Star Wars

Nebulon-B Frigate

A tiny exclusive that punches way above its 459 pieces.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 77904 · 2020

Pieces459

Minifigsn/a

Year2020

Set number77904

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This is the ship from the Empire Strikes Back medical frigate scenes shrunk down to a display piece you can hold in one hand, and the shaping is the whole story here.

I opened the box expecting a quick, forgettable filler build and instead got a genuinely satisfying hour with a model that actually looks like the Nebulon-B silhouette from every angle, sensor dish and all. I will be honest that this one is hard to just walk into a store and buy, since it launched as a Comic-Con exclusive, but if you can find it I think it earns its shelf space. It is built for Star Wars ship collectors who already own the bigger frigates and want the small one to complete the set, not for someone hunting a big first build.

Best for: Star Wars ship collectors filling out their Original Trilogy fleet

The full review

What it is

I have a soft spot for the Nebulon-B. It is one of those Original Trilogy ships that never got the big UCS treatment, so when this small exclusive version showed up in 2020 I paid closer attention than the piece count really justified. The designers leaned hard into light bluish grey with just enough dark tan and dark bluish grey worked in to break up the surface, and it works. From the front the hammerhead bridge reads instantly, and the cylindrical sensor array up top is exactly the detail that sells the whole silhouette. For something built almost entirely from grey parts, it does not read as flat or boring the way a lot of small grey ships can.

The catch

Here is the part I want to be straight with you about. This set never had a normal retail life. It launched as a San Diego Comic-Con 2020 exclusive that, because of the pandemic, ended up selling through Lego.com and Amazon instead of a convention floor, at thirty nine ninety nine. That original price is long gone. Secondary market listings now run well into the hundreds of dollars, and there are no minifigures in the box at all, so you are paying purely for the model, the stand, and the anniversary plaque. If you go in expecting a cheap little starship you will be disappointed by what it actually costs to own today.

Who it's for

I would tell a collector who already has the big Star Wars ships and wants the Nebulon-B to round things out to go for it, especially if you can find one anywhere near a reasonable price. I would tell someone looking for a satisfying weekend build or a set for a kid to keep looking, since the build is short, there is nothing to play with once it is built, and the price tag on the resale market is genuinely tough to justify for what you get in the box.

The parts story

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

The build itself is quick, maybe an hour or so, but it is not mindless. The hull tapers and steps in a way that forces some clever angled connections to get that top heavy Nebulon-B shape right, and I found myself appreciating how much shaping the designers squeezed out of standard grey brick rather than relying on big specialty panels. The included stand locks the finished ship at a display angle that actually shows off the shape instead of just propping it up flat.

There is no flashy new mold headlining this one and no printed minifigure heads to chase, since there are no figures in the set at all. The value here is in the exclusive extras: a display stand built specifically for this model and a plaque marking the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, which is a nice touch for anyone who cares about the film this ship comes from. At 459 pieces for a display model, the part count itself is modest, but it is spent efficiently on getting the silhouette right rather than on filler.

Fun facts

01The set was originally designed as the exclusive giveaway or purchase for San Diego Comic-Con 2020, but with the convention cancelled for the pandemic it ended up releasing through Lego.com and Amazon in November 2020 instead.
02It commemorates the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, the film where the Nebulon-B frigate first appeared as a Rebel medical and support ship.
03The set includes no minifigures, making it one of the rare Star Wars sets built purely as a display model.
04According to BrickEconomy, sealed copies now trade for well over 400 percent of the original 39.99 retail price, reflecting how limited the original release run was.