LEGO® Star Wars review: 75341 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder

Products in this article were provided by LEGO®; the author's opinions are their own.

Springtime. Flowers, bugs, leaves, melting snow heaps... and May the Fourth (Star Wars Day), which brings us a new LEGO® Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series set. This year it's 75341 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder, which has a price of 199.99 USD/ 174.99 GBP/ 199.99 EUR (DE) and will be available early for VIPs on Sunday 1 May.

The X-34 Landspeeder has several minutes of screen time in the original Star Wars, aka A New Hope, and while these minutes are not that action-packed the vessel is generally liked and has spawned a total six minifig-scale version. Heck, even the classic "these aren't the droids you're looking for" line was muttered from this floating countryside car. So it was about time for a UCS version. But how good is it? I received a pre-release copy from LEGO, and joined a roundtable interview with its designers.

Minifigs

The non-minifig-scale UCS sets have included minifigs since the mid-2010s, and 75341 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder has two - Luke himself in Tatooine garb and a new, brilliant C-3PO.

This Luke is a common minifig, having appeared in six sets since 2016. He comes with binoculars and his father's lightsaber and Threepio gets his father's lightsaber too. But enough of this lightsaber silliness. 

While Threepio's head is old, his torso with printed arms is new for 2022 and also appears in 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama. He also gets new legs with an appropriate dual-molded silver leg with side prints. Can Threepio get any better? It's a bit odd that the recent 18+ diorama included a less-detailed gold robot man, but in another thought, it's a logical choice as the set designers stated that they wanted something special included in the minifigure selection in this set.

• Threepio torso with printed arms in Pearl Gold (6396913) - also in 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama
• Threepio legs with dual-molded Flat Silver leg in Pearl Gold (6388280) - new and unique!

Interesting parts in 75341

The new windscreen

• Windscreen 14 x 14 x 4 in Trans-Clear (73642 | 6328313)

The windscreen was packed individually and didn't have any scratches or wear. It has the slight bluish mist of the contemporary Trans-Clear though, and while it's not horrible, it's not quite crystal clear as it is in official set images. If they can't make completely clear transparent plastic I'd prefer they show the true colour on set boxes.

The piece sculpt is very pretty, though. It measures 14 x 14 modules and is four bricks (12 plates) high. The curved front is not a perfect semicircle, as it's 14 modules wide but only 6 modules deep.

The end curve is five modules deep. I don't think there are other pieces in the system to match these curves, so it can be quite challenging to use this for airtight cockpits. But for convertibles, whether they're cars or speeders, it's a lovely piece and I can easily see it used for a microscale space station.

Recolours

• 10x Hose, Rigid 3mm D. 29L / 23.2cm in Flat Silver (75c29 | 6335213)

These long hoses are new in Flat Silver. They're useful pieces for unusual effects and having 10 means some cool patterns can be made - like in the Landspeeder itself.

Unique recolours in Nougat

Ah, Nougat! There is a lot in this set. Nougat is most commonly used as a skin colour for minidolls and licenced minifigures, but it's occasionally used elsewhere too; humorously the most common use for "normal" Nougat pieces have been - indeed - minifigure-scale landspeeders. Before the release of 75341 Landspeeder there were only 20 different Nougat pieces available, not counting minifig and other related parts. With 11 new recolours this set broadens the Nougat assortment by more than 50 percent. 

According to the set designers their first version was actually sand coloured - I suppose that means Tan - as Nougat required many recolours to work. I'm very happy they ended up choosing Nougat eventually, as it's lot closer to the onscreen appearance and it would have been weird if minifig-scale landspeeders were more accurate colour-wise than the UCS one.

• 4x  Brick, Round Corner 10 x 10 with Slope 33 Edge, Axle Hole, Facet Cutout (58846 | 6330400)
• 4x Vehicle, Mudguard 3 x 3 x 1 with Arch Round (49097 | 6330588)

• 44x Tile 1 x 3 ( 63864 | 6330405)
• 16x Tile 2 x 3 (26603 | 6330402)

• 6x Plate, Modified 4 x 4 with 3 x 3 Curved Cutout (35044 | 6330412)
• 12x Wedge, Plate 2 x 4 (51739 | 6330414)

• 16x Slope, Curved 2 x 4 x 2/3 with Bottom Tubes (88930 | 6330406)

• 68x Slope, Curved 4 x 1 Inverted (13547 | 6330417)

• 1x Tile, Round Corner 4 x 4 Macaroni Wide (27507 | 6330586)
• 14x Plate 1 x 1 (3024 | 6330584)
• 22x Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with 1 Stud with Groove and Bottom Stud Holder (Jumper) (15573 | 6330418)

Other pieces in Nougat

• 57x Plate 2 x 4 in Nougat (3020 | 6286500) has been available in 6 other sets, 3 of which include a landspeeder

