Star Wars

Desert Skiff & Sarlacc Pit

The best Sarlacc LEGO has ever built, wrapped around a price that made me wince.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 75396 · 2024

Pieces565

Minifigs6

Year2024

Set number75396

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The verdict

This is the whole Great Pit of Carkoon moment in one box, and the models are genuinely the best versions LEGO has made.

The Sarlacc finally has proper tentacle movement, the skiff has all the play features you remember from the film, and Nien Nunb showing up as his first real minifigure is a lovely touch. My one hesitation is the price, which is more than double the 2017 set for what is really a careful refinement. If you skipped the original, this is easily the one to own.

Best for: Return of the Jedi fans who missed the 2017 skiff and want the definitive version

The full review

What it is

I have a soft spot for the Great Pit of Carkoon, that whole desert rescue where Luke flips off the plank and everything goes gloriously wrong for Jabba's crew, and this set captures the entire scene in one box. You get the desert skiff hovering on translucent elements and the Sarlacc pit crouched below it, jaws open and waiting. What got me straight away was the Sarlacc itself. LEGO has taken a few runs at this creature over the years, and this is comfortably the best one, with a ring of tentacles you can actually move using levers hidden in the base. There is even room in its mouth for a minifigure, which is exactly the kind of grim little detail that makes a play set sing.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the money, because it is the thing every reviewer keeps circling back to. This retails for 79.99 dollars, which is more than double what the 2017 set (75174 Desert Skiff Escape) cost, and the two sets are close cousins rather than strangers. The skiff here refines the older design rather than reinventing it, and while the refinements are real, they are not 40 dollars of real. If you already own the 2017 version and love it, you may look at this and struggle to justify the second purchase. The price is the one genuine sore spot in an otherwise lovely box, and it is worth going in with your eyes open about that.

Who it's for

So who should reach for this one. If you missed the original skiff, this is an easy recommendation, because it is the definitive version of a great scene and the minifigure lineup alone carries a lot of weight. Luke, Han, Chewbacca, Lando, Boba Fett and the exclusive Nien Nunb is a strong roll call for one set, and the models look wonderful together on a shelf. If you own the 2017 set and you are a casual fan, I would think twice, or wait for a discount. But if that Tatooine rescue is one of your favourite moments in the films, you already know you want it, and you will not be disappointed by the build.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build is a comfortable weekend afternoon rather than a marathon, and it is paced nicely between the two models. The Sarlacc pit is the more interesting half to assemble because of the mechanism underneath, where the levers connect to the tentacles and give you that satisfying reach-and-grab motion when it is done. The skiff comes together quickly and cleanly, with the walk-the-plank extension and the foldout railing built right in, so the play features feel baked into the design rather than bolted on. It is the kind of build where you keep pausing to wiggle a tentacle or push the plank out, which is always a good sign.

The standout parts here are less about exotic new molds and more about the printing and the figures. Lando gets a substantial upgrade with crisper helmet and torso printing, a new double-sided head and bonus leg printing, so he feels properly new rather than recycled. Nien Nunb is the headline, arriving as his first physical minifigure and coming with the 25th anniversary display tile, which makes him an instant collector draw. The translucent hover pieces under the skiff are a small but effective touch. The one printing miss is Boba Fett, whose torso is pulled from an older mold and shows his Empire era belt rather than the Return of the Jedi version, a detail sharp-eyed fans have grumbled about.

Fun facts

01This set marks the first time Nien Nunb, the Sullustan co-pilot from the Battle of Endor, has ever been made as a physical LEGO minifigure, and he comes with a 25th anniversary display tile.
02It is a modern remake of 2017's 75174 Desert Skiff Escape, and reviewers widely agreed the new Sarlacc is the best version LEGO has ever produced.
03Boba Fett appears here in his Empire Strikes Back costume rather than his Return of the Jedi look, because LEGO reused an older torso print for him.
04The set was released on 1 August 2024 as part of the LEGO Star Wars 25th anniversary lineup.