Review: 75365 Yavin 4 Rebel Base
Posted by CapnRex101,
The famous Rebel Alliance base on Yavin 4 has been consistently overlooked within the LEGO Star Wars range, although a sketch model was developed prior to 2009, featured in LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary. Finally, that glaring omission has been resolved.
75365 Yavin 4 Rebel Base recreates the notable location and generally appears impressive in official images, albeit rather sparsely furnished inside. However, the midi-scale Y-wing Starfighter looks amazingly detailed and the selection of minifigures is extraordinary as well, including no fewer than eight exclusive designs!
Summary
75365 Yavin 4 Rebel Base, 1,066 pieces.
£149.99 / $169.99 / €169.99 | 14.1p/15.9c/15.9c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Despite the fantastic minifigures, 75365 Yavin 4 Rebel Base is ultimately disappointing
- Outstanding minifigure selection
- Good architecture overall
- Appealing vehicles
- Poor interior
- Inconsistent detail
- Extremely expensive
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
The aforementioned Visual Dictionary from 2009 introduced a celebratory Luke Skywalker minifigure, sporting his yellow jacket and medal from the ceremony at the end of Episode IV. The updated bright light yellow jacket looks perfect and I like the holster adorning Luke's legs, although the most appealing feature is the golden Medal of Yavin, of course.
Han Solo wears the same accessory and these are accurately decorated with the pattern seen onscreen. The medal has been printed on the characters' torsos previously, but this looks much better and is more versatile, as the minifigures can be used without their medals. Additionally, a spare medal is provided, so Chewbacca can receive an award as well, although not wear it.
The option to display Luke without his medal is particularly enticing, as he appears frequently in comics set immediately after the Battle of Yavin, dressed in this attire. Han Solo's classic garb looks splendid too, including an updated torso, as the jacket pockets and tan shirt have been adjusted. Han wields his reliable DL-44 blaster pistol and Luke is armed with a blue lightsaber.
Naturally, a minifigure is needed to award the medals and Princess Leia performs this role. Her ceremonial gown is highly detailed and makes brilliant use of the dress element created a few years ago. However, this minifigure's most eye-catching feature is the hair component, which was developed for Padmé Amidala in 75258 Anakin's Podracer - 20th Anniversary Edition. The design is not ideal, but looks close enough for me.
Chewbacca completes the heroic quartet. This minifigure first appeared in 2014 and there is little need for change, as the combination of dark brown and medium nougat fur looks superb, while the texture is also effective. The metallic silver bandoleer stands out nicely and I love the decoration on Chewie's face, capturing his teeth and beady eyes.
General Dodonna is responsible for planning the Battle of Yavin and commands the Alliance's presence on Yavin 4, in the absence of Mon Mothma. The character is therefore a necessary inclusion and returns from 75301 Luke Skywalker's X-wing Starfighter, accurately attired in a Rebel officer's uniform. I do think his angry alternative expression is odd, but this minifigure is otherwise excellent and his baton is a nice addition.
A large droid pool also serves at Base One, the most important members of which are C-3PO and R2-D2, of course. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Threepio features printed arms because this is the minifigure from 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor, so the design looks outstanding. However, the dual-moulded silver leg remains unique to 75341 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, sadly.
Artoo is pleasantly surprising as well, also returning from 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor and thus including decoration on the back. I was worried that this feature would appear in 18+ sets only, which would have been disappointing. The panels across both sides of the body look great, although the blue stripe around R2-D2's domed head is printed askew, as normal.
Several members of Red Squadron have appeared in minifigure form, although Red Leader has remained missing. Garven Dreis at last joins the roster and looks marvellous, wearing a unique bright light yellow helmet, which is accurately decorated in relation to the movie. The helmets of Rebel pilots are always beautifully detailed, but this example is definitely among my favourites.
Gold Squadron also participates in the Battle of Yavin and its leader, Jon Vander, is provided too. Unlike his X-wing pilot counterpart, Vander has appeared many times before, but features an updated helmet on this occasion. The olive green patterns and intricate markings look lovely and both minifigures wear detailed flight suits, complete with an accurate life support pack and flares.
These minifigures share the same double-sided head, with a printed orange visor. Although a unique design for each character would have been nice, the cheerful and serious expressions are well-suited for Garven Dreis and Jon Vander, respectively. The pilots are armed with blaster pistols, in case they are separated from their starfighters.
R2-BHD was introduced as Gold Leader's Astromech droid in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and previously appeared in 75181 Y-wing Starfighter. This version of the droid varies from the prior design, including a light bluish grey body, rather than dark bluish grey. I greatly prefer this colour scheme, with metallic silver panels completing the design. Unfortunately, those panels do not continue on the back, unlike Artoo.
A lone Rebel Fleet Trooper protects the base. I think a second should have been included, especially because these troopers are remarkably scarce nowadays, last appearing in 2019. The torso appears essentially identical to the prior minifigure, but avoids flesh printing around the neck, so could be used more easily with different skin tones.
The new double-sided head created for the Rebel Crew minifigure could therefore be swapped to the trooper, if you wish. Both heads are adorned with chin straps, so they match the helmets, which have remained unaltered since 2009. These elements looked incredible when they were launched and are serviceable today, but there is potential for improvement. The crew member's helmet accurately lacks the black visor.
