Mos Eisley Cantina

After a wonderful version of Mos Eisley in 2014 Lego has released a new version of this classic scene. This time it is smaller and at a lower price point. All four minifigures are beautiful. I think these are the best versions of Han and Greedo so far. Han has very nice torso and leg print and the new hair piece really suits him well. Greedo appears to have some mild tweaks in the printing from before but he looks great. Nice to finally get a Wuher and this Sandtrooper has very nice printing to represent sand on his armor, a new shoulder paudron and a really cool backpack. The completed set is tiny. But there are quite a few nice details in the bar, entryway and seating alcove that justify it. The sliding entry door is also a nice feature. I particularly like the way the seats look in the seating booth. There is also a nice play feature so you can decide who really shot first (a lever that flips the minifig out of the seat). New to this set is a Ubrikkian 9000 pod that I honestly don't remember ever seeing in E4 and I have seen it like 100 times. Nonetheless it is fun to build and looks nice parked outside, especially if you have a Luke's Landspeeder to add to the display. Overall I enjoyed building this and I am glad my wife picked it up for me as a surprise. She thought it was cute so she grabbed it. I was a bit underwhelmed with the size when done but I also really enjoy the minfigs and details in it. I am not sure if the price is a good one for this but I do think what it lacks in size it makes up for in detail. It would be nice to maybe get a companion set sometime down the road with the Bith musicians, Ponda Baba and Dr Evazan, some tables and/or more booths and maybe and extension to the bar. I am also pretty sure no one would complain about getting another Dewback either. more less

This is a curious set with lots of features that still work in its favour, in spite of a clumsy nature when put together. It will initially disappoint anyone who has built 2014's Mos Eisley Cantina – 75205's whole is not greater than the sum of its parts – but look beyond that and everything about the set is relevant and still an update on what has come before. It's better to have half a Mos Eisley Cantina set than no Mos Eisley Cantina set, and it's slightly easier on the wallet than a lot of other LEGO Star Wars releases at the moment. more less

Well, let's dissect it part by part: the minifigures are not bad – the four figures are quite good and make a good addition to a LEGO fan's minifigure collection. The builds though, aren't very good if you ask me. They do look complete, but they're very small and aren't very convincing. Playability is limited because of the cramped rooms, and the price is pretty high. more less

Remakes are an inevitable aspect of the LEGO Star Wars range and this is not an issue in my opinion, as long as they represent an improvement over the previous set or take a distinct approach to its design. Unfortunately, 75205 Mos Eisley Cantina is not entirely successful in that regard. Wuher is a welcome addition to the set and the seating alcove is more detailed than it was in 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina but I think the older model remains superior. more less

The $39.99 retail price initially feels a bit high for a small structure, one-man speeder, and four minifigures, but the part count of 378 shows it to be not far off the mark (coming in only a hair above the magical $0.10-per-piece ratio that LEGO sets average). If you have the 2014 version, you'll need to weigh your choices more closely unless you find a sale. If you only have the 2004 version, or don't have a Mos Eisley Cantina at all, you'll definitely want to pick this up. more less