LEGO 75271 – Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder

It’s hard to believe this is the 6th(!) iteration of Luke Skywalker’s iconic landspeeder from the first Star Wars movie, the original was produced way back in 1999 and was one of the first LEGO Star Wars sets to hit shelves.

With the constant addition of new parts and techniques though, each subsequent release has made changes that bring the model closer to it’s on screen counterpart.

Today I’m looking at set 75271, released in 2020 and part of the current Star Wars wave of sets. This updated version of the vehicle comes with 3 minifigures, a listed piece count of 236 and retails for around £20 in stores and from most online retailers, it is recommended for builders aged 7 and up.

The set contains the usual numbered bags, single instruction book and a small sheet of stickers.Starting the build with bag 1 which contains a small cave structure, as well as the first 2 minifigs in C-3PO and a Jawa. The minifigs themselves are excellent quality with the print details, on Threepio in particular, being excellent.

The ‘cave’ is a simple affair built using slopes and angled bricks to give it a more organic look, there is a clip on the inside wall where you can attach a blaster for a Jawa ambush! Only the smaller sized minifig can stand inside the overhang, though any figure can squeeze in there in a seated position.

On to the speeder now and bag’s 2 and 3 form the majority of the build (and the set) It’s been a while since I have built a Star Wars set and there are some newer pieces included here that I hadn’t used before. This made it an enjoyable build experience. There are some interesting SNOT techniques used to build the frame around which the vehicles is built up.

I really do love the finished vehicle, it’s pretty big with the main body being 8 studs wide and comfortably sits 2 minifigs side by side. The cockpit has brick built chair backs, a standard steering wheel piece and a stickered slope piece for an instrument panel, Luke’s rifle can be clipped next to his seat.

The 3 thrusters at the rear are built using the same technique but the designer has used stickers and even a different part on one of them to give the speeder it’s ramshackle, beaten appearance.

The centre thrusters can be angled down allowing you to remove the rear panel for a storage compartment, the included macrobinoculars can be hidden away in here when not in use.

As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I had a lot of fun putting this thing together and seeing the attention to detail included. For a modestly priced set, I was suitably impressed, with the small cave being a bit of a nothing build, they really focused the build down to being primarily about the Speeder itself, and it worked.

Finally Luke Skywaker himself is a newer iteration of his minifig, he comes with a longer messy hair piece which is pretty close to his ‘New Hope’ era look. He has alternate smiling and concerned facial expressions and comes with a new type of poncho made from material. Included accessories are the previously mentioned rifle and macrobinoculars.

So all in all a great, updated version of this vehicle with excellent minifigs, if there are any complaints to be made, I really would have liked R2-D2 included in the set too, but 3 minifigs is usually the limit for a set at this price range. This still is a great buy and a fun build for any Star Wars fans.