LEGO 75396 Star Wars: Desert Skiff & Sarlacc Pit - Set Review

 Here is something for those of you entering the build competition this month, as it is one of the prizes up for grabs!

 This set grabbed my interest when it was released this year, and I was excited to be able to build it once it arrived at my door. Before I get into the critique of the set, I will start by saying it is a neat looking set and I do like it and enjoyed building it.

I really would have liked an enemy other than Boba Fett, someone to at least have been piloting the skiff seeing Lando is in disguise and wouldn’t be taking them to the Sarlacc Pit (I don’t see Boba as having this job, and he was actually on the sail barge until the fight with the guards occurred). The minifigures are all similar to previous character designs with slight improvements (including leg prints for Luke and Lando), or they are the same as previous releases. The addition of the exclusive Nien Nunb character is a great bonus for those who enjoy collecting unique minifigures, and sort of makes up for the missing skiff guards. BrickLink.com has the cheapest Nien Nunb figure at about AU$33, and about AU$52 for the only one available in Australia (which is almost half the price of the set at some retailers).

Careful not to lose these pieces that come loose in the box!

 In my opinion, the designs of the sarlacc pit & skiff are all improvements from the previous versions LEGO have done… except perhaps the nose of the skiff which is sharper at the point than the movie portrays. I did enjoy building the various parts of the skiff though, especially the SNOT parts (Studs Not On Top) and there is only one aspect of the vehicle that I consider a flaw; the base of the skiff’s nose is not completely rigid due to no connecting brick directly on the two base plates at the front. The designers have chosen to use a 2x1 plate which fills in a gap on the front plate but leaves an empty space at the joint, and I believe a 2x2 or 2x3 plate would have connected the two bases so it was more structurally secure.

 The sarlacc is similar to set 75174 (which is probably the best previous version prior to this current set) but the mechanics below the creature allow for more playability with handles at the rear of the pit allowing someone to move the tentacles back and forth, and my young kids enjoy this feature with the characters ending up in the mouth of the terrible sarlacc.

 The pit itself is much larger and more or a ‘pit’ than any previous version I have seen, so it looks much better in that respect. The smooth edges and many surrounding teeth make it visually appealing in the recreation of this scene. As I imagined when I first saw an image of this set, the pit uses up most of the piece count; 4 of the 6 bags are for the sarlacc pit, with only 2 for the skiff. Some may argue that this has raised the price with much of the cost going into a lump of tan ground, but having built it and seeing the moving parts and layers of the pit up close, it makes more sense why it has been designed this way… especially having seen the previous sarlaccs and their lack of a ‘pit’. During the construction I also was glad of the fact that it wasn’t a mirror image build, but that there were a few small differences around the pit that removed the potential monotony that I was worried about.

 On its own it isn’t a large space consuming set, and makes for a decent display piece as well as a nice play set. I may add some extra clear pieces below the skiff as an option to raise it up higher at some point, as the slide out plank on the skiff is only just higher than the edge of the pit’s side (and is lower than the ends of the pit), and though this may make it less stable, I think it should make it slightly better for play and perhaps display (depending on where and how it is set up).

 Set 75396 retails on the LEGO website for AU$129.99, but can be found for 15% off at Myer (until 1/9/24), $111 at Big W, $109 at Kmart, or possibly cheaper on eBay. I’m becoming less inclined to rush out and grab new LEGO sets these days with the prices as they are, and tend to wait until specials are on, or if I can grab one second hand to keep costs down. But if you are planning on adding the rumoured UCS Jabba’s Sail Barge to your collection, then this would partner very nicely with it indeed.

 Do yourself a favour and start building something for this month’s Brick News build competition, as it’s definitely a decent prize to receive. If you miss out on the Desert Skiff & Sarlacc Pit as a prize, and it's a set that interests you, then I do recommend adding it to your collection if you don’t already have one and can get one for a good price… especially if you or your kids enjoy playable Star Wars LEGO.