Review: LEGO Star Wars 75315 Imperial Light Cruiser

Today we continue with a quick glance at the contents of the LEGO Star Wars set 75315 Imperial Light Cruiser, a large box of 1336 pieces which will be available at the public price of 159.99 € from August 1, 2021.

Once again, this is a toy for a young fan of the series. The Mandalorian with a large playset of Moff Gideon's spaceship about sixty centimeters long by 22 centimeters wide. Everything has been designed to allow the youngest to have fun with four Spring-Shooters integrated into the rotating turrets placed on the hull and a large carrying handle based on Technic beams intelligently integrated into the gangway.

The interior of the ship is easily accessible by lifting the front cover which reveals a slightly empty space but which leaves room to play with the minifigs provided without having to hold them by the fingertips. Do not seek consistency between the interior layout of the LEGO version and that of the ship seen on the screen: LEGO has simply moved the furniture from the gangway to the interior of the ship.

It lacks some equipment to hide the side pins that hold the lower panels of the hull but the holographic table placed in the center of the room is very similar thanks to the four stickers provided. I know that the tenons on the floor make it easier to set up the minifigs, but I would have appreciated a more successful finish of the interior space by covering for example the surface of Tiles to clearly mark the difference with the hull of the vessel which remains rough.

Another feature intended for all those who will be playing with this large ship: the possibility of ejecting the two micro TIE Fighters provided via a manual catapult placed in the front. In reality, micro-things do not go very far even by pushing hard on the button with its springless rod and the function will remain purely anecdotal. The two TIE Hunters can also be stored in their respective locations located on the side of the hull, they are held there by a tenon. It is well seen, we will thus avoid losing them.

The finish of the product is not of a very high level despite the few obvious efforts on the part of the designer to dress the sides of the Greebs, these small parts which are only there to symbolize the details of the hull. The extreme simplification of the product also has consequences and the beams with their blue pins remain clearly visible inside the two mandibles, some adjustments are a bit hazardous and the four small reactors seen on the screen on the back side are missing.

The sheet of stickers remains reasonable with about fifteen stickers. There are a few patterns missing on the surface of the two outer reactors, they look a bit smooth against the profusion of visible studs and two additional stickers might have improved their integration.

This ship is therefore not a model for a demanding fan, but it still looks like the one seen in the series and it continues the great tradition of these LEGO ships in shades of gray with visible studs from the Star Wars universe. The whole is very solid, in particular thanks to its structure which calls for numerous Technic beams, and it is easy to handle. This toy is well designed and it should stand up to the onslaught of the most reckless fans.

The minifig endowment is made up of three figurines already seen in other boxes and three new characters. For 160 €, we could legitimately hope for a more sustained effort from LEGO. However, we cannot blame LEGO for the absence of Luke Skywalker in this box, the designers recently confirmed that they had not been informed by Disney of the appearance of the character on the screen.

Din Djarin aka The Mandalorian is delivered identically since this year in sets 75312 Boba Fett's Starship et 75299 Trouble on Tatooine. The Cara Dune minifig is the one in the set 75254 AT-ST Raider, his presence in this box confirms that Disney did not ask LEGO to remove the character from the set despite the releases of actress Gina Carano on social networks which earned him an outright ban from the series. The figurine of Grogu is the one seen so far in all the sets that feature this character, the difference in color between the head and the hands included.

We therefore have Moff Gideon, a Dark Trooper and Fennec Shand on the side of the unpublished figurines.

The Fennec Shand minifigure is successful, it would be difficult not to appreciate the graphic work on the different elements that make it up. However, LEGO forgets to provide us with hair to be able to enjoy the character without his helmet, it's a bit of a shame and the two facial expressions suddenly become a little unnecessary. To go through with the effort, LEGO could have padded the edges of the orange area of ​​the helmet, just to give it a little relief.

The Moff Gideon figurine is also doing very well with its pretty pad printing and its cape in two colors. The face of the minifigure is well enough drawn so that we find more or less the features of Giancarlo Esposito and the torso perfectly matches the armor worn by the character on the screen.

Le darksaber would have deserved a piece with a dedicated mold, but we know that the designers attach particular importance to the elements usually used to reproduce the sabers of the saga and that they consider that the classic handle in which a colored tube is inserted is the norm. This is also the reason why Darth Maul does not take advantage of the new double handle seen in the LEGO Monkie Kid range. I add in passing that I am not a big fan of the saber handle used to lengthen the weapons of the Mando and Fennec Shand. If the coin is as symbolic as the designers claim, its use should be reserved for swords and nothing else.

Finally the Dark Trooper is also in my opinion really very successful, the only problem being that he is quite alone in this set. Three copies would have allowed to have a mini-squad on hand knowing that this set sold for 160 € is not a simple one. Battle Pack at the reasonable price that we can afford to buy by handfuls. You will have the choice to display the minifig with or without its shoulder pads, the torso pad printing is almost identical to that of the accessory which covers part of it. A black blaster would also have been welcome instead of the supplied gray version.

This set is therefore a high-end toy for good children or with an irreproachable report card, there is something to have a little fun with the different characters provided and the aesthetic of the product allows it to be displayed on a shelf without have to be ashamed of other models in the range.

I would have gladly traded Cara Dune for two Dark Troopers, but the designers decided otherwise. I'm not sure if we'll see these very successful Dark Troopers again in another more affordable set in the future, hopefully we will. Being able to line up two rows on the sides of the internal space of this ship would give me some satisfaction.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 12, 2021 next at 23pm. For newcomers, know that you just need to post a comment to participate in the draw.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.