LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama review

LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama tackles one of Return of the Jedi’s most adrenaline-fuelled scenes – but is it as thrilling to build as it is to watch?

Last year’s LEGO Star Wars dioramas focused exclusively on A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and it became clear earlier this year that the LEGO Group was saving the final instalment of the original trilogy for its 40th anniversary in 2023. Return of the Jedi has plenty of iconic and action-packed scenes that would lend themselves perfectly to this format, and the speeder bike chase on the forest moon of Endor was certainly high on that list.

That’s because it was full of potential, with so many ways to make it not only the most interesting LEGO Star Wars diorama so far, but also a genuinely brilliant and innovative set in its own right.

That isn’t what we’ve got here, though.

— LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama set details —

Theme: Star Wars Set name: 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama Release date: May 1, 2023

Price: £69.99 / $79.99 / €79.99 Pieces: 608 Minifigures: 3

LEGO: Available now

— Where to buy LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama —

LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama arrived on May 1, 2023, and is available at LEGO.com, in LEGO Stores and at all good third-party retailers. Check below for the best deals on this Return of the Jedi 40th anniversary set.

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— LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama build —

Remember 7128 Speeder Bikes from 1999? What if that set, but with 2023 design principles, and also seven times more expensive? This must surely have been the brief for 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama, which takes what could have been a really cool LEGO Star Wars set and gives us essentially the bare minimum.

There are so many directions the LEGO Group could have taken this scene to make it properly dynamic: a scrolling background, a la 71374 Nintendo Entertainment System, to communicate the sense of speed integral to the sequence; moving bikes, akin to Jason Allemann’s 910028 Pursuit of Flight; taller trees with a hint of the Ewok village and Wicket, to build out the diorama aspect; a lenticular backdrop (a la the Harry Potter Hogwarts Banners) to simply simulate movement; or even an explosion of trans-orange pieces to represent the moment one of the unfortunate Scout Troopers collides with a redwood trunk.

Okay, that last one would have maybe been a bridge too far even for an 18+ set, but the point is that the LEGO Star Wars team didn’t need to go route one with 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama. It’s already established precedent for going above and beyond static dioramas in wave one, with 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama’s cleverly closing walls. So why is 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama afraid to push boundaries in the same way?

Look: we’ve got a couple of trees, half-cut, on a base loosely smattered with the sprawling foliage that covers Endor. (The new fern piece gets a decent look-in, at least.) And then we’ve got two speeder bikes (more on those in a second). But… that’s it. Everything you see is everything you get, and there’s really nothing in the box to make this stand out.

75329 Death Star Trench Run Diorama is microscale, which is neat, and depicts something we’ve never seen before in LEGO. 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama has that cool trans-green swamp floor, with an X-wing’s S-foil poking out, and a unique R2-D2 minifigure. We’ve already waxed lyrical about the cool compacting mechanism in 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama. Even 75352 Emperor’s Throne Room Diorama does something different by blowing up a slice of the Death Star II to an unprecedented level of detail (in a set that prioritises story above spectacle). But what does 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama bring to the table?

Well, to be fair, two things: speeder bike one and speeder bike two, both built ever-so-slightly differently to accommodate either the Scout Trooper’s gear or a rear seat for Luke, and also both far and away the most intricate, complex and intelligent designs we’ve ever seen for these vehicles at minifigure scale.

Together they take full advantage of that 18+ label on the box, weaving an intricate web of tiny elements connected in all directions. The build never reaches a point of frustration – kids might disagree – and the result is genuinely impressive. (They even give our custom bike a run for its money.) But nobody should be spending £70 for a pair of speeder bikes, no matter how good they are.

They’re also tricky to position in the way that you see on the box and instructions – they sit on clear lightsaber bars and angled bars with studs, so you can either have them level or at a more severe angle than the packaging suggests. Still, the tilt does help to convey a sense of speed, and given that’s otherwise sorely missing from 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama, it’s nothing to ignore.

And one more thing: the colours in this set are genuinely great, and well-thought-through – the speeder bikes might not be so accurate in dark tan, but they stand out nicely, while in regular brown you’d have struggled to see the wood for the trees (so to speak). The forest floor in nougat works well too, and all in all you can definitely see this palette as the basis for a future Ewok Village redux. Too bad it wasn’t made more of here…

— LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama characters —

Okay, so the contents of 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama may not be truly groundbreaking – at least from a big-picture perspective – but if you’re in that vast net of LEGO Star Wars fans who really love their minifigures, is there anything in this set for you? Umm…

The most recent version of the Scout Trooper is absolutely still the best and most accurate to date, but would benefit from dual-moulded arms, and that you only get one here feels a bit tight for the price. You’d forgive it if the LEGO Group had gone all-out on the set’s two named characters (this is a diorama, not a battle pack), but it’s hard to say that’s the case.

Take Luke, for example, who in Return of the Jedi wore a camo-patterned poncho over his regular black outfit. What he didn’t wear was an all-camo bodysuit with black knee pads. Someone tell the LEGO Star Wars team. Leia doesn’t fare much better without dual-moulded legs, and so both these minifigures end up coming across half-hearted and – at least in Leia’s case – a definite step back from where we were eight years ago. (What happened to the cloth ponchos?)

Even that 1999 Luke is starting to look pretty good…

— LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama price —

“Okay, Chris,” you say, “if the model is no great shakes and the minifigures also feel phoned in, tell us this set is at least pretty cheap.” My response is that this is LEGO Star Wars, it’s 2023, and the only person you’re kidding is yourself.

75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama retails for £69.99 in the UK, $79.99 in the US, and €79.99 in Europe, which are three prices nobody should be paying. If this build speaks to you, and you can deal with the minifigures, great, that’s totally fair – these things are of course subjective – but even at that point it’s hard to recommend anything other than waiting for a discount.

— LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama pictures —

— LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama pros and cons —

It hurts to say this given what could have been – and how cool the original scene from Return of the Jedi is – but 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama hasn’t managed to live up to its potential. Where a set like 75352 Emperor’s Throne Room Diorama has gone to bold new places, this diorama ultimately feels like treading old ground, only now on a black base and for an exorbitantly high price.

There are things to cheer about for sure – the speeder bikes are a triumph, it’s one of the most colourful dioramas yet – but to still be dealing in the basics of ‘two speeder bikes and trees’ 24 years later comes across as a huge missed opportunity.

75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama pros	75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama cons
The best speeder bike design yet	Missed opportunity for something more interesting
Scout Trooper is still a great minifigure	Poor Luke and Leia minifigures
Strong use of colour	Prohibitively expensive for what you get

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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— Alternatives to LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama —

Looking for a more interesting LEGO Star Wars diorama? Take your pick from any of the other four. Want a cool LEGO speeder bike without breaking the bank? Maybe buy the parts for our custom version (you can always swap the white for dark tan or brown, if the pieces exist in those colours), or else check out 75320 Snowtrooper Battle Pack and 75313 AT-AT. Otherwise, another one will probably be back on the market in another set soon enough.

If you’re more interested in Endor, 75332 AT-ST is basically your only option on shelves at the moment, but hardcore collectors should gun for 10236 Ewok Village on the aftermarket.

— LEGO Star Wars 75353 Endor Speeder Chase Diorama FAQs —