• 9x Slope 45 2 x 1 with Cutout without Stud (28192 | 6328177) also in 10278 Police Station
• 21x Plate 1 x 2 (3020 | 6286500) also in 71741 Ninjago City Gardens

• 2x Plate, Round Corner 4 x 4 (30565 | 6330411) - also in 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina, featuring a landspeeder
• 6x Plate 4 x 8 (3035 | 6286494) also in 3 other landspeeder sets

That's all the Nougat pieces in this Landspeeder - 16 moulds with 302 pieces, divided into 95 rare and 207 unique in Nougat. Not bad! There are some key pieces like 1 x 1 plate and jumper plate for example, but on other hand the selection is still very limited, and 68 inverted 1 x 4 curved slopes are hard to use when the only other curved slope in this colour is a 2 x 4 "wide" curved slope. I had wished for a 1 x 2 one too, and a 1 x 1 slope, for example, as it would be very hard to build a character model with Nougat skin colour with the supplied pieces. I know it sounds a bit silly to complain about this with 11 new recolours, but still - for a parts pack, the recolours are far from optimal.

Rare pieces

• 6x Arch 1 x 3 x 2 Inverted in Dark Red (18653 | 6286506) - in 5 other sets
• 5x Arch 1 x 5 x 4 Inverted in Dark Red (30099 | 6330408) - in 3 other sets
  

Inverted arches are nice because they enable smooth concave surfaces. These Dark Red ones are not revolutionary, but uncommon nonetheless.

• 14x Panel 1 x 2 x 1 with Rounded Corners in Dark Red (4865b | 6274681)  - in 4 other sets
• 2x Tile 2 x 3 in Dark Red (26603 | 6359681) - in 5 other sets
  
• 2x Plate, Modified 4 x 4 with 3 x 3 Curved Cutout in Dark Red (35044 | 6310882) - in 4 other sets
• 8x Tile, Round Corner 4 x 4 Macaroni Wide in Dark Red (27507 | 6310810) - in 3 other sets
• 1x Tile 2 x 2 Corner in Dark Red (14719 | 6369265) - also in 76941 Carnotaurus Dinosaur Chase
  

The older version of 1x2x1 panel with sharp corners was also available in two sets 2004-2005.

• 1x Technic, Steering Wheel Large in Dark Bluish Grey (2741 | 6306723) - also in 75288 AT-AT
• 1x Technic, Steering Wheel Pilot's Yoke in Black (40001 | 6378464) - in 2 other 2022 Technic sets
• 9x Technic, Pin 1/2 without Friction Ridges in White (4274 | 6388018) - Plus one extra. The white half-pin made a return in 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine. Before that they appeared in 7 sets 2002-2004, and are relatively expensive in the secondary market. The new version has only one round identification mark on the side, as on the modern mould of this piece. Interestingly this set also has two in common Light Bluish Grey.
• 1x Hose, Flexible 22L with 2 Connector Ends (Zipline) in Reddish Brown (2796 | 6327837) - plus one extra, in 3 other sets

I'm happy seeing the zipline piece getting more common; it's exciting and very potential for MOCs.

Sticker Sheet

As you can see here, this set relies heavily on stickers. It is a bit of a bummer for a UCS set; more of this later. I did not apply them, and I'll leave it for more hardcore Star Wars geeks to spot any potential errors on the plaque. (Most seem to be correct compared to Wookiepedia info, but I'm a bit baffled by the mere 5 kg of cargo. I mean if the metal droids probably weigh 150 kg each or more, surely it could hold more cargo if one ditches the droids? And it seems likely that Luke's and Ben's personal belongings would equal more than five kilograms.)

The UCS Landspeeder

The build process is straightforward and relatively easy for an 18+ set. It's mostly about stacking plates which is okay because this means a lot of plates, and plates are useful. There are not many parts with interesting or new techniques; most notable are the hoses which are not connected by any traditional means. Instead they just stay in their place between the nose and the flanks, held there with window bars pieces. It's actually very similar solution to the minifig-scale landspeeders from 2010 and 2017 (8092 and 75173). The Light Bluish Grey nose buffer has some interesting SNOT and the cockpit has cool shaping; The right cowling-missing engine gets more greeble than usual and has an intricate wiring made with various rubbery pieces.

The colour scheme is good and accurate. Previous minifig-scale landspeeders have been Tan (1999 and 2010), Sand Red (2004) and similarly Nougat (2014, 2017 and 2020). A Sand Red speeder would have been exciting, but that colour has been long obsolete, which is sad as it would be perfect for red granite. We can only hope it will be resurrected some day, like Dark Turquoise.

However, Luke's landspeeder is not an easy task for a set designer, because it's an old, battered barn find that has seen better days. The whole front area of the original prop is losing paint and covered in dust, dents and grey spots and there's no clear line between the grey nose and the nougat paint of the hood. On this UCS set the sticker sheet has one cartoonish dent while the rest of it is in perfect shape and paint finish. The cartoonish dent of the sticker clashes with the high-end 18+ branding, but without the stickers the Dark Red lines fall short, destroying the elegant pattern of the original.



