[REVIEW] 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina

[dvogon]

Awesome in depth review! Many thanks!

Now seeing  the detailed dewbacks comparison, I still prefer the old one printing. I also think that the Han Solo version of Betrayal at Cloud City MBS set is far better, quality for such an important character of this MBS set should be at least equal. And of course I miss other aliens, but otherwise the set to me is excellent overall as well. 4.5 as poll score.

Edited September 17, 2020 by dvogon

[makoy]

14 hours ago, socalbricks said:

Great review! This looks like an amazing set, but I wish it was cheaper - $350 for 3100 pieces is a bit much. I would definitely buy it at $300-$325, though. I'll probably save up and wait for a discount to get it...

I also have a question regarding the dimensions of this set. Namely, what are its dimensions when the cantina is "closed up"? All the measurements I've seen so far (height, width, depth, etc.) were for its "opened up" form.

Even I felt it is a bit too much, but it seems that this had always been the target price for such sets.

The "opened up" dimension is written on the box at 58cm x 52cm (L-configuration) which I mentioned in my review.

I also included the fully opened, straight line configuration at 110 cm length. Then, I also mentioned the max width of the cantina sides 38.4 cm.

It's all there 

 

14 hours ago, macaron35 said:

I have waited for a year to get the Millenium Falcon and finally i got it for a good price, there was a small discount, but compared to its price, it was a good deal, so i never rush on new sets immediately and pay full price

I think we all need to pick our battles. We can't have it all, and no one is also forcing anyone to buy everything. 

With patience and disciplined  savings, then one can splurge on these big LEGO sets freely.

 

11 hours ago, dvogon said:

Awesome in depth review! Many thanks!

Now seeing  the detailed dewbacks comparison, I still prefer the old one printing. I also think that the Han Solo version of Betrayal at Cloud City MBS set is far better, quality for such an important character of this MBS set should be at least equal. And of course I miss other aliens, but otherwise the set to me is excellent overall as well. 4.5 as poll score.

Definitely the Han Solo version in the MBS Cloud City is better... 

And thanks for giving this a score! First comment to mention that. 

Cheers!

[Azani]

Without a doubt, right there with you, Makoy. If this is, in fact, your 33rd review as a member of the Academy here on Eurobricks.com, then it show s in your absolutely impeccable and indefatigable care for the theme, and, in this case, a truly special kit memorializing one of my favorite locations in the eleven SW films yet released.

The sheer size of the main build included in 75290 is absolutely astounding. Man, we applaud your dedication to the review process and your interest in showing us the techniques used for the bar and the V-35, undoubtedly the most intriguing elements and element-greedy sections of the build.

My score is a solid 4/5, likely deemed as a 5/5 if not for the bona fide tight-fitted omission of sufficient space to recreate Han and Greedo's iconic scene. At least the scale is on target. (Pun not intended)

Edited September 19, 2020 by Azani

[makoy]

2 hours ago, Azani said:

Without a doubt, right there with you, Makoy. If this is, in fact, your 33rd review as a member of the Academy here on Eurobricks.com, then it show s in your absolutely impeccable and indefatigable care for the theme, and, in this case, a truly special kit memorializing one of my favorite locations in the eleven SW films yet released.

The sheer size of the main build included in 75290 is absolutely astounding. Man, we applaud your dedication to the review process and your interest in showing us the techniques used for the bar and the V-35, undoubtedly the most intriguing elements and element-greedy sections of the build.

My score is a solid 4/5, likely deemed as a 5/5 if not for the bona fide tight-fitted omission of sufficient space to recreate Han and Greedo's iconic scene. At least the scale is on target. (Pun not intended)

Star Wars is not the only theme I review here in EB (i.e. Ninjago and random small sets) so I can't really claim that I am not prone to repetitive theme fatigue. Regardless, thanks for the kind words.

Size-wise the minifigure scale is quite odd. I did my own Cantina MOC using the Star Wars blueprint as a guideline, and in order to fit all the minifigure (about 50 of them inside), is to make the floor area bigger. The way it is with the MBS Cantina, I guarantee you that you can't position the 50 odd minifigures there, if you wish to recreate the complete scene. Nevertheless, the current scale is a good start as it is fairly easy to expand it a little bit proportionally.

Thanks also for giving this set a score.

Cheers!

[Pchan1983]

Great review, thanks!

I'm wonder if the open back one room house of Jawa is actually indeed open on Tatoonie too =). Anyway, I really love this one.  I like SW but not enough to buy UCS sets but I was sold on this one since I saw the leak.  I think the Cantina is absolutely gorgeous. To be honest, I will be happy even the set just have the cantina and without those speeders and tatoonie side builds =). More on my thoughts here. 

