75382 LEGO Star Wars TIE Interceptor Review – The Force is strong with this exquisitely lethal design

Ahead of Star Wars Day on 4th May 2024 and LEGO’s Star Wars showcase at Sunway Pyramid, we managed to get our hands on the crown jewel of the new LEGO Star Wars collection, their revamped Ultimate Collector’s Edition TIE Interceptor created by the renowned LEGO designer Henrik Andersen.

After spending a frantic few days assembling it, here’s our 75382 LEGO Star Wars TIE Interceptor review where we share our thoughts if this exquisite collector’s piece deserves a place in your fleet.

75382 LEGO Star Wars TIE Interceptor Review – Background

This isn’t the first time that LEGO has issued a TIE Interceptor model. The first was released as part of their Ultimate Collector series way back in 2000. Also referred to as model 7181, this early generation build consisted of a modest 703 pieces. 

Our 75382 LEGO Star Wars TIE Interceptor review sample built 24 years later and created by the same designer, Henrik Andersen, consists of a whopping 1,931 pieces, more than double its predecessor.  When fully assembled, the rerelease is a whopping 32cm high while being 40cm wide and almost 33cm in length, creating the feared dagger-shaped wing silhouette.

The set comes in a massive box that contains a chunky printed building guide as well as 22 marked plastic bags that are to be assembled in sequence. It also comes with a LEGO TIE pilot minifig as well as a tiny mouse droid assembled with a series of 1×1 tiles.

The build sequence for the TIE Interceptor starts with the main cockpit as well as the pilot’s seat, cockpit sides, top and rear twin ion engine assembly. From there, the kit moves on to the wing struts before moving to each of the dagger-shaped wings in sequence by piecing together the framework before filling it out with black and grey panels to create the characteristic colour scheme of Galactic Empire issued starfighters. 

In terms of difficulty, our 75382 LEGO Star Wars TIE Interceptor review is a masterfully engineered design that is both intricate and complicated to assemble. The kit ingeniously uses a slew of parts in unorthodox ways to form the spherical cockpit while also creating a relatively robust framework to hold its huge wings.

One irksome issue here is how difficult it is to apply the stickers that show the various readouts in the cockpit. These have to be stuck on before you fully assemble the cockpit or it becomes much harder to access later on in the build. It would have been better if the displays were printed onto the parts themselves but that’s the hand we’re dealt with for now.

Most aspects of assembly are rather straightforward though the fact that the design consists mostly of black and grey tiles meant that there were occasionally a few backtracks and errors in assembly but nothing out of the ordinary. If you go at it full tilt, it takes a couple of days to fully assemble though a steady pace of a 3-5 bags a day is a safer bet for more novice LEGO builders.

One quibble with the design is the nature of the minifig’s helmet as it leaves the neck fully exposed which isn’t a particularly bright idea seeing as a TIE Interceptor lacks built-in life support and a pilot is solely reliant on their suit to survive.

When fully assembled, the TIE Interceptor looks beautiful indeed and also ships with a stand and name plate with spots for the TIE Pilot and mouse droid.

Unfortunately, the set is not intended for play as it is purely a display piece though the cockpit can be opened from the top and there is a seat for the provided TIE pilot within. 

There’s also a bit of articulation with the wings though they are not load bearing structures and the design can only be safely handled by holding the cockpit area in both hands.

It also needs to be displayed on its stand and can’t stand up on its own which somewhat limits your display options to it pointing skyward on its stand. Nevertheless, this still is a majestic affair and the sheer size and presence of this model is truly impressive to behold.

75382 LEGO Star Wars TIE Interceptor Review – Thoughts and Conclusion

This beautiful kit is an easy recommendation for any LEGO or Star Wars fan as it is wonderfully detailed and beautifully designed while proving to be a challenging but rewarding build experience. It does not come cheap at RM1,000 but you get what you pay for and this exquisite kit makes for an impressive centrepiece to any LEGO Star Wars collection.

75382 LEGO Star Wars TIE Interceptor Review courtesy of LEGO Malaysia. To purchase please visit https://www.lego.com/en-my/product/tie-interceptor-75382