Review: 75436 The Mandalorian & Grogu's Speeder Bike
Posted by CapnRex101,
75436 The Mandalorian & Grogu's Speeder Bike is an unusual set, as the vast majority of smaller LEGO Star Wars sets are generally either Mechs or Microfighters. While those can be enjoyable, I am glad to see a standard play set available for a low price.
These characters have appeared plenty of times before, so the set may not be of interest to experienced LEGO Star Wars collectors, but making this duo available in a cheaper set does make sense and I think the speeder looks excellent as well.
Summary
75436 The Mandalorian & Grogu's Speeder Bike, 58 pieces.
£8.99 / $9.99 / €9.99 | 15.5p / 17.2c / 17.2c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
This is a superb set and a promising one, at such an affordable price
- Great opportunity to collect these characters
- Nice speeder bike design
- Very affordable
- Din Djarin cannot reach the handlebars
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
The Mandalorian has appeared in many recent sets, dressed in his silver Beskar armour and the revised helmet introduced in 2023. However, those minifigures included a jetpack, so I am pleased to see the character available with his cape again. As ever, this minifigure is brilliantly detailed, thanks in particular to its printed arms, although I still wish the crest continued further back on the helmet.
I love the Mudhorn signet printed on Din Djarin's right shoulder and the whistling bird launcher looks excellent, on his left wrist. The warm tan head looks nice as well, although the minifigure lacks a hair element and only comes with a blaster pistol. The phase-pulse rifle should certainly have been included, perhaps with the jetpack too.
Like his guardian, Grogu appears very frequently, but there is no harm in making him available with a cheaper set again. The rubber head element looks great, with the usual large ears and a few wrinkles on top, but the decoration on the body is slightly underwhelming. Unfortunately, the printing machine can only reach a circle on the torso, rather than decorating the whole area.
The Completed Model
Din Djarin borrows a speeder bike from Peli Motto when searching for a person in Mandalorian armour on Tatooine and this model is very accurate, considering its small size. The basic frame corresponds with the onscreen vehicle and its proportions look good, as well as the combination of grey shades and earthy colours.
The speeder's size, measuring only 11cm in length, is among its strengths. Although there is a balance to be struck between detail and accurate scaling, I am glad this speeder is reasonably compact. Unfortunately, the other speeder ridden by Cobb Vanth is completely out of scale with this one, but that is the fault of 75437 Cobb Vanth's Speeder, as discussed in my review of the podracer-based speeder.
The size difference between this bike and the model found in 75299 Trouble on Tatooine is less than I expected, but the earlier design is more detailed. Even so, there are some improvements on the new one, including the additional linkages reinforcing the steering vanes, which the 2021 model lacked.
I like the shape of the steering vanes and the mechanical details in between, which look quite accurate to the source material. The outriggers look reasonable too. They are a little too bulky, although their strength is the priority and the circular pivot in front of the handlebars looks good, as a distinctive feature of the onscreen speeder.
On the other hand, the minifigure looks awkward seated on the bike. Din Djarin cannot actually reach the handlebars unless you slide them back a little, which is not ideal. I wonder whether a new piece could be created specifically as a speeder bike saddle, similar to the trike body used for speeder bikes until 2016, though far more compact and adaptable.
Grogu sits in a satchel attached to one side of the speeder bike and another bag hangs on the other, constructed using a couple of reddish brown parts. These details look excellent and I am pleased a clip is included to store The Mandalorian's blaster pistol too.
Overall
While simple, 75436 The Mandalorian & Grogu's Speeder Bike is essentially a perfect set! Din Djarin and Grogu have appeared countless times before, though making the pair available in a set costing £8.99, $9.99 or €9.99 is welcome. The speeder bike also looks great, but I wish The Mandalorian looked more natural when riding on board. This is not really a set to interest older fans, but I am happy it is in the range.
I hope we receive more sets at roughly this price, containing a vehicle with a minifigure or two. Introductory sets like this, which are directly compatible with normal play sets, have long been missing from the Star Wars range and there are lots of different possibilities. Count Dooku and his Flitknot Speeder, Commander Neyo with a BARC Speeder, Sabine Wren with her speeder bike or Anakin and the Lars' swoop are just a few options and I think any of those could prove very popular.
127 likes
35 comments on this article
Decent set. Didn't need to be simplified from the older version of the speeder bike. Not too bad to see it at $10 considering the dearth of truly low priced Star Wars playsets lately, but it really should have been a $5 polybag for that parts count and volume of stuff.
Exactly what Star Wars needs more of.
