Epic Beards of Review: Rancor Pit Lego Playset

It was a Christmas miracle. That, or my father was frustrated with shopping for us kids.
The jury is still out as to what he was thinking, at the mall the weekend before the biggest shopping holiday, but his loss turned out to be my gain. He did, however, make sure to remind me, again, that I’m thirty-five.
In a gutsy, last-ditch effort to get presents accounted for, he actually called for last-minute gift ideas. Not to be outdone, I spouted off preposterous ideas, hoping one or more would stick. Thinking that if he didn’t snatch up a big ‘ol Lego set, he may spring for something smaller.
It’s a win-win situation. Either way, more bricks to the mix.
It took me a few days after the holiday to really enjoy my Christmas plunder, but it just so happened to coincide on the day my wife and I sat down to watch the trilogy on television by putting together the Lego Rancor Pit set. The Force is strong with this one.
Lemme start out by saying that any set requiring the builder to put together a mini-figure in the more than normal four or so pieces is a-okay in my opinion. Throw in a new Luke and Malikili (the Rancor Keeper,) a Gamorrean Guard and skeleton. The aforementioned Rancor had claws that can grab up the piggy little Gamorrean, and the Keeper even has a face that rotates from happy to sad!
There’s also a Jabba’s Palace playset that connects to it in order to use it to its full potential. Now you can act out some of the best scenes of Return of the Jedi!
Another nice bonus was this handy brick separator tool that replaces the need for you to use your teeth to get pieces apart that don’t belong together.
Not sure how I feel about the bigger sets’ bags now being numbered as per the sections of the build to be completed. Kind of takes away some of the fun of it. I was glad, however, to see the picture in the directions advising you not to dump the pieces on the carpet. They make memes about how awful it is stepping on those things.
Quite the fun and challenging set in four stages that neatly worked together to achieve a bold scene in trilogy history. Hinges deftly opened up to expand the set and give easier access for play. A few surprise secrets worked seamlessly into the build as well as a working gate.
What better way to crush the heads of your enemies?