The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author. Minifigures C-3PO was released during 2015 and included printed arms, which was significant because that minifigure depicted the character with his red arm from The Force Awakens. An equivalent standard of detail is present here and corresponds with the onscreen character, as seams between panels and the energy transducers on Threepio's shoulders look great.

As the walls slide inwards, everything attached to the walls moves together. The result looks surprisingly realistic, although my favourite feature is actually the flexible hose that links both walls. This naturally bends as the walls move, recreating the gradual mangling of metal which takes place during the movie! Again, this substantially improves the illusion. Channel your focus to help C-3PO and R2-D2 save Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca and Princess Leia from a crushing fate. Relive that dramatic Star Wars: A New Hope scene as you build the Death Star trash compactor's moving walls and other authentic details. To complete a nostalgic centrepiece, attach the plaque with Han's witty quip: ''One thing's for sure. We're all gonna be a lot thinner.'' We’ve long been waiting to actually see any confirmation that the rumored Star Wars quote dioramas were actually still happening, and now Walmart has stepped in. While we’ll have to wait another week to actually see the set, it’s at least exciting to know we have a new build from a galaxy far, far away to look forward to. If you are going to recreate the trash compactor scene from A New Hope with any degree of accuracy and detail, then it needs to be able to function as it does in the film, and pleasingly, 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama does just that. Yes, previous trash compactor appearances in LEGO form – namely in both Death Star playsets – have also had walls that close in as you would hope, but certainly not to the same quality as is seen here. As expected, 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor presents this famous scene with incredible accuracy and looks fantastic on display, despite its muted colours. In fact, the varying colours between these dioramas are attractive and this model surpasses the others in minifigures and functionality. The motion of the walls and positioning of the items inside are clever.

Popular Categories

Like the other two dioramas, 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor measures 15cm deep – or 20 studs – but varies in length, coming in at 21cm wide. According to LEGO Star Wars Creative Lead Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, all three of the sets are designed to match in depth, presenting a consistent style for this subtheme of builds. For everything that it achieves so well and so simply, though, 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama comes at a hefty, over-the-top price. Having your cake and eating it is usually not possible – the LEGO Star Wars team have found a way to make it happen here, but for anyone wanting to enjoy this future classic themselves, to paraphrase some LEGO set we’ve just built: one thing’s for sure. We’re all gonna be a lot poorer… One of the more interesting inclusions for the LEGO Star Wars Trash Compactor is the display plaque that will come with the build. We’ve come to expect some form of ID plaque or printed price in these 18+ LEGO Star Wars sets following the success of the UCS and helmet themes, but 2022 will change that up a bit. Just like the Jurassic Park set revealed earlier this year, the upcoming diorama will feature a quote from its source material.

As is the case with 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama, the high piece count is misleading and otherwise inflated by the use of a number of 1×1 pieces throughout. These pieces do contribute to the greater level of eye candy and detail that these higher-level LEGO sets are offering, thanks to the display-guided design approach, but they do also contribute to something being rather much smaller than some may otherwise expect from a piece count of 802. Unlike their allies, Princess Leia and Chewbacca remain unchanged. Leia's famous hairstyle looks perfect and I love her double-sided head, that captures the character's feisty personality. The torso looks splendid too, although I was hoping the dress component introduced in 75244 Tantive IV would return. These undecorated legs look very bland, by comparison. All six characters who you would hope to be included in 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama are here – Leia, Luke, Han, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO. Chewbacca remains the same as most other sets he appears in, while Leia is the same version that has appeared in a couple of other sets from the last few years. It’s a scene complete with the entire cast of characters too, including even R2-D2 and C-3PO who, otherwise in a different area of the Death Star entirely, are represented as standing on just the other side of the trash compactor here. Printed quotations from each scene also ensure continuity across the range, appearing beside the LEGO Star Wars branding. The trash compactor scene is unusual as relatively few classic lines are spoken inside the compactor, but Han Solo's humorous assessment of their situation conveys his persona. Even so, I would have chosen Leia's more memorable "into the garbage chute, flyboy", which obviously describes the scene.

This set is part of a collectible series of buildable LEGO Star Wars diorama models, each depicting an iconic Star Wars moment, to spark nostalgia for any fan

For the build itself, 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama may not be put together in quite the way you would expect, taking inspiration from live theatre, it turns out. It’s a smart and relatively simple design, all told, but one that maximises the visual effect of loose trash scrunching together as you move the walls closer, without any of the trash depicted actually being loose. The drab colour scheme is not necessarily ideal for display, but definitely reflects the onscreen location and captures lovely detail. This integration of reddish brown, dark bluish grey and dark tan gives the impression of wear and the mangled junk inside contrasts against its surroundings, being predominantly light bluish grey. As mentioned, it’s necessary to the scene in question, and from an authenticity and quality perspective it adds a level of dynamism and literal movement that can’t otherwise be achieved in any other way. It does, however, also encourage a lot of touching and play – there’s nothing wrong with that, but it muddies the waters around the marketing for the series of sets that it belongs to.Death Star Trash Compactor is also the only one of the three new sets to include a bona fide play feature, in that its walls can compress together to simulate the compacting function of the on-screen scene. The printed tile that sits at the front of the display base appropriately features the iconic Han Solo line: “One thing’s for sure. We’re all gonna be a lot thinner!” Despite appearing completely chaotic, the different items are actually constructed and fixed to the walls or floor, unlike this location in 10188 Death Star and 75159 Death Star, where items were loosely scattered inside. The illusion of twisted metal and total randomness seems very successful though. The trans-red eye of the mysterious dianoga appears less effective, in my opinion. It's ridiculously costly because Lego knows how hardcore their customers are for collecting minifigures, and how hardcore the Star Wars fanbase is. And how willing both are at paying significantly over the odds for things to complete their collections. Hence we got these ridiculous prices for these Diorama series of sets. And I'm not one that's interested in minifigures at all, it's always been the builds for me. Death Star Trench Run and 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training focus detail nearly exclusively across the front, unlike this model. The moving walls include texture on the outside and the rear provides room for R2-D2 and C-3PO, representing their integral, but remote, role in rescuing the heroes by deactivating every trash compactor on the detention level. In amongst the trash there are vantage points for the four characters of Leia, Luke, Han and Chewbacca to sit or stand as they try to navigate the junk around them as the walls close in, and these placement positions remain useable at any width you want to set the walls to.

R2-D2 appears more frequently than almost any other Star Wars character, but experiences infrequent changes. The introduction of printing on the reverse therefore appears simple, but represents an important update and looks brilliant. The decoration across the front has been altered as well, albeit subtly. For example, the octagonal vent now features more dark blue. This high price is essentially a consequence of prioritising the all-round experience of and authenticity across the set. The number of minifigures included is because they are all part of the scene and to miss one would be to perhaps write off the set’s value to collectors and fans. In addition, the piece count is as it is due to a high number of small 1×1 pieces and such like, through which comes the ability to offer greater colour variation, finer parts usage and overall better accuracy to what is being built here.Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama has carved out its very own sweet spot between being a display piece and a full-on playset, thanks to a simple yet dynamic feature that harnesses the interactive potential of a LEGO Star Wars set – while still managing to add credibility and authenticity to something specifically designed for older collectors. The Death Star Trench Run diorama is an intricately designed cutaway of one of the most famous scenes in movie history. It has Luke’s X-Wing racing ahead of three TIE Fighters that are blasting away, trying to stop him. It’s a more scaled-down set, so it doesn’t include any minifigures, but anyone who sees it will instantly recognize the scene.