Review: 75005 Rancor Pit

[Lobot]

I had a couple of hours to kill yesterday (car service) and I ended up walking past a small independent toy store which just happened to be filling their shelves with all of the new 2013 sets. To be honest I normally buy the bulk of my Lego online when a decent discount is available, but I was in a good mood and it felt nice to support them (and to buy from a store that actually pays some tax to HM treasury - UK EB members will know what I mean!) Anyway, I digress. This was the only set that jumped out at me when I first saw the 2013 line-up and so it wasn't too much of a struggle to buy it. Was I impressed? Read on and find out!

Details from the Lego website:

Help Luke escape the clutches of the mighty rancor!

Build a famous scene from Star Wars™: Episode VI Return of the Jedi™ with this stackable set! Jedi Master Luke Skywalker is trapped in the Rancor™ Pit beneath Jabba the Hutt’s Palace and must escape. Look for a way out before the gate lifts and the mighty rancor makes an entrance! Battle the rancor with the bone before he eats the Gamorrean guard. Then, find the hidden compartment with a secret key or drop the gate on the space beast before it’s too late! Combine with LEGO® Star Wars™ 9516 Jabba’s Palace for a stackable scene with a trapdoor into the Rancor Pit! Includes rancor, skeleton and 3 minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Malakili and Gamorrean Guard.

• Includes rancor, skeleton and 3 minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Malakili and a Gamorrean guard

• Features opening gate, secret room and hidden compartment

• Rancor features movable arms, jaw, hands and fingers

• Accessories include bone, 2 keys, pitchfork and a bucket

• Find the hidden key in the secret compartment!

• Open the gate or smash it down onto the rancor!

• Collect the first-ever LEGO® Star Wars™ rancor creature!

• Rancor Pit measures over 6" (16cm) high, 7" (19cm) wide and 7" (20cm) deep

• Combine with LEGO Star Wars™ 9516 Jabba’s Palace for a stackable scene with trapdoor into the Rancor Pit!

• Rancor stands over 3" (10cm) tall

RRP - £59.99 (UK), weight: 1,003g, Parts: 380

First impressions: The box felt heavy for its size, although there was a fair amount of empty space in it. It has the new 2013 style, which I'm still not sure about; I still have fond memories of OT Yoda in Episode V, sat quietly on a rock speaking wise words to Luke (i.e. in a non-CGI format!!) but that shows my age.

Box front:

Box reverse:

Contents: The contents includes 4 numbered bags, 1 un-numbered, another containing the Rancor & a single instruction booklet (A4, 76 pages). Not surprisingly for a SW set there's a lot of grey, but it also includes some nice brown & dark tan. The set includes a nice range of parts and I'm sure that they will be useful for anyone who wants to MOC. The gate is the only part I don't like, it's a shame it couldn't have been made from smaller components.

380 assorted parts:

Minifigures: The set includes 3-4 minifigures (depending if you count the skeleton, which I think is cute ) plus the Rancor. Both Luke & the Keeper have double-sided heads, the latter also has a sad face! I'm still not sure about the Gamorrean Guard, perhaps he will grow on me in time.

Minifigures:

Reverse:

And finally the Rancor: I'm pleased that Lego has made him from several parts, rather than a single mould, so you build him. I was surprised how flexible he is; the legs are fixed, but his arms & hands have a wide range of movement. The designer has managed to strike a very good balance between it being movie-accurate & still retaining a 'Lego-like' style, not easy, all credit to them.

Looking angry from the front:

Looking angry from the reverse:

The build: I really enjoyed building this, it wasn't overly challenging for a 37 year old, but it lacked the repetitiveness of other SW sets. The design is excellent & it includes lots of nice little features; the colour scheme is also very well done. I've taken photos of at different points of the build below:

Page 15: Observant viewers will notice that there's a part missing...I spent a good 5 minutes trawling through everything, then eventually found it at the end of the build, old age I guess

Page 30: The 'non-Lego' gate, it misses the point of Lego somehow!

Page 45: Cave taking shape nicely

Page 60: Almost done

End result:

Final thoughts: This is a very nice set. The minigures are all excellent, apart from the Gamorrean Guard which others have mentioned before. The part count is on the low side for a set of this RRP, but the cost of developing the Rancor must have been significant. It's fun to build and looks really good when merged with Jabba's Palace. Perhaps it could have been a bit larger....I can see now why the Rancor was so grumpy in the film!!

8/10 - Worth getting if you have the Palace, it's definitely one of the situations where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I hope that you enjoyed my review, C & C welcome.

And finally:

'I've been a bit worried about my Rancor, he's been looking a bit off-colour. I've just given him something that's supposed to be high in Midi-chlorians....according to the vet he should be fine in a couple of days'

[Only Sinner]

Nice review. I'm going to pass on this set anyway. I do want the minifigs and that rancor.

[Lobot]

Thanks, it's a nice set, just a little expensive. It's will be a bargain if it goes on sale at 25% off; the keeper is one of my favourites & I'm surprised how much I like the Rancor.

Cheers, Robin

[TheLegoDr]

Thanks for the review! The set itself looks okay, but not too pleased with the price, as most people. I will definitely wait for a sale since the keeper and Rancor go for over $40-50 by themselves and the set is $60 here.

[Brickmamba]

A few months ago there was no doubt i was going to pick up this set, now on second thought other than the decent drop down gate, in general it looks to be a rather simple add on room that fails to capture the cave like environment of rancors pit.

Also it would have been nice for the keeper to get a more accurate headpiece so he doesn't just look like a shirtless 'Jedi' and instead of the redundant skeleton, include the keepers buddy which he cries on the shoulders of in the movie as an exclusive to make the set more enticing.

As it stands I'm really just interested in the Rancor figure and if I can find one at an acceptable price I can easily forgo the entire set. Thanks to the OP for the nice early review.

[Artifex]

Thanks for the review.

I agree this set is a great add-on if you got the Palace, but the minifigs really make it worth it even if you don't have the Palace. I can't praise enough that Gamorrean guard.

[Devorath]

Thanks for the review.

I agree this set is a great add-on if you got the Palace, but the minifigs really make it worth it even if you don't have the Palace. I can't praise enough that Gamorrean guard.

I'm not too fond of the figures in this set. The Rancor Keeper and Luke are OK, but nothing special.

[Zaterdag]

I haven't seen it in store up here yet.

I wish the bottom of the pit was completely filled and didn't have a big hole in it. I've noticed LEGO seems to be against baseplates these days...I wonder why?

I'll still pick it up though. To go with my Jabba's Palace

[Hulk_Smash]

After initially saying I wasn't going to get this and Jabba's Palace I have now changed my mind on both of them, and I am going to get this at the weekend, but I'm gana wait till the Palace goes down abit before I get that.

[ETAV8R]

Over on this side of the pond the Palace has been at its lowest price on Amazon.

[rakky]

at 60 pounds its rather steep, but now that it is 45 pounds on most store sites I will definitely be getting this. What is the problem with the Gamorrean guard anyhow? He looks fairly accurate (maybe a little skinny), he's better than the old one anyhow. Thanks for the review.

[BrickG]

Bought it for the Rancor and the Rancor alone. No regrets. Probably should have just paid like $20 for a Rancor alone instead but whatever :P. Guess it's nice having another pig guard.

At first I was concerned with the scale. Seemed small. But upon inspection of Google Image it's actually pretty darned accurate.