It looks like it needs an extra 1x1 stud in each handlebar to shift it back enough so he can hold on.
It is nice to see a cheap set again, even if it is really just a popular minifigure pack with some extra parts.
I agree with the notion this could've been a polybag in terms of volume, but it's nice there's an actual minifig-scale Star Wars vehicle available at all in this price range. It looks convincing enough for a cheap retail set aimed at kids (yes, kids!).
I am not a Star Wars expert. I just see a cool flying bike, and I like that - but tell me, is that really where the child is dangling from in the source-material? Just... strapped to the seat, marinating in exhaust-fumes? Was that baby even green to begin with, or is that a sign of carbon monoxide poisoning, the silent killer?
I'm definitely getting Cobb Vanth's Speeder, and even though they are out of scale, i still will probably get this to go with it.
Din Djarin Cannot Reach The Handlebars is the title of my new light novel. Watch for the anime adaptation in 2028.
I can't help but see chest hair on the LEGO Grogu.
@iwybs said:
"but it really should have been a $5 polybag for that parts count and volume of stuff."
CMFs are $5 each, so there's no way you'd get a licensed CMF (Din, Grogu, and blaster is right about what you get for a CMF) plus a 50-piece vehicle build for that much. When you think about it that way, $5 for the CMF half leaves the speeder at 10¢/part, which is pretty decent for a small licensed set.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"I'm definitely getting Cobb Vanth's Speeder, and even though they are out of scale, i still will probably get this to go with it."
I'm tempted to get this one just to see if I can fix the seating position to make the handlebars graspable. I'm thinking shift Din forward by half a stud using a couple of part 34103, though since he can't sit higher without missing the handlebars as well, it'll require redoing the entire main body build.
I can't see getting 75437, though. $35 for two minifigs and 200 parts is too far. It should be $30 at most, and it looks more like a $25 set.
@yellowcastle said:
"I can't help but see chest hair on the LEGO Grogu."
The photo looks kind of like someone drew on it with a pen, instead of a normal print.
Not the greatest value, but as a microfighter fan, I appreciate we finally get a 10 dollar playset again that isn’t a chibi spaceship or planet and I hope this will continue. I will add this to my collection, to show there is demand for this price point and theme, but also because I only have the worse Mandos, so this will be a great way to get a good one
@yellowcastle said:
"I can't help but see chest hair on the LEGO Grogu."
And now we all see it too. Thanks a lot. :)
@iwybs said:
"Decent set. Didn't need to be simplified from the older version of the speeder bike. Not too bad to see it at $10 considering the dearth of truly low priced Star Wars playsets lately, but it really should have been a $5 polybag for that parts count and volume of stuff."
Isn't there some restriction on Lego putting Star Wars minifigures in polybags? I'm aware there were two sets with a Stormtrooper and a B-1 in a poly, but that was probably 15 years ago at this point and it's been ships ever since.
@Crux said:
"I am not a Star Wars expert. I just see a cool flying bike, and I like that - but tell me, is that really where the child is dangling from in the source-material? Just... strapped to the seat, marinating in exhaust-fumes? Was that baby even green to begin with, or is that a sign of carbon monoxide poisoning, the silent killer?"
"Irresponsible very is Din."
I like it. We need more sets like this. Why do speeders need to be 40,- or even 50,- euro with the exact same amount of play features when this suffices? Sure, there aren't too many minifigs and it's smaller than other 10,- euro sets, but considering it's Star Wars this is quite nice. And it's great to have starter sets like this to get people to actually try out the theme. And for people who already have a Mando and Grogu, they can skip it and won't feel left out or feel like the figs aren't done enough justice. And besides that, there's even a cape!
Seems I'm buying at least 1 star wars set this year.
A cool guy and a cuty for such a price
Agreed - more sets like this alongside whatever overpriced behemoths they want to crank out. Not just for the kids, but some adults (like myself) are on a budget, too! ... That said, I will pass on this as I already have a myriad of Din Djarins and Grogus, as well as the bike from the previous set.
Unrelated - I'm probably alone on this, but I miss the old trike bodies. It was nice to have figs straddle speeder bike seats rather than see them sit awkwardly like motionless infants on a giant sofa seat.
This is what the theme needs more of, affordable play sets. Just two named characters kids see on tv or, soon the cinema, and a swoosable bike.
There could be a thing to add to this so it would make a suitable noise when you whoosh it. Wouldn't that be cool.
@Pongo said:
"There could be a thing to add to this so it would make a suitable noise when you whoosh it. Wouldn't that be cool. "
That's crazy talk.