I wish LEGO release Star wars set like this.  I understand there are more iconic vehicles than buildings but it would be nice to have fully enclosed buildings like this in the future.

[Gremer2]

I really love this set. I rarely buy UCS sets on day one, but I made an exception for this one. If I could change anything about it, it would be switching the Ubrikkian for a Flare-S or Void Spider, just something different that we haven't had before, but it's not a big deal. I'm actually really happy that the extraneous buildings were included, they make it feel like it's in a city.

Without having it yet, I give it 4.5 out of 5.

[makoy]

7 hours ago, Pchan1983 said:

Great review, thanks!

I'm wonder if the open back one room house of Jawa is actually indeed open on Tatoonie too =). Anyway, I really love this one.  I like SW but not enough to buy UCS sets but I was sold on this one since I saw the leak.  I think the Cantina is absolutely gorgeous. To be honest, I will be happy even the set just have the cantina and without those speeders and tatoonie side builds =). More on my thoughts here. 

I wish LEGO release Star wars set like this.  I understand there are more iconic vehicles than buildings but it would be nice to have fully enclosed buildings like this in the future.

You're welcome. I just have to chuckle because you mentioned "tatoonie" twice, and for some reason this image of  Looney Toons pop in my head when I read that.

Sure, there's hoping that more sets like this will be released. I also open to the idea of smaller sets that can be modular in nature, like the series started in Harry Potter so that you can make a diorama with a respectable size, and that you don't have to buy them all at once. For instance, this set could have been split apart in different sets and once connected, the effect would be the same. 

 

6 hours ago, Gremer2 said:

I really love this set. I rarely buy UCS sets on day one, but I made an exception for this one. If I could change anything about it, it would be switching the Ubrikkian for a Flare-S or Void Spider, just something different that we haven't had before, but it's not a big deal. I'm actually really happy that the extraneous buildings were included, they make it feel like it's in a city.

Without having it yet, I give it 4.5 out of 5.

I think the Flare-S wasn't there in the original theatrical release, but Void Spider would be interesting. 

It does feel like a small portion of a city teeming with aliens. This set inspires me to create more MOC related to Tatooine. 

[Borex]

I now know the size when it’s open in L-shape. But what if it’s closed?

[makoy]

On 9/15/2020 at 2:44 PM, makoy said:

Fully closed end to end from the front side until the back, the main building is  56 studs long. or 44.8 cm long, including protruding storage area  at the back of the cantina, 

Measuring from side to side, 10 studs (Dewback pen)  + 32 (main building) + 6 (side cargo area), that is 48 studs or  38.4 cm wide.

 

29 minutes ago, Borex said:

I now know the size when it’s open in L-shape. But what if it’s closed?

See one of my reply I quoted above. That is the dimensions for the fully closed Cantina.

[Azani]

12 hours ago, makoy said:

Star Wars is not the only theme I review here in EB (i.e. Ninjago and random small sets) so I can't really claim that I am not prone to repetitive theme fatigue. Regardless, thanks for the kind words.

Size-wise the minifigure scale is quite odd. I did my own Cantina MOC using the Star Wars blueprint as a guideline, and in order to fit all the minifigure (about 50 of them inside), is to make the floor area bigger. The way it is with the MBS Cantina, I guarantee you that you can't position the 50 odd minifigures there, if you wish to recreate the complete scene. Nevertheless, the current scale is a good start as it is fairly easy to expand it a little bit proportionally.

Thanks also for giving this set a score.

Cheers!

Thank you, and yes, to be frank, I was in this regard aware that you engage in reviewing sets outside of the SW line; however, I haven't yet had a chance to read any of the reviews in that category, so to speak, and since SW remains, while not necessarily my favorite theme when focusing on new products, my primary interest in terms of nostalgia, I've intentionally focused on reviews within that line.

I wasn't totally certain about the scale, and I appreciate you clarifying; some of the details in the build make it explicitly packed enough that the minifig element is imperatively suffering a bit.

Edited September 19, 2020 by Azani

[Borex]

4 hours ago, makoy said:

 

See one of my reply I quoted above. That is the dimensions for the fully closed Cantina.

Ooh i think it fits just right in my cabinet! Great! Thanks!

[socalbricks]

10 hours ago, makoy said:

 

See one of my reply I quoted above. That is the dimensions for the fully closed Cantina.

Thank you so much!

