Set ID: 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina
Number of Pieces: 615
Year of Release: 2014
Minifigs: 8
Purchased Price: About SGD 150
Have been on the road for business for the last three weeks and there are plenty of things that I missed - the taste of authentic Singaporean local dishes, the smell of my kids, and the sense of fulfilment to build a really good LEGO Star Wars set. Before I was consumed totally by my withdrawal syndrome, I was glad to see that I had a few unopened sets at home at my disposal. Despite the huge distraction from my newly acquired UCS Sandcrawler, I reached out to this set instead. A set that hopefully tick all the right boxes.
I remembered when the rumour first appeared online that there was going to be a revised Mos Eisley Cantina set, the internet was abuzz with what the AFOLs hope to see in this new set. It has been a decade since the release of the previous (and first) version so it is understandable that expectations were high. The 2004 set can hardly qualify as a scene set, given that there were probably only enough bricks to build the Landspeeder, the Dewback and a few pieces of furniture for the minifigs to catch up on. In short, is it easy to do better than the 2004 set? Yes. Did this set achieve that? In some ways, at least for me. To be fair, I have never built the original version before (and I bet it is a rather hot item on the internet now. No?) so any comparison will never be an apple to apple one. So let me wear my 2014 lenses and see how this set fare...
The hovering one
How many Landspeeders did LEGO release before? Four? Five? I am not complaining but the quality of the Landspeeder has flat-lined since a couple of variants ago. But if I skip the few in between versions, and place this latest variant to the 1999's release, it was an apparent no contest. The colour of this version is the most movie accurate and it still comes with a concealed compartment for Luke to store his knick-knacks. The opening hatch is not too well designed so it does come off from time to time when I was trying to open it. Nine transparent circular 2X2 provides the slight elevation (can have more) and hovering effect.
The crawling one
The Dewback is probably one of the less mechanical (or more organic) characters in the Tatooine landscape. In fact, its popularity earned it some additional screen time in the re-release of the movie, CGed into the vast desert of Tatooine. This latest Dewback does more justice to its movie counterpart in terms of colours, prints and size (thanks to its shorter and chunkier tail). The only movable part on this Dewback is the jaw, which is printed with a row of teeth! Really?!? The saddle is an elaborate affair, too elaborate in fact. The Sandtrooper now has a much more spacious saddle to ride on but the saddle is too bulky for my liking. In the event the Sandtrooper will like to free the Dewback from the saddle so that it can graze (in Tatooine??), there are four green arch bricks to fill the void on the body of the Dewback.
Can, or Cannot?
Since this is a "Mos Eisley Cantina" set, the spotlight must therefore fall on the ... Cantina. There are four sections in the building structure - it starts with the brilliantly-designed bar on the left, the band room adjacent to the bar, followed by the sofa set private corner and the entrance area on the extreme right. Comparing this to the meagre dual wall panelled 2004 Cantina, there is little to complain about the highly inflated price. More rooms mean more playability but I can always do with bigger sized rooms in this set.
I like the details and thoughts that were invested in the design of the bar - The golden coins in the drawers for change, the uniquely coloured beverages and not to forget, the concealed pistol behind the counter to defend against the rowdy customers. Looking through the accompanying minifigs, I wonder who is supposed to be bar tending? An oversight?
My fondness index dropped gradually across the other rooms. The two adjacent rooms are definitely iconic but they are way too small and difficult to place the minifies in. Both the band room and sofa room can slide out to allow easy access for the minifigs. Behind these two rooms are the vaporiser tower and an oversized feeding tray. The bone in the tray is apparent leftover from a hearty meal of the Dewback. Thought it's vegetarian? Anyway, by sliding the feeding tray, you will be able to slide the two aforementioned rooms easily. As for the vaporiser, it is, IMO, the best looking and most accurate one to date. Nice design!
