LEGO REVIEW: Star Wars Encounter on Jakku # 75148

After The Force Awakens was released, I looked at the available first wave sets and felt something was missing. To me, the Luggabeast conspicuously absent. Sure, Unkar Plutt was missing, but I wasn't really missing him. When I heard that this set was coming, I got excited. When I saw the preliminary images, I cried out as loud as any other about how bright the blue was. Upon further research, I saw that the blue was right. The Luggabeast shown in the film had a lot of bright blue, but most of it was heavily scratched and marred. It's hard to have the mottled look in LEGO, so they simplified it by going blue. I think it's time now to review and see how well LEGO accomplished the feel of Jakku. 

REVIEW: SET DETAILS
Set #: 75148
Name: Encounter on Jakku
Theme: Star Wars
Parts: 530
Price: $59.99

BOX CONTENTS

Some people may wind up picking up a set that is open box or, want to verify the box contents before beginning a build. For this set, there are 5 numbered baggies,2 plastic "sails" and an instruction book.

BUILD AND EXECUTION:

BAG 1: The first thing that you do is start building the body of the Luggabeast.

I just want to point out the new parts 2x2 wedge in dark azure. There's a lot of dark azure pieces on  this build. Many of them are rare or unique.

You round out the bottom of the beast It's fairly blocky, but I think that fits since the creature looked half mechanical and half organic.

I guess you could call this the saddle?

Bag 1 ends with only half a luggabeast. You do get your Teedo, but he only wants this set for spare parts.

BAG 2: Introduces the new leg molds. You jus t peg some random kibble on them and slot them on, nothing really fancy, so I didn't show that.

Now you build the basic shape of the head. It doesn't look like much now, but you're going to just slap some decorative panels on it anyway.

More medium azure here. Check out the decorated piece.

Use a couple whips to represent hoses or cables or something.

Finally, you slot the head on. There's not really a lot of interesting techniques here. I think the end result is fine, but nothing in it to really excite.

BAG 3: So, we're building a structure. No matter how big of a structure it is or if it is even a full one, we need a foundation. If it's a Star Wars structure, you need to build in stuff like slotted bricks and levers from the beginning. After all, you have to have play features, right? 

I'm not sure if that's a counter to transact on or a table to clean junk on, either way, it's just more there to provide visual appeal than serviceability.

I like that you use ladder pieces over the windows to create a security gate effect.

A wrench appears, so it must be for taking apart junk to get to the good bits. Plus, now we have a hidden pistol.

Unkar Plutt's base  of operations is a ramshackle affair, probably made out of a crashed ship or cargo crate. If we're going for a junk heap, well it's looking pretty good.

BAG 4: We start another part of the structure, this time with a lot of slopes. It's interesting to me how much Dark Orange is used in here. This is a color that I don't feel like I see much of.

Another window, this time with the typical bar arrangement. Maybe this is where you receive your meager portions. (meagre for British and Canadian readers.)

Snap the 2 structures together with a hinge. You can see where Unkar keeps his riches. Lots of past date ration pouches in that safe.

Finish up your walls and you can close up shop. I didn't really look to see what it looks like with Unkar in there. It seems pretty small, but if he's anything like the owner of the comic shop I used to go to, he never moves and only needs a small area.

This upper platform isn't used for anything, except maybe to provide shade under the glare of Jakku's sun.

Bag 5: I'm not sure if we are creating a walkway or a waiting area. It looks a lot like a disused Egyptian explorers set.

You put together an arch, you can see some of the junk that wasn't good enough for Unkar Plutt here.

Snap your new creation onto the previous larger structure. Notice the Battle Droid legs, those are supposed to be there.

Look, more Battle Droid parts. There's even another arm in that box on the left. Actually that torso in dark orange is not common. You also attach the sail/awning, Unkar Plutt doesn't want anyone to suffer heat stroke. Our heroes Rey and BB-8 are here too.

REACTION:

I like the way this set looks. I'll keep it together on my shelf for a while. It definitely represents the scene(s) in the movie. Is it accurate? Weeeeell, more or less. It's more the parts your brain fills in than the specific details that put you in the scene. I'm amused by the Battle Droid parts scattered all over. I would have thought those junkers would have rusted out long before. This set contains a lot of colors that you don't normally see. There's a lot of medium azure, a lot of tans and dark tans and some dark oranges. I would think that even if you didn't want the set for yourself, it's a good parts warehouse.

I actually really like the Luggabeast. If nothing else, I am pretty glad that I got the set just for that. I might modify it a bit at some point by throwing some light grey or tan pieces on the blue, but overall it looks very satisfying.

The minifigure selection is good. Rey and BB-8 both are reissues. These figures have both appeared in several sets, Rey in 3 and BB-8 in 4. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if fatigue starts to set in on them, especially now that their keychains have also been released.

I thought for sure that Teedo was portrayed by a little person. I thought that this figure should have short legs. With that having been said, this figure looks nice. The decoration is well done even if it does remind me of a Tusken Raider figure that I had as a kid. The head is a nice new mold. But Teedo is not the star of this set.

The star of this set is Unkar Plutt. Actually, he's not my favorite looking of the four. He is however the minifigure that is most wanted. The head/body piece is well executed, except I feel that the paint job is too simplistic. The character doesn't look like anything so much as a blob with eyes. Maybe that's an accurate representation of the character though.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I don't think LEGO is going to be revisiting Jakku again anytime soon. They may get to it in 5 years or so. I just don't think there will be a lot of motivation on their part with new movies every year. Will that lead to it being worth more because it's not being remade, or will it languish because the scenes depicted are not super important? Either way, this set is begging to be paired with Rey's Speeder and, if you can swing it, the Unkar's Brute minifigure from that book. Look for discounts on Amazon.

EXTRA PIECES:

You get a lot of the small pieces that you usually see. Plus you get an extra sail thing. I'm not sure why you need an extra one, but there it is.

Please take a look at the other Star Wars Reviews:

• #75060 Slave I (click here)
• #75078 Imperial Troop Transport (click here)
• #75085 Hailfire Droid (click here)
• #75087 Anakin's Starfighter (click here)
• #75092 Naboo Starfighter (click here)
• #75094 Shuttle Tyderium (click here)
• #75100 Snowspeeder (click here)
• #75101 Tie Fighter (click here)
• #75102 Poe's X-Wing Fighter (click here)
• #75103 First Order Transporter (click here)
• #75109 Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure (click here)
• #75125 Resistance X-Wing Fighter Microfighter (click here)
• #75127 The Ghost Microfighter (Click here)
• #75131 Resistance Trooper Battle Pack (click here)
• #75132 First Order Battle Back (click here)
• #75133 Rebel Alliance Battle Pack (click here)
• #75134 Galactic Empire Battle Pack (click here)
• #75135 Obi-Wan's Jedi Interceptor (click here)
• #75136 Droid Escape Pod (click here)
• #75137 Carbon-Freezing Chamber (click here)
• #75139 Battle on Takodana (click here)
• #75141 Resistance Troop Transporter (click here)
• #75148 Encounter on Jakku (click here)
• #75150 Vader's TIE Advanced vs. A-Wing (Click Here)