I’m not much of a video game player, so when a BD droid showed up in The Book of Boba Fett and the internet lost its collective mind, I was playing catch-up. The droid was cute, sure, but what was the big deal? It turns out these adorable chicken-legged droids are a major part of the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order game. BD-1, in particular, is an explorer droid who serves the Jedi Master Eno Cordova during the Galactic Republic. And now he can serve as a display piece in your home thanks to LEGO’s 75335 BD-1, a 1,062-piece set arriving August 1st for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Unboxing the parts and instructions
BD-1 comes packaged in a large, tab-close style box with the traditional Star Wars branding. The main image is a shot of BD-1 standing at attention (spoiler alert, he can’t do much else). The Fallen Order game logo is present in an inset at the bottom, as is an image of the included minifigure-scale BD-1.
The back of the box details BD-1’s functions, like his points of articulation and the compartment in his head for storing healing canisters. An inset image details the model’s height – 12.5 inches. Based on the info I could find online, this actually makes the set slightly less than 1:1 scale. This image also gives us a glimpse at the included info placard/minifigure stand.
Inside are 8 bags, numbered 1-6, and an instruction manual sealed inside a bag with the sticker sheet, featuring the info placard as the lone decal.
Parts of interest in this set include several pre-existing parts available in white for the first time. These include some round 4×4 bricks with a recessed center, some Technic rotation joint disks with liftarms, and round 4×4 plates with a 2×2 opening in the center. Also available are the new Technic rotation joints that we first saw in the Optimus Prime set, available here in light bluish gray. And some minifigure whips appear in pearl gold for the first time.
The build
The build begins unsurprisingly with a number of Technic pieces constructing the droid’s center mass and neck area.
Once the main body is assembled, the next step is building a bare bones Technic lift arm skeleton of the legs. As you can see, while the droid’s hips have a good deal of articulation thanks to those new rotation joints, the knees and ankles are locked down for stability, limiting the final model’s articulation.
The next step is detailing the legs. The construction of the outer leg elements are nicely curved and greebled, offering a perfect Star Wars production design vibe. Rounded elements do an excellent job of making the legs look more articulated than they are. Black and pearl gold whips are plugged in at just the right spots to create an exposed wire effect.
Construction of the droid’s head is the next step. Studs Not On Top bricks are attached to a large frame, creating a foundation to sculpt BD-1’s head around. A clever inverting technique is used to create the frame for the healing canister compartment.
The neck joint gets pinned into two different Technic bricks inside the head, offering tilting up-and-down and side-to-side. Sadly, BD-1 lacks the ability to rotate his head which, like the lack of knees, limits his posing options.
The final steps involve the construction of the simple info placard.
The final model
The final BD-1 model is an accurate recreation of the BD unit, with a face that calls to mind the retro-future designs of the 1980s. BD-1 would fit right in with the Nintendo R.O.B. or the Tomy Omnibot.
BD-1’s asymmetric eyes and dual antenna give him plenty of personality, but the model is hindered by the fact that those eyes can’t be pointed in enough directions, thanks to the lack of any neck swivel option.
There’s plenty of tech greebling on all sides of the model, and even the back of his head includes a light display that keeps him visually interesting from all angles.
The compartment in his head for the healing canisters works almost too well, and has a tendency to slide open if you tilt his head too far to that side. I wish a locking mechanism of some kind had been built into the set.
The minifigure-ish thing
The set includes a minifigure scaled BD-1, which is a single white element with a fair amount of printing in red, silver, and black. This same element was available in set 75325, albeit with different printing, as BD-72. There’s a single anti-stud on the bottom, allowing you to peg BD-1 securely on a brick or plate. The droid is slightly taller than four stacked plates, but not quite 5 plates tall.
There’s also a hollow stud on BD-1’s back, allowing for more connection options.
Conclusion and recommendation
BD-1 is an odd duck. It’s a fun build, to be sure. But because of the limitations of his posing, the final model doesn’t equate to much more than a statue. An adorable statue, but still a statue. I imagine Star Wars diehards will find this set a worthwhile purchase. For everyone else, it’s a nice number of pieces for the price and there’s some really useful stuff to be found in the inventory. If you’re an Adult Fan of LEGO who hasn’t played Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, you might find it’s worth buying him, building him, and then cannibalizing him for parts. (Sorry, BD-1…no offense.)
75335 BD-1 is a 1,062-piece set arriving August 1st for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99,
It may also be available from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
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