Review: 40451 Tatooine Homestead
Posted by Huw,
40451 Tatooine Homestead is the fourth in a series of matching Star Wars vignettes that depict key locations in the original trilogy.
It will be a gift with purchase during the May the Fourth celebrations that commence this year on 1st May.
Construction
Most of the model is built as sections of a wall which are then laid on their side to create a studless, undulating landscape. The central section on which the actual homestead is situated is constructed in a more conventional manner and reveals dark tan plates beneath the desert surface, creating the illusion of shadow.
There doesn't appear to be any mountains near the homestead in the films, but I suppose it would have been a bit boring if the landscape was completely flat. Presumably the mountains instead represent the 'rocky' area traversed by R2-D2 before his capture by Jawas.
I like how just three parts are used for the Landspeeder and it's still readily identifiable as this vehicle. One such element is a dark red 1x1 half circle tile, only otherwise appearing in 71741 NINJAGO City Gardens at the moment.
The Sandcrawler makes use of two unique printed tiles to provide detail on the sides. Unfortunately, they are held on with just one stud so are easily rotated out of alignment, although this design represents a definite improvement over the comparable version from 75097 Star Wars Advent Calendar. The roller skate treads are particularly effective.
The completed model
At 12-studs deep and 17cm wide it's the same size as the other three vignettes and like those it comes with a printed tile to affix to the front. This example is unique, displaying the year in the same format as 40407 Death Star II Battle.
The crowd around the Sandcrawler may only be 1- or 2-studs high but they are immediately recognisable as C-3PO, R2-D2, Owen Lars, Luke Skywalker and two Jawas. Once again, this design is consistent with another recent vignette: 40362 Battle of Endor.
The landscape does improve the appearance of the model on display and mixing tan and dark tan elements works well. However, this texture is relatively simple and introducing some wedge slopes or curved slopes would have created more realistic mountains. The flat back is welcome though, ensuring the vignette can be displayed with ease.
White pieces represent moisture vaporators and the homestead entry dome, contrasting beside the tan sand underneath. These colours work perfectly together and I appreciate such accurate detailing, although the grey tech dome which covers the Lars' underground garage is excluded. Beru Lars is present though, represented by stacked 1x1 round plates to match the characters above ground.
Overall
Comment from CapnRex101: These vignettes look impressive together and the coverage of momentous scenes is excellent. However, the annual May the Fourth promotion provided an opportunity for LEGO to release minifigures that would be unlikely to appear elsewhere and I would welcome their return. Beru Lars could have accompanied this vignette, especially since two printed pieces are included and they could have been replaced with a unique minifigure.
Nevertheless, this vignette represents an important location and I think the execution is good, exceeding previous models in detail and integrating some unusual construction techniques to create the underground space.
If you have the other three you'll want to keep your collection complete with this one. You'll be able to acquire it at LEGO.com as a gift with purchase when you spend $85 / €85 / £85 or more on Star Wars sets from the 1st to the 5th of May.
Thanks to CapnRex101 for help with this review and LEGO for providing the set. All opinions expressed are ours.
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64 comments on this article
This is probably my favourite of the four vignettes.
I've never been too interested in these little scenes, but the building techniques on this one are stellar, I'm very impressed. Great review, as per!
I like the figure studs that are completely to scale.
Great review and thanks for the pic of all 4 together. All three of my existing sets are still NIB awaiting a place to put them so I appreciate seeing all 4 side by side. I like a minifig as much as anyone else but I don't really understand that preference over a full set like this. But to each their own, i suppose.
My brother has the Endor and Death Star vignettes, and in my opinion they're pretty dang cool. Simple renditions of iconic scenery and moments from the films, and I think this one has just raised the bar for future models. Perhaps we can see a Cloud City or Jabba's Palace next? Or move on to Prequel locations such as Theed, Petranaki Arena, or the Jedi Temple?
@Echolord said:
"Perhaps we can see a Cloud City or Jabba's Palace next?"
YES YES YES I have long wanted a SW series of models in the Architecture vein and Cloud City is at the top of that list. It's such a no-brainer I can't believe they haven't done it yet.
I like it! Such a cute little set.
wouldnt owen and beru be better represented by stacked black 1 x 1 round plates?
I kid, I kid.
As I've said before, everything being out of scale bothers me, but all 4 of them do look nice when put together
[...]
The completed model:
[...] Own --> Owen
Definitely gonna need this one next to my other three :)
So boring compared to the minifigures we used to get...
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if it doesn’t have the burned corpses of Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen, I’m not interested.
Wow, the first appearance of Beru Lars in Lego form! Finally...
Endor is still my favorite but this might be tied for second with Hoth! Quite excited I am!!
Great. Now all I can think of is a Sandcrawler tandem roller skating with itself...
