Star Wars Day (May the 4th, as in May the force be with you) is coming in hot and that's always an exciting time for LEGO Star Wars fans. As has become a bit of a tradition in recent years, LEGO will be releasing a new LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) set.
For those of you who don't know, this year's choice - Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder - is not without its controversy, and many fans have complained about including another Original Trilogy vehicle in the UCS collection.
But whether you were screaming out for a prequel or sequel vehicle, or whether you were happy with the announcement of another Original Trilogy vehicle, doesn't matter. All that matters is that this year's UCS set is incredible. Whether it is or isn't remains to be seen, so let's find out together with our Luke Skywalker speeder LEGO review below, shall we?
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Set Details
LEGO UCS sets are always exciting, and you can expect Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder to drop on May 4th, 2022. We've already spoken about the controversy surrounding it, but let's put that to the side for a moment so we can concentrate on what we have got, rather than being disheartened about what we didn't get.
Based on Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, this vehicle does have a certain nostalgic charm for many Star Wars fans - old and young. The vehicle soaring across the dusty landscape of Tatooine looks incredible in the movies, so trying to recreate it in LEGO form was always going to be a tall order. But boy oh boy, did LEGO get it right with this one!
Across the 1890 piece set, you can expect:
- Loving recreations of even the smallest details (the cockpit, three engines, and port turbine with missing cover all look the part)
- Molded windscreen
- 2 minifigures (Luke and C3PO)
- An excellent, sturdy display stand
- Unique, colorful recreation of the landspeeder that looks exactly like the real thing
Unfortunately, this is an 18+ set, so younger fans won't be able to pick this up, but that's pretty standard for UCS sets and doesn't come as a surprise here.
In terms of the way this set looks, though, we don't think LEGO could have improved in many ways. Does their over reliance on sticker pieces rather than printed pieces disappoint? For the price, maybe. But in terms of the finished aesthetics, this landspeeder is still a beauty. And whilst we're on the topic of price...
Price
If you want to buy the Luke Skywalker Speeder LEGO set on release, then this will set you back $200. For a UCS set, that's become a pretty standard price, with the LEGO UCS Tie Fighter and LEGO UCS X-Wing coming in at similar prices in recent years.
Considering the set is 1890 pieces, you'll be paying a little over 10.5 cents a brick, which is on the pricier end, but there's a catch! If you buy this set between May 1st (LEGO VIP Members only - the rest of us can buy from May 4th) and May 8th, 2022, from the official LEGO online store, you'll also get a free gift to sweeten the deal (only during this promotional period, so if you're reading this after May 8th, 2022, you'll miss out on the gift).
And this gift is exciting. It's a LEGO Star Wars Lars Family Homestead Kitchen set with 200 pieces and an exclusive minifigure (we'll leave you guys to discover exactly who for yourselves). With this gift, that $200 price tag looks even better!
Psst: even if you want to skip the landspeeder set, you can still get this as a free gift if you buy $160 or more worth of LEGO Star Wars products from the official LEGO online store during the promotional period (May 1st to May 8th, 2022) - it isn't set specific!
Building Experience
Now that's the price covered, let's talk about many of you guys' favorite part of any LEGO build - the building experience. And this building experience is a fun one. The design of the landspeeder itself calls for some interesting colored bricks and unique pieces. The specially molded windscreen for the cockpit, flex cables on the exposed port turbine with missing cover, and nougat and dark red bricks are all unique to this set and make the build that much more exciting as a result.
There aren't any printed bricks though, and we know a lot of fans will struggle to understand why when they're paying for a $200 UCS set, but in LEGO's defense, this would have only driven the final price tag of the set up, and the stickers in the cockpit etc do a good enough job.
Honestly, this build is one of the more unique LEGO Star Wars builds we've seen lately, and we think all of you will have a blast building this when you finally get your hands on the set - whether you're an Original Trilogy die-hard fan or not...
Minifigure Deep Dive
Of course, one of the major draws to any new LEGO Star Wars set is the LEGO Star Wars minifigures. So did LEGO hit the mark here? Meh. Yes, and no...
