Lego Star Wars Tantive IV review

Become part of the Rebel Alliance (and a traitor) with the new Lego Star Wars Tantive IV set.

It's currently a great time to be a fan of the best Lego Star Wars sets. There are loads of new sets dropping seemingly every month, covering almost every era of Star Wars from the prequel movies and Clone Wars up to the modern TV shows like "The Mandalorian" and "Ahsoka". 

We're going back to the earliest of the Star Wars movies for this one though, with the Tantive IV — the ship that Princess Leia flees from Darth Vader in during the opening scenes of "Star Wars: A New Hope". It's one of the more underrated ships in the Star Wars universe if you ask us, so we're excited to get stuck into this build.

It's been a few years since we had a Tantive IV Lego set, with the last one being retired in 2021. That was a larger kit that came with minifigures and a chunky $199.99 / £179.99 price tag, so it's doubly nice to see Princess Leia's iconic ship return and at a much friendlier $79.99. Of course, with that drop in budget comes a drop in size and piece count. So, is it worth the trade-off? Let’s get the kit built and take a look.

Lego Star Wars Tantive IV: Build

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• Quick build time
• Varied and interesting build
• Quite a few stickers

The Lego Star Wars Tantive IV consists of 654 pieces spread across seven bags. It's not a massive set, so you can easily build it over a couple of hours in an evening, or spread it across a few days if you really want to take your time with it.

Construction starts with the central body of the ship, before progressing onto the prow with its recognisable hammerhead configuration. From there, you move on to building the huge engine array at the back, which makes up most of the ship (and build time). The engine is built in three sections lining up with the three rows of thrusters.

With that, the main body is done and you move onto all the exterior detailing and panels that run down the outer hull of the ship. This includes gun turrets, and a few panels with the dreaded stickers that need attaching. Fortunately, these are all easy enough to apply. After that you build the display stand, attach the ship, and you're done. Just in time to get those Death Star plans aboard and get out of here.

Throughout the build process, you're constantly switching up build techniques and using different pieces so it never gets boring. There are some clever connections and pieces used to make sections like the thrusters too. I especially love how the dual-barrel turrets are made by connecting three 1x1 bar studs together and then embedding the central one as the mounting point.

Lego Star Wars Tantive IV: Design

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• Beautiful design
• Loads of nods to the movie
• Expensive for what you get

It's not really a diorama, but along with the Executor Super Star Destroyer, the Tantive IV set feels like it fits with the other Lego Star Wars diorama sets more than the traditional ship builds. It's a smaller-scale model at a cheaper price point, and clearly meant for display rather than play. There are no minifigures included, and other than a few swiveling turrets, there isn't really anything you'd call a play feature here. No, this is a set aimed at adults who love Star Wars and don’t want to sink $500+ on something like the UCS Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser.

As a display piece though, it's a wonderful little set. It captures the profile of the ship perfectly despite the limited size. It also showcases all the most recognizable parts of the ship from the movie, most notably the huge engine array. That engine array is basically the first thing anyone ever saw from the Star Wars universe — it's an iconic visual burned into the minds of millions of sci-fi nerds like me, and the Lego set more than does it justice.

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There are loads of other cool details. The escape pods are mounted on the underside of the hull, with one space empty to show R2-D2 and C-3PO's flight to Tatooine. The communications dish on the top of the ship is there too (despite the Empire blowing it off during the chase, but hey, those Rebel mechanics do quick repair work).

The whole thing is mounted on a sturdy black display stand, complete with a printed name plaque for the ship, and a special anniversary brick to celebrate 25 years of Lego Star Wars. Overall, it's a great little package that I wish was just a little bit cheaper. $79.99 feels a little steep for what you get here in terms of plastic and build time. It's $10 more than the similarly sized Executor, with nearly an identical piece count… I don’t get it.

Should you buy the Lego Star Wars Tantive IV?

The Lego Star Wars Tantive IV is a wonderful display model that will suit adult collectors and classic Star Wars fans perfectly. It's full of cool details and doesn't take up too much time or space in your home. 

It's a little bit expensive for what you're getting though, so maybe wait for a sale if you’re not desperate to add this ship to your collection. 

Other Lego Star Wars sets to consider

If you're looking for similar Lego Star Wars sets, the Lego Star Wars Executor Super Star Destroyer is a fantastic option. It's another smaller ship diorama showcasing Darth Vader's menacing command ship, and it comes complete with a couple of adorable tiny Star Destroyers for scale. You can pick up the Executor Super Star Destroyer for $69.99 / £59.99.

For more classic Star Wars ships, there are also three different version of the Millennium Falcon to choose from, depending on your size preference (and how much you want to pay). 

The new Millennium Falcon (75375) costs $84.99 / £74.99 and consists of 921 pieces. Then there is the middle ground option, the Millennium Falcon (75257) which costs $169.99 / £149.99 with 1353 pieces. And then finally, if you're looking to really splash out, there is the UCS Millennium Falcon which has an enormous 7541, and a suitably huge price tag of $849.99 / £734.99 to boot.