As someone who couldn't care less about minifigs I highly appreciate these vignettes. So far I've only got the Endor one, but this is definitely going to join my collection. Now what to buy in order to qualify? I've already pre-ordered the Probe Droid from JB Spielwaren. Hmm.
I actually prefer the version from last year's Advent calendar.
Nice pic of all 4 vignettes.
Where is the outrage here? How did Huw get an advanced copy? Why can’t we all have an advanced copy? I want mine right now too! I have been a VIP since the program started!!!! What does it even mean to be a VIP anymore then? Don’t they know I am entitled to this set at the very moment someone else has it? They better make enough so that everyone who wants one can have one. No limits either, just unlimited amounts. Entitled VIPs rise up! Let your voices be heard! Start a poll about if it is unfair for some people to get advanced copies! Write your local elected official! Post on LEGO blogs about how unfair it is that we don’t have advanced copies like Huw! No Advanced LEGO for everyone, No Peace!
ANOTHER LANDSPEEDER? (joke)
I'm not into Star Wars whatsoever, but I like desert sets or MOCs. It reminds me of Dune a.k.a. Arrakis. I'll definitely try to recreate it with my bricks, of course without the Sandcrawler.
I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually like these vignettes more than a minifigure. They are unique and look great displayed.
Oh I need to be fast with this set, I missed the Death Star 2 from Ep 6 and I won't be left out of this one to at least complete the OT (this looks like a SDCC set).
They let me think I was getting a Death Star one with my, uh, whatever the mandalorian’s ship is called, preorder, but then they go “oh.. we ran out” days later
Well if your 5 month out preorder doesn’t lock you in for the freebie, don’t say it does in the cart >:( >:( >:(
We need prequel scenes!
It looks like stores in the US will also have the Imperial Shuttle polybag free with purchases and Lego.com will have 2x VIP points on Star Wars sets.
It's a bit weird that the 3 so far kind of were in the same scale but this one is entirely off. The Sandcrawler is way too small.
The first representation of Aunt Beru ever from LEGO and it's two 1x1 studs stacked on top of each other.
So is this GWP going to be another limited amount set so will sell out immediately? Not really looking forward to staying up until midnight, again, trying to purchase and having the site time out multiple times, again, and then wondering if I got one or not, again. LEGO seems to have trained me to accept the pain. Sigh.
@Echolord:
@CDM:
I could see them maybe doing a slice of Cloud City, but the problem with doing the whole thing is getting it to balance on that tiny antenna. The smaller you build, the chunkier that part is going to look. The larger you build, the faster it’s going to snap or bend the antenna that holds it up. Or you have to stanchion it with clear parts, which doesn’t look as clean. But do the docking platform with the MF parked, and maybe try to work in a TPCC or Slave I flying overhead...
@ohrmazd:
Black grille tiles.
@Bricks_In_Your_Pieces:
So run a fan site. I ran one for three years. I’m now 17 years into taking a hiatus. Unless you get a large staff helping out, you’re pretty much going to have to give all your free time to the site just to keep up with things, or resign yourself to the idea that nobody is going to visit and you won’t qualify for RFM status (which means no review copies of sets).
@Rimefang:
The Tyderium polybag that came out this year? Yeah, I already got that last year.
Terrible GWP. I've refused buying on May the 4th the last few years because of these. There is nothing exclusive about these. Bring back exclusive minifigs!
The Sandcrawler is adorable
@Derp_Riot said:
"Terrible GWP. I've refused buying on May the 4th the last few years because of these. There is nothing exclusive about these. Bring back exclusive minifigs!"
You can’t get it from anywhere but Lego during their promotion period. That’s kind of the definition of exclusive.
@OttawaChris said:
"So is this GWP going to be another limited amount set so will sell out immediately? Not really looking forward to staying up until midnight, again, trying to purchase and having the site time out multiple times, again, and then wondering if I got one or not, again. LEGO seems to have trained me to accept the pain. Sigh."
I doubt it, the last one, Death Star II Battle is available to buy at my local Lego store.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Echolord:
@CDM:
I could see them maybe doing a slice of Cloud City, but the problem with doing the whole thing is getting it to balance on that tiny antenna. The smaller you build, the chunkier that part is going to look. The larger you build, the faster it’s going to snap or bend the antenna that holds it up. Or you have to stanchion it with clear parts, which doesn’t look as clean. But do the docking platform with the MF parked, and maybe try to work in a TPCC or Slave I flying overhead...
@ohrmazd:
Black grille tiles.
@Bricks_In_Your_Pieces:
So run a fan site. I ran one for three years. I’m now 17 years into taking a hiatus. Unless you get a large staff helping out, you’re pretty much going to have to give all your free time to the site just to keep up with things, or resign yourself to the idea that nobody is going to visit and you won’t qualify for RFM status (which means no review copies of sets).