Rebel ground crew wear beige fatigues onscreen, represented in tan for this minifigure. I like the creasing and the dark tan belt, which features a couple of metallic silver accents. The character is equipped with a wrench, while the Fleet Trooper carries a spear and a brick-built scanner for tracking and assessing starships as they approach the base.
The Completed Model
Yavin 4 is dotted with ancient Massassi temples, the largest of which becomes a headquarters for the Rebel Alliance at the outset of the Galactic Civil War. The enormous scale of the temple undoubtedly presents a challenge for LEGO, although I think this iteration looks pretty good, on the whole. Measuring 31cm in height, the architecture of the building is instantly recognisable, but its proportions have been adjusted, inevitably.
Sentry towers surround the temple, keeping watch over the jungle. While the tower itself looks impressive, the tree underneath is very poor, consisting primarily of 2x2x5 curved panels and including almost no detail. I was not expecting a complex design, but there was definitely an opportunity to produce a better tree than this one, which looks as though it belongs in a 4+ set.
However, the shape of the sentry tower is accurate, encircled by a projecting railing around the top and narrowing towards the bottom. There is room for a minifigure to stand inside and I like how the tower can partially retract. However, this mechanism is incredibly simple, relying on a Technic stopper inside the tree. The geared lookout tower in 75151 Clone Turbo Tank is vastly superior, for instance.
Thankfully, the sentry tower is my least favourite aspect of this set. The angled temple walls are more attractive, striking a balance between dark tan and dark bluish grey, with scattered plants offering brighter colour. The hangar entrance is disproportionately large and lacks a blast door, but its shape is appropriate and the sloping walls on either side look reasonable.
A pair of turrets are positioned above the entrance, each incorporating a stud shooter. They are joined via a Technic beam inside, so move in unison, which is a lovely feature. The gaps in the walls are much bigger than necessary though, while the number of exposed studs visible here seems excessive, in my opinion.
The texture on the neighbouring walls is smoother, interrupted only by 1x2 masonry bricks and occasional leaves. Considering the scale, I think this design works nicely. Unfortunately though, the gaps between the angled walls and the central section are obvious and the interior is clearly visible behind the wall, which is problematic for display.
By contrast, the pyramidal tower atop the Great Temple looks marvellous. Studs are prevalent, again, but the balance is more successful here. Additionally, the elongated windows look great, even though some are represented by black tiles, instead of being open. The designer has also avoided any unwanted gaps between external panels, as the wedge plates line up seamlessly.
The interior is designed around a cavernous central hangar and seems rather lacking in detail. There is very little colour inside and the arrangement of rooms is strange, particularly towards the ground floor, where two chambers are essentially empty. However, some areas look quite good, recreating features from Base One in the film.
Starfighters occupy much of the ground level onscreen, so a spacious hangar bay is available. Despite its size, there is not enough room for standard minifigure-scale starfighters, like 75301 Luke Skywalker's X-wing Starfighter. The designer has accordingly supplied a midi-scale model of the iconic Y-wing Starfighter, which fits inside the hangar and can pass though the entrance.
I am pleased with this rendition of the Y-wing, given its accurate proportions and surprisingly high level of detail. The design reminds me of 75312 Boba Fett's Starship, which also retains much of its character from larger equivalents, but comprises far fewer pieces. Additionally, the model measures almost 23cm in length, so is a reasonable size for play.
Comparing this vessel with the fantastic 75172 Y-wing Starfighter clearly shows their difference in scale, as well as their relatively similar proportions. The fuselage has been truncated slightly between the cockpit module and the engines, while the nacelles are closer to the fuselage too, allowing the starfighter to pass through the hangar door. However, such compromises are fairly subtle, given the dramatic change in size.
Curved slopes and wedge plates create smooth armour around the cockpit, corresponding with the onscreen vehicle. The colour scheme of yellow and white is appealing and I like the yellow bands flanking the canopy, in particular. A short staircase is included for Jon Vander to access the cockpit, with floor-mounted lights guiding his starfighter into position.
There is room for a minifigure inside the cockpit, although they cannot sit upright. This would be problematic for a standard minifigure-scale vehicle, but is understandable here. R2-BHD is also rather pronounced in the Astromech droid socket, unsurprisingly. Regardless, I am pleased that there is enough space for both characters on board.
The rounded canopy element is not ideal for the Y-wing Starfighter, but is an appropriate size, relative to the entire cockpit module. A printed console is found inside, displaying the targeting computer. I was expecting a sticker here, so wonder whether the use of a printed element hints towards the release of additional Rebel Alliance starfighters in the near future.
A rotating ion cannon is located behind the pilot. Although oversized, this is a welcome addition to the model, separating the armoured cockpit from the exposed mechanical detail across the fuselage. Dark bluish grey ingots and 3L bars are integrated to good effect here, alongside a printed 2x2 round tile. The spring-loaded shooters, however, appear awkward and could surely have been hidden within the bodywork.
