The scale of Star Wars has always been immense even from the opening moments of the very first film when a large ship zooms on the screen only to be dwarfed by a far larger ship pursuing it. One of the biggest ships of the Imperial Navy is the Super Star Destroyer. One such ship is the Executor, the flagship of the vengeful Sith Lord Darth Vader. Now it’s been recreated as a microscale, displayable ship, which forms part of the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi. The set will be available from May 1st, but ahead of its release here is an early look at the LEGO® Star Wars Executor Super Star Destroyer.
Product Details
Set Name: Executor Super Star Destroyer | Set Number: 75356 | Pieces: 630 | Theme: Star Wars
RRP: £59.99/$69.99/69.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 6 | Instructions: Paper + Builder App | Minifigures: N/A | Stickers: N/A
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail from May 1st
Star Wars ships have inspired numerous LEGO sets but they are either small playsets or gigantic, highly detailed UCS sets. The style of this particular set is inspired by a past Comic-Con exclusive. A Nebulon-B Frigate was scaled down to create a microscale, displayable ship to mark the 40th anniversary of the Empire Strikes Back. This was created for San Diego Comic-Con, as well as being sold through LEGO.com and Amazon in North America. As it proved a popular concept, it has been revisited for this new set.
The Executor actually made its first appearance in the Empire Strikes Back and there is a nod to that within the set, which I’ll cover later on in this review. But it does play a role in Episode VI, as the ship is stationed in orbit around the partly constructed second Death Star battle station.
The core of the ship is surprisingly colourful with various elements used to craft the base of the ship and allow the exterior detail to be added on top of them. The bottom half of the ship is actually three sections connected together to create the ship’s long footprint. Quite a few plates are used and layered to add to the ship’s shape and also give it detail. As such a big ship in ‘real life’ it contains a lot of nooks and crannies, which isn’t easy to recreate on a much smaller set. But the central section of the ship was almost like a large city on the original model used in the film. Here a number of different elements are combined to create a similar effect. Then the sloping shell of the ship is achieved by a pair of separately built plates which are then attached to the base by a series of angled plates.
As mentioned above, there is a fun Easter Egg found within the core of the ship. At one point during the build, you’ll add several stacks of two different coloured studs. I must admit, it took me a while to realise what they were as they represent a moment from the Empire Strikes Back not the Return of the Jedi. Those stud stacks are the team of bounty hunters employed by Lord Vader to track down the Millennium Falcon. Also included in the ship are a pair of Star Destroyer ships, these are tiny compared to the ship they are connected to, which helps to enforce just how big the Executor is in comparison. Both Star Destroyers are mounted to the underside of the Super Star Destroyer via transparent extension rods.
Once the ship is complete, a black display stand is created for the Executor to be mounted on. This has been created to be largely studless, which oddly makes the ship feel more detailed. The display stand has a 4×4 plated, which features the LEGO Star Wars logo and ship name. Similar plates were used in the old Star Wars Planets sets. As this set is part of the Return of the Jedi 40th Anniversary range, it also includes a 4×4 brick which includes the 40th anniversary logo. Although the instructions don’t note it can be incorporated into the set, you can remove one of the 1×2 grate plates on the display stand and add the brick here.
Overall
I love the concept of the set, sure the UCS sets are impressive but their size makes them almost impossible for many to have on display. A ship at this scale is perfect for popping on a shelf and I would love to see more ships added to the range. The link between The Executor and Return of the Jedi is minimal but it doesn’t celebrate the film in the same way as the upcoming Diorama scenes do. It’s just a nice memento of Star Wars in general. Although it’s not easy to add too much detail to something built at this scale, the addition of the teeny tiny Star Destroyers does help to convey just how large a Super Star Destroyer is in comparison. The price point is a little high, but I guess this can be put down to the large number of large plates used to create the ship. Apart from the two printed elements, the rest of the pieces aren’t anything special.
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