Star Wars

Kylo Ren's Shuttle

That folding V-wing trick is worth the price of admission on its own.

Brick Rated Score

4.1/5

Set 75256 · 2019

Pieces1,005

Minifigs6

Year2019

Set number75256

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The verdict

This is the Upsilon shuttle LEGO® owed us, and it lands the thing the 2015 version never could.

Lift it off the shelf and the wings actually swing down into that menacing V shape all by themselves, which is one of the most satisfying functions LEGO has ever hidden inside a Star Wars ship. You're paying a real Star Wars premium and you're building a whole lot of black, so go in knowing that. But the six figures are strong and the finished shape is proper cinema.

Best for: First Order fans who want one big, poseable centerpiece ship

The full review

What it is

If you've ever seen an Upsilon-class shuttle glide down with those enormous wings folding shut, you already know why this one matters. Kylo Ren's Shuttle is the 2019 remake of a ship LEGO first tried back in 2015, and it fixes the exact thing that bugged everyone about the original. This set, tied to The Rise of Skywalker, finally nails the transformation. The wings don't just point up in a static V. They physically swing down into flight position, and back up for landing, thanks to some tucked-away Technic and a rotating engine nacelle you twist to close them in unison. It's the kind of function you'll show off to anyone who wanders past the shelf, and honestly it never gets old.

The catch

Here's the straight talk on value. You're looking at 1005 pieces for around 130 dollars at launch, which works out to roughly thirteen cents a brick. That's the Star Wars premium in action, and there's no pretending otherwise. A lot of those pieces are also black, and there's a fair stretch in the middle where you're layering dark plate onto dark plate and the build gets a touch repetitive. The command module up top ended up more compact than a few fans hoped, so if you loved the towering cockpit of the older set, this one trades some of that height for a sleeker, more screen-accurate silhouette. And while the ship looks fantastic folded, spread fully open it's more of a wide flat wall than a dramatic shape. None of these are dealbreakers, but they're worth knowing before you commit.

Who it's for

So who's this for? If you like First Order ships, big poseable display models, or you just want that folding-wing party trick on your shelf, this is an easy yes and one of the better First Order sets of its era. The minifigure lineup alone carries a lot of weight, with Supreme Leader Kylo in his patched-up helmet, General Pryde, a Sith Trooper, a First Order Stormtrooper and two brooding Knights of Ren, and four of those were exclusive to this set when it launched. If you're chasing tight, clever engineering all the way through, or you already own a shuttle you're happy with, you can probably skip it without heartbreak. It's retired now, so prices have crept up, but for the display presence and that one showstopper function, it's a set I'd still happily recommend.

The parts story

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

The build breaks into a few clear chapters. The first three stages assemble the central body and the ramp underneath, so you get the bones of the ship and a cockpit with room for Kylo plus two more figures fairly early. Stages four and five are where the real interest lives, because that's when you build the two wings and thread in the hidden Technic beams that make the whole folding trick work. There's a rotatable engine on one side that closes both wings together, and a separate move that lets you shorten the upper wing sections for landing mode. The satisfying part is lifting the finished shuttle and watching the wings drop into their V without you touching them. It's sturdy too, solid enough to swoosh around if that's your thing.

On the parts front, the headline is that there are no stickers at all, so every printed element stays sharp for the life of the set, which anyone who hates hunting down peeling decals will appreciate. It's a heavily black build, which means loads of useful dark plates, slopes and Technic for anyone who parts sets out for their own creations. The six minifigures are the real draw for collectors, especially the patched-helmet Kylo, General Pryde and the two Knights of Ren, since four of them were unique to this box when it came out. As a straight per-piece deal it's on the pricey side, but the figure value and the printed pieces soften that math a good deal.

Fun facts

01This 2019 set is a full redesign of the 2015 model 75104, and the LEGO team has said the earlier version suffered from limited reference material, which is why the wings couldn't fold properly back then.
02With its wings extended the model spans about 50cm (19 inches) wide and stands over 35cm (13 inches) tall, making it one of the larger playable Star Wars ships of its year.
03The wings fold into their flight-mode V automatically when you lift the shuttle, driven by concealed Technic beams rather than by hand.
04The set contains no stickers whatsoever, with every detail applied as a factory print, and it was retired in 2021 after roughly two years on shelves.