Star Wars

Mandalorian Starfighter

Three of the best Mandalorian minifigures LEGO ever printed, wrapped around a ship with one stubborn flaw.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 75316 · 2021

Pieces544

Minifigs3

Year2021

Set number75316

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The verdict

This set is a minifigure box with a very good starfighter attached, and I mean that as a compliment to both.

Bo-Katan Kryze showing up as a proper minifigure for the first time is the whole reason a lot of people bought this, and the ship swooshes beautifully with its folding wings. The catch is that it will not stand up straight on a shelf no matter how you angle it, which is a genuinely annoying quirk for a display piece. If you love The Clone Wars and want that Bo-Katan, it is easy to forgive.

Best for: Clone Wars fans who came for Bo-Katan's first minifigure and want a swooshable fighter to go with her

The full review

What it is

The first thing I did when I finished this was reach for Bo-Katan, and I suspect that will be true for almost anyone who builds it. Set 75316 arrived in August 2021 and it marked the first time Bo-Katan Kryze got a full minifigure, almost a decade after she first turned up in The Clone Wars. She comes with a beautifully printed Night Owls helmet, a dual-printed head with her headband underneath, and she shares the box with Gar Saxon and a Mandalorian Loyalist. All three were new here, and they are the kind of figures that make you slow down and actually look at the printing.

The catch

The ship itself is the Gauntlet-style Mandalorian fighter, and in the hand it is a joy. The wings pivot up for a landing stance or fold down flat so the whole thing reads as a streamlined dart, the cockpit opens and holds two figures, and there are stud shooters and spring-loaded shooters tucked into the wings for the kids who want them. Swoosh it around the room and it feels great. Set it down on a shelf and the honest problem shows up. The model is nose-heavy and leans forward, wings and all, and there is no included stand to fix it. LEGO's own listing photos angled the camera to hide this, which rubbed a lot of reviewers the wrong way, and it is the single most common complaint you will read about the set. People have solved it with third-party acrylic stands from the likes of Wicked Brick, but you should know going in that you may want one.

Who it's for

So who does this suit. If you are a Clone Wars person, or you specifically wanted that debut Bo-Katan, this is an easy yes even with the wobble, because the figures alone justify a lot. Kids will love it too, since the play features and swooshability are the best part. If you are strictly a display builder chasing a ship that sits perfectly on a shelf out of the box, this one will nag at you until you add a stand, and you should factor that in. It retired in December 2022 and now sells sealed for around 70 dollars, a modest bump over its 59.99 dollar retail, so it has held its value nicely rather than exploding.

The parts story

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

The build is quick and pleasant, the kind of afternoon project you can finish in a couple of sittings. It is a study-shaped bird, so a lot of the work is sloped plates and angled wing sections coming together around a central spine, with the folding-wing mechanism being the one bit of real engineering interest. Nothing here will stump an experienced builder, and that is fine, because at 544 pieces this was never meant to be a technical marathon. It is a play ship first.

The standout parts are unquestionably the printed minifigure elements. Bo-Katan's helmet with its Night Owls markings is the crown jewel and became a sought-after piece on the aftermarket in its own right, and her dual-printed head is a lovely touch. Gar Saxon and the Loyalist carry crisp Mandalorian armor printing too, and the box gives you five blaster pistols and jetpacks to go around. In pure plastic-per-dollar terms the ship is only average value, but the figures are where the money quietly went, and they are worth it.

Fun facts

01This was the very first LEGO set to include Bo-Katan Kryze as a minifigure, roughly a decade after her Clone Wars debut.
02LEGO's official product photos used carefully chosen angles to disguise the fact that the finished ship leans forward and will not stand level.
03It retired in December 2022 and, sealed, now trades around 70 dollars against its 59.99 dollar launch price.
04Bo-Katan's printed helmet from this set became a popular standalone piece on the secondary market.