The starfighter is supported by three landing legs on the underside, represented by 1x2 rounded bricks with two bars. A trans-clear 2x2 round brick is placed in the middle as well, which seems unnecessary, but is well hidden beneath the fuselage. Of course, these elements can each be removed for flight, if you wish.
Despite their fragile appearance, the engine nacelles are robustly constructed and these look excellent. The slender pylons supporting the thrust vectral rings are particularly effective and I love the trans-yellow parts, denoting the engine glow. However, these should be predominantly grey and the white armour extends too far, which is a peculiar issue because the colour could easily have been changed.
Personnel carriers ferry pilots and other characters around the base. Unlike the Y-wing, this vehicle is designed to scale with minifigures and there is space for as many as five on board, one of whom stands between the twin control levers at the front. This configuration reflects the source material and I am impressed with the amount of room available.
Moreover, accessories can be stored inside the personnel carrier. Olive green is an interesting colour choice and I think it looks great, providing a splash of colour when displayed in the base. The yellow backrest for the operator is also attractive, while trans-red 1x1 round tiles are placed at the corners, again corresponding with the speeders as they appear in Episode IV.
The hangar bay is sparsely detailed, so undoubtedly needs those vehicles inside. One sticker displays the Y-wing undergoing a diagnotic test, identifying an issue with the starboard engine, while another is emblazoned with the Rebel Alliance symbol. Bizarrely, the space underneath is completely empty, other than two clips where accessories can be stored.
Admittedly, very little of Base One is actually explored in the movie and the required rooms are already included. Nevertheless, perhaps a docking station for the personnel carrier could have occupied the ground floor, beside the hangar. The briefing room is located above and includes three sand blue chairs, although a slight rearrangement could make space for more.
I like the blue milk dispenser in the corner though, as well as the stickered screen. This image shows the moment a proton torpedo is launched and enters the thermal exhaust port, which is nice, but there was an opportunity to include other options. Maybe this screen could have been designed with alternative panels, similar to the control room monitor in 10188 Death Star.
The gunnery station above the hangar entrance is an unexpected feature, containing a single targeting screen, with a TIE Fighter in the centre. Turning these turrets together is fun, but this room is otherwise incredibly bland, only including an empty box and two trans-light blue tactical displays, formed using stickers.
Sadly, the space on the other side of the hangar is equally lacklustre. Once again, several clips are available for keeping accessories, while printed thermal detonators are stored in a cabinet. The second cabinet contains a trans-light blue cylinder, which represented coaxium in various Solo: A Star Wars Story sets.
General Dodonna, Princess Leia and C-3PO supervise the Battle of Yavin from the command centre. The circular monitor in the middle corresponds with the film, but should be surrounded by control stations, which are missing. Furthermore, the whole room should be dark, so the use of white elements in here is very confusing.
While the lower levels of the base are disappointing, the audience chamber and communication array above look better. These are correctly situated within the temple, which seriously restricts the available space. Even so, the adjustable dish immediately under the roof is a good addition to this structure, while the audience chamber is fittingly overgrown.
There is enough room for most of the primary characters to stand inside, where Luke and Han receive their medals. Ideally, there would be an audience, but that would require a significantly bigger area of the temple. Although there are those unused spaces on the ground floor, I prefer keeping the audience chamber separate from the hangar.
Overall
Given the incredibly long wait for a LEGO rendition of Base One, I approached 75365 Yavin 4 Rebel Base with high expectations. Unfortunately, I am disappointed. The exterior is generally good, albeit inconsistently detailed, but the interior is dreadful. Much of the space is completely wasted and several rooms are too reliant on stickers, otherwise they would be unrecognisable.
However, the Y-wing Starfighter and personnel carrier are both well-executed, while the twelve minifigures are exceptional. Eight are exclusive, notably including Luke, Han, Leia and the long-awaited Garven Dreis. They are not sufficient to counterbalance the problems though, especially given the price of £149.99, $169.99 or €169.99, which feels incredibly expensive for a set of just 1066 pieces.
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89 comments on this article
Nice, but the set should have been a Master Builder Set.
Unless its heavily discounted, Lego can keep this one on their shelves.
I just realized another problem I have with this: it looks way too stubby and simplified!
I feel sorry for you star wars fans,no matter how much you hope,you almost always get disappointment. This is no different.
Such a pity they added the Y-wing.
It takes away precious bricks from the base, and looks pretty poor by itself as a model.
I mean, it's been a few years since the last midi-sized Y-wing, and the last yellow Y-wing is 75172 from 2018! The latest midi-sized X-wing is from 2021 (75301), and a new Y-wing would have been the perfect companion.
Why didn't they offer a separate, newer Y-wing, and saved the extra bricks to expand the Yavin base further?
They really should have just given us a diorama of the medal ceremony. This is only going to be purchased for the minifigs anyway.
This idea had a lot of potential, sadly it turned into a pricey 4+ joke.
I like it. The set's setting reminds me of the early Star Wars sets, especially that personel carrier.
And the studs between the gun emplacements are at least consistent with the studs of the tower.
That said, I don't 160 euro like it or anything. At least it's a big set. And we finally got a depiction of the location for once!
