Episode 10
010 - Lego Razor Crest
In this episode of the Brick Magnate podcast, I dive into the review of the Lego Razor Crest set from the popular Star Wars spin-off TV series, The Mandalorian.
Despite initially vowing not to buy the set, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the build experience and the end result. Join me as I share my thoughts on the set and discuss its value for money.
Transcript
Well, hello there. Welcome to episode 10 of the Brick Magnate podcast. I'm
Speaker:your host Mike Morrison aka the Brick Magnate, and this is the
Speaker:show where I get to share my love of Lego with my fellow brick
Speaker:building enthusiasts and review some of my favorite
Speaker:sets and recent builds and just talk about
Speaker:this little plastic, bundle
Speaker:of obsession that we all share. So this
Speaker:week I'm gonna be reviewing a set that I I
Speaker:did swear I was never going to buy, and that is
Speaker:the Lego Razor Crest from the Mandalorian
Speaker:TV series, which for anyone not familiar
Speaker:is, one of the most popular probably the most popular
Speaker:Star Wars spin off TV series, that there's
Speaker:ever been. It's where baby Yoda is from. Like, if you're not a Star Wars
Speaker:fan, you probably still know baby Yoda. Right? Let's not
Speaker:get into whether that's an accurate name or any of that because this isn't a
Speaker:Star Wars podcast. Although if you're looking for a Star Wars podcast,
Speaker:check out Spark of Rebellion from my very good friend, Mark Asquith,
Speaker:and, his cohost, I think it's Gary. They've
Speaker:got a great podcast on Star Wars if you're into that. But
Speaker:if you are a little more on the LEGO side and you wanna know
Speaker:what I thought of the razor crest then Stay tuned for this episode. We're
Speaker:gonna dive into the review very very soon. Before that though, if it's your
Speaker:first time listening or if you've caught a couple of episodes, but you've not
Speaker:yet taken the leap, Then make sure you hit that subscribe or
Speaker:follow button in your podcast app to ensure that you get
Speaker:your hands and your ears on each and every episode
Speaker:of the show. And you gotta find out about the sets I'm working
Speaker:on and get my reviews of Pretty much
Speaker:everything worth reviewing when it comes to
Speaker:awesome awesome Lego. So the
Speaker:Razor Crest. This was the set that I said I was never
Speaker:going to buy. I talked about it
Speaker:probably episode 3, episode 4, like, a while back.
Speaker:And I I was chatting about
Speaker:sets that you've that part of you feels you should have,
Speaker:but you just can't get excited about, and you just can't justify,
Speaker:spending the money on. And it's not just about the money. Things like
Speaker:the, the iron gauntlet, Lego set
Speaker:from Avengers. Like, again, that's that's one of the ones I wouldn't
Speaker:buy because it's it's just the infinity gold, and it's just with different color
Speaker:bricks, and, you know, I don't know if it's a printable thing or if it's
Speaker:a variety thing, in terms of not wanting to repeat the same
Speaker:build. But, yeah, that put me off, and Razor Crest was the one I was
Speaker:never going to buy because for me it just isn't iconic
Speaker:enough in the Star Wars world to justify paying
Speaker:such a significant amount for an ultimate collector
Speaker:series set. Those UCS series, They're
Speaker:big, and they're expensive. And for as much as
Speaker:I spend on this shared obsession of ours, Anything
Speaker:north of £500, $500, what have you, really
Speaker:needs to be something special for me to throw down that kind of
Speaker:money. And for me, The Razor Crest wasn't that. Don't get me wrong. I
Speaker:loved Mandalorian, especially the first, series.
