This was the LEGO Star Wars Microfighter set I was looking for.
To be clear: I love the LEGO Star Wars Microfighter sets. At $10, maybe $20, the price point is well within the justify-it-to-my-wife-as-a-reasonable-expense category. The minifigures that are included are often classic, coveted characters. (Hoth-bound Luke? Pre-Beskar Mando?) And the small builds themselves make iconic ships manageable, easily added to humble LEGO collections like my own and don’t require me to construct any new shelves.
Plus, the chance to build a LEGO Tauntaun? I rest my case.
So, the bare trickle of sets that we’ve seen over the last several months had me a bit discouraged. While I was excited to add the Mandalorian to my collection, last year’s sole Microfighter – the Razor Crest – was a somewhat disappointing build. Flat and colorless, it always felt like it was missing some of the character that the old gunship manifested on the small screen. (And anyway, how could anyone make any use of that miniscule ramp? Was this a bounty hunting vessel for ants?)
Then, the rumors began that Boba Fett would be joining the Microfighter series. And on January 1, 2023, the new set officially dropped.
At 85 pieces, Fett’s iconic ship fits right in with the Microfighter family. The deep greens and reds really bring the ship to life, and the unforgettable shape of this fan-favorite vessel still cuts a foreboding silhouette for would-be bounties even in micro-size.
The wings along the ship’s side rotate to allow the ship to land or jump to lightspeed—a nice touch, seeing as, again, the only moveable piece in Mando’s gunship was that meaningless ramp.
But it was Boba Fett himself that I was most excited about. The $50 Boba Fett’s Starship set released alongside last year’s The Book of Boba Fett is a touch too pricey for me. So, adding the feared bounty hunter to my collection has been out of reach.
Until now. But still, how would this piece stack up?
So many Mandalorian minifigures—from the Jango Fett minifigure I acquired some twenty years ago to the much more recently released minifigures found in the newest Mandalorian Battle Pack—have no actual faces. Instead of a face, the piece that goes where the head should be is just solid black.
This Boba Fett has a face.
And to compare him with the clone trooper minifigure included in this year’s LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar, his face really does look like an aged clone. The scars are there—and a nice touch. His armor is incredibly detailed, and his weapon, intense.
For whatever reason, this minifigure doesn’t come with the traditional targeting rangefinder typically seen on the side of Fett’s helmet. That’s a tiny piece that does come with the larger set and extras are often included in other Mandalorian packs. But this did feel like an oversight.
I’m also not crazy about the solid green jetpack. I know that color is pretty close to what we see in the films and shows, but to me, it should look a little more beat up. The solid green feels too clean.
Fett fits nicely in his ship, though, and that’s an advantage he has over most other Microfighter sets; usually, the minifigure is awkwardly straddling the top of the build like some forlorn astromech. The ship has the two expected laser cannons, too, though if you’re expecting them to really go pew pew, you might be disappointed—they just plop onto the floor when I launch them. (Though, if I’m honest, I prefer this to constantly losing them under the couch.)
If you’re a fan of Boba Fett, LEGO or just very manageable building projects, I think the newest LEGO Star Wars Microfighter is for you. And hopefully, we won’t have to wait an entire year for the next installment in the series!