The missing ‘physical DLC’ of LEGO’s Sail Barge

LEGO has recently revealed 75397: Jabba’s Sail Barge, the latest in the biggest and most expensive sets of the Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) subtheme. Reception to the reveal has been mixed for a variety of reasons including a high price and low parts count for its price, but there is something even more obvious: missing elements.  

A few years back, around the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, LEGO released 76261: Spider-Man Final Battle. The set was notable for missing several characters from the movie, including a proper version of Sandman and the Lizard. LEGO and Marvel fans simply resigned themselves to the fact that these two didn’t make the cut and went on with things. 

Months later, however, and LEGO did make these two available in a separate set – 76280: Spider-Man vs. Sandman: Final Battle. More than just give fans the two characters they were asking for, these two sets were always meant to work together with the instructions showing how they are supposed to combine. 

This caused quite an uproar in the community as many people felt that LEGO had essentially taken a page out of the book of the videogame industry and introduced “physical DLC” in the toy line. 

It didn’t help LEGO’s case that the two sets had overlapping characters and unused parts, so buying both lead to a decent amount of unnecessary plastic that you needed to pay for. On top of that we really don’t like that “final battle” was used in the names of both sets. It’s not very final if you do it twice, is it? 

Unfortunately this has now happened again with the Sail Barge. You will need to buy multiple sets and / or additional figures if you want the full experience. 

Let us explain.

The Desert Skiff(s) and Sarlacc Pit

While the Sail Barge has a detailed interior, you immediately notice three big missing elements from its exterior: the two Desert Skiffs that flank the barge and the Sarlacc Pit where the infamous Boba Fett scene takes place. 

Well the reason they are not included in the Sail Barge is because you need to buy them separately. 

LEGO itself points this out in the description of the Sail Barge: “Complete the scene – Add the Desert Skiff & Sarlacc Pit (set 75396 – sold separately) to recreate the whole iconic escape scene from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

Set 75396 was released on 1st August 2024 where it was lambasted for its terrible price. Costing €79.99, $79.99, £69.99 or R1 499 depending on where you live, the set only has 558 pieces and six minifigures. Sure one of the minifigures is a special edition 25th anniversary version of Nien Nunb, but that doesn’t stop it from being a poor value set. 

On top of this – you only get one Desert Skiff! If you want two skiffs for a standalone collection, or to go with the Sail Barge, you either need to buy two of these sets or go through the immense trouble of parting them out and building them separately. 

The missing – and wrong – minifigures 

The UCS Sail Barge contains 11 minifigures. Again according to the official description, these are: “Bib Fortuna, Princess Leia, C-3PO, Max Rebo, Kithaba, Vizam, Wooof, Gamorrean Guard, Jabba the Hutt, Salacious Crumb and R2-D2 with a bar table accessory”.

Notice anything missing there? Yes “Gamorrean Guard” is singular. The Gamorrean Guards are always seen as a pair (just like the Desert Skiffs…) and yet you only get one in the Sail Barge. 

This is particularly infuriating as LEGO has pulled this stunt before. The most recent version of Jabba’s Palace in LEGO form is set 75326: Boba Fett’s Throne Room, released in March 2022. It also contains only one Gamorrean Guard. For those who haven’t watched the The Book of Boba Fett show (we don’t blame you, it’s a snoozefest), two Gamorrean Guards are also featured heavily throughout the show. There was no reason to exclude a second minifigure from that set, and there’s even less reason to exclude them from the much more expensive Sail Barge.

Funnily enough the next problem is also related to that old set. Boba Fett’s Throne Room featured the older version of Bib Fortuna with the larger head-tails (Lekku) that signify how Bib Fortuna had grown fat like his dead master Jabba after taking over his empire. The Sail Barge is supposed to be from a time before that happened, but LEGO has chosen to include this older version of Bib Fortuna instead. 

Unfortunately we know why LEGO made this decision: money. LEGO has produced the correct version of Bib Fortuna in the past, but these versions are from many years ago and the moulds to produce them have since been retired and destroyed. As it’s too expensive to reproduce the moulds or make entirely new ones, we get the wrong version of this character. 

The next problem is the version of C-3PO. Here the character should have a silver / grey leg, but that isn’t the case with an all-gold version included in the Sail Barge. This makes even less sense than the incorrect Bib Fortuna because LEGO just made the correct version of Threepio for set 75398: C-3PO most recently. The company is churning out this version of the minifigure in large numbers but didn’t see fit to put it into the Sail Barge. 

These are just the most obvious problems with the minifigures and we’re sure those who really care about Jabba the Hutt’s menagerie will be annoyed by the incorrect versions of characters and / or exclusions. 

We highly recommend watching the Jabba’s Palace Roll Call video series by the fantastic YouTuber Mighty Jabba’s Collection. It covers all the weird and wonderful aliens that make up Jabba’s entourage. 

It’s worth remembering that this new version of the Sail Barge is supposed to be its ultimate LEGO form, so these downsides really sting, especially when you consider the price. At €499.99, $499.99, £429.99 or R9 500 depending on your location, there should be zero shortcuts or missing elements, but there are.

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