LEGO Star Wars has produced a number of BrickHeadz sets over the years featuring many of the franchise’s most recognizable heroes and villains, from Luke, Han Solo, and Yoda to Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, and Boba Fett. But the line-up was missing a species that was one of the very first non-humans seen in the 1977 release of Star Wars: A New Hope. The Tusken Raider – or Sand People were the fearsome nomadic warriors that travel in single file to hide their numbers. 40615 Tusken Raider comes with 152 pieces and will be available on Jan 1 for US $9.99 | CAN $12.99 | UK £9.99
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
The box is a standard single-figure design featuring the BrickHeadz and Star Wars branding on the front, along with the series number (182). The Tuskan Raider is featured on the front without the typical black stand. The back of the box shows the finished model from another angle fitting onto the stand, as well as 2 still images from their first appearance on film. On the side of the box is a still from the movie showing the Tusken Raider brandishing his gaffi stick.
Inside the box are 3 unnumbered bags, a loose 6×6 black baseplate, and an instruction booklet.
The build
The build starts out with a central core of outward-facing studs, along with 6 printed tiles for the many pouches the sandpeople use to carry their essentials. We also get the small apparatus attached below the face, possibly to assist in filtering out sand as they breathe. The core continues in the usual way, stacking a number of the 5-plate tall bricks with four studs that come with every BrickHeadz set.
As we move on with the front of the raider, we get the facial adornments and eye tubes, the mask covering the mouth, and finally, two of the four spikes that protrude from the top of the head around the wrappings which make the Tusken Raider look like a cyberpunk mummy.
The sides and back include more of the same head wrappings made with a variety of curved and tiled dark sand elements, two more spikes, a rifle slung across the back, and the signature gaffi stick which uses the same design as for the Minifig and looks equally out of scale.
The finished model and recommendations
The finished model is very well-detailed, looks great, and would make a fine addition to any Star Wars or BrickHeadz collection. In fact, I can easily imagine buying more than one and changing up the details to create a band of raiders. The printed tiles would be very useful in a custom creation, and the other parts in dark sand, light gray inkwells, and eye tubes in metal gray make this a decent parts pack as well. 40615 Tusken Raider comes with 152 pieces and will be available on January 1, 2023 for US $9.99 | CAN $12.99 | UK £9.99
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.
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On the face, is that a round 1 x 2 half tile with a jumper in the center?
Yes; it’s design ID 1745, “PLATE 1X2, 1/2 CIRCLE, W/ 1 KNOB”, first seen in 2022’s Princess Peach’s Castle in bright red, and evidently becoming more widely available in the 2023 sets – which is good, because it seems like a very useful piece indeed.