They should just give C3PO a silver leg (not a silver print on the gold leg). Idk why they don't
At this point, I’m not even sure I’d get this Yavin 4+ set on a 30% discount. As @Lordmoral stated, this could have been an outstanding MBS set.
Does the community agree that this set would have turned out better if they ommitted any and all space ships in favor of a better base build?
Lego does so many star fighter sets and so rarely does a location build. I would have greatly preferred if they focused on a true realization of the temple.
This would have been the perfect opportunity to make a rebel honor guard minifigure...
And the rebel crew should not be wearing the same type of helmet as the fleet trooper.
I’m guessing that they didn’t think the Yavin IV base would be a strong enough seller to warrant a $300+ rendition, but very clearly it’s a tough set to pull off satisfactorily at anything other than a very large piece count.
It might have been cool if this has been a multiple set arrangement, like past renditions of Jabba’s Palace - you could do the ground floor hangar, and then a top floor with comms rooms and victory hall.
But then that’s probably an even LONGER shot than one big set lol because then you’ve got the risk of TWO sets not selling to expectations.
IDK - I think overall this looks cute and fun. Maybe it could have been done better but it’s not a location that gets related merch very often at all, so I think it’s appealing from a pure novelty factor.
Disappointing. There is no consistency in the sizes - the x-wing 75301 should fit in the base.
Another expensive set full of minifigs to resell at high prices on the secondary market. meh...
@CapnRex101, a comparative image with the X-wing 75301 next to this new Y-wing would be welcome :-)
I have the feeling that playing with lego bricks is reduced to giving as less bricks (and play) the company thinks they can get away with for as much money possible. Very disappointing.
Like another reviewer said it looks weirdly like darth vaders castle. Too small for me. Would need to buy 2 or 3 to build a proper Yavin base.
Definitely not at this price. With the increasing number of sets LEGO releases all the time, they have to compete a lot harder for a spot on a buy-list. Maybe at 50% off I'd grab this.
I woudn't mind a separate Y-Wing and Gold Leader fig, sadly expensive set = expensive minifigs and the pilots are surely to be the most valuable ones from this (and Luke, I suppose).
Hey, it's almost 75098 all over again
I don’t like it. And gone are the days I was spending a couple of hundred bucks to get 3-4 nice minifigs. I’ll get them on BL if they’re not overpriced there as well. If they are, I’ll just pass on them.
As other have said, this should have been a master builder series and/or not have the ridiculously small y-wing.
Edited to add: the number of figures in this set is deceptive. In fact, for fans like me, there are few valuable ones. Luke, Leia (although I like the old version better), Red Leader and the rebel crew. For me, that’s it.
Curious how the scale of the Y-Wing compares to the smaller X-Wings we've gotten recently...
To put this into perspective, this set is 10€ more expensive than 10243 Parisian Restaurant. This greed is just disgusting.
I know most sets are met with comments that they're too expensive, but this one seems too cheap...! With double the budget, this could have been an all-time killer set. As it is, it just looks a bit naff imho, somewhat unfortunately.
I knew something was wrong when I thought it was a Juniors set the first time I saw it. This confirmed the poor execution of the set.
That is one extremely Carrie Fisher-looking expression on Leia, I greatly appreciate it.
I also appreciate the printed medal. It's not a perfect match, but it'll go a long way to help me put the finishing touches on my Flavor Flav minifig.
I saw the picture second from the bottom, and the Star Wars theme music started playing in my head. Anybody else having this happen, or am I just nuts?
Nice review! To be honest, my impressions are definitely a lot more positive than yours. It certainly portrays a nice variety of scenes from the base, and offers a good balance of aesthetics and play value. Truth be told, in the past I might've doubted the viability of the Yavin 4 base as a set, since we saw so little of it in the movie and so it'd be naturally difficult to flesh out as a playset without feeling somewhat barren. But here, while there are a few unfortunate empty spaces, it still seems like a playset I could have enjoyed as a kid, as well as a display model I can appreciate as an adult.
One place I feel like this review is particularly harsh is its critique of the tree construction. While simple, it is nicely proportioned and looks very natural, IMO. It feels especially unfair to compare it to trees from 4+ sets, since even if some of those are built with the same panel pieces, they tend to be far more lacking height, foliage, and root detail, and their branches are often arranged in neat rows and columns for simplicity's sake.
Some more leaves could be a solid improvement here, but I think the overall use of panel and arch pieces is very effective. Even the cylindrical shape strikes me as a big improvement over earlier, blockier efforts at designing wide-trunked trees at a KFOL building level in sets like 7956, 79002, 79012, etc.
Very annoying to see a set that costs so much have so many cut corners but I guess that is how the Star Wars team operates. Look at similarly priced location-based playsets in anything from City to Friends to Monkie Kid, this simply cannot compete
It might be overpriced and barren, but I’m at least glad we’re getting Lego Star Wars playsets that serve as a base for the “good guys”. I would’ve loved looking at this set in the catalog as a kid. I’m on the fence about picking it up until it goes on discount, but as a concept I really do appreciate this set.
No medal for Chewie? Outrageous! Hard pass.
