Star Wars LEGO Review | 75053 The Ghost

Before Han Solo dragged his Millennium Falcon into the fight against the Galactic Empire, another weathered old freighter had already made a name for itself, and this is it: The Ghost, in brick form.

For a ship so packed with pods and bays and secret compartments, this 33cm beast is as solid as they come; it’s an almost indestructible oblong that you can really believe incited rebellion in the Outer Rim. Inevitably the interior has been scaled down - right down - to meet LEGO’s size / piece requirements for a light-heavyweight set, so there are no crew quarters for one thing, but it’s hard to grumble when every millimetre of available space has been used so creatively. There’s a space on board for every rebel minifigure included, with Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus each having a cockpit apiece and Zeb Orrelios slotting inside the rotatable gun turret so that he can blast the hell out of any passing TIE fighters. Even Ezra and Chopper, who aren’t included in this set, aren’t left out in the cold as their sold-separately Phantom docks neatly in the aft section (a great gimmick in of itself).

The set also boasts features to please those of all tastes. For youngsters, there are two spring-loaded missile canons which lend themselves beautifully to interstellar LEGO dogfights, as well as two detachable escape pods that each have room for at least one minifigure. For adult fans, meanwhile, there are deft little touches to be appreciated such as the hidden Holocron and working cargo hatch, not to mention two long (but shallow) cargo holds in which the set’s many weapons can be safely stowed while the minifigures are at their stations.

As to the minifigures, the three rebels are dazzling. Zeb is one of my favourite Star Wars minifigures to date. Whilst necessarily lacking the towering height of his on-screen alter ego, his headpiece especially is incredibly detailed, goatee and all, and the modellers have even captured his near-constant look of thinly-veiled irritation wonderfully. The sole human figure is less striking, obviously, but nonetheless a great likeness of the former Jedi, while the Twi’lek minifigure has caught Hera’s exotic and worldly qualities in equal measure: green skin, prehensile tentacles… flying goggles. Instead of Sabine Wren, though, the set is rounded out with a redundant standard-issue Disney stormtrooper, which LEGO have added blue rendering to in order to set it apart from its movie-era counterparts. It’s disappointing not to be able to net the full Ghost crew for the cost of two sets - LEGO obviously want us to buy the stand-alone Sabine sets too.

Overall though, The Ghost and its sister set come highly recommended. You can pick up both for the price of a decent heavyweight set, and you’ll probably get a lot more fun for your money.

                                                                                                   

The Ghost is available to buy from LEGO directly for £69.99 with free delivery. However, today’s cheapest retailer is Amazon, who are selling the set for just £62.65 with free delivery.