For over 40 years, Star Wars has transported movie fans to a galaxy far, far away. For half that time, LEGO® Star Wars has allowed a new generation of fans to rebuild their favourite moments inspired by the movies and beyond. Many of those who played with LEGO Star Wars sets as a kid and now they have grown up, their love of both the brick and Star Wars is showcased with a number of new sets under the ‘LEGO for Adults’ banner. One such example of those sets is the newly introduced Diorama Collection. These sets are directly aimed at adults and offer displayable builds inspired by iconic moments from the original trilogy films. That includes the Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama. After breaking Princess Leia from her Imperial detainment, Leia, Luke, Han and Chewie find themselves in an interesting smelling trash compactor. But things go from bad to worse as C-3PO and R2-D2 race to stop the compactor from crushing the Rebel rescue team. But does this nail-biting moment translate into an interesting LEGO set? Here’s my review of the Death Star Trash Compactor.
Product Details
Begin a creative mission to recreate a legendary Star Wars: A New Hope scene with this Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama (75339) set. It is packed with authentic details, including moving walls and a dianoga’s head. Place Luke Skywalker and Han Solo (both dressed as Stormtroopers), Princess Leia and Chewbacca inside Garbage Compactor 3263827, and C-3PO and R2-D2 at the compactor’s controls trying to switch it off. Attach the plaque with Han Solo’s dry quip (‘‘One thing’s for sure. We’re all gonna be a lot thinner.”) to complete a nostalgic display piece.
For your building pleasure
A delightful gift for yourself, other fans of the classic Star Wars™ trilogy and experienced LEGO® builders, the set includes step-by-step instructions to guide the complex build.
Galaxy of joy
It began a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Now the saga continues in your living room with a collection of top-quality LEGO Star Wars sets for adults, including other buildable dioramas depicting classic scenes.
- Set Name: Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama
- Set Number: 75339
- Pieces: 802
- RRP: £79.99/$89.99/89.99€
- Number of Bags: Bags x 6 + loose elements
- Stickers: N/A
- Minifigures: N/A
- Instructions: Booklet x 1 + LEGO Building Instructions App
- Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & Limited Retail
I’ll begin by saying this set is purely a display piece. Despite featuring minifigures and moving panels, it was clearly created to offer a unique build experience for adults and an interesting looking creation to put on display. The build is split across 6 bags and has a single instruction booklet. There’s a little blurb from the Star Wars Design Team as well as a little background in the movie moment that’s inspired the set.
Star Wars sets have given us a unique mix of build types over the years, but the Dioramas are unlike pretty much anything else. I suppose the closest we’ve come to anything similar are the last few May the 4th GWP sets. But these dioramas are far more complex in terms of their build experience. The Trash Compactor is certainly a testament to that as it also includes a functional aspect. One that is not to be confused with ‘play feature’ as this is an 18+ set.
The base of the diorama uses a number of large plates, which become the base of the set. These are bordered by ledges of black bricks. To introduce a form of uniformity to all of the Diorama Collection sets, this features a few grate elements. Right in the center in front of the base is a pair of printed tiles. One featuring the LEGO Star Wars logo and the other includes a quote attached to the moment in film from which the set takes its inspiration. In this case that is Han’s panicked joke about being squashed in the compactor and becoming a lot thinner.
One of the key components of the 18+ sets is their level of complexity. For the Trash Compactor, this can be seen in the base of the scene as well as its surrounding walls. For the base, once the foundation is complete, a large amount of 1×1 tiles are added to recreate the murky trash water found in the compactor. As well as looking suitably dingey, it also offers a surface for the moving walls to glide across.
As you’d expect a trash compactor features a mismatched collection of discarded waste. Much of this is built into the side panels but there is a little pile right in the centre of the base, complete with a dianoga’s head popping up, although it does just look like a piece of rubbish. Once the base is complete, the back wall is added. The layering of plates and tiles add texture to the build as well as looking quite nice. But the back panel serves another purpose as it also features a doorway. Although it doesn’t function it does provide a small section on the opposite side for C-3PO and R2-D2 to lurk. You’ll notice a panel on the door that’s printed. There doesn’t appear to be any stickers in the diorama sets.
Despite the base and rear wall featuring quite a lot of detail, much of the foreground furnishings are found on the moveable side panels. These are built independently to the base and slot into it via a strip of lipped plates and the corresponding grooved bricks built into the base. Once slotted in place they are securely held there by a few additional bricks used to complete the frame of the base. The various piles of trash are basically random collections of elements. Despite this randomness, they nearly fit together to represent the trashy pile of trouble, Luke and the gang find themselves in. The use of elements here is gloriously random yet placed perfectly for when the two side panels are pushed together. Another simple yet welcomed touch is the fact that there are spaces for each of the minifigures to be placed, while still looking they have fallen randomly into the scene.
For such a small set, it features an impressive number of minifigures. With 6 characters featured in the set, surprisingly all those hero characters were still around at the time of this scene being featured in A New Hope. Technically, there is no need for the Droids to be included in the set as they aren’t in the Trash Compactor but it’s a good job they are as they both introduce the best versions of both Artoo and Threepio. The plucky astromech droid finally gets a batter paint job – yes there is now print detailing on the back of Artoo’s body. The rest of the print also seems a little sharper than before. C-3PO may look a lot like past versions, especially since there seems to be an image doing the rounds with one featuring a dual-moulded leg. This one doesn’t have that, but print detail has been added to the arms and the edge of his feet.
Luke and Han are both dressed in their Stormtrooper disguises, their heads and hair are the same of recent versions. The Stormtrooper armour has been given a tweak in design. The torso’s print detail now features some shading and the ‘pecks’ are a little lower, reducing the gap between them and the ammo belt. The black waist section connecting the legs is now white and the print design on the legs has been changed. Some of the detailing is a lot darker now.
The final two minifigures are a little less exciting as they are both the same as previous versions. I guess they both pretty decent takes on the characters as they are, although I’m still not a fan of the lighter fur on Chewie’s face. It makes him not really look like the iconic Wookie, although the current Wookie mould is an improvement over the original one.
As mentioned above, I do like that all the characters have a place on the diorama and that they don’t need to be moved about when the compactor starts to compact. The section where the Droids are placed is a little cramped but I still really appreciate them being included in the set, especially as they offer an improvement over previous versions.
Review Round-up
I know these sets have caused a stir with some LEGO fans, especially the pricing. There are sets with more pieces and a much lower RRP and sets with the same pricing and almost half the elements. I guess the fact there are 6 minifigures in the set has pushed up the price, along with a few large plates. But price aside it’s a decent little set for Star Wars fans and I hope we see further Star Wars Dioramas, as there are plenty of moments perfectly suited to this style of build.
For
+ A genuinely fun build
+ Improved minifigures
+ Artoo has print on his back – finally
+ Great display piece
Against
– Retailer exclusivity may limit availability & discounts
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This set was provided to BricksFanz by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Disney. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
