The Bounty Hunter Boba Fett first appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special, all the way back in 1978, but he didn’t really hit his straps until the arriving in The Empire Strikes Backin 1980. His starship, Slave I, has been subjected to over a dozen reimaginings in LEGO® form, from key rings to Advent calendar’s to UCS and all sizes in between. The last version of the ship was released in 2019, as part fo the 20th Anniversary Collection.
Boba Fett has reappeared in the world of the Mandalorian, during the second season, and so the ship has been reissused to fit in with that world, at a smaller scale to some seen in recent years, but more akin to that in the 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City from 2018. We have a new Boba Fett Minifigure, in keeping with his appearance in the Mandalorian, as well as another appearance of the Mandalorian in beskar armor. We can have a chat about the name change on the box later. I saw the set briefly at the Fan Media Days, when Jay, from Jay’s Brick Blog and I had a chat with the LEGO Star Wars Team.
The set was unveiled to us by Michael Dean Stockwell:
We have a new version of the Slave One which we now are calling Boba Fett’s starship. It’s a slightly larger version. There was a lot of love for the small Slave one in the Cloud City set and then in the same style as what we’ve done with the new current versions of the TIE fighter, the X Wing and Imperial shuttle, this is a scaled down version of this ship. The wings rotate when you rotate the ship. There we go. And then there is the handle on the back. It’s a small handle but it makes it possible to hold it and swoosh the ship. When you place the ship on the table, it automatically folds away.
So the figures we can talk quickly about: there’s a brand new version of Boba Fett, which matches the current reference from the Mandalorian. So, new print on both helmet and torso. There’s also a carbonate block. I don’t know if you can see the decal on there, but that’s actually a Gamorrean guard frozen in carbonite. So, a lot of play with that and it can be loaded into the ship in the same style as in the film.
And then, what we’ve done is made a little cart here, which is a certain little service vehicle, although not seen in the in the film. What can it be used for? If I tip this ladder up here, then I could place to ship’s tail in the car and set this ladder here, and then it’s acts as a stand for the model. So then you can display that the model like this [the model is moslty upright, rather than looking like a domestic iron] ,
Well, we often hear that people want to display that ship in that way.
Set 75312 Boba Fett’s Starship has 593 elements, and a recommended retail price of $AUD79.99. It comes with a Mandalorian minifigure, as well as a new print for Boba Fett.
The set comes with elements in 4 bags, and while significantly smaller than 2019’s 20th Anniversary edition which clocked in with a little over 1000 elements, I found this to be a satisfying build, and being a little smaller, much more satifying to swoosh around the living room.
Minifigures:
Boba Fett has a new look in the Mandolorian: He’s been without his armour for around 5 years, ever since since he made his way into the Sarlacc, back in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He wears his armour over the black garments he wore on tatooine, , with a skirt printed over his legs. I’ll compare him with the 20th anniversary version later, but otherwise, he also sports detailed printing on each arm: pauldrons and gauntlets – as well as the front of the legs. His face is older, more wrinkled and scarred.
The Mandalorian has been seen in several sets this year, each sporting this version of the ‘Beskar’ print. The printing on his torso is immaculate: silver Beskar armour; a bandolier loaded with shells, a belt featuring various pouches and more. The leg printing lines up nicely with the torso. On each arm he has further detailed printing of his shoulders, as well as the wristbands. I am so glad this figure is becoming more accessible, appearing in sets at all price points.
The Build
The first bag starts off setting up the shape of the base of the craft, using a combination of layered plates, as well as angled, dark red slope elements.
By the end of bag 2, we have completed the base of the ship, and the Technic elements emerging will be used in future steps to ensure the passenger comparment is angled correctly.
You can see the cabin and fuselage take shape. Several stickers are used to add detail to the bowed elements that make up the curve of the fuselage, and the cabin is just large enough to accept a single figure.Fun Fact: most of the dark red elements have come from the same batch, but 2 of the dark red slopes fluoresced under UV light…I wish I had discovered this beofre I started to apply the stickers.