Since they've revived the medal mold, that gives me a slight bit of hope that they'll eventually provide us with silver and bronze medals to go with the gold one that was introduced with S7. Seriously, they rounded out the trophy figs in three consecutive CMF waves, but all we got from Team GB was gold, and then three more uses in the last five years have all been gold.
@Zink said:
"Does the community agree that this set would have turned out better if they ommitted any and all space ships in favor of a better base build?
Lego does so many star fighter sets and so rarely does a location build. I would have greatly preferred if they focused on a true realization of the temple."
Honestly no, the smaller Y-wing is best part of this set, a non UCS one man ship doesn't really need to be bigger than that.
i will buy this set just for the minifigures the rest is terrible. they should have done it UCS! the fighters are already there and only the large structure with the interiors and services should have been built. sorry for the missed opportunity
@Aanchir said:
"Nice review! To be honest, my impressions are definitely a lot more positive than yours. It certainly portrays a nice variety of scenes from the base, and offers a good balance of aesthetics and play value. Truth be told, in the past I might've doubted the viability of the Yavin 4 base as a set, since we saw so little of it in the movie and so it'd be naturally difficult to flesh out as a playset without feeling somewhat barren. But here, while there are a few unfortunate empty spaces, it still seems like a playset I could have enjoyed as a kid, as well as a display model I can appreciate as an adult.
One place I feel like this review is particularly harsh is its critique of the tree construction. While simple, it is nicely proportioned and looks very natural, IMO. It feels especially unfair to compare it to trees from 4+ sets, since even if some of those are built with the same panel pieces, they tend to be far more lacking height, foliage, and root detail, and their branches are often arranged in neat rows and columns for simplicity's sake.
Some more leaves could be a solid improvement here, but I think the overall use of panel and arch pieces is very effective. Even the cylindrical shape strikes me as a big improvement over earlier, blockier efforts at designing wide-trunked trees at a KFOL building level in sets like 7956, 79002, 79012, etc."
The "it looks like a 4+ set" criticism tends to irritate me because I think it is almost always untrue. However, in this case, I really do find the tree very underdeveloped. I would understand if it felt like the designer had needed to pare down the tree to its simplest features because they had to focus the budget for parts elsewhere, but instead it seems like this was a stylistic decision. Personally, I prefer most of the trees you linked to, not least because they have some texture on their bark.
Regarding the broader set, I agree that it is reasonably complete for play, but it is so lacking in detail and functions, for the size. Compared with the likes of 71795 Temple of the Dragon Energy Cores, which contains a similar number of pieces, the level of detail is night and day. Admittedly, the base is intentionally sparse in some areas onscreen, but the dark atmosphere of the command centre could surely have been captured more effectively, for example.
Also, there is an opportunity to include some surprises in sets like this one. Canonically, the Great Temple was constructed by the Massassi, under the control of ancient Sith. Perhaps a Sith artefact could have been hidden accordingly?
Iirc, there's been at least one holocron found there (the Exar Kun storyline?), although that's now Legends
Will just have to see what Red Leader goes for on the aftermarket (& maybe Luke)
I know people say you can’t compare one LEGO set with its parts to another one…
But if you take 2019 Darth Vaders castle which is an excellent set cost $130 with 6 fewer pieces than this set. Of course that set only had 6 minifigures but then that means for 12 more figures this set cost an additional $40 and in everyone’s opinions above including the author this is a terrible rendition of the source material. Such a shame.
They should have waited and made it a master builder series set.
Good review!
I have almost all these figs. The set is just sad. It's lame for adults, and too expensive for kids.
I will get this when it's 50% off. It will be just like the underwhelming Boba Throne Room. At least that one had better figs.
Cool, Lego finally made a the Jedi temple! My Kyp Durron, Streen, Dorsk 81, Jacen, Jaina, Tenal Ka, Tionne....
Wait hold on...
Wrong timeline.
Regardless, I think I may actually try to get this set. I'm a bit of a sucker for the Y-wings, and the Massassi temples do hold a place in my heart, moreso because of their use as the Jedi Praxeum in the Legends EU.
Though it is horribly over priced. Sigh...
Fans of Ideas/Disney and Pirates/Icons are Luke and Han at the Yavin 4 ceremony, right now. Us Star Wars fans are left as Chewbacca.
When I first heard of this set, I was hoping it would be like the Cantina Set… however I feel pretty disappointed with it.
Too bad it had such great potential, this will be a set that I will wait for a discount on.
THEME: "This is a terrible set, but I'll buy it when it's 30-50% off."
No. No. NO. Will people PLEASE stop doing this! Buying a poorly executed set that you don't want, just because it's at the price it *should* have been to begin with, is simply going to encourage them to keep producing over-priced crap.
If you want both quality and prices to improve then don't buy crap sets at *any* price!
@kkoster79 said:
"I know people say you can’t compare one LEGO set with its parts to another one…
But if you take 2019 Darth Vaders castle which is an excellent set cost $130 with 6 fewer pieces than this set. Of course that set only had 6 minifigures but then that means for 12 more figures this set cost an additional $40 and in everyone’s opinions above including the author this is a terrible rendition of the source material. Such a shame.
They should have waited and made it a master builder series set. "
"...everyone's opinions above..."
Simply not true.