Luke
Let's get the disappointing note out of the way first so we can move on to the best bits. The minifigure you get here is commonly called the 'Farmboy Luke' minifigure, and honestly, he's around so much in so many different LEGO Star Wars sets, you've probably got at least 3 of him already.
And no, LEGO doesn't bring a single upgrade to this version of Farmboy Luke either. Sure, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but a little refresh now and then never hurt anyone, right?
C3PO
Thankfully, where LEGO dropped the ball with Luke, they picked up about 7 other ones with C3PO, and honestly, we forgive them the whole Luke minifigure disaster because of what you get with C3PO here.
You'll remember that an updated version of C3PO was released with the LEGO 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama on April 26th, so with this new landspeeder set being released less than one week later, you'd probably expect to see the same minifigure, right? Wrong! LEGO knocked our expectations out of the park with C3PO here, and you actually end up with an even more detailed version of him in this set.
His side leg and arm printing look incredible, and frankly, this C3PO is the best version of him we've ever got. (For those eagle eyed readers among you, yes, we said the same thing about him last time we reviewed the trash compactor diorama, but come on, this is an even better representation of him!).
We LOVE this C3PO and for many fans of LEGO Star Wars minifigures, the new landspeeder set will be way more attractive because of the inclusion of this exciting new C3PO minifigure.
The Goods
So, let's talk about all the best bits on offer here:
- Whether you're happy with the Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder choice or not, there's no denying that this set looks incredible. The level of detail on offer is unrivaled, and the color scheme is like no other from the UCS series, so it really pops as a display piece.
- It's possible to play with this display set too because it comes off the stand easily and is a heck of a lot of fun to fly around your living room - and you guys know how much we love play and display here at Lightailing.
- The rear of the set even looks incredible - the 3 engines and exhaust are all as detailed as the cockpit up front, and there's no 'bad angle' to view this set from (except from underneath, but we'll allow LEGO that one).
- You guys have to admit that a Landspeeder has never been included in the LEGO UCS range before, so whether you like it or not, it's exciting to see LEGO pushing the boat out.
- Finally, we love the promotional offer that goes along with this set - the free LEGO Star Wars Lars Family Homestead Kitchen set with spends over $160 on the official LEGO online store between May 1st and May 8th, 2022. Picking up this landspeeder set and getting a free set too - that's pretty exciting.
The Bads
There are, as always, some bad points too:
- Controversy over the prequel vs original vs sequel argument sours the taste of another Original Trilogy vehicle in a UCS set a little, and some fans might abstain from buying this set on principle (we are not those fans, however...)
- When you compare this to the LEGO UCS Tie Fighter and X-Wing sets that both released with similar price tags of around $200, this landspeeder set is noticeably much smaller. When you're not getting as much bang for your buck, it can feel like you've overpaid.
- The $200 price tag after May 8th, 2022, when the aforementioned promotion ends, makes this set a little less worth it. After May 8th, it may be worth waiting a while for LEGO to drop their prices.
The Verdict
We love this set. We'll be buying it, and we have no doubt in our minds about that. However, we also know that a lot of fans are becoming disillusioned with the LEGO UCS Star Wars sets because of their heavy focus on the Original Trilogy. And we understand that. So, if this set doesn't interest you, there's nothing we can say that'll convince you otherwise, so you should definitely skip out on this set and wait for a prequel or sequel vehicle to be included in the range before buying another UCS set again.
However, if you're a fan of the Original Trilogy, excited by the LEGO UCS sets, and want to know how it feels to own your very own Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, then pick this up on May 4th, 2022 (or May 1st if you're a LEGO VIP Member) because we just know it's going to feel pretty darn great!
Thinking Ahead...
It wouldn't be a post from us here at Lightailing if we didn't talk light kits, of course, so indulge us for a moment. Because frankly, this set looks amazing as is, but just take a moment to imagine how great Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder would look with a Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder light kit. Pretty awesome, right?
So, keep checking our stock after the LEGO UCS 75341 set has dropped, and who knows, maybe we'll release an exciting new light kit to make Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder look even better.
Don't feel good about the lighting effect? Then head to our Accessories page and start building your own light kit today!
There's nothing more exciting than lighting up your LEGO sets, so if you want to make your LEGO UCS Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder set really pop, you know where to find us.