The final bag brings us the remainder of the greebles, as well as the lower guns. There are some stud shooters present to provide some ‘real life’ play action. The bag also contains the elements to build a small simple speeder. Perhaps it is just to transport carbonite, or perhaps it serves a greater purpose.Details along the fuselage are added through the application of a couple of stickers.
the carry handle revealed 
The speeder can be used as a stand for the ship, allowing it to be supported in its semi-vertical flying position, used for standard flight.
I put the new ship next to the 75243: 20th Anniversary Slave I, which is, as you can see, significantly larger. I don’t think this is a problem: the new version might be smaller: it is also cheaper, and more swooshable. And uses up significantly less shelf space. Sure, the carbonite slab is smaller: 1x2x5. In fact, it’s the same size as the first carbonite slab ever seen, back in 2000, when the earliest LEGO version of Slave I appeared. The rim around the wing hubs are a 3×3 quarter circle arch element
The New and the Old 
That Name Change
At the Recognise LEGO Fan Media Days in May, Designer Michael Stockwell presented the ship simply saying:
‘We have a new version of the Slave One which we now are calling Boba Fett’s Starship.‘ We have heard via Brickset, that this was an instruction from Disney, not the LEGO Group’s call.
The name Slave I was registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office between 1982 and 1989, particularly related to toy vehicles, but in the mean time the registration has lapsed. Personally, I don’t object to the change on the packaging. As the ship is barely mentioned by name beyond 2 occaisions in The Clone Wars, referring to is as Boba Fett’s Starship is useful: Most people who have only seen the films will not know that the ship’s name is Slave One. But most people who have seen the film will recognise that this is Boba Fett’s Star Ship. Like Wise the Bad Batch Attack Shuttle, rather than The Havoc Marauder, The Mandalorian Bounty Hunter Transport ship rather than Razor Crest. The names are part of the mythology and Lore, but not required to sell the craft.
I am also imagining the awkward conversations being avoided with the name change…
“Grandma… could you please get me a LEGO Set for Christmas?”
“Sure which one would you like?”
“The Slave One… ” Frankly, this conversation just looks bad from a certain point of view. And it leaves the grand parent with the casual knowledge of Star Wars none the wiser as to what set might look like on the shelves. Whereas “Boba Fett’s Starship” has a fairly distinctive shape, that any one with a who has watched Episode V of Star Wars might understand.
Final Thoughts
This set represents a significant decrease in size, compared to recent versions of Slave I. That said, bigger does not necessarily mean better, especially if you are looking to be able to obtain the ship on a budget. The included minifigures reflect the current appearances of the ship in the present television millieu. The Mandolorian figure is welcome, and Boba Fett’s new look is suitably different to the previous version that it may well be worth chasing down for the sake of completeness.
Overall, this is an easier ship to take in your hand and fly around, compared with other more recent models. I like the new minifigures included, and I feel it is sufficienctly details, without being too large overall.
Personally, I feel the controversy surrounding the name change is a nonstarter: The name of the ship has not changed. Just the name of the set. I don’t personally regard it as an issue. The ship is compact, well detailed, and relatively quick and easy to build compared to the older versions. The small speeder, acting as a stand adds to the displayability of this set overall. I give it 4/5 Arbitrary Praise Units)
75312 Boba Fett’s Starship goes on sale worldwide on August 1st, and has 593 elements. You can purchase it from LEGO.com using these affiliate links. Should you make a purchase, The Rambling Brick might receive a small commission, used to offset the costs of running the website..
I’d love to know what you think of this set. Does the Scale appeal you? Is it a set you are looking at picking up?
Why not leave your comments below, and until Next time…
Play Well!
This set was provided by the LEGO Group for Review Purposes. All opinions are my own.
[…] Our finished model looks great, and has the functionality of the the Mandalorian Star Fighter that you would expect: the main part of the cabin rotates around the central axis, and the wings fold upwards. We even have the rear dropdown ramp, prepresenting a microscale boarding ramp. I haven’t even mentioned the spring loaded missile launchers (hooray) and the stud shooters (meh!) As you can see from the image from the Mandalorian, the craft is built to roughly the same scale as the 2021 Slave I/Boba Fett’s Starship. […]