Lego 75243 Slave 1 – 20th Anniversary set is the largest of the sets to celebrate 20 years of Lego and Star Wars. It has 1007 pieces compared to its previous version, which only has 165! Pieces. It also has 5 minifigures inclusive of special 20-year prince’s Leia.
This was the last of the 20th Anniversary sets that we need to buy and build, which is surprising as Slave 1 is one of my favourite Space ships in any Film or series, and Boba Fett is one of my favourite characters. So it makes no sense that I hadn’t bought it lol. There is a larger UCS version of the ship is out there also, which I hadn’t bought, so for many collectors, they may have missed this set, but for others who perhaps find the UCS a tad expensive, this might have been an option.
As, like the previous ones, the set has instructions that have much more detail, about this set, the past set and others, with lots of nice artwork in the background, I love when Lego do this and it’s a shame it’s only on certain sets. The mini-figure of Princess Leia is identical to the original one launched many years ago and joins the other 4 in the display. It is staggering to compare this set to the original one from 2000, they are so different and to be honest, the original one looks so poor in retrospect, nothing like the iconic ship or Boba Fett, there has been a couple of other versions through the years also.
Table of Contents
The Build…
Bag 1 sees the base of the ship, as ever nowadays a lot of technique style pieces to start the shape and to have that strong and solid feel to it. The first two mini-figures are Boba Fett and Han Solo, which ultimately is what this set is based on, the capture and transport of Solo. Boba looks great with his design, similar to a previous set which also is about the capture of solo, but focuses on the chamber. Whereas solo is the same as cloud city betrayal, a surprise based on the expensive and rarity of that set.
Bag 2 continues the main shell of the shop as we build up the layers, more technic and large red and grey pieces to distinguish the design.
Bag 3 focuses on more technic pieces but this time to support play, the arm that comes out the back while you play, thus allowing you to hold it much like when the ship is in flight, this folds down when not in use or lands. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stand on its own as a display.
Bag 4 finishes much of the main red bulk of the ship, as the layers go up and the cargo hold with flap is created. More technic is used in preparation for the rest of the ship.
Bag 5 sees the large extension to the rest fo the ship connecting to those technique pieces, these are grey and green and a mixture of light green.
Bag 6 has the first steps of the cockpit and the completion of the top of the ship, added guns for visual effect along with the actual spring-loaded shooters near the cockpit, these are fires from beneath when you are holding it in play for, as mentioned earlier.
Bag 7 has the notable two green sides flanking the cockpit and where the stabilising fins will go, the first parts of these are built with them sticking out of the sides, at this point the ship is looking much more like it with the red and green contrasting very well.
The final bag oddly has 3 more minifigures and the carbon frozen solo, its really weird to see minifigures in the first bag and the rest in the last, from a build perspective it would have been nice for one in every or every other bag. The carbon frozen solo is much like the previous one but annoyingly not updated to fit the new style solo in design. So not exactly correct here, however, Leia is great in her design, along with her hair she is identical the first version all those years ago.
Surprisingly 2 more bounty hunters join this set, which is fine, 4-Lom was in the bounty hunter speeder bike battle set though it’s nice to see again. However, Zuckuss finally joins the lego star wars universe in his debut. For many fans of star wars bounty hunters (which there are) this is great. The set concludes with the side fins and completion of the cockpit, including the large clear plastic that covers down across it.
Overall…
Overall I’m a little biased, as I said earlier I’m a big fan of the ship and Boba Fett. The set is so much better than the original version and in my opinion the best one so far. Even compared to the previous one it’s still able to capture the superb parts and design without the increased price. The mini-figure range is solid and it’s great to see the original prince’s Leia.
I do think this is quite a difficult set for Tigger, I like most parents perhaps don’t pay close attention to age ratings on Lego ranges, but he did struggle with some of the fiddly bits with technic stuff and connecting parts on. It’s a shame that the holder on the back, which is good, doesn’t also extend to make it stand up for display.
It’s fine laying down but I would have preferred an option. This set is good, it’s rrp of £119.99 perhaps is a little pricey, so getting it cheaper would be great, but as I said compared to the previous UCS set which would be another £50+ at least at the time, it’s perhaps good value.
