Review: LEGO 75374 The Onyx Cinder (Skeleton Crew)

January 15, 2025 | 9

LEGO Star Wars & Automotive Correspondent

VaderFan2187

With the new Skeleton Crew TV series on Disney+ now concluded it’s time to take a look at the flagship set, 75374 The Onyx Cinder, designed to accompany the series!

Freighters are often neglected in the Star Wars theme in favour of starfighters and capital ships, but depending on the popularity of the show they may amass cult followings, similar to The Ghost from Star Wars Rebels. Whether Skeleton Crew will reach similar highs in its popularity remains to be seen, but LEGO has released a US$139.99 set depicting the protagonists’ main ship, the Onyx Cinder. Let’s take a deeper dive and see if it stands out amongst a stacked 2024 Star Wars lineup!

Special thanks to the LEGO Group for sending this set over for review.

Unboxing

The front of the box shows the Onyx Cinder in flight against the galaxy, with some Skeleton Crew-themed border art with the new minifigures on the bottom corners.

The back of the box shows the model in its landed mode, along with cutouts showing all the various play features and interior details.

Inside the large box you’ll find 13 numbered plastic bags, along with a cardboard folder holding the instruction manual and sticker sheet for protection.

It’s always good to see the manual and sticker sheet free from damage thanks to the cardboard folder.

The sticker sheet is pretty reasonably sized for a 1300-piece set, although there are a number of round stickers which will have to be aligned correctly!

Minifigures

All the minifigures in this set are new and exclusive (currently), the first of which is Jod, whose figure does a good job capturing Jude Law’s likeness in brick form! I like the dark tan scarf and the printed details on the torso and legs, which all seem pretty accurate to the in-universe character.

With Skeleton Crew now concluded, and Jod’s full character and role now apparent, I expect him to be quite popular among fans.

Next up is Neel, an adorable blue alien youngling. Despite bearing some similarities to Max Rebo, Lucasfilm have confirmed Neel is a different species, and accordingly he gets a brand new head mold that is well done – I like the printed dark blue hair. All the younglings in this set come with color-coded flashlights, and Neel’s is orange.

Next up is Fern, the only minifigure in this set to not have a new face print. Nonetheless, the figure still looks good, and I like the printed details on her jacket plus the use of dark tan midi-legs.

Next up is KB, an incredibly distinctive-looking character, with a dark grey mechanic-like suit and striking white hair – the mold is reused from Bo-Katan Kryze’s minifigure earlier this year. Her double-sided head features a print for her retractable visor implant, in both its lowered and raised modes, which looks great.

The final minifigure is Wim, who has an awesome double-sided face print and a nice tan jacket design. Wim comes with a blue flashlight and a walkie-talkie for his accessories.

I will concede I don’t know much about the characters as I have not yet watched the show, but I think the minifigures included do a good job capturing the distinctive looks of each character.

There is one character from the show that’s missing, SM-33, the first mate of the Onyx Cinder that would’ve really completed the crew.

The minifigure selection as a whole is pretty stellar in my opinion – especially considering all the figures are new – effectively including the whole crew in just one set which makes things easier for collectors and fans.

Completed Model

The completed Onyx Cinder model measures around 36 cm (14″) long, with a predominantly dark grey color scheme.

Tastes will vary among fans – and the aesthetics of the ship is undoubtedly down to the in-universe design – but personally, I don’t think the model looks very aesthetically pleasing at all, with an awkward, bulky shape that is the opposite of sleek. Nonetheless, it’s meant to be a chunky freighter-like ship, and I think that essence has been captured well.

The Onyx Cinder rests on four pillar-like landing gear that cannot be retracted. A lower angle reveals the blockiness of the model, although the panels are mounted at various angles which came together pretty satisfyingly.

The model’s main play feature involves a black Technic lever embedded in the middle bodywork of the ship, which is not too conspicuous.

The Technic lever can be slid backwards…

…and doing so will rotate the ship’s thrusters in synchrony backwards by 90 degrees, which involved some simple Technic mechanisms under the exterior paneling.

Here’s the model in its landed mode, with the six thrusters and rear winglets pointing upwards. I think the craft looks best in flight mode, but the moving features and the fact that the engines shift in synchrony is very welcome.

The engines themselves are constructed with some simple studs-not-on-top techniques, and use 2×2 stickered round tiles to have some turbine-like details.

The back of the thrusters have trans-orange glowing details which looks good.

The front of the Onyx Cinder has a fairly odd angled shape, and features a number of attachments at the very end, most prominently what appears to be a claw. Given the ship’s freighter-like design, these industrial-like details are nice to see, and they are fairly robust so unlikely to be knocked off in play.

