LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV review

LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV offers a lot in the one box and there's plenty to appreciate, but it still doesn’t quite deliver on all its potential.

75387 Boarding the Tantive IV sits as one of those sets that has plenty to appreciate and find enjoyment with, not least a generous selection of minifigures. But while it can fairly be described as a LEGO Star Wars set many of us will like and appreciate, it also still feels like it’s not quite the LEGO Star Wars set that it could or should have been.

--- LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV set details ---

Theme: LEGO Star Wars Set name: 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV Release: March 1, 2024

Price: £49.99 / $54.99 / €54.99 Pieces: 502 Minifigures: 7

LEGO: Order now

--- Where to buy LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV ---

LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV comes out on March 1 at LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores, as well as a few select third-party retailers. You can pre-order your copy through official channels in some regions right now.

--- LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV build ---

As a concept, recreating one of the opening scenes of A New Hope in more detail in LEGO form is long-awaited and very much something that we want. This interpretation of it, too, ticks a lot of boxes. Yet as a LEGO build, there are a couple of areas where it’s not quite as satisfying as it ought to be.

The minifigure selection is at least two characters more than we would usually expect for a set of this size (but sadly, that is reflected in the price), while the section of walkway from the interior of the Tantive IV that we build here is very nicely sized. It’s big enough to not only display the various characters in combat as per the scene we saw in A New Hope, but it’s also large enough to have built into the base a couple of play features to add a bit of action to the play. The doorway for Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers to come through slides open (and is nicely detailed with trans-orange parts to reflect their having cut through it), while a couple of knobs along the front of the base can be turned to flip any character over who may be stood on them.

Likewise, the design of the corridor is truly excellent and reminiscent of many a custom build for how smooth and detailed it is, from the shaping of the opening that the rebels filter in through to the greebling along the walls and the curved edges that move up from the floor to where the ceiling would be. It’s satisfying to put together and exactly as you would hope it would be from a display and play perspective – scaling is on point with the included characters and it genuinely looks the part.

As it is, 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV has some nice play elements for the more hands-on LEGO fans, and looks suitable for display for those who are more hands-off. There’s enough value in the build, play features and all-round look to trust you’ll find enjoyment from a copy of this set.

What’s not to love? The price does feel a little steep, the selection of minifigures leaves a little to the imagination, and these two things combined put a little more weight on the LEGO build itself to deliver. It does what it needs to if the price were £10 less, or if a couple more of the minifigures were unique, but with neither being the case, there’s a little more scrutiny on the longevity or modularity of the model itself. For the money, this doesn’t hold your attention long enough, but it is modular... from a certain point of view.

Indeed, the LEGO Star Wars team has worked into the model an acknowledgement of how many of us may want to purchase more than one copy of this set to army build and to create a longer version of the corridor.

How that feature is realised, though, offers no value nor genuine LEGO experience for anyone who tries it: it's just a request of you to spin any second copy of the set around 180 degrees and connect it end-to-end in a way that always only displays the inside front of one copy of the set, and the outside back edge (which is not as nice looking) of the other copy. You can look down the corridor lengthways for something more akin to a longer hallway, but the LEGO Group must know this is a cheap experience for what would be a £100 spend.

Ultimately, it’s not a feasible nor genuine modular option for a setting from Star Wars that would otherwise have been the entire franchise’s most perfect for a modular approach, and it cheapens the value of a set where a little more attention is on what is a slightly-too-high price.

Perhaps in LEGO form a better modular experience would be that in one copy of the set you would build two sections of hallway, together with options in the instructions to customise each section – the type of walling on the side, if it's a straight edge or corner, if there’s a door or not, if it’s battle damaged or not, if Vader has cut his lightsaber through it, and so on. This could differentiate each section as you buy more copies of the set and add new sections – side by side – over time. There’s no stopping LEGO Star Wars fans collecting things at any price if the idea is well executed (see Facebook), and a never-ending and slightly customisable Tantive IV hallway with armies of Stormtroopers and Rebels battling it out is a direction we can’t help but feel this set could have gone in. It’s an open goal that feels missed.