I like the set quite a bit! The midi Y-Wing is nice. I’m happy with the plain interior, as it allows a lot of room to place figures. Younger me would’ve loved filling this with figures and having the empire storm it!
Nice Minifigures, but the rest doesn't do it for me at least not at £150. I will have to see if I can get the Minifigures separately.
@kkoster79:
For twelve _additional_ minifigs, depending on the minifigs, $40 would typically be considered fantastic value (that's basically what you pay at BAM, and CMFs would cost 50% more). I'm sure you meant to state that there were six additional minifigs, which still isn't terrible value considering the print detail on the two droids, and the inflation bump things went through recently.
I'm not going to buy it, but I don't think it looks that bad at all. What I do find troubling is how severe my reaction was to simply seeing them make a set that isn't based on a previous one (and that isn't from a new film/TV series). Doing something vaguely original really shouldn't be so shocking—it should be the minimum requirement surely.
This simply matches up with LEGOs recent theme: Design a mediocre set, pile it with figures that people would like, and then ramp up the price accordingly.. I feel they did this did this with the Spider-man Liberty battle as well. Ridiculous and sad to see LEGO doing this.
Remembering the good ol' days when a full modular set with twice as many pieces and interior detail was "only" 149.99
I would gladly pay this price for a nice Star Wars play set and I’ve gotten over the frustrations with the obvious license tax. I’m less concerned with the “perceived value” of this set and significantly more concerned with the design of the set. I was excited about getting something new but they just seemed to mail it in here. Ironically, LEGO is just killing it these days with great sets across all of their themes. That excellence raises the bar (and expectations) and I just don’t see how this set comes anywhere close to good enough. I’m not trying to push an agenda and I guess I’ve just come to accept the new costs of my lifelong hobby. I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t get something better for this 2023 slot. Excited to see what’s next.
@PurpleDave said:
" @kkoster79:
For twelve _additional_ minifigs, depending on the minifigs, $40 would typically be considered fantastic value (that's basically what you pay at BAM, and CMFs would cost 50% more). I'm sure you meant to state that there were six additional minifigs, which still isn't terrible value considering the print detail on the two droids, and the inflation bump things went through recently."
Correct unfortunately I couldn’t edit my post. I thought this had 18 figures for some reason but yeah 6 figures for $40 is horrible!
Yeah, this is why I no longer collect LEGO Star Wars: Too expensive for less value than other themes and inferior models. The only ones I’ve brought since 2021 were the Slave I and TIE Bomber, both on heavy discounts.
Would love some of the figures. Not convinced on the set on the whole. I think even for younger fans this would be difficult to really do anything with. You'd need to get a Death Star playset or something akin to it to get your Star Wars groove going. I like the stumpy scaled down look though but for that price, no thanks. Will hope some of these figures get released elsewhere for a more reasonable price.
The Lego price might seem expensive for what you're getting but there are 12 minifigs (that's $60 of figs just there) and 1000+ pieces so that's $100 bucks right there.
I assume the new prints on the figs would contribute to the price plus the licensing.
But, this is still about $20 too high imho, and you know Amazon will have a sale and it'll get down to $130 to $150.
Overall, this is a great playset for kids. We Afol's can hope for a UCS style base down the road, but for Xmas a kid will love playing with this, moving the buildings around and all those great figures.
Glad they have the medals as a separate element instead of those torso printed ones from the Encyclopedia and Dictionary exclusives for Celebration Han and Luke.
But maybe Chewy could've gotten an exclusive printed medal after all these years ;)
The price of this set is perfectly fine for me. When I first saw a picture of it a while back I instantly thought it was a 4+ set. Given that the box is not shown in this review, I can only assume that with the details shown in the review, that the box is emblazoned with a very large 4+.
I’d say it’s a real shame that such a desirable subject would get such a lousy set, but Lego can’t make everything for adults, toddlers need to have fun as well.
@Block_n_Roll said:
"THEME: "This is a terrible set, but I'll buy it when it's 30-50% off."
No. No. NO. Will people PLEASE stop doing this! Buying a poorly executed set that you don't want, just because it's at the price it *should* have been to begin with, is simply going to encourage them to keep producing over-priced crap.
If you want both quality and prices to improve then don't buy crap sets at *any* price!"
BUT, But, but. Crap at a good price makes the best manure to raise a nice MOC crop w cool figs. ;)
Power to the PARTS MONKEYS!!!
I can appreciate what they're trying to do here and the play features are great, but it's awfully hard to look at these knowing what we were getting 5-10 years ago. I just have to keep reminding myself these are intended to be played with by kids. In that light, they're doing well.
@ra226:
Remember that from 2003 to 2020, every "minifig-scale" X-Wing was basically like a Canyonero with wings. They weren't great for play, and they were grotesquely oversized, so there really weren't any winners during that timeframe.
@Zink said:
"Does the community agree that this set would have turned out better if they ommitted any and all space ships in favor of a better base build?"
Nope. The Y-Wing is the only good thing about this set.
That bright light yellow helmet looks like what your vintage white Star Wars toys as they age haha
This set has long been at the top of my most wanted list, which only serves to make this rendition that much more disappointing to me. I can’t help but feel the inclusion of the Y-Wing takes away from improvements to a model that drastically needs it.
