LEGO Star Wars 40591 Death Star II May the 4th gift-with-purchase review

This year’s headline LEGO Star Wars May the 4th gift-with-purchase reimagines a Return of the Jedi icon in 40591 Death Star II, pivoting away from 2022’s minifigure-scale vignette with reasonable results.

Available with all LEGO Star Wars purchases above £130 / $150 / €150 from May 1 to 7, or while stocks last, 40591 Death Star II is one of three different freebies available across the May the 4th 2023 period. If you spend at least £35 / $40 / €40 on LEGO Star Wars sets, you’ll receive 30654 X-wing Starfighter, while a Death Star-embossed coin is free with LEGO Star Wars orders above £80 / $85 / €85.

If you’re gunning for 40591 Death Star II, you’ll therefore earn all three in one fell swoop. But is it worth spending that much across the Star Wars Day celebrations just to get your hands on this miniature take on a fully armed and operational battle station?

In short: yes, if you champion display pieces above minifigures. The LEGO Star Wars team finally gave us a long-overdue Aunt Beru minifigure in last year’s 40531 Lars Family Homestead Kitchen, sparking hope that future May the 4th freebies would continue to deliver much-requested minifigures within detailed vignettes. Instead, we’ve pivoted once again for 2023, and it’s not without cause.

That’s because this year marks the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, and the second Death Star is basically one of the most memorable visuals from the 1983 movie. If you disregard 75352 Emperor’s Throne Room Diorama, it isn’t on shelves anywhere else at the moment – we haven’t actually seen the externals of this specific Death Star since 2005’s 10143 Death Star II – and slots in naturally alongside the rest of the anniversary range.

That range encompasses a handful of other sets launching on May 1, including 75352 Emperor’s Throne Room Diorama, 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama, 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer and 40623 Battle of Endor Heroes. Like the first three in that list, 40591 Death Star II includes the new Return of the Jedi 40th-anniversary printed brick, which feels just as tacked on here as it does in those sets. (You might prefer to just leave it off altogether, for how it interrupts the otherwise sleek stand for this model.)

Otherwise, the meat of 40591 Death Star II lies in one of the most unusual builds you’ll have put together in quite a while, which is really the main appeal of this gift-with-purchase. It’s in that construction process that the LEGO Group’s decision to pivot to a display model for this year’s May the 4th headline freebie is justified, because this is really unlike anything else available on shelves right now.

We won’t spoil too much of the experience for you, but suffice to say that while it’s inevitably repetitive in places – this is a sphere – the techniques in and of themselves are interesting enough that you genuinely won’t mind. (Besides, it’s not exactly on the scale of something like 21332 The Globe.) The final model is maybe not quite as truly spherical as the actual Death Star – nobody will be mistaking this for a moon – but it’s a credible attempt within the LEGO parts library at this size.

Perhaps the only major niggle comes in the superlaser, which cleverly combines a plant stalk piece with a bar, cone and 1×1 round plate with hole. The choice of pieces works well enough, but the colours are a mishmash of regular green, lime green and trans-green, which together feel just a bit haphazard. That said: it’s probably not something you’re going to worry about for too long. This still looks like the Death Star II, right down to the unfinished slice of the orange, and what more do you want?

Well, maybe a minifigure would have sweetened the deal. Moff Jerjerrod would have been easy enough for the LEGO Group to put together and chuck in the box, but given it tends to stay away from minifigures for pure display models – here’s looking at you, 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer – we’re not too surprised to find there isn’t one here.

The good news is that 40591 Death Star II stands on its own two feet (or single stand) perfectly fine anyway, making for a decent bonus for anyone picking up LEGO Star Wars sets across the May the 4th period. £130 / $150 / €150 is a surprisingly affordable threshold, too (and lower than the required spend for last year’s headline gift-with-purchase), so you shouldn’t have too much trouble reaching it if you’re specifically aiming to grab the Death Star. Throw in double VIP points across all LEGO Star Wars sets – and quintuple points on selected models in-store – and you’re laughing.

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40591 Death Star II is available from May 1 to 7, or while stocks last, with LEGO Star Wars purchases above £130 / $150 / €150. Check out all the latest May the 4th deals and offers by clicking here.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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