Maybe it was a concept that was considered and rejected for one reason or another. Maybe 2017’s 75180 Rathtar Escape gave the team data that offering such modularity doesn’t actually increase sales. But while essentially copying and pasting the approach taken in the just-retired 75324 Dark Trooper Attack (and slightly expanding upon it and almost doubling the price) is logical and consistent (and in another review we praise LEGO Star Wars’ attempts to find better consistency), it doesn’t feel as interesting a second time around – it’s playing things just a little too safe.

75387 Boarding the Tantive IV does work in many ways as it is. There are flashes of the best of LEGO Star Wars building in here. But for what’s in front of you the price does begin to impact the enjoyment because the minifigures – although plentiful – don’t contribute enough value, and what could have been the very essence of the entire set as a play feature – its modularity – feels like an afterthought.

As it is, 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV is still a really good set that delivers on the fundamentals a lot of the best mid-range LEGO Star Wars sets can offer, and we will still all buy it, but it’s not the classic that it could have been with a little bit more imagination.

--- LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV characters ---

LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV comes with a hefty line-up of seven minifigures, six of which are intended for the build with the seventh being ARC Trooper Fives, included as part of the LEGO Star Wars team’s 25th-anniversary celebration initiative that features select franchise characters in unconnected sets.

Fives did leak before the set was revealed and received some scrutiny for the printing on the helmet, but in reality and in hand while it may not be screen accurate it is nicely done and works within the wider presentation of this character. The included pauldron is nicely scaled (as opposed to the one Captain Rex has, for example) and while the waist cape is printed again, the printed arms somewhat makes up for that. This will be a popular 25th-anniversary minifigure, and for good reason.

The six included characters for the Tantive IV hallway aren’t going to be as popular. While there’s an opportunity to army build, few can do that from a set priced this high (this ain’t no battlepack), and it is disappointing to find that none are new or unique designs in any way. Captain Antilles is the biggest draw having only previously featured in 2019’s 75244 Tantive IV, but this is the same Darth Vader as in 2023’s 75347 TIE Bomber and 75352 Emperor’s Throne Room Diorama, the same Stormtroopers as we’ve had in a few sets complete with the awful helmet design, and worst of all, the same Rebel Fleet Trooper as appeared in 75365 Yavin 4 Rebel Base.

Why worst of all? Because that same set included a female Rebel Crew minifigure with nougat skin tone whose head piece could perfectly swap out to feature as a Rebel Fleet Trooper, but instead we have two identical and generic white guys, which is just boring and a little cheap. Again also no dual-moulded legs when they’ve been produced before in the Collectible Minifigures line and would be perfect. Just a couple of those would have elevated the value of the entire set.

LEGO Star Wars minifigure design can be the best that the entire company can offer, but it can also frustrate in sets like this where clear budget restrictions hit hard. When that happens and we get repeats upon repeats it doesn’t feel like the set in question – in this case 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV – is as special to the LEGO Group as it could be to us. It feels like a cheap way to maximise financial return on the production of the same characters a lot of us will already have.

We’ll still all buy at least one copy of the set, but that blind loyalty doesn’t always feel truly appreciated or rewarded.

--- LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV price ---

LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV is a nice, high-quality build hampered by a large number of okay-but-not-great minifigures and a non-existent modular feature. For what it is, this is a LEGO Star Wars set certainly worth picking up, but perhaps once it is on sale, because while it is a good set, its strengths aren’t enough to wholly overlook its shortcomings at full price.

--- LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV pictures ---

--- LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV pros and cons ---

LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV is one of those LEGO Star Wars sets that packs a lot into the box, but not necessarily in a way that offers the very best value. It’s an interesting and satisfying build that credibly recreates an iconic moment from the original trilogy and it serves well in both play and display.

But there is missed potential in both its modularity and in that minifigure line-up. If just one of those was better realised, or the price was a little lower, this would be an instant classic.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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--- Alternatives to LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV ---

The money it takes to pick up one copy of LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV is enough to buy two copies of 75372 Clone Trooper & Battle Droid Battle Pack. That aside, the £50 bracket for LEGO Star Wars is not looking too competitive right now…

--- LEGO Star Wars 75387 Boarding the Tantive IV FAQs ---