LEGO Star Wars 75389 The Dark Falcon review

What if the Millennium Falcon, but black? That’s the question the LEGO Star Wars team has dared to ask – and the answer is better than you might have expected.

Twenty-five years into a product theme is as good a time as any to start throwing out some curveballs, so we have Rebuild the Galaxy to thank for probably the wackiest of this summer’s LEGO Star Wars range in 75389 The Dark Falcon. Debuting an evil version of Han Solo’s ship complete with a topsy-turvy minifigure selection that flips the script on iconic characters’ allegiances, this is the Falcon like we’ve never seen it before – and it’s really all the better for it. Because, hey, it isn’t grey…

Release: August 1, 2024 Price: £159.99 / $179.99 / €179.99 Pieces: 1,579 Minifigures: 6 LEGO: Order now

Black is the new grey

LEGO Star Wars has been doing pretty well with thinking outside the colour wheel recently, even while there are still cornerstones of a galaxy far, far away – like August’s 75394 Imperial Star Destroyer – to keep endless grey parts in production. Splashes of colour can be seen in sets like 75354 Coruscant Guard Gunship, 75357 Ghost & Phantom II and this year’s 75380 Mos Espa Podrace Diorama, while we’ve also seen some pretty cool black shuttles and starfighters like 75336 Inquisitor Transport Scythe.

75389 The Dark Falcon throws all of that into the mix and cooks up something with instant appeal to cynical LEGO Star Wars collectors who have been there, done that and bought the LEGO set. This is a Millennium Falcon that dares to do things differently, if only in so far as the colour scheme, and the results are surprisingly effective for those of us who value novelty in our collections and displays. The idea of a recoloured Star Wars ship is not a new one by any stretch, but certain elements – like the Falcon’s cockpit – make doing it yourself tricky.

Here then is an out-of-the-box solution to the endless sea of grey Millennium Falcons we’ve had over the past 25 years. And while those all make sense – it’s grey in the movies – 75389 The Dark Falcon manages to take the ingredients of a very-well-worn ship and make the outcome feel fresh and cool and new and exciting, in ways that this ship hasn’t since the LEGO Star Wars team perfected the UCS version in 2017. The mix of black, dark red, trans-red and a sprinkling of dark grey breathes new life into Han Solo’s freighter. But what this set doesn’t necessarily do is reinvent the wheel.

New outfit, same you

By and large, 75389 The Dark Falcon comes together in roughly the same way as 2019’s 75257 Millennium Falcon, which is thankfully still in production. (If you reject the notion of a black Falcon, here is your chance to snap up the regular version, safe in the knowledge that another one probably won’t come along for a few years.) That’s really not a surprise though given the LEGO Group has iterated on this design for more than two decades and now left itself little room to improve any further: the various gaps around the plating are as closed as you’re going to get while still maintaining interior access, and the proportions are pretty much spot on.

The biggest change to the Falcon’s structure comes in the way each of its panels attaches to the main hull. One of the two clips used in the Rise of Skywalker version has been swapped out for 1×1 plates with holes, through which you’ll slide a bar to lock things into place – a change made to accommodate kids prone to ripping open the panels of the previous Falcon too hastily, according to the LEGO Star Wars team. Beyond that, this thing is all about the aesthetics.

That’s not only in the revamped colour scheme, which really sings on display – check out the sinister trans-red engines – but also in the interior, where you’ll find the most changes from 75257 Millennium Falcon. Han Solo’s primitive, analogue Dejarik table has been stripped out and upgraded to a digital version, seemingly released on PlayStation 5, while there’s also a trans-red holding cell for prisoners, a throne for Darth Jar Jar and more. It’s a fun interior that really helps 75389 The Dark Falcon feel unique while making good use of the available space, although there’s still room for even more if you want to cook up your own additions.

Otherwise, this will feel familiar to veteran collectors from a design perspective, and that means that here too are compromises present in previous Falcons: predominantly the more pronounced gaps where the cockpit meets the hull, which are just as hard to ignore here as they were in 2019, and the ski-pole turrets that snap off a little too easily. If there’s one new point of contention, it’s in that funky radar dish, which really needed some way of attaching the bigger aerial elements (and for those elements to be included in the set) to sell its Death Star-laser tech.

Whose side are you on?

Core to the concept of 75389 The Dark Falcon is its sextet of minifigures, which take fan-favourite characters (and Jar Jar) and flip them on their head for Rebuild the Galaxy. C-3PO’s a bounty hunter, Rey’s a Sith, and so on. Some of these are concepts pulled from comics – Jedi Vader – or prevalent fan theories (Darth Jar Jar). Others are just fun ‘what if’ scenarios devised by the animation team, like Beach Luke, who answers the question of what might have happened had Luke Skywalker missed his call to the hero’s journey in A New Hope.

We’ll see the narratives behind these characters play out on screen in September, but 75389 The Dark Falcon shines where 75393 TIE Fighter & X-Wing Mash-up falters because these are characters we already know and love (and Jar Jar), only in fun and interesting new variants that you can appreciate for their novelty without needing much in the way of a backstory (Darth Dev Greebling notwithstanding).

Jedi Vader is easily the highlight, right down to the kinder expression awaiting underneath the recoloured helmet, but as a full range this is one of the most enjoyable LEGO Star Wars character selections we’ve seen in a while. It embraces and encapsulates the sheer novelty factor of 75389 The Dark Falcon, in effect summing up the entire purpose and intent behind this one-of-a-kind LEGO Star Wars set.

And what of the price? Well, it’s only £10 / $10 / €10 more than 75257 Millennium Falcon, but includes an extra 200 pieces – attributable mostly to that more detailed interior – and six full minifigures (rather than five minifigures and two droids), so by all accounts this is actually pretty reasonable. But then the smart money is always on waiting for a discount for LEGO Star Wars… just don’t sleep on it altogether.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO Ideas sets using our affiliate links.

Our honest opinion: Cynics, stay away: this is one for LEGO Star Wars collectors ready to embrace their novelty era. Come for the colour swap, stay for the minifigures.

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.

Latest entries

• Latest06/09/2024LEGO Harry Potter’s biggest Hogwarts set is basically never going to retire
• News06/09/2024‘Inexcusable’: LEGO Batman fans call Batmobile’s missing character a ‘deal-killer’
• Features06/09/2024LEGO NINJAGO has a stealth line for adults – and it’s outshining actual 18+ sets
• 71047 Dungeons & Dragons05/09/2024LEGO Dungeons & Dragons behind-the-scenes: Tasha the Witch Queen and the Lady of Pain