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. 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. 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.

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!” 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. 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.''

Summary

As a LEGO set, it looks and works way better than any of the marketing material can ever suggest, and it’s one of the highest-quality creations to come out of the LEGO Star Wars theme in years, feeling almost more like a custom model than an official set. 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. 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… You’ll be able to get your hands on 75329 Death Star Trench Run, 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training and 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor from LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores from April 26. 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.

Gaps in the base accommodate simple tabs outside the walls, allowing them to slide inwards. Another version of this scene, prioritising play, would probably have provided a mechanism to control the walls in unison, but the simple mechanism gives an opportunity for additional detail. Also, this arrangement functions very smoothly and feels satisfying. While this will be exclusive to Walmart here in the United States, the LEGO Group has firmly stated in the past that regional exclusive sets are a thing of the past. So there will likely be a retailer in other countries carrying the set, if the LEGO Group themselves don’t sell it via LEGO Shop Online. 9to5Toys’ Take: 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. 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. 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.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. 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.

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.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. However, where 75329 Death Star Trench Run Diorama and 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama very much lean into the hands-off approach that comes with this new design ethos, 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama feels like the compromise to ease the wider LEGO Star Wars audience in. For what is essentially also a display-first LEGO set, 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama still comes with a notable play feature, indicative of perhaps one avenue the Diorama Collection could explore more of, without compromising on authenticity. 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. beloved characters bring the scene to life – 5 LEGO minifigures: Luke Skywalker and Han Solo dressed as Stormtroopers, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO, plus an R2-D2 LEGO droid figure