[Review] 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina

[Lobot]

[Review] 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina

Ages: 8-14, Parts: 616

Total set weight: 997g, Box dimensions 53.5cm x 28cm x 5.5cm

Official description:

‘Welcome to the noisy and dangerous Mos Eisley Cantina™ on the desert world of Tatooine! Park the landspeeder and enter, staying clear of the giant dewback drinking from the trough outside. Make sure Luke, Han and Obi-Wan have their weapons with them as they enter through the sliding door and walk past the droid scanner. Open out the building for easier play and order a drink while the Bith™ cantina band gets ready to play their instruments. Recreate scenes in the cantina from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, such as the showdown between Han Solo™ and Rodian bounty hunter Greedo™.

•Includes 8 minifigures with assorted weapons and accessories: Han Solo™, Luke Skywalker™, Obi-Wan Kenobi™, Greedo™, a Sandtrooper™ and 3 Bith™ Musicians

•Features Mos Eisley Cantina™, a landspeeder, vaporator and a dewback with feeding area

•Mos Eisley Cantina™ features a dome roof, entrance with sliding door and droid scanner, opening roof, slide-out floors to the middle rooms, bar with shelves, money and bottles, stage for the Bith band, seats, table and windows

•Landspeeder features a dual cockpit, windscreen, 3 massive engines and a trunk

•Dewback features an opening mouth, saddle with weapon holster plus brick pieces for when the saddle is removed

•Weapons include 3 blasters, 2 lightsabers and a blaster rifle

•Accessories include 3 instruments for the Bith™ band members and electrobinoculars

•Lead the dewback to the feeding area outside

•Slide out the floors of the middle rooms for easier play

•Help the Bith™ band set up to play their instruments

•Recreate the famous showdown between Han Solo™ and Greedo™ from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope!

•Mos Eisley Cantina™ measures over 4” (12cm) high, 6” (17cm) wide and 7” (18cm) deep when closed, and 4” (12cm) high, 12” (32cm) wide and 4” (11cm) deep when opened

•Landspeeder measures over 1” (4cm) high, 7” (18cm) long and 3” (10cm) wide

•Dewback measures over 2” (6cm) high, 6” (16cm) long and 1” (4cm) wide’

Introduction:

When I first saw the new wave of summer sets earlier this year, this was the one that really stood out for me. I think that the main reason is that I’ve long coveted the older version (4501) which was previously the only set to include a Greedo. I’d tried to source one at a reasonable cost, and although I’d bid up to £110 for a MISB set on a couple of occasions on Ebay, it was never enough. So, at a very reasonable £64.99 this seemed like a bargain (especially compared to Jabba’s Palace (9516) at £124.99!) I’ll never understand Lego’s pricing policy, but I digress.... I normally look for discounts of around 20% on SW sets, but I was so keen to get this, I ordered it as soon as it was available from the Lego website.

The box:

The box is surprisingly long and wide but unusually shallow (53.5cm x 28cm x 5.5cm). This is a great looking box, the dark blue background works well with the set colouring. I really like the new Darth Vader banner, which is a great improvement on last years effort. The back includes the standard call-outs to demonstrate all of the functions of the set. Top marks for this, one of my favourite designs of any SW set

Front of the box:

Back of the box:

Contents:

On opening the box, you’ll find 5 numbered bags, plus an additional one for the Dewback. Also included are two instruction books and the (curved) pipework for the landspeeder (x3), plus a small DSS. The salmon pink parts are very eye-catching, shortly followed by the new Dewback. There’s a really nice selection of parts, and a few ones that I haven’t encountered before.

Minifigures:

I’ll get this over with first, as I’m sure that it’s probably the most interesting part of the set for many. As we expected, it contains 8 minifigures, (Greedo, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Sandtrooper & 3 x Bith Musicians), plus the Dewback. Only Han Solo isn’t new, the others are a mixed bag as far as I’m concerned. I love the new Greedo, he’s just awesome! I’ve said it before that I think that the degree of printing on new figures is getting too much...but somehow Greedo seems to get away with it. He’s beautifully detailed, but it’s not distracting, and I’m sure he’ll be highly regarded by collectors. The new Sandtrooper isn’t too bad, Ben is quite cute, Luke looks a bit too haggered, but I really don’t like the Biths! Perhaps it’s just me, but they look really scary...I find the black soul-less eyes really disturbing, but enough of my problems! I’m not sure about the new Dewback; I prefer the old one to be honest (as he was far cuter!!). And, yes, I forgot to include the Sandtrooper in the photos but I was trying to get everything finished before I lost the daylight! He’s very similar to the versions in 9490, although the splotches of ‘dirt’ are less defined.

