LEGO Star Wars 75385 Ahsoka Tano’s Duel on Peridea review

LEGO Star Wars’ latest minifigure delivery vehicle ticks off Ahsoka’s major missing characters, and that’s about it.

The LEGO Group is following up its initial wave of LEGO Star Wars sets hooked to the Ahsoka Disney+ series with 75385 Ahsoka Tano’s Duel on Peridea, a set that’s all about getting you those minifigures you were missing from the first wave… no matter the cost.

Release: August 1, 2024 Price: £49.99 / $54.99 / €54.99 Pieces: 382 Minifigures: 5 LEGO: Order now

Was this really the best option?

75385 Ahsoka Tano’s Duel on Peridea arrives in questionable company, having already drawn comparisons to the much-maligned 75334 Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader. Here again is a LEGO Star Wars set that tries to eke some mileage out of a relatively barren landscape, then throws in just enough desirable minifigures to make sure you’re going to buy it anyway.

The terrain here at least has a little more going for it thanks to the four stickered pillars that surround the diorama, but it’s still just a grey slab on which to pose those characters. The play features are half-hearted – you can recreate Ezra’s jump to the Chimaera, except it’s more like a limp fall, and the rotating platforms are all operated independently – and the build feels oddly overengineered for what you’ll end up with.

Couldn’t these nearly-400 pieces have been put to better use for a bigger and more entertaining playset? Maybe something that fuelled the imagination a little more? Or – better yet – a new Imperial gunship?

Hope you like stickers

It’s been a while since a LEGO Star Wars set could give a Speed Champions model a run for its money in the sticker department, but 75385 Ahsoka Tano’s Duel on Peridea gives it a good go. The number of stickers isn’t the problem here, though: it’s the approach. There are eight identical stickers placed on dark grey 2x4 tiles, each with a thin gold line running down the centre*, that must be aligned in pairs across the base of the model.

There’s an asterisk there because not all of these stickers are actually alike. The gold band is not central to each and every one, so if you try to align the stickers by their edges you’ll find that the gold strips don’t actually line up. Your best bet is placing the tiles down first, then dropping the stickers on, but it’s still a frustrating experience. And it would have only required one new printed part to solve that problem entirely…

The stickers on the four pillars are a little easier to place, and you can understand why they’re not printed given the variety, while those on the four quarter-circle tiles are also not quite as painful as they look. But for a set that costs £49.99 / $54.99 / €54.99, those eight 2x4 tiles really sting.

Mo’ minifigures, mo’ money

That price is honestly difficult to accept regardless of the sticker situation, because there’s just so little meat on this model in general. You’re coming here for the minifigures, and the LEGO Group knows it. The good news is that those minifigures are all pretty fantastic. You can instantly see where the budget for this set has gone, with arm printing, leg printing, dual moulding, new face prints and more. Highlights include Morgan Elsbeth’s recoloured Darksaber blade, Thrawn’s dual-moulded boots and that very cool face print for the Night Trooper.

All five of these minifigures are also exclusive to 75385 Ahsoka Tano’s Duel on Peridea, and the new Grand Admiral Thrawn alone is probably going to be reason enough for most of us to pick this one up eventually (the original minifigure sells for more than the entire cost of this set and then some, after all). They’re not all perfect – the printing on the Night Trooper’s helmet feels a bit too subtle, and Ezra’s eyes won’t work for everyone – but as a collection of characters there’s not much to grumble about here.

Oh, except for how much you’ll need to spend to get them all.

75385 Ahsoka Tano’s Duel on Peridea is a LEGO set that knows exactly what it’s trying to do and why, and given that most of us have long since sold our souls to the LEGO Star Wars minifigure machine, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. But that price tag, combined with its miserly approach to stickers, really sours the entire experience. Definitely one to wait for a discount on.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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Our honest opinion: Overpriced and underbaked, this is one LEGO Star Wars set you really are only going to be buying for the minifigures. Shame it’s so expensive.