@Rimefang:
The Tyderium polybag that came out this year? Yeah, I already got that last year."
I am pretty sure Bricks' comment was in jest.
Tatooine is *probably* my favorite location in the Star Wars universe. Very excited for this one.
Lovely!
Looks great.
These vignettes are WAY BETTER than random obscure minifigures.
Very nice! I love the design of this one. Tatooine is my favorite planet in the Star Wars galaxy, and they're done a great job here.
However, I too have to admit that I'd love Lego to return to exclusive minifigures for the May the 4th promotion in the future.
This is cool but didn't they already make something similar to this?
I hope they continue this format, this is the first location thats a repeat of the last similar series. CELEB2015
As far as OT locations left, Mos Eisley, Yavin IV, Death Star I docking bay and/or Trench, Hoth asteroid belt, Dagobah, Cloud City,
@PurpleDave said:
"I could see them maybe doing a slice of Cloud City, but the problem with doing the whole thing is getting it to balance on that tiny antenna. "
Attach the back of it to a built up cloud backdrop, like 77906. Make it ~10x10, little advent scale cloud car off the side...
I really wish they had incorporated the twin suns in some fashion.
@The_Chosen_1:
Not me. I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating...and it gets everywhere. It makes your mouth all crunchy when you drop your hot dog on it. It feels like you're walking on a rock when it gets in your shoes. And the less said about sitting on sand while wearing a swimsuit, the better.
Will it be available with in-store purchases on May 1?
For those who are interested, the microscale scenes that have been mentioned in this thread include the following:
SDCC2015-2, from San Diego Comic-Con, a Dagobah scene with Yoda's hut, Luke, Yoda, and Luke's X-Wing (plus an R2-D2 minifig, apparently), released in 2015
CELEB2015, from Star Wars Celebration, a Tatooine scene with the raised portion of the Lars homestead, a larger Sandcrawler and landspeeder, Luke, the two droids, and a Jawa (plus a C-3PO minifig), also released in 2015
FANEXPO2015, from Fan Expo, the same as CELEB2015 but with an R2-D2 minifig instead, also released in 2015
6176782, from an invite-only May 4th event at LEGO Stores, the "space slug" chasing a tiny Millennium Falcon out of the asteroid, released in 2016
40333, 20th Anniversary May 4th GWP, a Hoth scene featuring an AT-AT fighting two Snowspeeders in front of the shield generator, released in 2019
40362, 20th Anniversary Triple Force Friday GWP, an Endor scene featuring two AT-STs and six Imperial troops surrounding Han and Chewie in front of the Endor bunker, also released in 2019
40407, May 4th GWP, a Death Star II scene featuring a TIE Interceptor chasing an A-Wing across the station's surface past a turbolaser tower, released in 2020
40451, May 4th GWP, this Tatooine set
@PurpleDave said:
"For those who are interested, the microscale scenes that have been mentioned in this thread include the following:
SDCC2015-2, from San Diego Comic-Con, a Dagobah scene with Yoda's hut, Luke, Yoda, and Luke's X-Wing (plus an R2-D2 minifig, apparently), released in 2015
CELEB2015, from Star Wars Celebration, a Tatooine scene with the raised portion of the Lars homestead, a larger Sandcrawler and landspeeder, Luke, the two droids, and a Jawa (plus a C-3PO minifig), also released in 2015
FANEXPO2015, from Fan Expo, the same as CELEB2015 but with an R2-D2 minifig instead, also released in 2015
6176782, from an invite-only May 4th event at LEGO Stores, the "space slug" chasing a tiny Millennium Falcon out of the asteroid, released in 2016
40333, 20th Anniversary May 4th GWP, a Hoth scene featuring an AT-AT fighting two Snowspeeders in front of the shield generator, released in 2019
40362, 20th Anniversary Triple Force Friday GWP, an Endor scene featuring two AT-STs and six Imperial troops surrounding Han and Chewie in front of the Endor bunker, also released in 2019
40407, May 4th GWP, a Death Star II scene featuring a TIE Interceptor chasing an A-Wing across the station's surface past a turbolaser tower, released in 2020
40451, May 4th GWP, this Tatooine set"
Thanks for listing them PurpleDave. I think that while all of these sets are of similar form and function, it could safely be argued that only the most recent four of them can be considered to be matching sets.
@Rare_White_Ape:
As I said, I haven't actually built any of the previous sets (and I don't even own either of the convention exclusive models), but when the Hoth set came out, it immediately drew parallels to the Space Slug, and many people treated Hoth as being the second in a new line of microscale scenes (oddly, the convention exclusives never seemed to get roped into this), particularly those who were upset at how the exclusivity of the Space Slug set meant they could never be "complete" in this new sub-theme.
