The Force is strong in the new Lego UCS Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter set

If you’re a Star Wars fan, it won’t have escaped your notice that a film featuring the pairing of Nice Boba Fett and Cute Marketing Opportunity – aka the Mandalorian and Grogu – is on the way. The film’s name? The Mandalorian and Grogu. Tsk. No one has any imagination these days. Anyway, to cash in on this likely mega-hit, Lego is prepping its next UCS Lego set based on tin-head and Baby Yoda: The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter.

Having [SPOILER ALERT!] cunningly atomised his previous ride part-way through the Disney+ run, Mando ended up piloting the N-1. It’s a craft so compact you couldn’t swing an Ewok about inside. Well, not without giving it a few cracks about the head. But it’s sleek and speedy and looks fantastic blazing about the cosmos. In Lego form, this means a dart-like design built for swooshing, with sharp pointy bits that suggest it’d lodge in the wall if you let go. (It wouldn’t. Don’t try this. Really.)

Another guilty purchase, this is

The 1809-piece $249.99/£229.99 set lands on 4 May (or 1 May for Lego Insiders) and when built stretches to a hefty 67cm long. As ever, the focus with the Ultimate Collector Series line is display rather than play. So there are loads of details to gawp at. Fancy silver drum-lacquered pieces add polish. And there’s even a display stand to plonk the thing on. You get Mando and Grogu minifigs too. (The former is presumably wondering whether the latter has, for a jape, used the Force to embiggen the ship.)

To nudge you into parting with enough coin to fund a new Beskar suit, Lego is dangling the usual time-limited extras. The Mandalorian and Grogu Display is an ornament with a lenticular film strip of our heroes and comes with every N-1 bought directly from Lego. The Darksaber is a 278-piece set of menace. It’s free with any Lego Star Wars purchases of $160/£145 and up, from 1–6 May.

As ever, both will sell out in less time than it’d take Darth Vader to force-choke you if you tried to cheat him at holochess.

• Now read: 52 must-own large Lego sets to buy

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.