Review: Official Set 75290 - Mos Eisley Cantina™

After several small editions of the Mos Eisley Cantina™, LEGO® finally released a minifigure-scale version of the building and made sure to pack it full of exclusive minifigures. This set was released as a new addition to the Master Builder Series, and I think it definitely looks like the best set that we’ve seen thus far in this series. Clocking in at 3,187 pieces and TWENTY-ONE minifigures, the Mos Eisley Cantina™ certainly has me excited.

THE PACKAGING

The box takes on a very similar appearance to the recent Ultimate Collector’s Series sets despite being a part of the Master Builder Series. One of the only differences in this packaging compared to the Ultimate Collector’s Series boxes is that there is a bit of color on this box. On the front we have the twin suns in the corner giving us some color, whereas the Ultimate Collector’s Series are entirely black other than the featured model.

Inside of the box there is… ANOTHER BOX! There are also a ton of bags in the box. In total there were 18 unique numbered bags, with a grand total of close to thirty total bags. The instructions had a smaller page size than I imagined they would be, but boy are they thick. They clock in at just over 400 pages. The instructions have a ton of cool content included in it. It of course gives some history of the Cantina both from an in-universe perspective as well as a set-design perspective. Throughout the manual there are nuggets of information about the Cantina and characters, which I’ll discuss in detail in the next section.

THE BUILD

The build is very enjoyable for this set. There is nothing that exactly replicates itself, even the cantina booths are all unique. I found the build to feel a lot like several sets combined together with the main Cantina building being the largest one. Bag 1 is the speeder, which really could have been its own set.  Then we jump right into building the Cantina, which definitely takes a long time. For me it took 7 hours in total, so I would say I spent around 6 of those hours building the main Cantina building. Then at the end there are two bags that account for the Jawa depot building.

My favorite part of the build was actually the instructions. With almost every minifigure the instructions provide background information about the character. Having little knowledge about their backstories, I was really intrigued by all of this information. There is also information about the Cantina itself spread throughout the manual. I’m not positive if this is the first time a set’s instructions include information like this, but it’s certainly the first time I’ve seen it and I would love to see this style included in future UCS and Master Builder Series Sets.

THE MINIFIGS

The main draw to this set is the 21 minifigures. I’m not going to go over all of them in detail in this post, but they can all be seen closer up in the video embedded at the end of this blog post.

I think the minifigures are (almost) perfect. The prints are all very well-done, and the exclusive molds do not disappoint. The only disappointment is Greedo. I, along with everyone else looking forward to this set, was really hoping we would get Greedo with some arm printing. And in such a large set with exclusive minifigures, it would have been nice to see LEGO® throw us one extra bone. The box even shows a shot from A New Hope showcasing Greedo’s arm. I felt like that was a little bit of a slap in the face, just my two cents.

THE SET

So, now with the build done, what do I think of this set? I think it’s pretty neat, but it definitely doesn’t wow me as anything spectacular, and being completely honest I don’t think it looks like a $350 set. The Cantina has the features of opening the building up to expose the bar and tables. There is also a lever in the back that can flip Han Solo and Greedo out of their seats. The minifigures are undeniably incredible, but the rest of the set just falls a little flat to me.

Currently the set is Out of Stock online, but some stores still have the set in stock, so definitely check that if you’re interested in this set. I would also assume that it will be back in stock online very soon as the holiday season is coming up and LEGO® certainly wants all of their large, collectable sets to be available for purchase.

I definitely wouldn’t put this as a set to rush out and go get, but if you’re a big fan of Star Wars™ then you won’t be disappointed, especially with all of the exclusive minifigures that bring more characters to brick-form.

SCORE: 7.6/10

Video Review: