalyptic America to track down a mysterious blight threatening what’s left of the ecosystem, navigating a whole new set of tribal politics along the way. The sequel arrived as one of the bigger PS5 showcase titles of early 2022, and it’s a significant step up in scope from the original.

The Review

The core loop of stealth takedowns and precision ranged combat against the game’s robotic creatures is still the star of the show, and it’s meaningfully expanded here — the Pullcaster grappling tool and Shield-Wing glider both open up traversal in ways the original never had, and the sheer variety of weapons and elemental weaknesses to exploit keeps big machine fights feeling fresh well into the back half of the story. The writing is a real step up too; Aloy and the surrounding cast get far more room to breathe than in Zero Dawn, and the story has some genuine, well-earned turns.

The frustrating holdover is climbing: despite all the new traversal tools, you’re still restricted to pre-marked handholds rather than anything resembling freeform movement, which stands out more now that the rest of the traversal kit feels so much more open. Melee combat is also still the weak link — functional, but clearly the least-polished part of the moment-to-moment gameplay. Visually and technically, though, this is one of the best-looking, most content-dense PS5 games of its era, and the machine fights alone make the $60+ price tag an easy justify.

What I Liked

  • Machine combat is as good as ever and meaningfully expanded with new tools
  • Pullcaster and Shield-Wing genuinely improve traversal variety
  • Much stronger characterization and story writing than Zero Dawn
  • Massive amount of content — side quests, collectibles, exploration

What I Didn’t

  • Climbing is still limited to pre-set handholds, not freeform
  • Melee combat remains the weakest part of the combat kit
  • Some new systems (base building, arena) feel unnecessary

The Verdict

Rating: 4.5/5

A genuinely huge step up from Zero Dawn in almost every category that matters, and easily one of the best PS5 exclusives of the year.

Where to Buy