LEGO Set #75059

Wow. Prepare to do nothing else for the rest of your life. This huge set is a whopping 3,296 pieces and took me about 9 hours to complete. I don’t think anyone could do it all in one sitting. That would be quite the challenge!

And what is the end result? A pretty impressive and heavy Sandcrawler.

A lot of the pieces seem to go into reinforcing the walls and floor. You’ll spend a lot of time just building the base up to about a half an inch thickness before it starts taking shape. This set is so massive it even came with a box inside the box that had more bags of LEGO pieces inside them. Unfortunately the instructions didn’t seem to tell you how many bags per number there was, so that made things a bit difficult. If there is a system to figuring this out, let me know in the comments. I more than once started on a new bag only to realize there were one or two more bags with the same number.

There are a lot of movable parts in this set, which gives it some great functionality and playability. The downside is that it’s a pretty tight squeeze in the final product. Maybe small child hands wouldn’t have a problem, but I had trouble getting my manly man hands to manipulate the various cranes without knocking pieces off the walls.

Here’s a quick overview of the special features:

You can turn the the back wheels left and right with a dial in the back in order to steer.

The front cargo ramp raises and lowers with the turn of a dial on top of the Sandcrawler.

Cargo flaps on the left and right allow you to slide crates into it.

A movable crane is in the middle section to pick up and transport those crates.

Another crane extends out of the front cargo ramp to lift and bring cargo inside.

Flaps on the left and right swing up to get a look inside.

Top pieces are removable to get a look inside.

Somewhat secret compartments on the side drop barrels when opened.

You also get a good number of minifigures and droids with this set, and for $300 you’d better! It comes with 4 Jawas, which are all identical. You also get an Uncle Owen and a Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately almost every Original Trilogy Star Wars set seems to include a Luke Skywalker, so I have way too many of him now. The droids are great, and if you’re an avid Star Wars collector this will really help round out your collection. You get another C-3P0 and R2-D2, which are common enough. But you also get some extra droid variety with the Treadwell Droid, Gonk Droid and R1 and R2 Astromech Droids.

Overall this is a must-have for serious Star Wars collectors, but it is a very long and tedious build. The final product is a great trophy for your shelf and it includes enough droids and Jawas to integrate with your own Star Wars creations.

Minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Uncle Owen, C-3P0, R2-D2, 4 Jawas, 2 Astromech Droids, Gonk Droid and a Treadwell Droid

Pieces: 3296

Recommended Ages: 14+

Time to Complete: About 9 hours

Price: $299.95 on Amazon

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