MKJoshA Posted November 21, 2021 INTRODUCTION From the first episode it was clear that The Mandalorian was going to be uniquely special in the realm of new Star Wars media. Two seasons later you'll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't love the live-action western-samurai-sci-fi inspired show. Lego has released a total of 8 sets inspired by The Mandalorian so far, and the Imperial Light Cruiser is the largest of them all. It also provides the setting for the climax of the 2nd season. If you haven't watched The Mandalorian Season Two yet, be warned that there are potential spoilers in this review SET INFORMATION Number: 75315 Title: Imperial Light Cruiser Theme: Star Wars Released: 2021 Part Count: 1336 Box Dimensions: 58.2 cm x 37.8 x 8.7 cm Weight: 2304 gram Set Price (RRP): 159.99 EUR / 149.99 GBP / 159.99 USD / Price per Part: 12 EUR / 11.2 GBP / 12 USD / Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box is very standard for Star Wars sets these days. The front shows the ship in space. While the back shows off the play features. CONTENTS OF THE BOX Inside you'll find bags numbered 1-9 and a bagged set of instructions and stickers. More on the stickers as we get into the build. Here's the obligatory picture of the bags. Does anyone like these shots? How did it become normal for us to include them in reviews? Anyway, moving on to the build! THE BUILD Bag 1 Our very first bag gives us the main hero and villain of the set. I'll come back to the minifigures later. Side note, this is my first time trying to arrange the pieces of each bag in an aesthetically pleasing shot. So please forgive me if some of the pieces aren't perfectly aligned! Completing the first bag gives you a solid start on the main structure of the ship. While finishing the first bag you are instructed to apply the stickers to create some computer consoles. I have a love/hate relationship with stickers and Lego. Sometimes I'm glad I have the option whether or not to use a sticker on a part if I'd rather use the element elsewhere un-stickered. Printed parts don't give you that option. But in this set most of the stickers are great for Star Wars MOCs and I'll certainly use them again. But because they are stickers I'll always be worried about whether they are going to fall off. This is the most expensive set for The Mandalorian so far. I wish Lego would have printed more parts for it. Bag 2 The second bag has a bunch of Technic and hinge pieces. So you can already guess that we'll end up with more of the angled Star Destroyer shape by the end. And that's exactly what we get! Bag 3 More Technic and a whole bunch of plates. 3 bags in and were still just working on the core structure. But for a ship of this size that's needed so you can swoosh it around when you're done building it. Bag 4 A lot more plates in Bag 4, but also the elements for our first round of greebling. The end result is very satisfying. Lego designers have managed to add greebling to Star Wars ships in a simple but effective way over the past few years. And what we get in this set follows that excellent trend. Using a simple plate w/clip attached to a plate w/bar greebling panels are added to the rear of the Imperial Cruiser. We also get the micro TIE Fighters with their fantastic printed windscreens. More on those later. Bag 5 Half-way in and we get our 2 female minifigures in the set and the parts to complete the command tower. Also in this bag is the most frustrating sticker application of the set. Trying to line up the windows with 5 different stickers is certainly not as frustrating as trying to put stickers on curved Lego pieces. But it comes close. I really wish Lego would have at least given us the 2x2 brick with windows printed on all sides. That could have allowed for multiple copies of the pieces to be used to create all manner of Imperial bridges. Thankfully I managed to get the windows lined up enough that I won't start twitching every time I look at them. And Lego has always been good to send replacement stickers (and the parts they go on) when you mess up. So while it's not ideal, Lego does make the it the best possible bad scenario. The finished command tower also doubles as a carrying handle for the set. The Technic structure inside the tower is very stable and also easily grab-able! Bag 6 After all those angles we get a bag full of round pieces needed to build the cylindrical engines. There are some really great techniques used throughout this set to achieve the various shapes. Here in the back we see click hinges used to create the housing around the center engine. Simple, but oh so effective! And here's where we're at by the end of the bag. Bag 7 Nearing the end we get the parts needed to build the interior of the Cruiser as well as the angled panels and front greebles. Here you can see the clever techniques used to get the lower, angled sections attached using Technic. The