Lego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace Diorama review

The sixth Lego Star Wars diorama, Lego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace Diorama, is now on store shelves, joining a strong line-up that includes the Emperor's Throne Room, Endor Speeder Chase and the now-retired Death Star Trench Run, Dagobah Jedi Training and Death Star Trash Compactor. 

Each set has been designed to recreate an iconic moment from the Star Wars series and, for the most part, they each pull it off with gusto. Even better, these sets are designed with adults in mind and, unlike other adults-only Lego Star Wars sets, they aren't huge and they don't cost a fortune. The Mos Espa Podrace Diorama costs $79.99 and is made up of 718 pieces, making it the sort of set you can sit and build in a couple of hours. That’s always a huge bonus, particularly for adults trying to fit some leisure time into a busy schedule.

While we don’t think the Mos Espa Podrace Diorama does enough to make it into our picks of the best Lego Star Wars sets, there's a lot to like here. Before you read our full Mos Espa Podrace review, check out the best deals on Lego Star Wars to pick up a bargain.

Lego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace Diorama review: Build

• Some cool details
• Podracers are a little too fiddly and flimsy
• No stickers!

If you've already built one of Lego's diorama sets, the first stages of putting together Mos Espa Podrace will feel very familiar. The base is essentially the same on each set, after all: the same dimensions and the same frame. The only difference here is the color: set in the desert, there are an awful lot of sandy-colored bricks.

Once you get past the first bag of bricks, though, the diorama opens up to become more unique. Building the round-edged cliffs and the archway makes use of some Lego pieces we hadn't seen before, and they're beautifully shaped and textured. The technique used to angle the archway is a novel touch too: it's perched on a swiveling turntable piece, which allows it to be rotated. Once it's attached to the chunk of rock forming the background, it remains steadfast, but it's a neat technique.

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Perhaps the weakest part of the build is the two podracers, which is unfortunate considering they're the stars of the show. Anakin Skywalker's podracer is rather flimsy and since it's so slight, it's difficult to attach pieces without others coming dislodged. It's a tricky one because it obviously needs to remain to scale with the set as a whole. And while it does resemble Anakin's actual podracer from The Phantom Menace, we just wish it was a little more substantial with more detail.

Sebulba's podracer at least has a little more to it. It's chunkier, feels less flimsy, and because of its bold orange color, it stands out more against the sandy background. Perhaps the biggest issue with this podracer in particular was attaching it to the base: Both racers are held on by a single stud. It allows them to appear weightless but also offers very little stability. We just could not position Sebulba's racer in particular to match the official photography of the set. Rather than being angled upwards, our racer is simply flat. We're quite sure we built everything correctly, so it seems like the artwork is a little misleading. It doesn't matter too much, but did cause us a bit of frustration in checking, double-checking and triple-checking that everything was correct. 

Lego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace Diorama review: Design

• Well-built backdrop
• Great display piece

As we've already mentioned, the coolest part of the design of the Lego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace diorama is the structure of the rocks. It makes a great backdrop, and the angled archway does a great job of providing a focal point for the set: it really does look like Anakin's podracer is speeding through to victory. 

The texture of the rockface is wonderful too: Some great layering has been applied to give the appearance of jagged, uneven rocks, and it works really well. It's carried through to the ground, too, with some detailing in the foreground that adds to the set's three dimensions. 

Like all the dioramas that came before it, Mos Espa Podrace is built upon a chunky black plinth, decorated with grey 'grill' tiles and a printed quote, this time from The Phantom Menace ("Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel. Don't think. Use your instincts." - Qui-Gon Jinn.) It adds a level of elegance to the set, raising this from a bog-standard playset to an unmistakable display piece. Whether you're going to display it by itself or alongside other dioramas, it's going to look great.

Adding a finishing touch is the printed "25 years of Lego Star Wars" brick sitting at the front of the set. It's just a shame that this is one of only two dioramas not to come with minifigures. OK, it's not minifigure scale, but having an Anakin Skywalker stand in the foreground would have been a nice addition. 

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Should you buy Lego Star Wars Mos Espa Podrace Diorama?

 While we don't think the Lego Mos Espa Podrace Diorama is the best Star Wars diorama, we couldn't pass it up to complete our collection. We wish the pod racers themselves, particularly Anakin's, had a little more detail but overall it's a nice-looking display set that captures an iconic moment from the Prequel Trilogy. If you're yet to buy any of the dioramas, it might not be the one we'd choose to start with, however. 

Other Lego sets to consider

It's a shame that the Trash Compactor and Trench Run dioramas are discontinued now because they are far and away our favorites. They're still available from third-party sellers but be prepared to pay more than the MSRP. What is still available, however, is the Emperor’s Throne Room Diorama: It's a little pricey compared to the Mos Espa Podrace, but it's a stunning set, recreating the fight between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.

Elsewhere in the Lego Star Wars universe, we of course love the epic Ultimate Collector’s Series Millennium Falcon, but if you haven't got $850 to drop on a set in one go (we don’t blame you), we've found this year's smaller-scaled Millennium Falcon to be surprisingly detailed — and it’s literally a tenth of the price at $84.99.