Lego Tantive IV (75376) review: "A gorgeous little display piece"

May. 14, 2024

The Lego Tantive IV is another fantastic display model in the Lego Star Wars range. It looks superb on show, with loads of great details for fans to spot. The small piece count makes it an easy recommendation for busy adult Lego fans who don’t have the time (or storage space) for a larger set, but it is a little pricey for what you’re getting.

Great fun to build

Beautiful display model

Approachable for beginners

Expensive for its size

Stickers

No minifigs

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I’m happy to say that Lego has done a fantastic job with this replica, offering a gorgeous display model that’s packed with interesting building techniques. Despite the affordable price tag of $79.99, it does feel a little light on pieces for the cost. However, the slick design of the Lego Tantive IV means it’s still up there with thebest Lego Star Wars setsfor adults for me.

Lego Tantive IV features

The Tantive IV is the latest addition to Lego’s Starship Collection — a set of display pieces aimed at adult Star Wars (and Lego) fans. These smaller ship models are designed to fit nicely on a bookshelf in a classy, adult nerd’s living room. To that end, the model has a slick black display stand, complete with a printed name plate and a 25th anniversary plaque that can stand alongside it.

One of the downsides of the Starship Collection rears its ugly head again here though — no minifigures. It’s Princess Leia’s ship, so it wouldn’t have killed them to include a little Princess Leia minifigure with the Lego Tantive IV. And, to be honest, at the price you’re paying for such a low piece-count model, throw in R2-D2 and C-3PO too.

I built the Lego Star Wars Tantive IV over a few hours in a single evening, although you could easily stretch it out into a couple of nights. Following the instruction booklet, you’ll assemble up to the main body before moving on to the massive engine array. This iconic rear end (not like that) is cleverly designed, with the central row of thrusters attaching directly to the hull, with the top and bottom rows then clipping into place around it.

During construction I was impressed at how varied the techniques and pieces I was using were — the build never got repetitive or monotonous. There are loads of clever techniques used to build the angled sections of the hull, and the engine array is an impressive piece of micro engineering.

What’s the difference between the old, now-retired Tantive IV - pictured above - and Lego’s new one? For starters, the previous version was a lot bigger and had roughly 1,000 pieces more. (It also came with six minifigs.) That means it was much more expensive and harder to display, though.

I also really love how they did the little double-barreled turrets, which are made using three of the same piece, with the middle one attaching the weapon to the ship.

There are quite a few stickers included in the set, which are always the bane of any Lego fan’s existence. Most of them were simple to apply, but because of how circular Lego pieces are attached, you do need to be careful with the alignment of the circular stickers on the side of the prow.

Overall, the Lego Star Wars Tantive IV is great fun to build, but the price does feel a little steep for the piece count considering that you’ll be done building it in no time — the Executor Super Star Destroyer is a similar style of Lego set with about the same piece count, and it’s $10 cheaper than the Tantive, which doesn’t seem right.

The Lego Star Wars Tantive IV is a gorgeous little display piece when it’s finished, offering a wonderful replica of Princess Leia’s iconic ship for older Star Wars fans to enjoy. The massive engine block at the back is the most recognisable part of the Tantive, and it looks fantastic here. The stickers, while annoying to apply, do also give a load of fine detail to the outer hull.

This set isn’t a toy, so there aren’t any moving parts, working turrets, or minifigures (if you want something like that, check out ourLego Boarding the Tantive IV review). That being said, there are plenty of little details for movie buffs to look out for and enjoy.

On the underside of the ship you can see the escape pods, complete with one missing pod — you’ll have to chase down R2-D2 and C-3PO if you want that back. The communications array on the top of the ship has also been repaired after the Empire blew it up during the opening chase scene in Star Wars: A New Hope.

The whole thing comes mounted on a classy black display stand, complete with a printed plaque displaying the name of the ship. You also get a nice 25-years of Lego Star Wars anniversary brick which can sit alongside it too. The model is a great size to sit on a bookshelf, and even fits nicely into those Ikea Kallax cube shelves if you have one of those.

It is a little more expensive than I’d like though, so I’d maybe recommend waiting for a sale unless you’re desperate to add this ship to your fleet.

✅ You love the classic Star Wars movies:This is a set for fans of the original movies, and it doesn’t come more original than the first ship we ever saw on screen in Star Wars.

✅ You want an affordable display piece:Despite us thinking it’s a little overcosted, this is still an affordable and approachable Lego set.

❌ You hate stickers:Most Lego sets have stickers these days, but, for its size, the Tantive IV has a lot of them.

❌ You want a playset:The Lego Tantive IV is a display piece, so it doesn’t have any features that enhance playability for kids.

I built this set over the course of a single evening, and it took around 2-3 hours to complete. I followed the instructions, making sure to look out for sections that were particularly difficult or confusing, as well as highlighting enjoyable aspects of the build.

Once the build was finished, I considered the overall design: how good it looks, how accurately it replicates the ship from the movie, and any special features that it has (or is lacking).

You can find out more about our process in our ‘how we test’ guide.

For more recommendations, don’t miss our guide to thebest Lego setsor theseStar Wars gifts.

Ian Stokes is an experienced writer and journalist. You’ll see his words on GamesRadar+ from time to time, but Ian spends the majority of his time working on other Future Plc publications. He has served as the Reviews Editor for Top Ten Reviews and led the tech/entertainment sections of LiveScience and Space.com as Tech and Entertainment Editor.

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