The usual suspects:

The scary Biths:

The Dewback & Sandtrooper:

The build:

I’ve taken photos of the set at 15 page intervals:

The result:

I really like this set, it was fun to build and there’s lots of nice little touches. The design of the moisture evaporator is top-notch and I like the idea of the water trough at the back. Oddly both of the seating compartments slide forward (they’re connected to the trough!), I’m not sure why, but I suppose it might be fun for youngsters. The landspeeder is a very similar design to the one is 8092, but the new colours are great, and it’s my favourite version to date. As you’ve probably seen it’s all hinged, which allows it to be closed in on itself, but it feels surprisingly sturdy.

The complete set:

Close-up of the minifigures (well, most of them!):

Conclusion:

It’s a great little set, and is packed with features, minifigures and, of course, the new Dewback. However, to be honest, I think that the only problem with it is that it’s little. For a RRP of £64.99 it’s expensive, but most of the new sets seem to be. In my opinion, it will be a total bargain at 25% off, and I intend to get one or two more in the future when I find a decent sale. Scores are always subjective, but here’s my own thoughts:

Minifigures: 8/10 – Greedo is the highlight, but Luke looks odd and the Biths scare me, Dewback is too detailed.

Landspeeder: 8/10 – The Landspeeder is the best yet, the Cantina contains some nice little details and is fun to build, but a bit small

Playability: 8/10 – Lots of fun for the average youngster, and I’d have loved this when I was a lot younger

Part selection: 9/10 – A really nice selection of parts, a few I haven’t seen before and the salmon pink is great!

Price: 7/10 – Compared to the aftermarket price of 4501 it’s a bargain, but in reality it’s still pretty expensive for 1kg of Lego

Overall: 80%

I hope that you enjoyed the review, C&C welcome

[Borex]

Thanks for the review! I've been waiting to read a review of the Cantina on eb

Finally a bar where my minifigs can come together after a hard day of playing.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Borex

[rollermonkey]

If you think this Cantina is little, you must have not paid much attention to the old one.

That said, I'm still getting two of these to MOC together into one, more complete cantina.

[Punisher16]

Awesome review Lobot.

Thanks a lot!

This set is a must have for me.

Can't believe I have to wait August 1st to buy it...

Edited June 6, 2014 by Punisher16

[Ceroknight]

Thank you for the review!

It's obviously bigger than the previous one but I agree it's small for its price.

[Robert_88]

Thanks for the great review! I think the price/kg-ratio is something we should keep in mind in the future because the price/piece-ratio isn't accurate sometimes.

[TheBear]

It is a big improvement over 4501 (except for Greedo's arms). Just imagine the cantina set we will get in 10 years time!

[robuko]

Thank you for a great review. This was an instant buy for me but I do prefer the 4501 sand red, sand blue, and dewback as well as the old Greedo. And seriously, a sand person instead of a bar tender? Should have done better

[MKJoshA]

I've been on the fence about this set. Still not sure if I'm going to get it. It's a great parts pack for me, and I like the variety of minifigs. I don't normally spend more than $50 on a lego set because I try to limit my spending on it (my wallet still hurts often when I see a good deal), but maybe I can pick it up during a Christmas sale.

[Csacsa234]

Thank you for the review Lobot, this set is a great surprise for me, when the NY Toy fair pictures surfaced I didn't pay much attention to this set, but now I simply love it. It has some great details and looks really great when folded, also I like the Dewback and of course the figures are splendid. I don't mind the set being so little, it looks great and compact as well as it takes little space on the shelf. Only the price seems a bit much, but considering the amount of great figures and the new Dewback and a huge laod of SW nostalgia, the price/value rate is quite good after all.

i plan to buy it if I still have money at August

[Lobot]

Thanks for the comments everyone, I'm glad you liked my review. I'll try and take some more photos when I get a moment this weekend, including the elusive Sandtrooper!