@Pongo said:
"There could be a thing to add to this so it would make a suitable noise when you whoosh it. Wouldn't that be cool. "
Too soon.
@Brickmasterboy said:
"Not the greatest value, but as a microfighter fan, I appreciate we finally get a 10 dollar playset again that isn’t a chibi spaceship or planet and I hope this will continue. I will add this to my collection, to show there is demand for this price point and theme, but also because I only have the worse Mandos, so this will be a great way to get a good one"
It is truly wild to realize this is the first like, "normal" $10 Star Wars set (not a Microfighter, nor one of those "mini-scale ship model and a planet" sets, just a more "literal" representation of a Star Wars thing meant to scale, in the rough sense of the word, with minifigs) since *2008*.
Oh, I'm getting this one, maybe two even. You know, just in case...
More of this, please! Even having the older set and multiple of the figs, I will by a copy just to support the form factor.
Always have to find something negative.
@yellowcastle said:
" @Pongo said:
"There could be a thing to add to this so it would make a suitable noise when you whoosh it. Wouldn't that be cool. "
Too soon."
I will not run any further. (pathetically dumb SMART brick suddenly apears looming on the horizon)
Besides, the actual sound would be more like a smurfy Bantha fart.
Easy price and good characters. More sets like this please.
@Crux said:
"I am not a Star Wars expert. I just see a cool flying bike, and I like that - but tell me, is that really where the child is dangling from in the source-material? Just... strapped to the seat, marinating in exhaust-fumes? Was that baby even green to begin with, or is that a sign of carbon monoxide poisoning, the silent killer?"
And does the blaster really need to be pointing at Grogu while being stored, come on!
Cute set at a fair price point, nice. It is a bit silly that he can’t reach his own controls, but I don’t think it’s the first time I’ve seen that happen, and maybe this is how you rescue kids’ imaginations from other products /s
@yellowcastle said:
"I can't help but see chest hair on the LEGO Grogu."
Well he is in his 50s, that tracks
@Jeddostotle7 said:
" @Brickmasterboy said:
"Not the greatest value, but as a microfighter fan, I appreciate we finally get a 10 dollar playset again that isn’t a chibi spaceship or planet and I hope this will continue. I will add this to my collection, to show there is demand for this price point and theme, but also because I only have the worse Mandos, so this will be a great way to get a good one"
It is truly wild to realize this is the first like, "normal" $10 Star Wars set (not a Microfighter, nor one of those "mini-scale ship model and a planet" sets, just a more "literal" representation of a Star Wars thing meant to scale, in the rough sense of the word, with minifigs) since *2008*."
The V-Wing was a 2006 set. I liked back then that the small sets were at first replaced with Battlepacks but with climbing prices for mostly troopers I already own decent quantities of it is getting less interesting. And I always wondered if children really like getting troopers in the cheapest sets or if that would not make the main characters too rare and serve as a barrier to them being interested in the theme at all.
I am currently looking which or how many diorama scenes I want to make and not having completed the selection process I am looking at 20 Beskar Mandalorians and Grogus for the highest priority scenes, not accounting for the mudhorn clan symbol on his shoulder. I definitely want to get this number down but it looks like I am going to get multiples of this set even with it being intended for children, or I will benefit from the low price for his torso and legs and make some figures with custom helmets as him not having a unique mold by now is a bit weird to me.
I hope they re-visit some of the old battlepacks like 8014 with 1 or 2 mini-figs for $10, as the recent $23 75449 battlepack is a bit expensive.
@yellowcastle said:
"I can't help but see chest hair on the LEGO Grogu."
Grogu gets the Tom Selleck makeover.
I love that this is a more affordable set for younger fans, especially with the Mando & Grogu movie coming out . . . but not being able to reach the handle bars is really a pretty glaring flaw. How could Lego not fix this? Seems very lazy on their part.
It seems like this will be my SW sets of 2026.
You can easily fix the handlebar problem for the same number of parts (but different ones). First remove the two 1x1 round studs and the handles attached to it. Replace that with a bar connector similar to that seen on the lower linkage on each side https://brickset.com/parts/6343976/3-2-shaft-w-3-2-hole .Then attach a handle on each side https://brickset.com/parts/6439041/stick-%C3%A3%CB%9C-3-2-w-holder. You wonder how come Lego did not think of that easy solution.
Like this tiny set and to see more similar ones!
I think this set is pretty good. The speeder has a nice design, but my problem is that the Mandalorian can't reach the speeder's steering wheel.