In practice, this really isn't a formal sub-theme. It has never been branded as such by The LEGO Company, and I don't even see any tags on Brickset that restrict the results to that group of four sets. They do, however, share a clear design aesthetic once you compare all seven of these models with each other, just as the two convention exclusive models appear to share a design aesthetic. In fact, the Space Slug looks very similar in style to the convention duo, all sharing an 8x16 studs-up base consisting of a plate covered with bricks. The two main differences that set Space Slug apart from those sets is the lack of any microfigs or a minifig. The microfigs in the convention pair are built with square plates up to four tall for adult humans, while these May 4th/Triple Force Friday GWPs use round plates with stacks that are two tall for adult humans.
For my collection, I have everything from the Space Slug forward, excluding (obviously) this new GWP. I have enough variations of the basic spacecraft that I don't go chasing every new one that comes out, but I really like the weird stuff like this. I'm still irritated that they did the DS1 Detention Block and the MF cockpit as convention exclusives because both of those are things that would be right up my alley. The same is true for the first three convention-exclusive Microfighters, the first two of these vignettes, and the Boba/Carb Han Brickheadz. Basically, when I look at each year's offerings, chances are the most interesting sets on the list were restricted to a convention. Midi-scale ships looked like they were going to be a fantastic new addition to the lineup when they did the Millennium Falcon and the Star Destroyer, and then there has never been another one until the Nebulon B (which, again, was slated for a convention).
So, regardless of how people classify these, I plan to continue collecting them. For me, they're more affordable than the minifigs, since I would always try to grab three each of those, and for these I only need to get one.
@djcbs said:
"Looks great.
These vignettes are WAY BETTER than random obscure minifigures."
Totally agree.
I can't fathom why anyone could prefer a measly minifig over an entire set, especially one of an iconic location/scene.
@blueduck37 said:
"Will it be available with in-store purchases on May 1?"
I would like to know this as well...
It properly won't be, as you get an Imperial shuttle as GWP in store.
I’ve been wondering what the gift would be this year and I couldn’t be happier with what it is. I guess it’s time to get my Imperial Shuttle and my... well maybe I’ll get the TIE to reach the limit.
@CDM said:
"Great review and thanks for the pic of all 4 together. All three of my existing sets are still NIB awaiting a place to put them so I appreciate seeing all 4 side by side. I like a minifig as much as anyone else but I don't really understand that preference over a full set like this. But to each their own, i suppose."
I'm a huge minifigure collector but I agree with you, actually; these feel much, much more appropriate to me for a gift-with-purchase and even though it's not necessarily my own taste enough to hunt down, I think they're very charming and would be happy to own one as a gift, too.
I am not a SW fan but they look great.
I would like this FREE™ GWP™ LEGO® Star Wars™ Tatooine™ Homestead with Luke Skywalker™, C-3PO™, Owen Lars™, Aunt Beru™, R2-D2™ and 2 Jawas™ scene... just wish that it was generally available to buy and sold over a longer period. This will be gone by the time I log in to LEGO® shop come May 1st
@cyberdudesdk:
No, they sometimes throw an additional GWP at in-store purchases, and I’m not really sure why. When they do, it’s often a cheap polybag like this, and stock is very limited. The threshold for this is only $40, so don’t expect it to last as long as the Lars Homestead set.
But the promo details definitely show the larger set is available online and in-store.
Yes there is usually more than enough to go round and I suspect they'll be offloading the surplus later in the year in brand stores.
I personally prefer these sets to minifigs.
@Huw:
Based on the comments, some people did dawdle when it came to placing their May 4th orders last year and missed out as a result. I always try to get in at midnight when it kicks off because they tend to sell out of a lot of regular sets that I might want to use to qualify for the GWP, so I wasn’t affected, and must have forgotten about it.
Oh great another set that will be sold out within seconds of launch.... But offered by hundreds of sellers on ebay at £1000....still livid over the Uylseses fiasco.... Who else is buying the Lepin version.
this is the first Lego depiction of Beru. two studs. Just sad.
I mean you COULD use the black skeleton warrior from 2007 castle. I kid, I kid.
@PurpleDave I’ve said it here before: If they did a continual Midi-scale starship theme I would absolutely buy every single one.
looks like it has already vanished from the online Lego store in the UK. There is no trace of it mentioned on the website and the GWP doesn't show up in the bag on eligible orders.
@Huw said:
"Yes there is usually more than enough to go round and I suspect they'll be offloading the surplus later in the year in brand stores."
Mmmmm, would you like to retract that statement Huw, there's no point Lego sending out sets for review when they don't make them widely available to the money paying public!
@Brodie said:
"looks like it has already vanished from the online Lego store in the UK. There is no trace of it mentioned on the website and the GWP doesn't show up in the bag on eligible orders. "
Same here on the French store.
A beautiful diorama and happy to be able to add it to the collection!