With the ringing in of 2019, we’re also getting the release of Series 6 of the LEGO Star Wars Microfighters. When the series was first introduced, each Microfighter pack came with a single build, and most, if not all were vehicles, as the theme’s title implies. 75228 Escape Pod vs Dewback Microfighters comes with two builds in a single pack, which we first saw introduced in 2018. But now for the very first time, a Microfighters set features a creature instead of a vehicle. It’s also the first time the Dewback is in a brick-built form as opposed to a molded figure, and it created a bit of a buzz with LEGO Star Wars fans. The set comes with 177 pieces and retails for $19.99 USD. Let’s take a look and see how it stacks up.

The Escape Pod and Dewback are among the first scenes on Tatooine we see in Star Wars: A New Hope. C-3PO and R2-D2 first arrive from their escape pod fresh off the Tantive IV with the plans of the Death Star hidden in R2-D2’s memory banks. Sand Troopers scour the desert hunting down the pod’s contents, confirming that the pods were not empty vessels as first suspected but instead finding traces of droids in the area.

The packaging and instructions

The front of the box features the two builds and minifigures prominently. The back of the box showcases another scene of the Dewback and the escape pod. It also teases the two other Microfighter builds to collect from this series.

A new highlight is the “build together” label on the box’s back. The set features two separate instruction sets for two persons to be able to enjoy building the set in parallel; and obviously, upon spilling the contents out, the set comes with two separate bags and two instruction manuals.

The Build – Escape Pod

The escape pod is built up pretty quickly with the cylindrical form taking shape with a four stud wide length construct.

With the front plates and back boosters in place, the build is practically complete. The actual escape pod from Star Wars: A New Hope has tons of greebling on its outer shell — this is attempted by having two flat silver roller blades on both sides of the escape pod.

All that’s left is to have the two minifigures seated in place. Artoo is standing behind C-3PO supported by a single stud, while C-3PO sits snugly halfway inside the pod. They’re both ready to now escape from the grasp of Darth Vader, only to be hunted by our next build, the Sand Trooper and Dewback.

The Build – Dewback

There’s a strikingly — but not surprisingly — large number of sand-green parts in the second bag.

For fans of sand green parts, we thought we’d just highlight each different part that appears in this set. They comprise 13 unique elements of various quantities. If I were to take a guess that all of these parts would be in abundance in the 21042 Statue of Liberty (which features tons of sand green parts), I would be wrong. Interestingly three elements do not appear. They are the inverted slope, the horizontal tooth and the modified plate with studs on the side.

The build starts out with the torso of the Dewback.

Once it’s completed, the tail is fit together with a 1×2 towball plate joint. It sits in snugly with lots of room for articulation.

With the tail affixed, a quick flip is required to start forming the upper limbs of the leg pieces with the inverted 2×1 slopes. I found these four pieces need to be handled with care during the next build phase, or else they’d pop out easily as you apply pressure sideways onto the inverted slopes.

Once the feet are placed I had a slight chuckle as it just seems a too cute of a build, reminding me of a turtle or armadillo turned over on its shell.

Next comes the head of the Dewback. The only non-minifigure printed parts in the whole set are the eye elements. It comes with three pieces, of which one is a spare element.

Just like the tail structure, the headpiece is secured together to the torso with a towball joint on the side.

The Dewback is almost completed with a bit of skinning placed around the torso.

Once the saddle is complete, a clip on the side holds the Sand Trooper’s rifle.

The Minifigures

Both C-3PO and R2-D2 that comes with this set are not new. But they’re still great pieces to own if you don’t have one in your collection, even though many of us already do. It’s the same minifigure duo that was featured in the last Droid Escape Pod (75136) set and the recent Betrayal at Cloud City (75222).

The Sandtrooper featured is a Squad leader with an orange pauldron with an ammo pouch. He features dirt stains and a survival backpack. First featured in the Imperial Landing Craft (75221), he does come with two additional accessories: a pair of white space binoculars and a long staff with a Technic pin at the end used for jolting electricity to control the Dewbacks.

The Sandtrooper’s standard Clone/Stormtrooper head does not come with an alternate faceprint, but a nice smeared set of armor gives it a weathered look just like in the movie.

The completed model

The Dewback is definitely charming, and a refreshing take for a Microfighter set. The Escape Pod is not much of a fanfare, but the delightful Dewback makes up for it.

Having said that, that happiness did not last as long as it kept me wanting more. What if, just what if we could have a larger brick-built Dewback? My mind kept wondering if we could have something five times the size, wouldn’t it be cool indeed?! I for one will be secretly looking forward to that.

All in all, this is a nice set to pick up for a quick build to get rid of an itch to build for a few minutes. I found it pretty impressive that for a kit with almost no printed parts and no stickers, it still does a good job in depicting both builds. However, you would not miss much if you gave this set a pass because you’re not a fan of the Dewback. But in the end, if you’ve just got to have a cute little Dewback, you won’t go wrong with this set.

75228 Escape Pod vs Dewback Microfighters include 177 parts, 2 minifigs, and 1 astromech droid. The set is available now from the LEGO Shop (USD 19.99 | CDN 24.99 | GBP 17.99)