Kessel Run Millennium Falcon LEGO Review

The newest Millennium Falcon LEGO set is here, and we're going down its hallways in detail. This is the Falcon as it existed in one of its earliest forms – the earliest we've yet seen it. This was back when Lando Calrissian owned the ship and the ship – man – it was clean. So clean it almost breaks the "used future" Science Fiction George Lucas originally pierced our collective consciousness with in A New Hope.

To get an idea of what we're comparing this ship to on a human being scale, behold the video below this paragraph. This is the Millennium Falcon tour as given by Donald Glover. Glover is the only other man in the universe that Billy Dee Williams has given blessing to to play Lando – he's Lando, and Glover's Lando now, too.

In the video you'll see the basic layout of the Millennium Falcon as it exists in the "Solo" film days. That's when this film is set, approximately 11+ years before A New Hope. Back then, as Lando is known for his legendary class, the Falcon is kept shiny, new, and in mint condition.

SEE ALSO: Lando Calrissian Toy Roundup (Scoundrel Time)

Some of the colors in this version of the Falcon are different than you may remember. As the Falcon ages, it becomes gray and worn. The same thing happens to other ships in the Star Wars galaxy – remember the off-white star destroyers in Rogue One, then the very gray star destroyers of the original film trilogy. They're lighter when they're new, and grayer as they fly through the space dust of time.

Like any good LEGO set, this Kessel Run Millennium Falcon is pared down a bit – it doesn't have every single feature present in the films. It does, however, have all the key elements.

There's a Forward Crew Compartment, mostly appearing on the left side of the ship. That's where Glover goes in the video above where he first mentions the patent leather circular seat set. He moves to an area with a lot of buttons and switches and lights – that's here, in full effect.

The full quarter-circle of patent leather (yellow) seats is here, complete with Dejaric Hologame Board. Fun fact: The board is actually a repurposed minifigure shield (as it is in previous Millennium Falcon sets. This is probably the most excellent piece in the whole set, all by itself.

We've got the wetbar closer to the back of the ship, not extremely detailed, but it gets the job done. This area doesn't make much of an appearance in the original film trilogy at all – did Han just stop entertaining guests once he won the ship? Probably.

Right near the bar we've got the captains quarters, complete with patent leather (yellow) frame. Once I saw the video from Solo with Glover, I was disappointed to find that the LEGO set omitted the cape closet. We'll just have to wait for the bigger version of the ship's set. Or we'll just make it ourselves.

There's a cockpit, of course. This part of the ship has the custom Millennium Falcon window cone and enough room to fit two pilots. Barely. This area isn't extremely forgiving of characters with big arms or accessories. Chewie and Lando can fit together, but they've got to squish to make it happen.

There's a cramped (read: non-accessible) area in the hallway between the cockpit and the rest of the ship. It's thick with bricks, and does not allow minifigure passage through. This is one of a couple of concessions made in order to keep this small-scale version of the ship stay together with such a small area in which to work.

The designers of this build took similar care with the front mandibles of the Falcon. While I wouldn't recommend doing so, the way which these parts are attached allow the builder to pick the whole model up by its nose.

Between the front mandibles, you'll notice an amalgamation of bricks that wasn't there in any version of the Falcon we've seen in the Star Wars universe before. In this iteration of the Falcon, said area plays a role similar to that of the Star Wars Rebels ship "Ghost" and its detachable shuttlecraft "Phantom."

One minifigure can fit inside this detachable frontside shuttle, probably a little uncomfortably, but still, they'll fit. This shuttle has a pair of clever click-in elements to hold itself in place when not blasting off.

No matter how small a Millennium Falcon model gets, it really should have its much-used boarding ramp. This one really opens and gives access to the ship, as it should. Expect to bump one's head on this ramp's low bridge overhang when entering.

The rear of the ship has a long semitransparent ribbed tube in place to represent the engines – and it looks very pretty. This tube is held firmly in place and sits just below bricks north and south of it, completing the illusion that it is, indeed, engine blast in-effect.

There's a sensor dish on the left top of the ship, right where we remember it from A New Hope. Whether this is the same dish we know from A New Hope or not, we don't yet know for certain. Cross your fingers this becomes a running joke.

Above and below the ship are blaster cannons. These cannons are replaced by the time A New Hope rolls around with 4-barrel machines. A decade before that, here, they're just single-barrel cannons.

These cannons are controlled by two gunners, who here are loaded in through a top opening. In the film, gunners still enter and exit through the interior of the ship. But here, they're riding a fun little sled sort of deal. As Chewie demonstrates, there's more room here for odd-shaped minifigures than there is in the ship's cockpit.

To enter the ship, a number of topside panels fold up and out. These panels are not held tight when closed – they depend mainly on gravity to do their job of staying in place. This is completely fine, of course, as even though we're working with a smaller-scale Falcon, this LEGO ship is far too large to consider spinning.

Up front are a pair of blasters – traditionally known as concussion missile tubes. Here they fire long, semitransparent blast bricks with spring-loaded blaster bricks. These projectiles are activated by topside bricks which can be easily accessed and do no detriment to the aesthetics of the ship.

This ship features four sets of bricks that act as landing gears. They're not exactly gears, as they don't retract or anything – but they do what they're meant to in-place. They hold the ship up high enough that the belly-based blaster doesn't get crushed. What more could you ask for?

Below you'll find a gallery of photos of the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon complete with clever witticisms and commentary from Chewbacca. If you feel we've missed a photograph of any one unique spot on or in this set, make it known! We'll do our best to get back in there with a camera tout de suite!

The Kessel Run Millennium Falcon LEGO set is set number 75212, and it's meant for ages 9-14. We of course remember what The Man Upstairs said about that: "That's a suggestion. They have to put that on there." This set has a cool 1,414 pieces in its box, stickers, and 6 minifigures: Han Solo, Chewbacca, Qi'ra, Lando Calrissian, Quay Tolsite and a Kessel Operations Droid, and a DD-BD droid.

This set can be found anywhere fine LEGO sets are available for right around $170 USD right this minute. This set was first made available to the public in April of 2018, just weeks before the release of the film Solo: A Star Wars Story, which was set for the big screen on May 25th, 2018.