Friday, April 1, 2016

Awesome (Unless You Want It For What It Promises!): ThinkGeek's Cloud City Pint Glass Set!


The Good: Nice artwork, Collectible value
The Bad: Expensive for pint glasses, "Function" does not work properly, Not dishwasher safe, Poor durability
The Basics: ThinkGeek rushed its Star Wars Cloud City Pint Glasses to market before the holidays last year . . . and it shows!


My wife is always looking for gifts for me because, as a collector who has a head start of over a decade of collecting, it can be hard to find gifts for me that I either don't already have or have not already dismissed. Last year, right before the holidays, it seemed like she struck paydirt in the gift department when she found a whole bunch of things from ThinkGeek for me. The first thing she was excited to give me was a set of two Star Wars Cloud City pint glasses. Unfortunately, the Star Wars Cloud City Pint Glass Set Of 2 is based on a gimmick and the gimmick does not work like it is supposed to.

The Star Wars Cloud City Pint Glass Set Of 2 are two identical pint glasses that feature artwork based on The Empire Strikes Back (reviewed here!). The pint glasses are predominantly blue and white and feature the Millennium Falcon flying toward the Cloud City station hovering in the clouds of Bespin.

The Star Wars Pint Glass Set Of 2 features artwork that looks like the original optical painting of Cloud City silkscreened on heavy, clear glass. Each set of two is identical and features the same glass in duplicate. As the name implies, each pint glass holds a little over two cups worth of liquid. A whole 16 fl. oz. fits into the glass. Wider at the top, the 5 3/4” tall clear glass drinking glasses are both identical, including the artwork silkscreened onto them.

Unfortunately, the Star Wars Cloud City Pint Glass Set Of 2 was constructed with a color-changing gimmick. The Millennium Falcon is supposed to be invisible until a cold liquid is placed into the glass. Sadly, the Millennium Falcon is entirely visible, regardless of there being any liquid in the glass and it is about as faint as the Cloud City station; which is deliberately hazy to give it a sense of perspective, being further back. When a cold liquid is placed in the pint glass, the Millennium Falcon gets more distinct and darker, but it never truly fades to be anywhere near close to surprising for its appearance when a liquid is added.

The Star Wars Cloud City Pint Glass Set Of 2 is not at all durable. It took less than a week of using and cleaning the pint glasses before each of them showed noticeable wear. While the Millennium Falcon on the glasses held up fine, the rest of the silkscreening showed some chips and scratches. The glasses are not dishwasher safe and having hand washed the pint glasses with softer cloths to try to avoid damage, it was especially frustrating that the glasses already show wear to the silkscreening.

Fans of Star Wars are likely to fall in love with the concept of the Star Wars Cloud City Pint Glass Set, but be dismayed by the execution of it.

For other kitchen supplies, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Star Trek Decloaking Klingon Bird Of Prey Mug
CocoStraw Stainless Steel Straw Set
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Pint Glass Set Of 4

3.5/10

For other kitchen product reviews, please be sure to visit my Kitchen Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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