LEGO Star Wars 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter review

75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter was revealed by the LEGO Star Wars team almost as fast as it flew across screens in The Book of Boba Fett, but it’s far from a rush job.

You only needed to look at the sheer volume of custom LEGO N-1 Starfighters that immediately sprung up over social media following the release of Chapter 5 of The Book of Boba Fett – Return of the Mandalorian – to understand the instant and widespread appeal of Din Djarin’s new ship, and the great potential to turn it into a LEGO Star Wars set.

Following on from the Razor Crest in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, here is a second and very different ship in which the very popular titular character and Grogu can venture across the galaxy far, far away. Taking a recognisable prequel trilogy ship and stripping it back in colour and bodywork immediately echoes everything that has worked so well in the familiar-but-different approach that has shaped Mando’s character and story so far – in short, this ship speaks to different generations of Star Wars fans.

And while we had to wait over an agonising year for the Razor Crest to manifest into an official – and very awesome – LEGO set, 75292 The Razor Crest, the LEGO Group surprised us all by revealing 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter within days of its appearance on Boba’s Disney+ show.

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On pre-order at LEGO.com ever since, ahead of a June 1 release, first impressions of 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter are that a) the LEGO Star Wars team has captured everything that appeals about this ship in perfect LEGO form and b) maybe it’s a bit expensive.

— Set details —

Theme: LEGO Star Wars Set name: 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter Release: June 1, 2022

Price: £54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99 Pieces: 412 Characters: 4

LEGO: Pre-order now

— Build —

Coming in at £54.99 and offering up four characters and 412 pieces, 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter certainly sits on the cusp of being expensive for what you get in the box. It’s also a price point that a number of other, very different LEGO Star Wars sets have recently occupied or currently still occupy.

So at that price, 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter has to deliver or risk being sidelined by a very competitive and credible line-up of alternative options. And deliver it most certainly does.

First up, we don’t want to shout too loudly about this in case the LEGO Star Wars team cottons on and makes adjustments for the future, but clearly that is a team that does not differentiate between age groups when it comes to quality design. The box for 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter says ‘9+’ on it, but for experienced LEGO Star Wars builders who may have put together Ultimate Collector Series or 18+ products, this set offers the same substance and intelligence of LEGO building as those higher-level models.

It has to, really, for the unique angles and shaping that define the starfighter’s quite particular design. The LEGO Group has previously visited this ship in its yellow Naboo form a good few times, but here the vehicle’s appearance challenges further, with exposed engine parts, asymmetrical bodywork and a stripped-back paint job offering intrigue, but also the demands of a more complex construction.

From an aesthetic perspective, then, 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter looks great, with the set capturing exactly the right level of detail to replicate the on-screen version and to catch your eyes in that same way, all the while without over-complicating things with too many bits and pieces in visual competition, or risking making the toy too fragile or unplayable to hold.

The N-1 Starfighter is rough and ready, sleek yet somewhat unfinished, and 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter feels just the same in your hands. It’s sturdy, pretty weighty and very, very swooshable. The thinness of the ship is expertly caught in profile, while any one of the subtle but quite complex angles of bodywork allow the LEGO set to look exactly like the on-screen version from pretty much any direction you look at it.

It’s also when in your hands that you’ll notice perhaps the one compromise that had to be made, and likely where the age recommendation does make a difference – the model is about 25% bigger than true minifigure scale, in comparison to how it is on-screen.

Alongside prioritising playability for the younger target audience, that is largely going to have also been dictated by the unusual dimensions of minifigures and by the two cockpit windscreen pieces required that at once fit the part perfectly and are still large enough to sit the characters within. It’s not the first LEGO Star Wars ship to play with scale to suit minifigure, budget and play requirements and for the strengths that are otherwise here, it’s a more than forgivable compromise once more.

Particular highlights in design across 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter include those two cockpits for Din Djarin and Grogu for how perfectly they suit the duo; the two J-type engines with exposed internal mechanisations at the end of the front wings, both of which are stunted at the front after the cones were removed by Djarin and mechanic Peli Motto; the panel-less rear tail; and the ‘turbonic venturi power assimilator’ – the round thing at the front that looks like a 1970s muscle car exposed intake, and that in the LEGO set pushes down to fire out a nicely-hidden spring-loaded missile.

