Star Wars

Sandcrawler

The play-focused Jawa hauler that finally lets you rummage around inside.

Brick Rated Score

4.0/5

Set 75220 · 2018

Pieces1,239

Minifigs6

Year2018

Set number75220

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 Sandcrawler for people who want to actually play with it, not just park it on a shelf.

The whole side opens up, all four tread units rotate, and the interior packs in a crane arm, control panels and cargo space the big UCS version never bothered with. Just know you're paying a premium for something fairly small, and the minifig lineup skips R2-D2 and C-3PO, which stings for this exact scene. If you missed the giant 2014 version, this is an easy yes.

Best for: Star Wars fans who want a Sandcrawler they can open up and play with

The full review

The Sandcrawler is one of those Star Wars vehicles that just begs to be built in LEGO® form. It's a giant rusty tank-tractor crawling across Tatooine, stuffed with Jawas and stolen droids, and this 2018 set leans all the way into that fantasy. At 1,239 pieces it's a fraction of the size of the enormous 2014 Ultimate Collector Series version, and honestly that's the point. This one isn't built to sit sealed behind glass. It's built to be opened, poked at, and played with, and it does that job so much better than its giant older sibling.

Here's where you get to be honest with yourself about what you want. The whole side of the crawler pops off, the rear panel hinges up, and inside you get a crane arm with more articulation than you'd expect, little control panels for the Jawas to fuss over, and storage bays for all the droids they've swiped. All four tread units rotate together off a single cog at the back, so it genuinely rolls and turns instead of just sitting there. For a set built around play features, that interior access is the whole reason to buy it.

Now the caveats, because there are a couple of real ones. It launched at 139.99 dollars, and for that money you get a model that's only about 31cm long. Reviewers kept coming back to the same feeling, that it looks a little small once it's out of the box for the price you paid. The bigger frustration is the figure selection. You get Luke Skywalker, two Jawas, and a nice spread of droids, but LEGO left out R2-D2 and C-3PO, and this is literally the scene where those two get captured and sold. Including Owen Lars but not the two most iconic droids of the moment is a genuinely odd call.

So who's this really for? If you never grabbed the 2014 UCS Sandcrawler and you've always wanted one on the shelf, this is a much friendlier price and a more fun build, and the interior detail is a real step up. Kids and play-focused collectors will get far more out of this than the sealed-up giant. If you already own the UCS version, though, there's less here to tempt you, since this is smaller and covers similar ground. And if pristine display accuracy is your thing above all else, the big one still wins on sheer presence. For everyone else, this is a very good set that earns its spot.

The parts story

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

The build is smartly paced. Instead of framing the whole shell and then slapping panels on, you construct the Sandcrawler in sections, which keeps things from getting repetitive across those 1,239 pieces. You work through the tread assemblies, the interior fittings, and the removable side panels in chunks, so there's always a new little sub-model or mechanism to sink into. The tread steering is the cleverest bit of engineering here, a single cog at the rear that swings all four tread units at once, and there's real satisfaction in getting that linkage together and watching it work. The interior, with its hinged access panels and articulated crane, gives the middle of the build some genuine mechanical interest rather than just wall after wall of brown.

On the parts front, the draw is really the figures and the droids. Six minifigures is a solid haul, and three of them are exclusive to this set: the RA-7 protocol droid in pearl dark gray, a 2-1B medical droid with that lovely dotted-badge and peeling-paint print, and an R5-A2 astromech. The astromech in flame yellowish orange is a standout, a color you don't see thrown around on droids often. Luke gets a Tatooine print with a dual stern and smile face. The bulk of the parts count is unavoidably a big pile of reddish brown and dark tan in various plates and slopes to build that weathered hull, so this isn't a set you're raiding for exotic new molds. The value here is the finished vehicle and that exclusive droid roster, not a treasure chest of rare elements.

Fun facts

01This is the first LEGO Sandcrawler where all four tread units actually rotate together, giving it a proper turning circle instead of fixed treads.
02At around 31cm long it's roughly two-thirds the length of the 2014 Ultimate Collector Series Sandcrawler (75059), which stretched to about 48cm, yet many builders prefer this one for its far more detailed openable interior.
03Three of the six minifigures are exclusive to this set, including the RA-7 protocol droid in pearl dark gray and a 2-1B medical droid with a unique peeling-paint print.
04In A New Hope the Sandcrawler belongs to the Jawas, desert scavengers who capture and sell droids, which is why this set is packed with droids rather than the usual Rebels and Stormtroopers.