LEGO Star Wars 75308 R2-D2 officially revealed

The LEGO Group has officially pulled back the curtain on this year’s LEGO Star Wars May the Fourth set, 75308 R2-D2.

Originally revealed in a promo video for 75306 Imperial Probe Droid – perhaps unintentionally, given its immediate withdrawal – the buildable astromech is not only intended to celebrate this year’s May the Fourth event, but the 50th anniversary of Lucasfilm.

And, as rumoured earlier this month, the successor to 2012’s 10225 R2-D2 packs in two brand new functions across the 2,314-piece build, both of which are situated in its dome: Artoo’s extending periscope, and Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber hilt, ready to eject to recreate the opening scenes of Return of the Jedi.

The 18+ set – which isn’t branded as an Ultimate Collector Series model – also includes a retractable third leg, a rotating dome and opening front panels, alongside an R2-D2 minifigure and printed ’50 years of Lucasfilm’ brick.

“We have had the pleasure of creating hundreds of Star Wars-inspired models over the past two decades since we first launched LEGO Star Wars sets,” said Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, Creative Lead of LEGO Star Wars.

“As Lucasfilm celebrates their 50th anniversary, it seemed fitting to challenge ourselves and push the limits of what is possible with LEGO bricks by recreating a fan-favourite Star Wars character in great detail like we have never achieved before. We are delighted with the result and hope our fans get as much joy out of building the set as we did designing it.”

75308 R2-D2 will be available exclusively through LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores from May 1 – just in time for this year’s May the Fourth celebrations – for £179.99 / $199.99 / €199.99. You can check out a full gallery of images for the set here, or see it in action by clicking here.

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