Between the model’s lackluster execution and insanely high price point, I fear that it won’t sell well and Lego will draw the wrong conclusions.
In theory, this set represents everything I want to see more of from Lego Star Wars: more location/scene based sets, covering things that have never been made before in the theme.
The figures are amazing, especially that Luke, but the rest of the set just seems a little rough. Plus, as most sets are these days, it's fairly overpriced...
This would have worked better as a microscale facade on one side (complete with tiny fighters in the hangar), and then some small minifigure scale renditions of key areas on the backend.
The location itself is key to Episode IV, but it really isn't exciting as a playset. So definitely lends itself more to a detailed adult oriented set, or even a UCS.
@Graupensuppe said:
"And the rebel crew should not be wearing the same type of helmet as the fleet trooper."
No it shouldn't. And if you look at the box pictures or official Lego photographs the Rebel Crew Member wears the Rebel Fleet Trooper helmet without the black visor affixed.
My guess, is Lego included a spare (as it usually does) and @CapnRex101 mistakenly attached it.
Maybe a white visor should have been included but it still wouldn't make the helmet entirely accurate. Although it's good enough for the purpose it serves.
@CapnRex101 it seemed worth mentioning the inclusion of the Alden Ehrenreich Han Solo/Cedric Diggory/various Marvel Superheroes head rather than the usual OT Han Solo one.
Weirdly it's still in print and in use in 75339.
On the subject of Han, some people have said the new torso is missing flesh printing on the tiny sliver of exposed neck. Because of the style of shirt worn I can see why it's not there but maybe the print could have been better designed to be flush with the collar.
With the stripped down interior and overall simplified rendition, perhaps this is actually the largest 4+ set so far. That is the only way I could justify why they think it should be twice the normal price.
@PurpleDave said:
" @ra226:
Remember that from 2003 to 2020, every "minifig-scale" X-Wing was basically like a Canyonero with wings. They weren't great for play, and they were grotesquely oversized, so there really weren't any winners during that timeframe."
I get what you're saying, but I very much disagree, I love those sets. But the pendulum definitely swung too far that direction, sacrificing both play and price. I'm not Lego's target audience, nor should I be--but I sure did love the minifig scale sets of that era.
@PurpleDave said:
" @ra226 :
Remember that from 2003 to 2020, every "minifig-scale" X-Wing was basically like a Canyonero with wings. They weren't great for play, and they were grotesquely oversized, so there really weren't any winners during that timeframe."
I beg to differ. The X-wings in that era were, in my opinion, perfectly sized. The "six-shooter" X-wings with four wingtip spring shooters and two side-mounted stud shooters, plus a folding landing leg and a fire extinguisher behind the seat, had much greater play value than the downsized 2021 model, which has only two spring shooters, no stud shooters, no folding landing leg, and no fire extinguisher. And so did the 2004 X-wing with its big cargo bay under the nose and its folding landing leg. I like the downsized 2021 model a lot and I understand why some people think the older models were too big - but the older models had more play features.
As for the Yavin IV Rebel Base set, I think it's $20-40 overpriced and disappointingly bare inside, but I do think it looks like a good playset for kids. It looks like something I would beg my mom and dad for if I was about seven years old, which is all it needs to do. Not everything has to be aimed at an adult audience at the MBS size and price. Unfortunately, I don't have room in my budget this year for it or the Eldorado Fortress. That's just life. Oh well.
It feels to me that LEGO believes Star Wars fans will buy literally any memorabilia at any price. Will they be proved wrong?
10123 also seemed massively overpriced and underdeveloped at the time. Now look at it.
I like, that ships are mostly going down in size to match minifig scale more closely, I really enjoyed the last X-Wing. However this is a glorified 4+ and it even has the price to match. This is one of those sets, that would be hard to recommend at 40% discount. Even the minifig selection looks very much like a 4+ set, in that it baits minifigure collectors more than the target audience noted on the box.
I'm sorry, but for now will join the people complaining. Even for the amazing minifig selection, which are all excellent, this set is ridiculously expensive IMO. The interior is so poor in details, really looks like it was made with a few parts posed here and there, and completed with a bunch of stickers. With a real detailed interior, and thanks to the minifigs, I would have ordered it, even at that price. But there... I guess I will pass on it. To my true own regret.
@iwybs:
https://brickset.com/article/62976
75301 was less than two studs undersized. And 75172 was less than two studs oversized. So, they never got the X-Wing scale right until 2021, though this Y-Wing certainly looks more play-scale than accurately scaled.
Now, the base…I mean, they could have made it bigger, but the real challenge would be making the starship bay entrance the correct scale. People are already complaining about the price. I don’t think anyone would want to see how expensive it would be to make this where the bay entrance was at least 3-4x times wider, and braced well enough that it won’t collapse even after years on display.
@rebelpilot said:
" @Graupensuppe said:
"And the rebel crew should not be wearing the same type of helmet as the fleet trooper."
No it shouldn't. And if you look at the box pictures or official Lego photographs the Rebel Crew Member wears the Rebel Fleet Trooper helmet without the black visor affixed.