Speaker:The first series is still probably the best. A lot of it's on the
Speaker:Razor Crest. It looks cool, but just wasn't
Speaker:iconic. Like, I was thinking about sets like the
Speaker:UCS Millennium Falcon, which I have and which is
Speaker:epic. Even the UCS AT AT, the, the AT
Speaker:AT Walker, the imperial destroyer, like, Those
Speaker:are iconic Star Wars vehicles,
Speaker:but I, you know, I I chose not to buy those, the AT and T
Speaker:and the Imperial Destroyer, because I just wasn't feeling it. Didn't think there'd be fun
Speaker:builds. Didn't know where to put them. So, you know, I
Speaker:already kind of have a high bar for Star Wars UCS
Speaker:sets, And if I wasn't buying the AT AT and the
Speaker:imperial destroyer, I definitely wasn't gonna buy the Razor Crest.
Speaker:Right? I had no choice, no chance. After all, it's just from a TV
Speaker:show, not the original movies or even the sequels or prequels, and
Speaker:hell they blew up the the Razor Crest. Like, they blew the
Speaker:thing up in the 2nd series. I would say spoiler alert, but it's been out
Speaker:for years. If you haven't seen it, you're not gonna watch it. They blew
Speaker:it up, and they switched to a totally different ship for the Mandalorian.
Speaker:So Even in the world of the TV show, the Razor Crest isn't all
Speaker:that important. I mean, imagine them blowing up the Falcon in Empire Strikes Back.
Speaker:Right? So I absolutely 100% was not buying this, and I
Speaker:felt good about that decision. I didn't feel I was missing out. Didn't feel I
Speaker:regret but then there was a lull.
Speaker:There was a quiet period where that it was earlier in the year where it
Speaker:just didn't seem like there was anything sighting being released
Speaker:or there were some exciting sets, but they were quick
Speaker:builds, and I was just getting antsy for a nice big
Speaker:set that I could get stuck into. The sort where you could
Speaker:spread it out over a couple of weeks. Does that ever happen to you? Do
Speaker:you find your Your Lego obsessed brain slowly talking you
Speaker:into buying that set that you just weren't interested in just because it
Speaker:craves those big bills, those delicious little
Speaker:plastic bricks. Please say it's not just me. So anyway I caved,
Speaker:and you know what? I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed this
Speaker:set. So let's dive into the review. So the Razor Crest comes in
Speaker:at 6,187 pieces. That's just a little
Speaker:bit shy of the Millennium Falcon, the ultimate collector series
Speaker:Millennium Falcon, which surprised me because I didn't have
Speaker:them on equal footing in terms of the
Speaker:size of the set and the scale of the build. That Millennium Falcon is
Speaker:a beast, and I didn't think any other Star Wars sets other than the out
Speaker:of the imperial destroyer will come close. I definitely didn't think the Razor Crest was
Speaker:gonna come close. So, just shy of 6,200
Speaker:pieces Cost $600 or 520,
Speaker:British pounds for myself. So it's just slightly on
Speaker:the right side of the 10¢ per piece
Speaker:line, which is very good for a licensed set
Speaker:for something with a Star Wars license. That's an ultimate collector series.
Speaker:That's that's a good Average cost per per brick
Speaker:piece. In terms of build experience,
Speaker:this was a lot more fun and satisfying than I'd expected.
Speaker:Again, my business for comparison was the falcon, which frankly
Speaker:is a mixed build experience with some very lengthy, boring,
Speaker:and frustrating spells. So I was a little bit worried it would be the
Speaker:same with the Razor Crest, but thankfully, Razor Crest
Speaker:is a lot more varied than the Falcon. And because the ship has some
Speaker:quirky angles and unique features, it makes for some pretty cool
Speaker:and satisfying build techniques that Make sure that the build never gets
Speaker:boring. I was also so relieved to find that
Speaker:you build a decent amount of detail into the interior of the
Speaker:ship too. That's perhaps one of the biggest let downs of the Falcon set.
Speaker:You've got your cockpit with a little separate area for Grogu in his crib to
Speaker:hang out. You got the section where where the cryo frozen bounties are
Speaker:stored, section with Mando's equipment up on the wall, Boba
Speaker:Fett's armor from when he salvages that.
Speaker:Just lots of cool little details that are easy enough to access
Speaker:when the whole set It's finished. They're not just kinda sealed in there.
