The R2-D2 LEGO set is a new version of the galaxy’s most beloved droid. The model was announced in January 2024 and finally came out on the first days of March. This review will help you find out if it’s worth getting it or not.
This set’s pre-orders sold out but it’s currently available on the LEGO site. 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of LEGO Star Wars, to celebrate this accomplishment, this and many other sets will include exclusive minifigures. These minifigures might not relate to the main set.
Was this a good purchase? Should you buy it as well? Let’s find out.
This is not a paid review, I bought this with my own money
Star Wars most beloved droid
R2-D2 needs no introduction. He’s been the loyal companion of many characters throughout many dangerous adventures. The little astromech appeared in the entirety of the Skywalker Saga, Clone Wars, Rogue One, The Mandalorian, Rebels, The Book of Boba Fett, and many books and comics.
It’s not only the silly personality of R2 but the countless times that he has single-handedly saved the main heroes. Whether it’s in a space battle, deactivating a trash compactor, or smartly defeating other droids, R2-D2 is unmatched.
As an iconic droid, LEGO has released many versions of this character but this one is a little more special
General specs and overview of the LEGO R2-D2
This R2-D2 set is numbered #75379. It is a lot smaller and cheaper compared to the previous LEGO version of R2-D2 released in 2021.
This set is made of 1050 pieces, it features attachable tools, an attachable periscope, a 360-degree rotating head, a third detachable leg, and two minifigures.
After R2-D2 is built, it is over 9 inches (24cm) high, 6 inches (16cm) wide, and 4 inches (11cm) deep. Its release price is set at $99.99 (USD), but the price may vary depending on where you live.
A hundred dollars isn’t cheap for a toy, but if you really love R2-D2 it might be worth getting it. Hopefully, this review will help you decide if it’s worth your hard-earned money or not.
Darth Malak
One of the biggest selling points of this set is the exclusive Darth Malak minifigure, this character appeared for the first time in Knights of the Old Republic, a game released more than twenty years ago.
To this day, KOTOR is still praised as one of the best Star Wars games ever and most of its characters have a massive fan base. When I learned about this figure being included in the set, buying it was an incredibly easy decision.
For the most part, LEGO only makes new sets related to the latest Star Wars media. Especially during the last few years series like The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Andor have been so popular so it wouldn’t make sense to cover something else.
Legacy vehicles and ships like the X-Wing, Imperial Star Destroyer, or the AT-AT have become classics and eventually, a new set will revisit these fan-favorite items.
Unless any media related to Knights of the Old Republic is released, it’s unlikely that LEGO will make sets about it. This is why it’s such a big deal to be able to get a figure from a game that was released so many years ago.
My favorite part of the figure is without a doubt the mouthpiece, it’s the most recognizable characteristic of the Sith Lord and they nailed it. The face marks are on point and the printed armor looks very nice.
Building R2-D2
The box is small and light enough for anyone to carry it without much problem. The set comes in twelve medium-sized plastic bags, an instruction manual, and stickers. To be honest I thought that R2-D2 would be a little taller.
Compared to the UCS Razor Crest, this took me “nothing” to build. R2-D2 is divided into four main parts, the body, head, and both legs. All of them can be assembled separately and then put together at the end, which makes it great if you want to build it with a friend or partner. Someone can build the body, which is the part that takes the most time and pieces while the other person is in charge of the head and legs.
As I just mentioned, the body is the most time-consuming and “hard” part to build. Since it has four sides and they’re mostly identical it can be hard to misplace a piece or two. This can be very annoying if you don’t realize it almost immediately.
To help avoid making such a mistake, all four sides require pieces of different colors: green, red, dark brown, and light brown. As someone with the attention span of a Kowakian Monkey-lizard, this was very helpful.
No matter how many sets I build, it’s always the same joy of watching a few pieces become small structures which then turn into bigger pieces that come together to make a great vehicle, ship, or droid.
The Negatives
The LEGO app allows anyone to have 3D instructions for a set and they’re very helpful when having doubts about something. In my case, the color of some red pieces wasn’t properly printed on the manual. Instead of red, they looked orange.
This wasn’t a problem because the R2-D2 doesn’t have any orange pieces so I knew what piece to use. But I can imagine this being a huge pain in the butt for sets that have both orange and red pieces. The worst thing is that said error happened on a lot of pages, LEGO should be more careful about paying attention to all details, not just the LEGO pieces themselves.
The Positives
Other than the detachable accessories, R2-D2 feels very sturdy. My favorite part is probably the 360-degree moving head, it just makes it very interactive.
Even if you make a few mistakes, this build is very forgiving and allows you to remove big parts without compromising your work.
The colors are very spot on, it’s not like it’s hard to achieve grey, white, or blue but LEGO went with grey rather than white with Ahsoka’s T-6 shuttle so at least there are no complaints here.
Unlike older sets, the plaque of this one is printed. I can’t emphasize how bad it feels to misplace a sticker and then have to remove it, this risks causing damage to the sticker and that’s something we shouldn’t be worrying about.
While it’s true that I expected R2 to be a little bigger, its size is still very good. Big enough for anyone to notice most details but not too small for it to be completely overshadowed by other similar sets. Here’s a size comparison with the BD-1 set.
Should You Buy This LEGO Set
I’m always very thoughtful when it comes to buying new collectibles. Not only because it can get very expensive, but because space is limited so if I’m getting a set it must be worth it. That’s obviously not always the case but I can say confidently that I’m satisfied with this purchase.
The size of this R2-D2 set is extremely practical if you want to save some space while also having Star Wars’ most famous droid. The price is “ok”, LEGO sets are not cheap but considering that we’re also getting the LEGO Star Wars 25th Anniversary Darth Malak minifigure I consider it to be a set of good value.
With all of this said, I do consider that R2-D2 is really worth buying for anyone who is a fan of him.
