Paint it black! A LEGO 75389 Dark Falcon review

I see a grey ship and I want to paint it black

|The Rolling Bones

You can have a Ford Model T in any color, as long as it’s black—so went Henry Ford’s famous advertising slogan. For many years, the same could be said about the Millennium Falcon, though gray was the color of choice. In 2018, with the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, white was added to the mix. This year, the palette expands to include a classic black—a shade we might just call dark, fittingly, because the official name of the set is…

THE DARK FALCON

And this dark arrives with all the baggage the word carries in the Star Wars universe. Don’t expect to find Han Solo or Chewbacca among this ship’s crew. Instead, the Falcon’s corridors are traversed by far more exotic figures…

This all ties into the streaming series Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy. Looking at the set and the show’s title, it’s clear this is a tale of what if?—a reimagining that dives deep into the very foundations of the Galaxy.
Spoiler alert ahead: if you’d rather avoid them, now’s the time to engage your hyperdrive in reverse. For everyone else, step aboard the Dark Falcon!

THE SHIP

Since this is my first larger Millennium Falcon [I’m not counting those tiny polybag versions and super micro build from Escape The Space Slug set.], I have to take the word of those who claim that, structurally, this set is fundamentally no different from the “regular” version, set no. 75257. But the devil is in the details. And given the character of this set, that phrase is especially fitting. The sets differ, apart from the color, of course, in the details. The most immediately noticeable difference [or detectable by a suitable visual receptor] is the dish. By the way, did you know the Millennium Falcon’s silhouette was inspired by a stack of dishes in a sink? The dish on the Dark Falcon isn’t an antenna but a smaller version of the turbo laser from the Death Star, and it’s my favorite nod to the Star Wars universe in this set.

And there are more!

At the rear of the ship, we encounter the familiar silhouettes of the dejarik monsters from the Holochess game. However, unlike in A New Hope, these aren’t holographic figures. In the Dark Falcon, the dejariks match unfolds on a 4K or higher-resolution screen. Beside the screen, there’s also a console, along with a box for the video game.

Also in the rear section is the hyperdrive block, with a sticker showing some Sith contraption [with an appropriately dominant red color], as well as a Sith prison cell. It’s hard to determine who it’s meant for, considering there’s a designated space on one of the corridors’ walls for The Dud… I mean, Luke Skywalker’s surfboard.

If someone’s ship has a permanent spot for their surfboard, they’re unlikely to be a prisoner… This is the only real inconsistency in the Dark Falcon’s interior.
Because almost everything is black, the interior seems a bit flat, but on the other hand, the consistency in darkening this iconic vehicle is commendable.

The dark interiors of the ship are inhabited by equally dark…

MINIFIGURES

And lurking in this darkness are as many as three Sith! [What happened to the Rule of Two?!]. Darth Dev, a humble shepherd named Dev Greebling, becomes a Sith after his brother Sig removes the “Cornerstone” in an ancient Jedi temple. His appearance clearly conveys his power. His armor might even slightly resemble Vader’s, except instead of a helmet, Dev sports a lush mane of black hair.
To me, this character has a bit of a Kylo Ren vibe.

The other two characters are a symphony of nods to the broader Star Wars universe, drawing heavily from alternate versions of the story.

Darth Rey made a brief appearance in The Rise of Skywalker to ignite viewers’ imaginations. At the time, her path was still unwritten, so anything was possible. The creators of Rebuild the Galaxy took that path further. Rey, clad entirely in black with orange eyes, looks demonic. She’s the most sinister minifigure in this set, regardless of which facial expression you choose.

Darth Jar Jar originates from a fan theory suggesting the Gungan was secretly colluding with Darth Sidious. According to many Star Wars enthusiasts, Jar Jar’s actions weren’t due to his naivety and clumsiness but were intentional. Just look into the stalked eyes of this minifigure, and you might find the theory strangely plausible…

Jar Jar, wearing a vest [giving him a bit of a rockstar vibe], wields a double-bladed lightsaber. In this galaxy version, he apparently replaces Darth Maul, who replaced Lando Calrissian, who replaced Din Djarin, and so on, and so on…

This is a great minifigure and is sure to be the star of the set.

Right alongside Luke Skywalker, here more in his happy-go-lucky variant. His khaki pants and unbuttoned “Tatooinian” shirt suggest a lifestyle at least 12 parsecs away from the canonical Luke. In the show, Luke resembles Han Solo more than himself.

The shirt’s patterns reveal silhouettes of R2-D2 and porgs, but the real Easter egg is the necklace Luke wears: it’s none other than a japor snippet, the pendant young Anakin Skywalker carved for Padmé Amidala in The Phantom Menace. This nostalgic detail, in my opinion, makes this one of the coolest LEGO Star Wars minifigures.

The Falcon’s crew is rounded out by C-3PO, who in this universe has seemingly replaced IG-88 and become a bounty hunter. His red eyes and black left arm suggest there’s little left of the protocol droid inside…

The set’s roster closes with, last but definitely not least, Jedi Vader, the negative [or positive?] version of Darth Vader, clad entirely in white. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time we see a white Vader. A white suit appeared in Star Wars Infinities: Return of the Jedi #4 (2004). Considering that nearly everything is topsy-turvy in Rebuild the Galaxy, it’s hard to say if Jedi Vader is a nod to the comic or just the logic of this alternate galaxy.

DARK FALCON SET IN FRONT OF THE LENS

Like almost any bird, the Falcon looks much better in flight than on the ground. But getting it airborne isn’t easy. Its 1579 pieces [excluding figures] make it hefty, and posing the ship is quite the challenge. Photographing it on a windy beach is a risk akin to flying into an asteroid field!

Fortunately, the winds spared this ship, allowing it to fly off into the sunrise.

The minifigures practically photograph themselves. Even Darth Dev, a completely new character and not as spectacular as his companions, holds his own in pictures, coming across as charismatic.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

In summary, 75389 The Dark Falcon looks neat. The vehicle has great proportions and only minor compromises in shape or silhouette, and the minifigures are brimming with nods to theories and alternate stories surrounding the Star Wars universe. The only thing I truly miss is a printed bantha milk carton. Like when you say A, say B, like bantha and print the label or at least make a sticker. I had to make the sticker myself.
And at $180 USD, I’d gladly take one more minifigure [and that printed bantha milk carton].

Still, the Force is strong with this set—even if it’s the dark side.

Hello there! While you’re here, we invite you to sign up for our weekly Toy Photographers email roundup where you’ll get a recap of all the week’s babbling. And while you’re at it, you should definitely join our MeWe community! We hold monthly contests with prizes and lots of other cool stuff.