Oh, and rollermonkey, I'm quite aware how small the old one was...and I've even handled a MISB version. And, in my considered opinion, it's small

[Lobot]

As promised a couple of bonus photos:

4 shades of dirt:

Comparison photo (left-right) Standard version, 9490 x 2 and 75052. Actually they all blend together quite nicely, or perhaps it's my failing eyesight! The newer version has a new block of black printing on the top-right of his torso, although I'm not sure what it's supposed to be:

Tatooine collection:

This should help to give a better idea of the scale. I've included Jabba's Palace and a few extra minifigures to add to the atmosphere. And, yes, if you look closely Han is (quite rightly) shooting first!

Cheers, Robin

[BrickG]

I'm not sure I could disagree more with the figures :P.

The Dewback is awesome. The Bith are the highlights. Greedo's mold is awkward and looks like he has no neck and his head has been punched down.

On another note the build sucks. Zero display use unless you like ugly things. There really should be the bar keep and the two thugs. Luke has his overly chiseled face (seriously wat?). Luke IMO should have a blaster in this set rather than a Lightsaber (or better yet both, he wasn't really a Jedi at all yet). And it's yet another Landspeeder that isn't very good. I've seen some minifigure scale customs that are just amazing and yet we get this thing.

Minifigures: 8/10 (really just buy for the Bith, Dewback and if you want a deformed Greedo)

Build: 4/10 (sucks)

[The Executive]

I love the mini figures especially the Biths. The new sand trooper is the most accurate so far and the dew back is truly excellent. My only problem with this set is the severe lack of Ponda Baba. Also, Greedo was lacking arm printing and the price is pretty steep for a set this small.

[Artifex]

Thanks for the review. I really like this set. Is there anyway you could please post some pics of the other side of the Cantina?

[Lobot]

Hi, photo as requested.

It's quite a nice design, but there's an ugly gap on the left-hand side where the sliding door is situated. The moisture evaporator is attached to it via single clip.

Cheers, Robin

[Faefrost]

I'm not sure I could disagree more with the figures :P.

The Dewback is awesome. The Bith are the highlights. Greedo's mold is awkward and looks like he has no neck and his head has been punched down.

On another note the build sucks. Zero display use unless you like ugly things. There really should be the bar keep and the two thugs. Luke has his overly chiseled face (seriously wat?). Luke IMO should have a blaster in this set rather than a Lightsaber (or better yet both, he wasn't really a Jedi at all yet). And it's yet another Landspeeder that isn't very good. I've seen some minifigure scale customs that are just amazing and yet we get this thing.

Minifigures: 8/10 (really just buy for the Bith, Dewback and if you want a deformed Greedo)

Build: 4/10 (sucks)

Actually Luke's weapons are right for once. At this stage of the movie he has his Lightsaber having been given it by Kenobi at Kenobi's house, he just doesn't know how to use it yet. but he doesn't have a blaster until the Death Star when they disarm the pair of Stormtroopers. In theory he should still have his old long gun tucked in the speeder somewhere.

[rollermonkey]

...and the Ponda / Wuher / Evazan fans come out of the woodwork to bash this set.

Casual SW fans don't know who those characters are, but they ALL remember the Cantina band.

Edited June 7, 2014 by rollermonkey

[Artifex]

Hi, photo as requested.

It's quite a nice design, but there's an ugly gap on the left-hand side where the sliding door is situated. The moisture evaporator is attached to it via single clip.

Cheers, Robin

Thanks a lot!

[TheBear]

The newer version has a new block of black printing on the top-right of his torso, although I'm not sure what it's supposed to be

Apparently it's an ammo pouch that you can see some of them wearing. They have done it really well, you can clearly see the three individual pockets.

[Cpt. Dan]

Thanks for the review. This is definitely a cool set and we finally get a new Dewback and Greedo, but if they included an additional part to the Cantina I would be willing to spend $99 on this one. I guess we will have to settle for two to make a more "complete" cantina.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks for the review 'Lobot', interesting set.....only the droids and barkeep would have made this set an awesome one.....but oh, well my son might want thisfor Christmas I'll saw him to see what he thinks of it.

Brick On Review On 'Lobot' !

[rollermonkey]

Thanks for the review 'Lobot', interesting set.....only the droids and barkeep would have made this set an awesome one.....but oh, well my son might want thisfor Christmas I'll saw him to see what he thinks of it.

Brick On Review On 'Lobot' !

What? They have to leave. We don't serve droids here!

[wooble]

I would buy this just for the Sand trooper and Dewback. I want that in my lego city!

[Palpatine]

It warms my icy heart (only slightly) to finally see a proper Greedo... and, of course, Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes are nice, too!