With LEGO Star Wars 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer recently revealed, Blocks is taking a scanning droid to look at some of the references…
Dwarfing Imperial Star Destroyers in its shadow, Darth Vader’s flagship is a giant Super Star Destroyer. Measuring an almost incomprehensible 19,000 meters long, and requiring as many crew as a small city, the Executor is meant to strike fear into anyone defying the Empire. In fact they were so big and expensive to make that the Empire only had three Super Star Destroyers in its navy.
In 2011 the LEGO Star Wars theme brought the ship to life in an Ultimate Collectors Series set that is still the only way to get Admiral Piett as a minifigure. Now, 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer is reintroducing this behemoth and the midi-scale models. Blocks, the LEGO magazine for fans, is commandeering a TIE fighter to fly through some galactic references…
Smaller siblings
In order to give some scale to this set, two Imperial Star Destroyers are connected to the main model, and they’re made from 2×3 angled plates. It’s the cutest Star Destroyers will probably ever look and is a really effective way to show the different ships within the fleet. One of these Destroyers is likely to be the Devastator, which is Darth Vader’s usual ship that captured Princess Leia in Star Wars: A New Hope.
Return of the Midi-Scale
Back in 2009 and 2010 the LEGO Group released two new midi-scale Star Wars sets – 7778 Millennium Falcon and 8099 Imperial Star Destroyer. This is bigger than micro-scale, but far smaller than minifigure scale. It allowed fans to have access to cheaper models that didn’t take up as much shelf space, focussing only on the key shapes and details. It will be interesting to see if 75356 is just a one off for the 40th anniversary or whether midi-scale is back for good.
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Anniversary brick
Speaking of the 40th anniversary for Return of the Jedi, 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer comes with a unique brick inspired by one of the original posters when the film released in 1983. It beautifully captures Darth Vader’s silhouette against a striking geometric red background and incorporating the 40 in metallic silver printing.
Orange engines
While Imperial Star Destroyers have bright blue ion engines, the Executor had orange ones. There are 13 of them on the real ship and while it’s hard to tell from the official photos, there are at least 8 on 75356 made from trans-orange studs inserted into dark grey cone elements.
It’s a great alternative option
LEGO Star Wars UCS sets only seem to be getting more expensive, and with everyone trying to budget these days, having a smaller option is perfect. It’s a little easier on the wallet, especially when a UCS scale version would probably be over £900/$1000. If display space is also an issue then this 630 piece grey triangle is pretty easy to sneak into an office.
It’s been 11 years since the Super Star Destroyer was in the brick, so it’s great to see this Imperial behemoth back on shelves in time to celebrate the anniversary for Return of the Jedi. Will you be picking up this set on May 1? And what other Star Wars ships would you like to see at midi-scale? Send out your Imperial probe droids to let us know on any of the Blocks social media channels!