LEGO Star Wars 75378 BARC Speeder Escape is ‘not great, not terrible — it’s just okay’

With the first reviews for LEGO Star Wars 75378 BARC Speeder Escape now public, here’s a closer look at how the upcoming release shapes up.

Due for release on May 1 and retailing for £24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99, LEGO Star Wars 75378 BARC Speeder Escape is a set of firsts in many ways. It’s the first set that we get a minifigure of Kelleran Beq, it’s the first set with a buildable section of the Jedi Temple, and it’s a rebuild of a popular Star Wars set that often goes for over £150 on the secondhand LEGO market.

Some LEGO reviewers have got their hands on the set early, so here’s what they had to say about the newly-revealed LEGO Star Wars 75378 BARC Speeder Escape ahead of its release in a few weeks time.

‘It’s cool to finally see another BARC speeder’

This iteration of the BARC speeder is based on its appearance in the third season of The Mandalorian, when Grogu has a flashback for how he escapes the Jedi Temple, aided by Ahmed Best’s Kelleran Beq, but there have been many over the years, including a set that named the vehicle back in 2013. It’s therefore easy to at first draw a comparison between those two brick-built vehicles, just as LEGO YouTuber Solid Brix Studios does in his review.

“Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I favour the old Clone Wars variant over the Jedi Temple or Coruscant variant of the BARC speeder,” he explained. “Although LEGO did some good things with the engines, I prefer some other things with the sidecar, like the ability to turn it around.”

The YouTuber went on to highlight that the mean speeder build is larger than expected, with relatively good proportions but it’s not quite accurate to the slim vehicle seen on-screen.

“LEGO did a fairly good job of recreating the BARC speeder, though it’s definitely size-proportionally very wrong.”

‘The very first section of the Jedi temple that we’ve ever gotten’ — but no one’s a fan

The next section of the build that every reviewer couldn’t help but notice was the brick-built lamppost. While Solid Brix Studios half-jokingly points out that this is a record-breaking set in that it offers the very first buildable section of the Jedi Temple, it’s hard not to see it as a letdown.

“This lamppost literally does nothing for the set,” the YouTuber continues. “It’s just a little extra display item. You can’t add minifigures to it, the plate isn’t big enough – the only useful thing was to put the clear piece that can go under the pram on it.”

Other reviewers agreed, with both Jeansversion and MiniSuperHeroesToday expressing similar sentiments.

“Isn’t that so bizarre?” commented Jeansversion. “Is this the first lightpost in LEGO Star Wars?”

“It just seems like it’s trying to take up space or is just something to put your Clone Troopers beside,” agreed MiniSuperHeroesToday. “It feels like an unnecessary addition”.

‘The selling point of this entire set is the Kelleran Beq minifigure‘

What both other reviewers, Jeansversion and MiniSuperHeroesToday, agreed on is that Kelleran Beq’s minifigure is a standout inclusion in 75378 BARC Speeder Escape.

“Kelleran Beq’s torso has some really cool gold detailing on the front side and the back side and printing on the front side of the legs,” notes Jeansversion. “But nothing on the side, which is kind of a missed opportunity. We do get a cape on Kelleran Beq though and he’s wielding two lightsabers.”

The LEGO YouTuber also noted that there have been some criticisms that Kelleran Beq is too similar to Mace Windu so she puts the both of them side by side, highlighting that this gold detailing helps the former stand out from the latter. However, it’s worth noting that Mace has arm printing and white printing on the legs to add a bit more colour variety.

As well as applauding the minifigure design of Kelleran Beq, MiniSuperHeroesToday points out in his review that he sees a slight smokiness to the two lightsabers Kelleran Beq has that differs from the classic translucent lightsabers, adding a little splash of something different to the minifigure.

“The selling point of this entire set, in my opinion, is the Kelleran Beq minifigure,” concludes the LEGO YouTuber.

The two 501st Clone Troopers will still work for army building

Staying with the minifigures include in this set (three minifigures plus Grogu), although the two 501st Clone Troopers minifigures do have updated helmets with helmet holes and a slight difference in printing, the difference is so small that you likely won’t be able to notice a difference between the old and the new, if army building is something you want to do.

“If there is a difference on the torso printing, it is so minute that I can’t see it without a magnifying glass,” joked MiniSuperHeroesToday. “When you look at them front on, side by side, without seeing the helmet holes, they do look pretty identical, so as far as army building goes, that’s awesome.”

‘I wish there was a little more to it‘

All in all, there were definitely elements that all three reviewers liked. However, the golden question for any LEGO set nowadays: is it worth the money?

“For the price that you’re paying, this isn’t a bad set per se, though I wish there was a little bit more to it,” admitted Solid Brix Studios. “It isn’t exactly my favourite set from LEGO Star Wars for 2024…This set is just okay. It’s not great, it’s not terrible, it’s just okay.”

For MiniSuperHeroesToday, he has similar reservations about what you get for the price, ending his video by saying: “It’s definitely emblematic of the episode from The Mandalorian season 3 but at the same time, $30 for this does seem just a little bit steep.”

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