mandibles get their top hull plating finishing off Bag 7. Bag 8 Our second to last bag has a lot of plates and the only Dark Trooper in the set. Finishing it gives us 2/3s of the top hull plating. Bag 9 Our final bag gives us the parts for the other 1/3 of the hull as well as what we need for the laser canon turrets. We also get the most highly sought after minifgure of all time, Grogu! Wait, you're telling me you already have 5 copies of Grogu? And even if you didn't you could buy him for $5 on Bricklink? Moving on then... Completing the ninth bag gives us the finished ship. This is a properly imposing Imperial vessel. Lots of angles and light grey make it obvious which side the ship fights for. The back of the ship looks decent too. Ship Analysis While the Light Cruiser looks amazing at first glance, there are some unsightly areas. The insides of the front mandibles have a lot of exposed blue Technic pins. This is a set, not a MOC, so it's understandable that there are some Technic elements visible. But, it would have been nice if they could have done greebling on the inside to cover all the blue. You can also see how far into the "bridge" the play-feature, TIE launcher extends. It's not a great play feature as you have to have the hull panels lifted to reach the plunger. And when you place a TIE in front there is nothing holding it in place. There is room between the jumper-plate wings and the plate w/rails so friction doesn't hold it in. You just have to balance things perfectly to achieve a successful launch instead of a fumbled drop. The TIEs themselves are cute. The fact that the solar panel wings are square instead of hexagonal is unfortunate, but understandable at this scale. But, you only get 2 in this set. If you want to launch one from the front, you have to remove it from the side docking bay to do so. The back portion also has gaps under the panels. A couple inverted slopes could have solved this easily. THE MINIFIGURES The lineup of figures in the set is certainly going to be a big draw for Star Wars fans. First up we have the "good guys." Fennec Shand is exclusive to this set so far. She has an exclusive head, dual molded helmet, leg printing and arm printing! Lego could have added a braid to the back of the helmet, but that would have limited it's re-usability so I'm glad they didn't. Fennec is pretty much the epitome of Star Wars minifigures. Cara Dune is exactly the same as her other 2 appearances in Star Wars sets. She has a head exclusive to her character (Lego is infamous for re-using female heads so this is a big deal) and leg printing so she's still a decent fig. Din Diarin, the Mandalorian himself, is also a repeat. Like in 75299 he has arm and leg printing. Grogu, or baby Yoda, is also a repeat. Next up are the really, really bad guys: a Dark Trooper and Moff Gideon. Both are exclusive to this set and look outstanding. The Dark Trooper uses the new armor mold that's been appearing in Star Wars sets this year. And Gideon has a newer-fabric, dual-color cape. The fact that the Dark Trooper has leg printing while Moff Gideon doesn't really makes his plain legs stand out. Neither has arm printing which also stands out next to Fennec's and Din's amazing prints. Minifigure Analysis There are some real knockouts in this set. And as the most expensive Mandalorian Lego set you would expect nothing less. Fennec and the Dark Trooper have great prints, unique parts, and just look great overall. Din, Cara, and Grogu are all repeats which is fine. But Moff Gideon could really use some arm and leg printing. And at $160 it seems cheap of Lego not to include a 2nd Dark Trooper. That figure alone is going for $50 on Bricklink right now. So what would it look like if Lego dialed these minifigures up to 11? Here's my customization of the figures using only purists methods. OVERALL Most people will be buying this set to add to their display, for the figures, or both. And in those categories this set performs pretty well. From most angles the Light Cruiser looks both Imperial and imposing. Just watch out for those blue Technic pins. And the figures are certainly worth getting. If you wanted to get the exclusive figures by themselves to save on buying the whole set it'll cost you $30 for Gideon, $35 for Fennec and $50 for a Dark Trooper going off the current averages on Bricklink. That's already setting you back $115. For an additional $45 you get 3 more minifigs and a pretty cool ship. The price per part on the set is a little high, but the end result doesn't feel like your getting shorted at all. SCORE How do I rate this set? 8 DESIGN The set looks like an Imperial Light Cruiser. It's very sturdy. And it uses clever techniques to get all the angles. It's only brought down by the few unsightly areas that could have been easily fixed and the unfortunate use of stickers for things like computers and windows. 