Rebuild the Galaxy is a real treat for Star Wars and LEGO fans alike

In September Rebuild the Galaxy launched on Disney Plus and we feel it really didn’t get the attention it deserved. If you like Star Wars, LEGO or fun animation in general, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Just read the official synopsis below or watch the embedded trailer to see just what this show has to offer.

“In LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, the entire Star Wars galaxy gets completely mixed up when an ordinary nerf-herder, Sig Greebling (Gaten Matarazzo), unearths a powerful artifact called the Cornerstone from a hidden Jedi temple. He finds himself thrust into adventure in a new, wondrously wild and twisted version of the galaxy where good guys are bad, bad guys are good, and the fate of all depends on Sig becoming the hero who can put all the pieces back together,” the synopsis reads.

If you’ve read that summary and watched the trailer and you don’t have a desire to watch the full show, we kind of understand. Right now there’s a lot of fatigue around “what if?” and multiversal shakeup stories. So many other properties are doing right now, or already did it years ago, so it can feel like, despite how new everything is here, it’s still an “old” idea.

And, well, we can’t really argue with that. If you’re sick and tired of this kind of storytelling, Rebuild the Galaxy doesn’t reinvent this particular wheel. What it does have – and what makes it so special – is a real earnestness and love for the dual source material of LEGO and Star Wars.

For an example you don’t need to look much further than one of the main characters in the show: Jedi Bob voiced by Bobby Moynihan. Jedi Bob was an unnamed LEGO-created minifigure included in LEGO set 7163 all the way back in 2002. This was from a time where LEGO was looser with its brick-built interpretations of Star Wars, which is why they had a random new Jedi included in a set.

Given the name Bob by the community (and later canonised by an official book) this character not only returns in this streaming show but also as a band new minifigure after more than two decades. More on the physical LEGO sets for this show later in this article.

Jedi Bob and his weird origin is just one of the ways in which this animation shows its love for LEGO. We don’t want to spoil it any more because discovering it on your own is a massive bit of enjoyment we got from watching this show.

The last time we felt this much joy in LEGO deep cuts was when we watched the original LEGO movie all the way back in 2014. LEGO media hasn’t hit in this way for more than a decade so, if you also fall into this camp and want to relive the magic of The LEGO Movie, then you need to watch Rebuild the Galaxy.

Star Wars fans who may not care about LEGO are equally in for a treat. Aside from the surface-level appeal of seeing this familiar universe become so different, there’s a lot of exploration into certain corners of the galaxy which don’t always get the attention it deserves.

Again returning to the synopsis and we can finally see nerfs being herded. But that’s not all, Rebuild the Galaxy goes through great lengths to return to and reinvent much of the lore and you will never know what will happen in the next scene. Is some of it blatant fan service? Sure, but we have to return to that earnestness that makes the show so great and the pure fact that anyone who cares about Star Wars would have made the same decisions to include these characters, locations, ships and more if they got the chance.

If you’re a fan of the sequel movies well, firstly we won’t judge, but we will also point out that Rebuild the Galaxy finally gives those characters more time in the sun after being ignored at large for so long. Seeing Darth Rey was so much fun even if we were disappointed by the fact that Daisy Ridley didn’t return to provide her voice.

And to end on that note, watching the credits is also a fun activity. Seeing which actors returned to voice their characters was a blast and we will again leave that for you to discover, but we have to mention that Mark Hamill does indeed voice this laid back version of Luke Skywalker.

What about the real world LEGO sets?

If Rebuild the Galaxy has got you in the mood to get your hands on some real LEGO, then you’re in luck. The toy company has made three dedicated sets to coincide with the show. Let’s go over each of them and see how they deliver on what we saw in the show and as standalone toys.

75388 Jedi Bob’s Starfighter (305 piece for $39.99 / €39.99 / £34.99 / R699) is the smallest and cheapest set available. It gives you the red and white Starfighter that both Jedi Bob and Sig Greebling pilot in the show. Jedi Bob is the main minifigure you get in this set which is also accompanied by an Ackbar Trooper. While not a minifigure you also get the pieces to build the SR-V0 (Servo) droid too.

On paper this set is really good. It finally gives us an updated version of Jedi Bob and it sticks him in the cheapest set making him even more affordable. The Starfighter itself also looks great on the surface and Star Wars fans will have fun seeing all the other crafts from the franchise which it pulls inspiration from.

Unfortunately this set is basically just a shell. If you flip the Starfighter over you will see that it’s essentially a thin husk built over a LEGO skeleton. There’s almost no mass or weight in this set and, even though it’s the cheapest option, we expected more from it at this price.

75393 TIE Fighter & X-Wing Mash-up (1 063 pieces for $109.99 / €109.99 / £94.99 / R1 999) represents quit the increase in price, size and complexity. The set builds you the two famous craft from Star Wars but with a twist: you can swap the “wings” of the two to create the TIE-wing and X-fighter. The swap is done in just a few seconds and, in either mode, both are solid for play or display.

We really love the concept and execution of this set and the fact that it can be bought either to have the original versions of these famous vehicles or to transform them into the Rebuild the Galaxy alternates. On top of that you get a decent selection of minifigures too with two unnamed pilots, Yesi Scala and Sig Greebling. A droid is also included in the form of L3-G0. We don’t recall seeing the droid in the show, but as you may have guessed by its name, it’s a reference to LEGO. Some have said that it’s the McDonald’s droid instead, as its colours are more recognisable as that compared to LEGO’s red, yellow and white logo.

Also worth noting with this set is that it is the only way to get minifigure-scale versions of the X-Wing and TIE Fighter right now. While LEGO has offered them separately many times in the past, all the other sets are now retired. This is unfortunate for those who only want one or the other.

75389 The Dark Falcon (1 579 pieces for $179.99 / €179.99 / £159.99 / R3 399) is the biggest, highest priced and most desirable of these sets. This isn’t because of the Dark Falcon itself, but rather because of its minifigures.

“6 LEGO Star Wars minifigures – Darth Jar Jar, Bounty Hunter C-3PO, Darth Dev, Darth Rey, Beach Luke and Jedi Vader, plus accessories including lightsabers and a blue milk carton,” reads the official description of the set’s figures.

Yes the Dark Falcon is the set to get if you want some of the weird and whacky characters from Rebuild the Galaxy. We would have never believed we’d see some of these in plastic form but here we are and we love it. If you can look at a LEGO minifigure of “Darth Jar Jar” and not smile a little, we can’t help you and we don’t think anyone else can.

By the way, that header image of Jar Jar right at the beginning of the story is an official piece of art released for this show.

The standout for us has to be the white “Jedi Vader” even though we wish he had some tinted blue lenses around his eyes on the helmet. The concept of a redeemed Vader in an all-white suit has been done in Star Wars before and that bit of blue is usually used to break up all that white.

The rest of the minifigures are solid but we also like the Dark Falcon, even if it is essentially a colour swap of the last Millennium Falcon that LEGO did at this scale back in 2019. We would have bought this on day one if not for the high price, but that didn’t seem to deter many people as the set sold out across the world when it launched.

Stock levels are now constant and anyone who wants this set can get it right now, but we recommend waiting on some sales before pulling the trigger.

Looking at these three sets and they’re a great representation of the show even if we feel like there could have been more. We would love the Ewok version of a Y-Wing that appeared a couple of times in the show, but it’s hard to complain with what we got.

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