My guess, is Lego included a spare (as it usually does) and @CapnRex101 mistakenly attached it.
Maybe a white visor should have been included but it still wouldn't make the helmet entirely accurate. Although it's good enough for the purpose it serves. "
You are exactly correct, thank you. I was building in a rush, it seems. The review has been updated.
@StyleCounselor said:
"Good review!
I have almost all these figs. The set is just sad. It's lame for adults, and too expensive for kids.
I will get this when it's 50% off. It will be just like the underwhelming Boba Throne Room. At least that one had better figs. "
Where do you get these incredible discounts? I can never find a store in The Netherlands where these discounts are given.
Without the 60% discount I would not buy it.
I don't care that the interior is lacking or that the Y-Wing is tiny. There's just something, other than the minifigures, that I love about this. It reminds me of an early 2000s Star Wars set.
@PurpleDave said:
" @iwybs:
https://brickset.com/article/62976
75301 was less than two studs undersized. So, they never got the X-Wing scale right until 2021."
That's using a scale of 1:42. I prefer a scale of 1:38, which is 1 stud = 1 foot. Both are plausible minifig scales. Using 1:42, 75301 is nearly perfectly sized and 75218 is significantly oversized. Using 1:38, 75218 is nearly perfectly sized and 75301 is significantly undersized. Those pesky minifigures and their non-human proportions, amirite?
I love some of the minifigs (although Leia needs a cape and either flesh-colored arms or duel-molded white/flesh arms).
But this really is ridiculously expensive, and just poorly conceptualized as a set.
Can we stop pretending that individual minifigs are worth $5 each on top of the value of a set's build when judging prices? It's applying CMF pricing to full sets despite the math not adding up for the majority of retail sets historically and is just used to justify prices for sets of general bad value.
this doesn't seem like there's more to this than boba fett's throneroom, which was 100 bucks. y could have kept this as is but cut the fighter to lower the cost some. or as some have said use that part allowance to make the base better.
never mind, looking closer at fett's throne room its a lot smaller!
@iwybs:
A guy in my LUG basically got people building one stud per foot for the footprints of buildings (it makes complex architectural details much easier to model), but with skyscraper MOCs that exceed 6’ in height he uses selective compression to make the lower floors vertically scaled to the base, and mid to upper floors end up a few bricks shorter. Without this, his 11.5’ Penobscot building would simply be unmanageable. My 6-wide cars are sometimes a bit large compared to a minifig’s height, but any smaller and they’d all turn into single-seater go-carts.
I’ve often said that you can make a thing look good, or you can make a thing look accurate, but you really need to figure out where in the middle you’re most comfortable with. Given the significantly larger size involved with SW starfighters, scaling to their width rather than height really does make them look like small children in the cockpits. I’m all for pegging all SW starfighters to 10179 in terms of scale.
The 4+/Junior-range has, for years, been a consistent source of good prints and amazing, sometimes exclusive figures. I really don't think "4+" is the insult you think it is.
The set overall looks decent. I like the updates on the figures. It looks like the smaller scale works pretty well. I actually like the tree. I know it doesn't have "bark" but it looks decent for the scale I'd say. But $170 is too much for me this year, so I'll have to pass.
tbh I expect it from a review on this site to mention that they, for no reason, decided to use the wrong Han Solo head. In a set at this price range, it is also indefensible to give 2 named characters (the pilots) the same headprint. Lazy crap, nothing more. This would be worth buying at 80-90€, and not a cent more.
Oh and if I were a designer, I'd be ashamed to put out something like this. Yeah yeah, it's the fault of the upper management but at this point. at least a modicum of self-awareness has got to be setting in?
So they printed the sides of the helmets for the Rebel pilots in this set but couldn't do it for Luke in the UCS X-wing?
"The set is just sad. It's lame for adults, and too expensive for kids.": couldn't have said it better. High playbility for kids, but rather expensive for them. Hardly of collectible value for adults who can afford it. And then again, somehow, I strongly believe that they will upgrade it to an MBS set in a couple of years...
Great review! Wonder if it would've been possible to have done this model with a different approach, i.e. as a microscale model of the base amidst forests with room inside for two scenes and starships across the hangar scaled to 75329 for example? Otherwise it captures a tiny part of the base, and the iconography of the scene is more select moments in the film and the immediate impression of the whole place in an establishing shot that this narrow shot of a hangar is simply not that enticing
Not bad, not NEARLY as bad as some fans hve made it out to be. some great prints and stickers and I LOVE this Y-wing but I think I'd rather rebuild my 7658.
For some reason, Gold Leader's helmet isn't doing it for me. Looks like the printer ran out of toner tbh. Black or grey would be better even if inaccurate
@weasel_king said:
"They really should have just given us a diorama of the medal ceremony. This is only going to be purchased for the minifigs anyway."
I second this.
I love the Y-wing model, but everything else about the main temple model looks horrible incomplete, and almost nothing is really recognisable without stickers.
A diorama set depicting the medal ceremony would have been a whole lot better.
"the audience chamber and communication array above look better. These are correctly situated within the temple"
The ceremony was in the roof!? I'd never even bothered to question what part of the temple that was in, but that makes so much sense and is pretty cool!