In addition to some white stripes, the top of the Onyx Cinder has more greebling to represent mechanical detail along with wear and tear. A number of stud shooters and clear 2×2 dome bricks are attached via turntables to represent cannons, plus an angled sensor dish towards the rear. While the playability is welcome, these turntable-mounted attachments do tend to freely spin around when you swoosh the ship around which can be a little distracting.

Similar to the iconic Millennium Falcon, the Onyx Cinder has an asymmetrical cockpit. It has a dark grey color scheme so blends seamlessly with the rest of the bodywork, with a couple of stickers used to represent the cockpit glass. A pair of stud shooters are mounted on the side, with a rotating turret just below.

The top of the cockpit opens using a trapdoor cover element to grant access to the pilot’s seat, which has a pair of stickered slopes for controls.

There’s space for one minifigure–Jod–to sit in a reclined-position in the cockpit.

Not to worry, the large Onyx Cinder has more interior than just the cockpit – accessible through these panels on the lower half of the ship’s bodywork.

This panel folds downwards, which gives some access to the interior.

This panel actually doubles as storage space for the four youngling’s flashlights, which attach via the stud connection point on the lightsaber hilt piece.

However, better interior access can be found on the other side without the cockpit obstructing the way.

These panels open in two ways, which allows a bit more room to get into the interior details.

At the top, there’s a couple clips for Wim’s walkie-talkie and Jod’s pistol, which means all the minifigure accessories can be stowed away in the ship. I’m a big fan of ships like this having space for all the minifigures and their accessories, so this is a win in my book.

The central interior has four seats along with a stickered 2×4 table in the middle.

You can place the four younger minifigures seated in the interior, but given the very limited headroom it’s actually quite difficult to fit them inside! Doable, but not easy – I usually open the panels on both sides and poke my hands in from both sides to fidget the minifigures into place.

There’s some more accessories on the side, including a gold telescope and a black pot, but again access is pretty difficult.

There’s actually room for one more minifigure here, with a bed stowed away towards the front. However, accessing it from these panels is difficult.

Thankfully, the front panel of the Onyx Cinder opens similar to a ramp, and that allows your hand to reach in and detach the bed if necessary.

Here’s the bed itself – pretty simplistic, but it works and holds a minifigure.

While the actual interior space is limited, I like that there is room to squeeze four minifigures and all their accessories. The opening panels also look good, and can double as boarding ramps if you want to display the model in a landed mode.

There’s a final bit of interior at the back, with a couple more panels that can be folded down to reveal a pair of crates.

Inside, you’ll find some printed cookies and a brick-built meiloorun fruit that returns from last year’s 75357 The Ghost & Phantom II.

Final Thoughts

On the whole, I think this set is not for everyone, but it has its charm and has a lot of strong points. Fans of the show will definitely want to pick this set up as it features nearly all the characters of the Onyx Cinder, save for SM-33.

The model isn’t particularly sleek but it does have character, and the tight space between the angled panels is utilised well for minifigure and accessory storage which is commendable. Indeed, if the ship survives the Skeleton Crew show and appears in future Star Wars material then it may become a future icon like The Ghost.

Long-time Star Wars fans may also appreciate building something new instead of the numerous re-releases, although unfortunately this set does not escape the drab grey color palette that the theme is infamous for!

In terms of value, I think US$139.99 is reasonable (although waiting for a discount is optimal), but I think this set may struggle in its value proposition solely due to competition – for US$20 more, fans will be able to get the larger, more iconic, and more playable 75394 Imperial Star Destroyer that was released in the same August 2024 wave.

I recognise that US$20 is not a negligible sum of money, but the side-by-side on shelves is unlikely to favour a relatively unknown ship like the Onyx Cinder, especially against such a masterful ship like the 75394 Imperial Star Destroyer.

Final Score

3

Build

I personally find the design of the ship a little ugly, but that’s down to the source material. In terms of accuracy, play functions, and utilisation of interior space, the model is a success.

4

Minifigures

Normally I’d like one more minifigure at this price point, but considering all five are new and all the key characters are included, I’m pretty satisfied.

3

Real Value

US$140 is a little on the pricey side, but I think it’s within the realm of reason especially considering the general price increases across the board for LEGO.

3

Innovation

There weren’t any mindblowing techniques, but the designers did a good job capturing the Onyx Cinder’s numerous angled panels as well as fitting in a decently fleshed-out interior.

3

Keepability

This may be the only Onyx Cinder we ever get in LEGO, but only time will tell how desirable this model will be in the long term.

Audience rating

How would you rate this set?

1 2 3 4 5

Thanks for reading 75374 The Onyx Cinder is available from LEGO.com, or your local LEGO retailer.

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