The entrance structure has a few playable / movable features. The sliding door is very well designed with appropriate tightness. The entire door / wall panel can also hinged open to reveal the interior of the room. The large sand coloured dome above this room can also be lifted via the hinged joints. The multiple hinged joints in the walls allow the Cantina structure to be displayed in many ways, including keep it for storage. It can be nicely tucked into a squairish footprint which makes storage much easier.
Building Experience
The box is REALLY long, not one of those with standard dimension for sure. I suspect the elongated profile has something to do with accommodating the box art, which I must say goes down pretty well with me. With the vast desert in the background, the box art recreated the famous scene from Episode IV, where Luke and Han crossed path amongst the thugs of Mos Eisley Cantina.
Taped opening of the box is always welcomed by me, however as soon as the box opened, I was greeted with the disappointment at the absence of the cardboard-backed instruction manuals. As a result, the two booklets and the sticker sheet were rather creased. The 600+ br
icks were spread quite evenly between the five numbered packs, while the Dewback comes packed separately in his own personal polybag.
I do like the bricky coloured bricks used on the Landspeeder and they are quite rare. However, there are waaaaay too much stickers on the Landspeeder. In fact, most of my (crumpled) stickers were spent on the Landspeeder. There are times when stickers can enhance the details, but this is a case of "doing less is better". To make matter worse, they are not easy to apply on the curved surface of the engine parts.
The building part is hardly challenging and I took less than an hour to put this set together. There are quite a fair bit of repeated steps when building the main building structure. Not a big bother but quite a bore.
Minifigs
A total of 8 minifigs come with this set. All of them had at least some relevance to the scene in Tatooine so it does make sense for them to be included. Given the large number of weird looking crooks in Mos Eisley in the movie, a few more colourful characters will certainly be more welcomed (not at the expense of an inflated price of course)
The Bith musicians are, without a doubt, the main talking point of this set. My first impression of them are their canny resemblance to the aliens found in the movie "Mars Attack". After the initial giggles, I do have to say the three of them started to grow on me. The head pieces are custom made with hard plastic rather than rubber. Torso and leg pieces are movie accurate with little to separate the 3 of them. Two of the musicians have their own musical instruments and the third one is presumably the drummer of the 3-man band. I believe I saw more Bith musicians in the movie but in consideration of the limited space in the Cantina, 3 should suffice.
Han Solo is not a surprise inclusion and he does come in abundance of supply in many other sets. This Han is brand new and is only found in the Microfighters MF. There are more details on his signature vest with more pockets and crease lines printed on his torso. This Han comes with 2 faces - a smirky one and a rather lost look. Am I seeing things or are there wrinkles on his face? LEGO, go easy with the details. please.
Luke is brand new too, at least before it makes a second appearance in the UCS Sandcrawler set. The details on his tunic and leg piece are excellent, with the appropriate crease lines printed on both sides of his torso. I believe his hair piece is new too, one that doesn't make him look like a girl with venter-parted hair. His accessory include the blue bladed light sabre and the binoculars for his recce mission.
Only two Greedo's were ever released, both in the old and new Mos Eisley Cantina set. This new Greedo comes with definitely more detailed prints on his torso and leg piece (nice touches of a sagging gun holster printed here). His head piece is made of hard plastic instead of rubber but its colour seems to differ quite a bit from his body. I tried to find some of Greedo's pictures online and concluded that the head and body should be synchronised in colour, so this Greedo is not that accurate after all.
The Sandtrooper is another new variant that does not appear in other sets before. The design of his backpack is not new. While elaborate, it does tend to tip him over backward which makes the Sandtrooper difficult to pose. This new design added plenty of details on his already-detailed helmet and torso. Simply put it, this is a Sandtrooper with a (big) splash of sand all over him! Upon close observation, his black pauldron is printed with very subtle designs too. Other details such as the left shoulder ammo pack print and different knee print designs really appeal to me. I have to say it does stand out amongst the other minifigs included in this set. A word of advice to LEGO, this is probably as far as you can get about detailing, without crossing the line of overdoing.