Speaker:And for me, the most oddly satisfying part of the build was adding on those
Speaker:wings. That's the final piece of the build is getting on the wings that have
Speaker:those huge round engines attached. There was something very
Speaker:pleasing from a tactile perspective, like the feel of it,
Speaker:the bulk of it, the weight of it. Something really satisfying,
Speaker:about that part of the build, and finally kind of
Speaker:slotting them onto the main body of the ship, which you spend, you know,
Speaker:the first kind of 2 thirds of the build experience building, like,
Speaker:building out those those big hefty chunky wings,
Speaker:and then the satisfaction that comes from piecing them
Speaker:together with the main body of the ship and seeing that end result. It's really,
Speaker:really cool that part comes at the end. It's a good way of ending that
Speaker:build experience. So all in all, for such a big and lengthy build,
Speaker:I don't think I was ever bored, which is rare for sets of this
Speaker:scale. And I don't know if this is just me or if it's true or
Speaker:not, but, you know, a lot of the Lego ships, well, the
Speaker:vehicle, like, They're they're gray. There's just a lot of gray, and I think
Speaker:that affects in a lot of cases your enjoyment of the build, because there's
Speaker:nothing vibrant. And the Razor Crest
Speaker:again is a big big gray thing, but even
Speaker:so, I still enjoyed it. It didn't affect it, so I think that, You know?
Speaker:It's a it's a silly point, but maybe not as silly as, as
Speaker:I think it is. So yeah. I was never bored. I
Speaker:was never bored, which is rare for this kind of set. There wasn't anything mind
Speaker:blowing in the experience, but it was fun piecing this together
Speaker:from start to finish. So I'm gonna give this build experience a 4
Speaker:out of 5. Satisfying, enjoyable, and
Speaker:that is surprising for this size of a build,
Speaker:especially where, you know, you're building a vehicle. You're not you're not building like
Speaker:a a Hogwarts, Harry Potter Hogwarts or a Diagon Alley
Speaker:where there's lots of very distinct areas. Like, it's it's a
Speaker:big gray hunk of metal, but it was still fun.
Speaker:So it's a 4 out of 5 from me on Build Experience. In terms of
Speaker:the end result, the finished set really does look great.
Speaker:Argue over whether it's iconic enough or not. It looks
Speaker:epic as a completed Lego set. It's a good
Speaker:Satisfying size. It feels sturdy. It's weighty.
Speaker:It feels chunky. Right?
Speaker:Again, I hate to keep comparing to the Falcon, but the Falcon's probably the
Speaker:best measuring stick. Certainly, it's the best one I've got. With the
Speaker:Falcon. Anyone who's got the Falcon will will be familiar with
Speaker:this. There's always the fear that if you even look at it
Speaker:the wrong way, part of it will fall off.
Speaker:And while there's definitely a little bit of risk of mishandling the
Speaker:razor the razor quest TV show. The razor
Speaker:crest. It doesn't feel quite so fragile which
Speaker:was a relief because that falcon is a nightmare.
Speaker:Like, anytime you try and dust it clean around it,
Speaker:something falls off. Even, like, the fact they have to,
Speaker:like, include very specific instructions of how
Speaker:to pick it up and how not to pick it up lest you
Speaker:demolish the whole thing. Like, yeah, the Falcon is a pain
Speaker:to move around in display. Whereas the Razor Crest, it just
Speaker:it feels sturdier. Doesn't feel as fragile. Like,
Speaker:if you wanted to, you could actually play with this set not just display
Speaker:it, But as a display piece, it does look seriously
Speaker:impressive and accurate to the original ship. Now there are only
Speaker:5 minuteifigures, which is a bit of a letdown for a set that cost
Speaker:$600 and is what I would consider to be the main
Speaker:signature set of the Mandalorian series. Like, it should have
Speaker:more and 5 minifigures. It's a it's an
Speaker:ultimate collector series. It should have more than 5 minifigures.
Speaker:And in fact, one of them isn't even a minifigure. It's it's it's a creature.