Design for the on-screen N-1 Starfighter clearly included great care to ensure that while this was the skeleton of a previously-seen ship from the Star Wars galaxy, that it was also sufficiently different, so as to be truly identifiable to the character of the Mandalorian.

A simple recolour of a Naboo ship would not have caught the imagination of so many so quickly, and it’s an important consideration that has clearly carried over into the design of 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter. With a roster of previous LEGO Naboo Starfighters to take inspiration from, there was always the slightest chance that this set could have come out looking like a straight-up rehash of one of those, just coloured grey.

Instead, the design team for LEGO Star Wars has given this set the attention and unique design that it – and Mando’s legions of fans – demand and deserve.

— Characters —

If the ship itself isn’t enough to convince you to part with your credits, the line-up of characters included most certainly will.

Mechanic Peli Motto is a welcome addition to the Mandalorian minifigure collection, with a design that simply and nicely captures her outfit and expression on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. If there’s anything to scrutinise, it would be that the mid-length minifigure legs would have been more appropriate to reflect her height, particularly for the tool belt that’s included that gives her even more vertical gains, while likewise there is a previous hairpiece that has been out of production for five years that would have so perfectly suited her. Small complaints, however, for what is otherwise a nice all-round design.

Speaking of nice all-round designs, finally – finally – here is Din Djarin with a face print. We shouldn’t actually show you this as it is against The Way, but the LEGO Star Wars team has absolutely knocked it out of the park in delivering us a highly-accurate design for the guy under the mask, complete with the bonus of a new skin tone too. Shame we didn’t get some ruffled hair to complete the look, or a cape, or a credible mould for the Darksaber, but as far as improvements go, we’ll take that wonderful face print as a win.

Grogu remains as adorable as ever – they perfected the expression first time around so why change it? Meanwhile, the unnamed BD Droid is a new mould that debuts here. Does this mean we’ll be getting other sets with reprints of this little guy down the line?

— Price —

A price of £54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99 does place 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter at the higher end of where it could be. It still offers more than fair value for fans looking for an official and pretty authentic (albeit a little bit big) version of Mando’s new ship, but for that price everything in the set needs to appeal, so as to offer real value.

— Pictures —

— Summary —

75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter ticks all the boxes that it needs to, offering LEGO Star Wars fans a detailed and credible model of the Mandalorian’s latest ship, complete with a decent and unique line-up of characters.

The spirit of the on-screen ship is what so immediately appealed to many fans who went out to build a custom version as soon as they saw it in The Book of Boba Fett, and that same spirit is very much captured across 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter. A lot of us have been waiting for this set and we won’t be disappointed.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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— FAQs —

How long does it take to build LEGO Star Wars 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter?

75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter takes about 45 minutes to put together, across just the two sets of numbered bags.

How many pieces are in LEGO Star Wars 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter?

There are 412 pieces included in 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter, including four characters for Din Djarin, Peli Motto, Grogu and an unnamed BD Droid.

How big is LEGO Star Wars 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter?

75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter measures 43cm long and comes in at 29cm wide. It is tallest at Grogu’s cockpit, which sits at 7cm high.

How much does LEGO Star Wars 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter cost?

75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter is priced at £54.99 in the UK, $59.99 in the US and from €59.99 in Europe. Releasing on June 1, it is currently available for pre-order at LEGO.com.

Author Profile

Rob Paton
As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I mix a passion for print and digital media production with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages eulogising about LEGO Batman, digging deeper into the LEGO Group’s inner workings, or just complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the greatest LEGO theme of all time. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or drop me an email at [email protected].

Rob Paton

As one half of Tiro Media Ltd, I mix a passion for print and digital media production with a deep love of LEGO and can often be found on these pages eulogising about LEGO Batman, digging deeper into the LEGO Group’s inner workings, or just complaining about the price of the latest LEGO Star Wars set. Make a great impression when you meet me in person by praising EXO-FORCE as the greatest LEGO theme of all time. Follow me on Twitter @RobPaton or drop me an email at [email protected].

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