Lego Star Wars The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter review

When The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter debuted in The Book of Boba Fett, every Lego fan and their Kowakian monkey-lizard would have bet a billion studs that it’d soon hit the shelves in brick form. 

And now that we’ve finally got our hands on one, we can’t stop gushing over little Grogu tucked safely away in his modified astromech socket… Awwwwww! But cute infantile aliens aren’t a prerequisite for the best Lego Star Wars sets, so we can’t wait to find out what surprises Peli Motto has left under the hood. 

Fans of the prequel trilogy will know that the N-1 (or simply Naboo) Starfighter is the designation given to the vibrant yellow craft that a young Anakin uses to destroy the Trade Federation’s droid army control ship at the end of The Phantom Menace. Lego has produced countless Naboo Starfighters over the years, but not since 2015’s Episode 1-themed offering, the Naboo Starfighter (75092). 

And while that seven-year-old set’s DNA is prevalent in this latest build, Lego hasn’t opted to simply change the color scheme and add a few of Mando’s hot-rodded components. This is very much a 2022 N-1 Starfighter.

At $59.99/£59.99 this isn’t the best-value Lego Star Wars set per piece, especially when compared to the likes of Boba Fett’s Starfighter or the Inquisitor Transport Scythe. However, it is a surprisingly large build and one you can find much lower than the MSRP, if you’ve a nose for the best Lego Star Wars deals.

Lego Star Wars The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter: Build

• 412 pieces
• Lots for supervised youngsters to enjoy
• Rear thruster keeps falling off

The Mandalorian N-1 Starfighter contains 412 pieces spread across just two building stages. You begin by putting together Mando, the fuselage, tail, and wings, before progressing onto Peli Motto, Grogu, the BD Droid, astromech socket/Grogu’s cockpit, and engines. A 9+ age rating reflects the marginally complicated engine builds, but the ship mostly comprises standard Lego bricks and only a few more complicated Technic pieces. As such, there’s plenty here for supervised youngsters to get stuck into.

The highlight of the build is the starfighter’s sub-light engines. This pair of cylindrical structures are surprisingly detailed and boast exquisite greebling using miscellaneous parts such as lightsaber hilts, megaphones, and utensil oars. They also feature a pair of 2x2 round tiles that are neatly printed to resemble an engine intake.

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Unfortunately, the rear thruster on the starfighter’s undercarriage has a tendency to fall off. This lengthy stack of pieces connects to the fuselage via a 2x2 brick, which is hardly enough to hold it in place during play. In fact, when landed, the ship rests on this section and simply trying to place Mando in the cockpit can prove enough force to break it apart. As such, we can’t help but feel like a Technic Axle or Pin should have been used to provide a more stable connection.

Thankfully, this set only contains three stickers. The cockpit panel and protruding engine stickers are both circular which presents a small challenge as you not only need to line the stickers up, but need to have the patterns facing a certain way too. 

Kudos to Lego for making the engine a mechanism in which to fire a proton torpedo from just beneath the nose of the ship. This is a neat playability feature, but if we’re being really picky, it’s a shame the projectile is red and not blue – as seen in The Phantom Menace.

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Lego Star Wars The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter: Design

• A surprisingly large ship
• Baby Yoda Minifigure!
• Doesn't quite capture the prototype's sleek look

The tapering shape of the starfighter’s fuselage might just be the best representation Lego has ever created, trumping even the UCS Naboo N-1 Starfighter (10026). Grogu’s cockpit is also beautifully realised and doesn’t add inaccurate bulk, like the astromech socket on the 2015 playset.

Overall, this is a good-looking ship that’s surprisingly large for 400 pieces. However, when stacked up against prototype images of the Mandalorian’s real N-1 Starfighter, it lacks the sleek metallic finish. The real ship looks like an extension of Mando’s Beskar armor and although metallic bricks would have proven too expensive – even the UCS Razor Crest (75331) didn’t go that far – it’s the lack of relief and plethora of visible studs on the wings and the extensive number of dark gray pieces that obstruct the slick aesthetic. The UCS Razor Crest is clad almost entirely in light gray bricks which adequately conveys the solid metallic finish, and it’s a shame Lego chose not to repeat that here.

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The starfighter’s yellow markings also fall short. A few yellow bricks adorn the fuselage, but several appear in the wrong position and the wings, which should each feature a yellow horizontal strip, are completely gray.

The Minifigure selection is top notch. You get two tiny figs in the shape of Grogu and the BD Droid. The latter is a blue repaint of the BD-1 Minifigure present in the Lego Star Wars BD-1 (75335) set. Mando looks great in his Beskar armor and jetpack and, unlike the Din Djarin in Boba Fett’s Starship, he has a face beneath his helmet. However, we do wonder if the Darksaber, which is a black rod attached to a lightsaber hilt, would have been better represented as a black katana from Lego Ninjago.

The highlight of the Minifigure roster is Peli Motto’s debut. Her overalls are simple but nicely printed on the front and back, and she has two faces with an absolutely incredible head of Lego hair.

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Should you buy the Lego Star Wars The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter?

There’s a really nice N-1 Starfighter carcass here that makes us yearn for an updated Naboo variant. Despite the low piece count, this is a substantial set when built and the ship’s inherent cool factor and great selection of Minifigures will make it a hit for younger builders.

However, collectors looking for an accurate representation of The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter will likely feel that this set falls short. But, if you enjoy modifying Lego sets, this one could be dressed up nicely with relatively few additions and we can always keep our fingers crossed for an Ultimate Collector Series edition in the future.

Other Lego Star Wars sets to consider

There’s no better alternative to this set than Mando’s other ride, The Razor Crest (75292), which has an MSRP of $139.99. Then, for the Mando fan who has everything, there is the magnificent UCS The Razor Crest (75331), assuming you have a few bars of Beskar to hand or $599.99. And, of course, who wouldn't want their own Grogu sidekick in the form of the Lego Star Wars The Child build.

But, if you’re more of a fan of the original bad-boy bounty hunter, then Boba Fett’s Starship and its MSRP of $49.99 will probably be right up your hyperspace lane.