Speaker:Right? It's it's what I I'd I'm letting my Star
Speaker:Wars fandom down here, because I
Speaker:don't know what it's called. But it's one of those big elephant
Speaker:lizards. It's worst description. It's just a big old
Speaker:thing that 1 of the characters rides on the back of. One of the minor
Speaker:characters rides on the back of. It's not a minifigure. It's not a minifig
Speaker:in any way, shape, or form, but unless I'm
Speaker:misremembering, they've counted it as a minifigure.
Speaker:So yes. That's a bit cheeky, counting it as a
Speaker:minifigure. So really there's 4 minifigs. That feels
Speaker:like a letdown. It feels like a bit of a misstep, especially When other sets
Speaker:have figures of characters like Fennec Shand, that could easily been included
Speaker:here, you know. Unless I'm misremembering, Fennec
Speaker:Shand turned up before the razor crest was blown up, and, you
Speaker:know, she is a known character in the
Speaker:expanded Star Wars universe and is a recurring character in
Speaker:this that could have had her in it, certainly.
Speaker:Yeah. It just feels like they're they're being
Speaker:stingy on the minifigs.
Speaker:Yeah. That sucks a bit. Overall, though, this is a great looking set, and the
Speaker:fact that it has all those great interior details and it's solid enough to
Speaker:both to be both playable as well as function as a really good
Speaker:looking display piece. That really does elevate it. So I'm gonna give this a
Speaker:4a half out of 5 for end result. Looks great, feels
Speaker:great, is maneuverable, it's it's
Speaker:satisfying. It's just a satisfying to look at, satisfying to
Speaker:to hold, to carry, to play. Yeah. Great. Four and a half out of 5
Speaker:end result. Finally, let's talk value for money again.
Speaker:It's worth highlighting that this falls on the right side of that
Speaker:10¢ per piece line. That's kind of the barometer for whether a set
Speaker:is over or underpriced. And there's not a huge amount of those
Speaker:tiny 1 square pieces or dots padding out the piece count. Either
Speaker:those we listen to a few episodes, we'll know that's a bugbear of mine.
Speaker:This definitely seems a rarity for ultimate collector series sets, especially those
Speaker:with the Star Wars license. Like, that usually takes it way
Speaker:over the 10¢ line, because the license on the UCS
Speaker:angle They usually come at a big premium. So,
Speaker:yeah. I I wonder whether the slightly lower than
Speaker:expected pricing is reflective of of, you know,
Speaker:them maybe thinking, okay, this isn't it's maybe not gonna have
Speaker:as as broad an appeal as the UCS Falcon, the
Speaker:UCS AT AT, you know, stuff that, like,
Speaker:like, every Star Wars fan will recognize. Not every Star Wars fan will watch
Speaker:Mandalorian. Every Star Wars fan watched, the the
Speaker:originals, and They know what the Falcon is. Right? So maybe
Speaker:that maybe that factors in it. I don't know. Or maybe the fact that they
Speaker:blew the blowing ship up. They blew the ship up, which
Speaker:They've referenced that they've referenced that
Speaker:on the website, and I think in the the manual as well. But I
Speaker:got a feeling, like they'd started working on the Razor Crest
Speaker:set, the design of it, and then, like, not
Speaker:knowing that it was gonna be blown up in the TV show. And
Speaker:so I think that's maybe, took the wind out of the sails a
Speaker:little. I don't know. Just my theory.
Speaker:So, yeah, you you would need to make your mind up yourself on whether such
Speaker:a short lived ship in a TV series, not the movie,
Speaker:is worthy of the UCS treatment and justify
Speaker:to $600 set. But, you know, for that price, you are
Speaker:getting a substantial Impressive end result that
Speaker:comes after a fun, enjoyable, satisfying, varied
Speaker:build that will stretch over a good number of build sessions.
