Wrapping up our review of the LEGO Star Wars September wave, today we’re taking a hands-on look at the new Coruscant Guard Gunship. This just-released set takes a classic Star Wars vehicle and gives it a unique color scheme complete with five new minifigures – all in a package with just a few too many compromises.
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Hands-on with the new LEGO Coruscant Guard Gunship
As the fourth and final LEGO Star Wars set from the September wave that we’ll be reviewing, the LEGO Group ditched the Ahsoka theming and went back to the Clone Wars. Delivering what is easily one of the most unique creations we’ve seen in ages, the LEGO Coruscant Guard Gunship leaps off its very few on-screen appearances and into your collection.
Hardly the first time we’ve seen a Republic Gunship get the LEGO treatment, the demand for the company to release the ship has lead to the LEGO Group taking a more interesting approach. Set number 75354 clocks in with a design that is very similar to other builds we’ve seen lately – opting to downscale the model much like the Ghost and Phantom II that just released. It’s hardly a bad design choice on paper, but the kit goes one step further to stand out from past iterations of the LAAT by swapping the color scheme.
Instead of being your typical white transport ship, the new LEGO Coruscant Guard Gunship doubles down on the dark red design in favor of giving builders a lesser known version of the vehicle. It’s such a bold choice, given that fans have been asking for a playscale version of the gunship for ages to go with last year’s AT-TE. But it does pay off, at least for the most part.
Stacking up to 1,083 pieces, the latest LEGO rendition of the ship arrives with just about everything you’d expect. There’s the iconic design with sloped wings, two giant cannons on top, bubble cockpit canopies, and sliding doors on the side. Even with the swapped colors, there is no mistaking this for anything other than the Republic Gunship that it is.
Interior space has been one of the reoccurring themes for the LEGO Star Wars September lineup, and there really isn’t a set that leans into that more than the new Coruscant Guard Gunship. I mean it is a transport vessel, after all! And so it’s quite fitting to actually see the LEGO Group deliver on that, but there might honestly be too much space. Right at the front, there’s a pair of hatches that can swing open to reveal a little area right under the cockpits, except there’s not really anything to do with the area. It’s more of a void than a place to realistically put figures, and there’s no cargo or anything to actually stow in it.
At least the troop section is great, with plenty of room for the figures included in the set and those you’re going to supply yourself. I just wish the doors on the outside were a bit more realistic. The build does a great job at including some very solid details, like the white accenting that is beautifully tiled onto the sides of the model. But then it goes and ditches the two-door panels on the side for a more simplistic build. The doors do swing open like they should, but the design makes it harder to actually access the interior.
I get compromises have to be made in bringing a vehicle from a galaxy far, far away over to a buildable model, but I do wish that this wasn’t one of those.
And speaking of inaccuracies, the Coruscant Guard Gunship does suffer from being a playset, too. It not being geared towards older builders means that the LEGO Group thinks it needs to cram in as many play features as possible. Which is why the iconic bubble turrets on the wings have been replaced with some boring stud shooters.
Alongside the gunship itself, you’re also getting five minifigures. The Coruscant Guard Gunship packs in four unique figures, with a pair of the red Shock Troopers kicking off the build, then there’s Commander Fox to give the Clones a leader, with Chancellor Palpatine and Padme Amidala rounding out the kit.
It’s a great lineup on paper, and the execution of four of the figures is really fantastic. I love how bright the red on the Shock Troopers is, and getting more than one is actually fitting for once considering we’re talking about a trooper transport ship. Both Chancellor Palpatine and Padme are also great figures, especially considering we’ve only ever seen these designs in the past with more of the Clone Wars cartoon aesthetic applied. So now, they look just like any other normal LEGO Star Wars figure.
But the minifigure that a lot of builders are going to be eyeing up the gunship for in the first place prevents the entire lineup from being perfect. Commander Fox has some inaccuracies in his armor printing, which is forgivable to me; what’s not something I can ignore is just how bad the printing is. The white elements on his torso are supposed to be white, and yet on the final figure we end up with some pink instead. It speaks to how the LEGO Group has been cutting corners lately in their production, and is certainly going to be one of the bigger points of contention for the set.
gadgetnewsonline’ Take
Accuracy of the name of the game this time around for the LEGO Coruscant Guard Gunship, and it unfortunately breaks the kit. There is so much that I do love ahout the build, and I hope that is apparent from everything I have already said. But if you can’t separate the kit from its in-universe counterpart, then you’re going to find this one lacking a little too much.
The $140 price point isn’t all too bad, either. But it just doesn’t compare to a lot of the other sets on store shelves. This is the real deciding factor for me. In its own little bubble, the LEGO Coruscant Guard Gunship is a pretty solid set (even with the inaccuracies), but then you compare it to how far $140 will go elsewhere in the current LEGO stable, and it’s a far harder sell. If you’re not gunning for a Republic Gunship, then I would definitely go look at the other kits in the lineup.
But if you are just hoping to bring home the Republic vehicle, then you’ll likely be very happy with the the LEGO Coruscant Guard Gunship. The slimmed down size makes a lot of great compromises and while it’s not the best value we’ve seen, this is hardly a bad way to spend this kind of cash. Especially for something this unique.
Other LEGO Star Wars September 2023 reviews:
- LEGO’s new Ghost and Phantom II from ‘Ahsoka’ shines as one of the year’s best values
- LEGO’s New Republic E-Wing vs. Shin Hati’s Starfighter excites with unique designs
- LEGO drops the ball on its new Ahsoka Tano T-6 Jedi Shuttle set
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