LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka review

Where are those Droidekas? Well, there are two right here for May the 4th 2024, both included in LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka – but you’ll only really be interested in one of them…

If there’s one way to mark the 25th anniversary of The Phantom Menace, it’s with the first thing we see on screen capable of overcoming the Jedi. As Rune Haako confidently (and correctly) stated, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were no match for Droidekas, rolling around with their twin-barrel lasers and deflector shields.

75381 Droideka subsequently feels like exactly the right pick for a buildable character to recognise Episode I’s latest milestone, and as we’ve seen from LEGO Star Wars previously, droids tend to translate better to the brick-built aesthetic than aliens. Does the same hold true here?

— LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka set details —

Theme:LEGO Star WarsSet name:75381 DroidekaRelease date:May 1, 2024

Price:£59.99 / $64.99 / €64.99Pieces:583Minifigures:0

LEGO:Order now

— Where to buy LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka —

LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka is available now from LEGO.com, in LEGO Stores and through all good third-party retailers, such as The Minifigure Store, for £59.99 / $64.99 / €64.99.

— LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka build —

75381 Droideka flies together pretty quickly all told, with only 583 pieces making up the main build, display stand (with 25th-anniversary LEGO Star Wars brick) and minifigure-scale Droideka (more on that further down). But it does a great job of injecting some variety into the LEGO Star Wars build experience – even while the colour palette is as drab as you’d imagine – mixing Technic and System together in a way that feels fluid and natural to a brick-built droid.

The proportions of the finished model are pretty much spot on, with maybe the only sore spot being the bulkiness of the mid-section. But you wouldn’t really know it without placing the LEGO version side by side with the one seen on screen, and that’s testament to just how well the overall build here sells the impression of a Droideka: you’re instantly convinced by this build in a way that can’t be said for characters like 75255 Yoda or 75371 Chewbacca.

You’ll spot some fun element choices in and amongst too, which is not necessarily a given in a mechanical build like this, where almost every piece is functional rather than decorative. Highlights include the lipstick pieces that let just a little bit of red pop out of its sensor antennae and the whips used for cables on its arms (although those are the only fiddly bit in what’s otherwise a sturdy build).

The big question we all had looking at the first images of 75381 Droideka was whether it could roll into a ball, and the answer is… sort of. You can transform it from standing to rolling positions by removing, rotating and reattaching the legs, which does the job from a display perspective without offering any of the playability that might have been required were this not an 18+ set.

Chances are most of us will be leaving this one in an upright position on shelves, though – it’s much more imposing and iconic in that stance – so it’s not what you’d call a dealbreaker. And given how good 75381 Droideka looks otherwise, you can’t call the main build here anything other than a success.

— LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka characters —

75381 Droideka is accompanied by the first minifigure-scale LEGO Star Wars Droideka since 2015, which represents yet another attempt by the designers to perfect this droid using exclusively existing parts. But presumably hampered by a need to be relatively stable even in an 18+ set (there are more accurate designs out there, though they’re a little more fragile in places), it can’t really hold a candle to its bigger sibling.

All gangly arms and oversized legs, this droid just doesn’t cut it in 2024, when the LEGO Star Wars team is otherwise flexing its skills even within the very same set. Better luck next time.

— LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka price —

Some LEGO Star Wars sets look pretty good value in a vacuum, while others feel better value when compared to their contemporaries. And then there’s 75381 Droideka, which doesn’t feel like £60 of LEGO no matter which way you look at it. In isolation, this isn’t an especially big model, and all the negative space around the spindly droid body doesn’t do much for the value proposition.

And when you eye it up next to the other LEGO Star Wars sets at this price range, even those releasing on the same day – hello, 75383 Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator – you might find yourself gravitating towards those ahead of 75381 Droideka, not only for including a similar or greater number of pieces but for popping minifigures into the box too.

£45 feels like a fairer price for this one, so best to wait for the inevitable third-party discounts if it’s not on your must-have, day-one list. There are other ways to reach the required spend for the May the 4th freebies, after all.

— LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka pictures —

— LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka pros and cons —

75381 Droideka is a faithful and accurate LEGO Star Wars 25th anniversary set wrapped up in an all-too-expensive box. That price is all the more frustrating because this is a set that deserves to be built by as many prequel trilogy fans as possible: it’s all you could ask for from a large-scale brick-built Droideka, representing a LEGO Star Wars design team at the top of its game. Just look past the smaller scale Destroyer Droid…

This set was purchased from The Minifigure Store, where you too can purchase the new May 1 LEGO Star Wars sets from now, with worldwide shipping available.

In-stock orders are sent within 24 hours of being placed with free UK tracked shipping from £24.99 (£49.99 on larger items), as well as a number of discount codes available at their site, including 17% off polybags.

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO Star Wars sets through one of our affiliate links and making sure you accept cookies at LEGO.com.

— Alternatives to LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka —

If you’re in the market for LEGO Star Wars buildable characters, you’ve got options – although none at the same price point. You could push up a bit further for 75379 R2-D2 or shoot for the moon with 75308 R2-D2 or 75371 Chewbacca, all of which feel more substantial than 75381 Droideka, but with the price tags to match.

There are plenty of LEGO Star Wars sets at the £60 price bracket, meanwhile, including a minifigure-scale The Phantom Menace model in the newly-released 75383 Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator. If it’s a distinctly display model you’re after, you could do worse than 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer or any of the LEGO Star Wars helmets.

— LEGO Star Wars 75381 Droideka FAQs —

Author Profile

Chris Wharfe

I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

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