Here lies my main problem with the model. The 10 x 10 corner slopes (58846 | 6330400) make a decent shape from upward angles. According to the designers, they were the pieces that ultimately defined the scale of the model and were chosen for their clean effect. But for a 18+ set, they feel like an easy solution that falls short on closer inspection. The underside where the curve is almost re-created with wedge plates looks jagged. The Dark Red ornamentation can only be made with big stickers with their cartoonish scar. I believe it would be possible to make the same shape with smaller curved slopes, wedges and so forth; with brick-built ornament. It would have made the build process more interesting and probably given us even more Nougat recolours. It would have been easy to make a correctly dented and dusty nose by switching some of the parts grey. But no; 10 x 10 corner slopes are one colour and allow no modification. It's also impossible to try one's own design, as the Nougat palette lacks many key pieces, like cheese slopes and 1 x 2 curved slopes.



Sigh. I hope this doesn't sound like an age-old 'juniorization' rant. I don't mind larger pieces (nor stickers) per se, but here in the nose of a UCS 18+ set they don't quite do the trick. Anything can be built with LEGO bricks and I hope everything can be built without stickers. And I stress that my perspective is a builder's perspective and not a Star Wars fan's perspective that's looking for a model to display, despite liking the Original Trilogy a lot.

It's not the only section that could have been designed more ambitiously. I'm not quite satisfied with the dark red lines circling on the hood. The one-module-wide line in the middle has one-plate-deep recesses on both sides, as it's made with tiles, centred with a line of jumper plates. The hood of the original prop is smooth with no recesses (except where the machinery is visible). This pattern could have been easily made with SNOT (two modules equals five plates) with a three-plate-wide line. I also wonder if the curves made with 4 x 4 macaroni tiles could have been achieved with Arch 1 x 5 x 4 (2339), Arch 1 x 6 x 3 1/3 Curved Top (6060) and the newish Slope, Curved 4 x 1 x 2 2/3 with Stud (65734). The build would have been a lot more complex, but I think it would have been only fitting for the Ultimate Collector Series.



My third piece of criticism is easier to fix: the left engine, connected with 3.18 mm bars stuck into the white half-pins, lacks friction and gets wobbly easily. However, the friction of those half-pins differs by batch, and it's easy to change them into old common Light Bluish Grey ones, eliminating the wobble and looting the three white ones for MOC uses.



The rant ends here - lets move into the good aspects. The cockpit is neatly shaped, the gearshift is fun and the seats look nice. The passengers have to keep their legs straight, which doesn't look very comfortable, but this seems authentic compared to the original prop. The new windscreen looks great above the cockpit.

The pattern made with five Flat Silver hoses side by side looks glorious. The side detail is not very accurate to the original model - especially as I did not apply the stickers - but it looks good. The original misses the vertical element (a window bars piece, keeping the hoses in place) but I don't mind. I really can't think of a better solution for it and actually using the hoses is worth it. Modders can try their wits with rubber bands or string for alternative options.



The cowling-missing engine is the most pleasing part of the whole set. High five to the designer here.



As I omitted the stickers, the engines lack their swirly Dark Red patterns, but they look fine without. Using mudguards as the intakes is an old technique, but works well; Black tiles representing the dark void inside are not super plausible, but work alright and getting some quarter circle tiles never hurts. This was apparently another challenge for the set designers, as the engines are not round in section; they're more oval-shaped. The lower cutout plate has been slightly angled to create fun little curves near the engines.



I like these square details on the back. No idea what they are though. Random functional greebles populating the galaxy.

Conclusion

My first impression on 75341 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder was… decent. It has relatively many recolours, and the sole new mold - the windscreen - is pretty and well-designed. The build process is relatively basic for a 18+ set but with a couple of neat ideas. However, closer consideration revealed the weakness of the nose design, with its reliance on stickers and unsatisfying compromise on the battered look of the original. For a 18+ UCS set this landspeeder lacks ambition; I would have liked to see more art of the brick in it. As for parts, the selection of Nougat is wide, but far from optimal. Oh and I would have given both 2x4 wide curved slope and 1x4 inverted curved slope for a 1x2 or 2x2 curved slope!

This set has 1,890 pieces and costs 199.99 USD/ 174.99 GBP/ 199.99 EUR (DE) and available to preorder now. The price is alright - not a super good piece-per-part ratio, but the size is similar to, for example, 75275 A-wing Starfighter from 2020 with fewer parts and the same price tag. So while the price is not unfair,  I'm fairly sure there are better sets available for two hundred euros - except if you're a huge A New Hope or Nougat fan. If you are buying this set, please do consider using our affiliate links, New Elementary may get a commission: USA LEGO Shop | Australia LEGO Shop | UK LEGO Shop/for Europe 'Change region'.

Editor: Chris Baginski

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