Speaker:The low number of minifigs is a bit stingy though, so I'm gonna give this
Speaker:a 4 out of 5 for value for money. Yes. It is pricey, but you're
Speaker:getting a lot for your money, and they've not overpriced it, which, you
Speaker:know, judging from sets released in the last year or
Speaker:so, They veered more towards overpricing than underpricing,
Speaker:in my opinion. So there you have it. I think it's fair to say that
Speaker:going back on my vow not to build this Set ended up being worth it
Speaker:as I really did enjoy this build, and I love how it all turned out.
Speaker:Although I do still maintain it's not iconic iconic,
Speaker:And I think the fact that this set isn't the centerpiece of any of my
Speaker:little LEGO areas, those areas of the house where I've got my LEGO dotted
Speaker:around, That maybe reflects it. Again, just
Speaker:reflect my view. It's not taking pride of place anywhere,
Speaker:but, You know, maybe I'll carve out a little Mandalorian
Speaker:themed area someday if they ever release a Bo Katan helmet. You
Speaker:know? I can't believe they haven't done a Bo Katan helmet. Seems like an
Speaker:obvious one to do. They've done Mando. They've done Boba.
Speaker:Like, do Bo Katan. It's the same shape and everything. Just, you
Speaker:know, some some nicer colors and a little bit of patterning,
Speaker:but they can do that, surely. Give us a Bo
Speaker:Katana helmet. Give me a Bo Katana helmet, and I'll create my little
Speaker:Mandalorian area. And when that happens, the Razor
Speaker:Crest will take pride of place alongside my Mando
Speaker:Boba, and Boba Fett's ship, which we're not allowed to
Speaker:call by its original name, anymore. Yeah.
Speaker:Give me Bo Katan, and I will elevate Razor Crest.
Speaker:Anyway, I think that's a good place to end it. Thank you so much
Speaker:for joining me for this week's episode of the Brick Magnate podcast.
Speaker:Make sure you head to brickmagnet.com for past episodes and to
Speaker:subscribe to the show. And if you want a closer look at the
Speaker:finished article, and you wanna see the razor crest in all of
Speaker:its glory, then connect with me on TikTok and on Instagram,
Speaker:either both or just one of them, whatever tickles your
Speaker:pickle. I can't believe I just said that on the show.
Speaker:Yeah. Connect with me on Insta or on TikTok at brickmagnet.
Speaker:That's brick, m a g n a t e. You will find,
Speaker:the little review videos, showing off the
Speaker:different sets I talk about on the show as well as some that I
Speaker:don't, plus some behind the scenes looks at things that I'm
Speaker:working on and other brick based, stuff. Oh, you know
Speaker:what? This is totally random, and I meant to mention this in
Speaker:episode 7, which was kind of the the rebirth of the podcast
Speaker:episode. I've got a Lego tattie.
Speaker:I just I just feel as someone who's hosting a Lego based
Speaker:podcast, I need to mention that I I got I'm, Like, 4
Speaker:years old now. I am full on man child with a midlife
Speaker:crisis. But I got my very first tattoo, and
Speaker:it is a Lego brick. Yeah. Just to kind of
Speaker:solidify my obsession. And I only mentioned that
Speaker:because I've mentioned TikTok and I mentioned Instagram, and there's actually a little photograph of
Speaker:that on there. So if you wanna see, if you
Speaker:wanna see what someone getting their first ever tattoo and deciding at the
Speaker:age of 40 that that tattoo will be a Lego brick. You wanna see that?
Speaker:Then head over to at brickmagnet on Instagram and
Speaker:connect with me on there. You know what? No regrets. I love
Speaker:my Lego brick. That is it from
Speaker:me. I'm out of here to think of more Lego based tattoos. I'll be back
Speaker:again next week with more brick based buffoonery, sharing my
Speaker:thoughts on yet another, awesome Lego
Speaker:set or not so awesome Lego set. I haven't decided what I'll be reviewing next
Speaker:week. We shall find out. It's a mystery for you and a mystery for me.
Speaker:But hopefully you will join me regardless. In the meantime, happy
Speaker:bricking, and I'll see you next time.