9 BUILDING EXPERIENCE I really enjoyed building this set. It doesn't feel repetitive at all. And seeing all the cool techniques used to get angles and greebling is fun. 8 FEATURES There are not many features I would ask for to begin with in a ship of this size and scale. We get an area of the bridge to recreate scenes from the show. We have a handle to carry the ship with. The missile launchers are well integrated. What really drags this score down at all is the TIE launcher. The set should have included a 3rd TIE that fit more snugly into the forward bay. And the launching mechanism should have been accessible from the underside of the ship instead of the inside play area. 9 PLAYABILITY Even with it's impressive size this ship is swooshable! And the interior play area allows for great scene re-creation. It would have been nice to have a doorway for characters to enter and exit the bridge. But at this scale that would have been hard. 7 PARTS There are no unique molds or colors outside of the minifigures. Though the molds for Fennec and the Dark Trooper certainly drive this score up! The best parts for Star Wars builders all come as stickers, which is a bummer. But, if you don't have a lot of grey or Technic to MOC your own Star Wars ships then this is a good set for those parts. 9 VALUE FOR MONEY If this set had 2 Dark Troopers then this would be a perfect score. The set may not be at that golden 10 ppp, but the end result feels like it is. FINAL SCORE: 8 If you can afford this set, you should absolutely go buy it! This set was provided for review purposes to Eurobricks by The LEGO Group. The opinions presented in this review are my own and do not reflect those of The LEGO Group. 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LDigital Posted November 21, 2021 Great review. Some really good pictures and some excellent knolling going on there. You must have put a lot of time into this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JaBaCaDaBra Posted November 21, 2021 NIce review Maybe you want to recalculate the price per part. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guyinaplaguemask Posted November 21, 2021 This looks cool enough, but the turbolaser turrets need a bit of work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Stud Posted November 21, 2021 This is the only set from The Mandalorian I’m missing currently so I look forward to picking this up and building it in the next month or two. The lack of detailing on the Moff Gideon figure honestly doesn’t bother me; it’s more the fact that I don’t like the Lego Darksaber but it’s not really a huge deal for me. I’m sure we’ll get this Fennec figure again with The Book of Boba Fett sets, so that’s probably why they went all out with the detailing for her (similar to what they did with Mando in that Trouble on Tatooine set back in January). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MKJoshA Posted November 21, 2021 13 hours ago, LDigital said: Great review. Some really good pictures and some excellent knolling going on there. You must have put a lot of time into this Thank you! Yes, this review took me more time than even the big Batwing I reviewed last year. 13 hours ago, JaBaCaDaBra said: Maybe you want to recalculate the price per part. How so? I used the same format Brickset does. 5 hours ago, Guyinaplaguemask said: This looks cool enough, but the turbolaser turrets need a bit of work I was actually impressed with the turbo lasers. Maybe it's just how they look in person vs online. 2 hours ago, The Stud said: This is the only set from The Mandalorian I’m missing currently so I look forward to picking this up and building it in the next month or two. The lack of detailing on the Moff Gideon figure honestly doesn’t bother me; it’s more the fact that I don’t like the Lego Darksaber but it’s not really a huge deal for me. I’m sure we’ll get this Fennec figure again with The Book of Boba Fett sets, so that’s probably why they went all out with the detailing for her (similar to what they did with Mando in that Trouble on Tatooine set back in January). I agree with your thoughts on Fennec. Not sure we'll see her helmet again. Just depends on the direction Lego decides to go. But the printing makes perfect sense if their going to re-use her. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Ogel Posted November 22, 2021 9 hours ago, MKJoshA said: 22 hours ago, JaBaCaDaBra said: Maybe you want to recalculate the price per part. How so? I used the same format Brickset does. It looks like you missed the correct factor - prioces are e.g.12 Eurocent not Euros. A good review but too many studs for me. It would need some improvement for display from my point of view Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Posted November 22, 2021 This is a very nice set. I really do like the minifigs. Instantly recognizable. Thanks for the review! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
