Review: LEGO Star Wars 75216 Snoke's Throne Room

Still in the LEGO Star Wars range and its sets that can eventually end up under the Christmas tree, we are now quickly interested in the reference 75216 Snoke's Throne Room (492 pieces - 74.99 €).

No need to beat around the bush, LEGO is breaking the mood with this set: If you remember the scene from the movie Star Wars The Last Jedi during which Rey and Kylo Ren confront Snoke and his small army of guards, you most certainly kept in mind an atmosphere in red tones, accentuated by the outfit of the eight Praetorian guards who take part in the confrontation in front of large swathes of walls covered with red hangings. Evil tongues will say that LEGO was inspired by the end of the scene in question ...

At 74.99 € a box, it's already expensive without having opened it. Once the assembly is finished, the size of the playset in question only accentuates the feeling of having paid dearly for a very ... compact product: the whole in fact only measures a small thirty centimeter in wingspan. .

Forget the illustrative visual on the packaging, which is obviously presented on a slightly misleading red background. In this regard, LEGO could offer to give a second life to the cardboard box by integrating a visual that could serve as a background for the playset, a bit like it is already the case for Advent calendars.

This is therefore a playset for which LEGO promises us a certain playability extensively praised on the back of the box and in the official description: "... Snoke's Star Destroyer throne room with rotating throne, button-activated door and moving floor functions, hidden compartments for storing Snoke's weapons and treasures. .."

Let's not get carried away, most of these features are irrelevant and there is even a small problem. The designer undoubtedly thought he was doing the right thing by adding the two structures placed on the sides of the room but they prove to be more annoying than anything else in use. It becomes difficult to handle the different protagonists who already have to be content with a very small space.

The rotary elevator can only accommodate one minifig at a time, it will take two trips to take Rey and Kylo Ren, and even a third for the lightsabers. Rey can be sucked in by Snoke via a pull tab placed on the throne and the imposing Oculus seen in the film is summed up here in a modest round 2x2 room dressed in a sticker. With LEGO, you often have to lower your ambitions, we are used to it.

Nothing rocket science on the side of the building experience, the contents of the set are assembled in about twenty minutes and do not even deserve a smile of satisfaction of the task accomplished after having wisely stacked the 450 necessary pieces.

As you can imagine, there are also some stickers in this set. The installation of these stickers becomes here a real challenge for some of them that must be placed inside curved surfaces at the level of the walls of the elevator and the two adjoining walls or on the meta-rooms. of the plinth hosting Snoke's throne. They are visually essential and contribute to the general atmosphere but their implementation is really laborious.

On the minifig side, if you have skipped the set 75189 First Order Heavy Assault Walker (149.99 €) released in 2017, you will find the same Rey minifigure here for a more reasonable budget. No major alignment problem in the pad printing between the torso and the legs, but the neckline Flesh (flesh-colored) of Rey's not really successful or matched with the face of the minifigure.

Regarding Kylo Ren, this box is not the cheapest to add this minifigure to your collection. The minifig is already delivered in the Microfighter set 75196 A-Wing vs. Tie silencer (19.99 €) released this year. The pad printing is sober but faithful to the outfit worn by Adam Driver in the film. Nothing to rave about but it's okay.

Snoke's minifig is on the side identical to the one seen in the set 75190 First Order Star Destroyer (159.99 €) released in 2017. Small shift in alignment between the impression of the torso and that of the legs. It's annoying, but it doesn't show as soon as Snoke is in his final configuration ... The pad printing of the character's neck is here in the right color and continuity with the face is assured. When we want we can.

The two Praetorian Guards are the only minifigs exclusive to this box, and I really would have liked to get a few more copies. Beautiful interpretation of their outfit by LEGO, it is sober but faithful with shoulder pads that leave enough space to be able to orient the arms in all positions and a very successful draping effect on the bottom of the outfit.

The helmets are also very successful. There may be a few patterns missing on the arms to ensure the continuity of the tortoiseshell effect initiated by the shoulder pads. As you have noticed, LEGO is content to supply us with a single type of helmet in duplicate among the three different models that equip the guards seen in the film. It's a shame, it was off to a good start. No faces for these guards, a red head will do.

In short, I pass because it is far from being the set of the year, there is not really enough to reproduce in a convincing way the scene from which it is vaguely inspired and it is much too expensive for one exclusive minifigure, even supplied in duplicate. Fortunately, there is Amazon where this box is currently sold for less than 60 €.

Note: The set shown here is put into play as usual. To participate in the raffle, simply post a comment on this article before November 22 at 23:59 p.m.. You have every right to disagree with me, this is not eliminatory.

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.