Obi Wan Kenobi comes in his "older" form, i.e. not the Ewan McGregor form. Surprisingly, his head piece is only printed on one side with grey beard and deep thinking expression. A hood is printed on the back of his torso and I though a real hood (see Wyldstyle in LEGO movie sets) will be nice.
Conclusion
I cannot decide on how I should rate this set. Perhaps my expectations were a little too high when I first learnt about the release of this set so I was a tinge disappointed. But when I ask my self what can be done better, there are not many points I can picked on... perhaps a bigger set so that we can have bigger rooms for play time? Or perhaps more minifigs thrown in to better represent the busy cantina in the movie? My son forced me to decide if this is a "good" or "bad" review so if I have to choose, there are certainly more good's than bad's.
+ Improved Dewback, but what's with the printed teeth?
+ Nice details in the bar counter
+ Eight minifigs! And nice details on them, a tad too much on some of them though
- Cramped rooms that limit playability
- Uninspiring building process
I remembered when the rumour first appeared online that there was going to be a revised Mos Eisley Cantina set, the internet was abuzz with what the AFOLs hope to see in this new set. It has been a decade since the release of the previous (and first) version so it is understandable that expectations were high. The 2004 set can hardly qualify as a scene set, given that there were probably only enough bricks to build the Landspeeder, the Dewback and a few pieces of furniture for the minifigs to catch up on. In short, is it easy to do better than the 2004 set? Yes. Did this set achieve that? In some ways, at least for me. To be fair, I have never built the original version before (and I bet it is a rather hot item on the internet now. No?) so any comparison will never be an apple to apple one. So let me wear my 2014 lenses and see how this set fare...The hovering one
How many Landspeeders did LEGO release before? Four? Five? I am not complaining but the quality of the Landspeeder has flat-lined since a couple of variants ago. But if I skip the few in between versions, and place this latest variant to the 1999's release, it was an apparent no contest. The colour of this version is the most movie accurate and it still comes with a concealed compartment for Luke to store his knick-knacks. The opening hatch is not too well designed so it does come off from time to time when I was trying to open it. Nine transparent circular 2X2 provides the slight elevation (can have more) and hovering effect.The crawling one
 |
| On duty |
 |
| Off Duty |
Can, or Cannot?
 |
| "It's not my drink ..." |
 |
| Moonlighting, Obi Wan? |
My fondness index dropped gradually across the other rooms. The two adjacent rooms are definitely iconic but they are way too small and difficult to place the minifies in. Both the band room and sofa room can slide out to allow easy access for the minifigs. Behind these two rooms are the vaporiser tower and an oversized feeding tray. The bone in the tray is apparent leftover from a hearty meal of the Dewback. Thought it's vegetarian? Anyway, by sliding the feeding tray, you will be able to slide the two aforementioned rooms easily. As for the vaporiser, it is, IMO, the best looking and most accurate one to date. Nice design! |
| Too squeezy for comfort |
The entrance structure has a few playable / movable features. The sliding door is very well designed with appropriate tightness. The entire door / wall panel can also hinged open to reveal the interior of the room. The large sand coloured dome above this room can also be lifted via the hinged joints. The multiple hinged joints in the walls allow the Cantina structure to be displayed in many ways, including keep it for storage. It can be nicely tucked into a squairish footprint which makes storage much easier. |
| Packed for storage |
The box is REALLY long, not one of those with standard dimension for sure. I suspect the elongated profile has something to do with accommodating the box art, which I must say goes down pretty well with me. With the vast desert in the background, the box art recreated the famous scene from Episode IV, where Luke and Han crossed path amongst the thugs of Mos Eisley Cantina.Taped opening of the box is always welcomed by me, however as soon as the box opened, I was greeted with the disappointment at the absence of the cardboard-backed instruction manuals. As a result, the two booklets and the sticker sheet were rather creased. The 600+ br
icks were spread quite evenly between the five numbered packs, while the Dewback comes packed separately in his own personal polybag.