Edited September 20, 2020 by socalbricks

[makoy]

On 9/20/2020 at 2:33 AM, Azani said:

Thank you, and yes, to be frank, I was in this regard aware that you engage in reviewing sets outside of the SW line; however, I haven't yet had a chance to read any of the reviews in that category, so to speak, and since SW remains, while not necessarily my favorite theme when focusing on new products, my primary interest in terms of nostalgia, I've intentionally focused on reviews within that line.

I wasn't totally certain about the scale, and I appreciate you clarifying; some of the details in the build make it explicitly packed enough that the minifig element is imperatively suffering a bit.

 

I've taken a stab on the Cantina system scale, from the old MOC below.... and thanks to this MBS set, I could finally mark this MOC complete after 5 years of being "WIP" 

 

Also, I saw people asking for extra aliens to populate the Cantina. I did this with that old MOC as well (see photo below). I know these are hodge-podge of minifigures, but they are as purist as they can be.

 

[NerdYoda]

On 9/19/2020 at 9:22 AM, Gremer2 said:

I really love this set. I rarely buy UCS sets on day one, but I made an exception for this one. If I could change anything about it, it would be switching the Ubrikkian for a Flare-S or Void Spider, just something different that we haven't had before, but it's not a big deal. I'm actually really happy that the extraneous buildings were included, they make it feel like it's in a city.

Without having it yet, I give it 4.5 out of 5.

I fully agree with this. In fact, this is my first MBS/UCS set and it's already been a day one purchase.

 

All in all I give the set 5/5.

[Blondie-Wan]

A solid review, marred only by the omission of the stickers, and made up for by the writing.

As for the set, wow. As with many fans, I have a special fondness for Tatooine, given its centrality to so much of the saga, and I’ve long been planning a kind of “Tatooine build-athon”, in which I finally put together in one big stretch a stockpile of still-sealed sets I’ve been saving up:

9490 Droid Escape (2012)

75136 Droid Escape Pod (2016)

4477 T-16 Skyhopper (2003)

75081 T-16 Skyhopper (2015)

75265 T-16 Skyhopper vs. Bantha Microfighters (2020)

75198 Tatooine Battle Pack (2018)

10144 Sandcrawler (2004)

75173 Luke’s Landspeeder (2017)

75270 Obi-Wan’s Hut (2020)

75052 Mos Eisley Cantina (2014)

75205 Mos Eisley Cantina (2018)

4480 Jabba’s Palace (2003)

4476 Jabba’s Prize (2003)

9516 Jabba’s Palace (2012)

75005 Rancor Pit (2013)

75020 Jabba’s Sail Barge (2013)

9496 Desert Skiff (2012)

… and now this latest Mos Eisley Cantina, which just arrived today (ordered for May the Fourth, and on backorder for a month!), plus perhaps a few I’m forgetting. I do have a number of additional sets (plus dupes of some of these) that I’ve opened and put together, and in fact I just recently opened and assembled second copies of both the 2014 Cantina and Obi-Wan’s Hut, but everything on this list is something I still have at least one sealed copy of. Alas, I lack a number of sets, most notably the UCS Sandcrawler and any pod racer set produced in the last decade (save 9675 Sebulba’s Podracer & Tatooine, from the first wave of Planets sets back in 2012), but still. It’s enough to make for a satisfying marathon, I think, and I’ll be happy afterwards to break down some of the material and MOC my own versions of this stuff using elements (parts and design aspects both) from all of these, plus other sets I have that I’ve put together already.

Somehow I’ve managed to get all four major Mos Eisley Cantina sets TLG has made (I have two copies of the 2004 original, though both have long since been assembled and then disassembled, and their parts mixed into the general pool). I’m really looking forward to this one. I just wish they didn’t feel the need to continually tweak the Stormtroopers; I’m not crazy about the new helmet design. I’ll probably try to put together “ideal” Sandtroopers from various gigs from over the years, including some other older Stormtroopers to help expand the group a bit. And I’ll eventually mod the other earlier Cantinas and such into various additional Tatooine buildings.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2021 by Blondie-Wan
Added some missing set years

[rollermonkey]

It took me forever to get this since it was sold out every time I looked, and when I did finally get it, I had a long line of sets ahead of it to build. 

Anyways, it was bugging me that between the 2014 Cantina and the 2020 one, we neither got enough Bith musicians, nor all of the instruments for the band. 

So, Tech'Mor is on the left with his MOC'ed Ommni Box. The rest have the instruments that they came with.

 

We knew the Cantina was a dive bar, and even though the stage really is too small for Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes, I did get them squeezed in there. Then I went and hid Figrin himself in the back, like a nerfherder. 

 

Sorry about bumping an old thread, didn't really seem important enough to warrant a new thread of its own.