Review: LEGO 40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama

December 15, 2023 | 3

With the Holiday Season coming up, LEGO has released a new Christmas-themed set to celebrate the festivities, 40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama. While the LEGO Star Wars theme has had its fair share of advent calendars in the past, it’s more unusual to get a regular retail Star Wars set with a festive spin.

This set is also the first in a couple years to focus on the sequel trilogy, and is the first set to contain Rey and Finn in 2-3 years. Dioramas also aren’t that common in the LEGO Star Wars theme, so when I saw this unusual set in stores, I knew I had to pick it up and take a closer look. Let’s jump right in!

Do note that 40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama is a LEGO.com or LEGO Store exclusive, so you won’t be able to find it on Amazon, or regular retailers.

• 40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama – US$29.99 / AU$44.99 / £25.49 / €29.99 / CAD$39.99

This is a guest review from our LEGO Star Wars correspondent Vaderfan – check out some of his recent reviews below.

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40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama Set Details

Set Number: 40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama
Set Name: Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama
Pieces: 282
Minifigures: 5 (Rey, Finn, Chewbacca, Porg, BB-8)
Theme: Star Wars
Release Date: 1 October 2023
Price: US$29.99 / AU$44.99 / £25.99 / €29.99 / CAD$39.99

Unboxing 40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama

The front of the box displays the model from its most attractive angles, along with a lively festive scene thanks to the minifigures attempting to cut the turkey with a lightsaber.

The back of the box shows the model from a side angle, along with cutouts showing close-up snapshots of life in the Millennium Falcon.

Inside the box you’ll find three numbered bags, an instruction manual, and one extra unnumbered bag with all the larger pieces.

40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama Minifigures

The first two minifigures are holiday versions of Rey and Finn. These are meant to be ugly sweater versions of their Episode IX appearances, so Rey has white legs and a yellow lightsaber while Finn has the longer hairpiece and blue pants.

The sweater prints are new and look great, with pixelated versions of the Millennium Falcon and the Rebel logo. It’s a bit unfortunate that Rey does not have leg printing, as the regular Episode IX minifigure did.

Finn does have leg printing with a brown blaster holster on his pants, Han Solo-style. Both figures feature alternate head prints, although Finn’s is much more dramatic!

In addition to her yellow lightsaber – which is actually more of a fluorescent lime green color – Rey comes with a new printed book to represent the salvaged sacred Jedi texts. The cover has a nice print with the Jedi logo in gold, while the 1×2 tile inside the case is unprinted.

Next up is Chewbacca and his two smaller friends, the Porg and BB-8. None of these minifigures are new as they do not have any Christmas-themed modifications, which means they fit right into non-festive settings.

Chewbacca is the same minifigure since 2014 but still looks good, although he does not include his crossbow. The Porg and BB-8 share the same head mold but both look good despite their small size.

Here’s how they look from the back – BB-8 is impressive with the wrap-around printed detail.

The minifigure selection in this set is actually pretty solid – Rey and Finn might be limited in use outside of the Christmas theme but their sweaters are cute, and the other three can slot straight into a normal Star Wars minifigure collection.

Completed Model

The completed model shows a cut-out slice of the Millennium Falcon’s interior, complete with several Christmas decorations that contrast well against the aged grey and tan of the original Falcon bits.

The model uses angled plates in its outline so it isn’t just a simple rectangle. 1×2 grilles are used on the flooring for the industrial-like theme, and the model itself measures around 17cm (6.5″) by 12cm (5″).

Front and center is this large Christmas dinner table, which uses a 4×6 plate. The real star of the show is the huge turkey on top, accompanied by a carrot and a clear glass. The table is connected with one stud so it can rotate.

On one corner there is a Christmas tree of sorts, made out of three large leaf pieces and topped off with a beautiful trans-blue snowflake piece. Another snowflake piece is attached on the far wall, while a string of colorful lights connects the two built-up walls and really brings the festive feel to this model.

The model also looks reasonable from the camera-unfriendly rear angle, without any weird colored bricks.

There is an extra storage space built into the wall where you can clip Rey and Finn’s lightsabers when they are not in use.

The Christmas decorations are surprisingly easy to detach, so once the holidays are over you can swap this into a normal Millennium Falcon diorama. This also allows an easier look at the original Millennium Falcon furniture included.

The model looks a lot plainer without the Christmas decorations, but it does look pretty acceptable as a Millennium Falcon interior diorama. There’s a good mix of studded and tiled surfaces in the flooring so there is lots of room to pose minifigures.

On one side is the Millennium Falcon’s recognizable circular doorways that connect to the freighter’s corridors. This is done here with some studs-on-the-side and even upside-down build techniques, which does a pretty good job getting the circular shape in LEGO form. A jumper plate is included at the bottom so a minifigure can be posed entering or exiting via the doorway.

The other side has the corner sofa with sabacc table, along with the Falcon’s sleeping quarters. The sabacc table uses some light grey and black 1×1 corner round tiles to approximate a chessboard-like grid, which works pretty well for a fully brick-built solution.

And yes, the sofa itself can fit a pair of minifigures, while the bed behind does accommodate one sleepy guest too.

Overall this model is a nice slice of life from the Millennium Falcon’s interior, and I think it looks best with the colorful festive decorations that give that extra vibrance on display.

Final Thoughts

On the whole, this is a charming set for LEGO Star Wars fans to welcome the festive season. The build has nice brick-built detail throughout and is a good size for the price point, an increasingly rare trait in licensed sets these days. The minifigure selection is also pretty good for a $30 USD set, including two holiday-themed figures and three other regular characters. The Christmas decorations might make it slightly limited in its year-round appeal, but the model looks fine as just a Millennium Falcon interior too, and I hope LEGO does more diorama/interior playset models in the future.

Build [3] – The model has charm and does a good job replicating a slice of the Millennium Falcon interior, and the Christmas decorations add some color.
Minifigures [4] – Pretty strong selection for the price point, considering there are four named figures + a popular porg.
Real Value [4] – With inflation causing the price of LEGO sets to rise gradually, this set feels like a pretty good deal in comparison.
Innovation [3] – This type of diorama/interior cutout set is pretty rare in the LEGO Star Wars theme, especially at this price point. Hopefully we get more sets like this in future.
Keepabiility [3] – The Christmas theme does limit its long-term popularity but it is a pretty unique set design so it will likely be the type of set people get nostalgic about in future.

Rating and Score: 3/5 ★★★✰✰

Thanks for reading! 40658 Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama is available from LEGO.com or your local LEGO toy store.

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