I do like the bricky coloured bricks used on the Landspeeder and they are quite rare. However, there are waaaaay too much stickers on the Landspeeder. In fact, most of my (crumpled) stickers were spent on the Landspeeder. There are times when stickers can enhance the details, but this is a case of "doing less is better". To make matter worse, they are not easy to apply on the curved surface of the engine parts.The building part is hardly challenging and I took less than an hour to put this set together. There are quite a fair bit of repeated steps when building the main building structure. Not a big bother but quite a bore.
Minifigs
A total of 8 minifigs come with this set. All of them had at least some relevance to the scene in Tatooine so it does make sense for them to be included. Given the large number of weird looking crooks in Mos Eisley in the movie, a few more colourful characters will certainly be more welcomed (not at the expense of an inflated price of course)
The Bith musicians are, without a doubt, the main talking point of this set. My first impression of them are their canny resemblance to the aliens found in the movie "Mars Attack". After the initial giggles, I do have to say the three of them started to grow on me. The head pieces are custom made with hard plastic rather than rubber. Torso and leg pieces are movie accurate with little to separate the 3 of them. Two of the musicians have their own musical instruments and the third one is presumably the drummer of the 3-man band. I believe I saw more Bith musicians in the movie but in consideration of the limited space in the Cantina, 3 should suffice.
Han Solo is not a surprise inclusion and he does come in abundance of supply in many other sets. This Han is brand new and is only found in the Microfighters MF. There are more details on his signature vest with more pockets and crease lines printed on his torso. This Han comes with 2 faces - a smirky one and a rather lost look. Am I seeing things or are there wrinkles on his face? LEGO, go easy with the details. please.
Luke is brand new too, at least before it makes a second appearance in the UCS Sandcrawler set. The details on his tunic and leg piece are excellent, with the appropriate crease lines printed on both sides of his torso. I believe his hair piece is new too, one that doesn't make him look like a girl with venter-parted hair. His accessory include the blue bladed light sabre and the binoculars for his recce mission.
Only two Greedo's were ever released, both in the old and new Mos Eisley Cantina set. This new Greedo comes with definitely more detailed prints on his torso and leg piece (nice touches of a sagging gun holster printed here). His head piece is made of hard plastic instead of rubber but its colour seems to differ quite a bit from his body. I tried to find some of Greedo's pictures online and concluded that the head and body should be synchronised in colour, so this Greedo is not that accurate after all.
The Sandtrooper is another new variant that does not appear in other sets before. The design of his backpack is not new. While elaborate, it does tend to tip him over backward which makes the Sandtrooper difficult to pose. This new design added plenty of details on his already-detailed helmet and torso. Simply put it, this is a Sandtrooper with a (big) splash of sand all over him! Upon close observation, his black pauldron is printed with very subtle designs too. Other details such as the left shoulder ammo pack print and different knee print designs really appeal to me. I have to say it does stand out amongst the other minifigs included in this set. A word of advice to LEGO, this is probably as far as you can get about detailing, without crossing the line of overdoing.
Obi Wan Kenobi comes in his "older" form, i.e. not the Ewan McGregor form. Surprisingly, his head piece is only printed on one side with grey beard and deep thinking expression. A hood is printed on the back of his torso and I though a real hood (see Wyldstyle in LEGO movie sets) will be nice.
Conclusion
I cannot decide on how I should rate this set. Perhaps my expectations were a little too high when I first learnt about the release of this set so I was a tinge disappointed. But when I ask my self what can be done better, there are not many points I can picked on... perhaps a bigger set so that we can have bigger rooms for play time? Or perhaps more minifigs thrown in to better represent the busy cantina in the movie? My son forced me to decide if this is a "good" or "bad" review so if I have to choose, there are certainly more good's than bad's.
+ Improved Dewback, but what's with the printed teeth?
+ Nice details in the bar counter
+ Eight minifigs! And nice details on them, a tad too much on some of them though
- Cramped rooms that limit playability
- Uninspiring building process
