LEGO Star Wars 75404 Acclamator-class Assault Ship continues the advanced, accurate LEGO building of previous midi-scale ships.
On from 2024’s 75375 Millennium Falcon (review here), 75377 Invisible Hand (review here) and 75376 Tantive IV (review here), as well as 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer from the year before (review here), LEGO Star Wars 75404 Acclamator-class Assault Ship does nothing new, and it absolutely doesn’t need to.
Release: January 1, 2025 Price: £44.99 / $49.99 / €49.99 Pieces: 450 Minifigures: 0 LEGO:
Same but different
Best compared to and paired with 75377 Invisible Hand for some Clone Wars/Attack of the Clones action, LEGO Star Wars 75404 Acclamator-class Assault Ship offers a fine continuation of the new midi-scale collection of LEGO Star Wars ships with the added bonus of being yet another ship debuting in LEGO too.
We’ve had the similar-looking Venator-class ship twice before, with 2009’s 8039 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser and 2023’s 75367 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser, but this is the first appearance in LEGO for the smaller, older Acclamator-class ship. Beyond differences in the shape of the vessel, where the Venator was designed more to carry and release multiple starships, craft and ground troops, the Acclamator was only for ground support craft and troops. It’s the Acclamator that we see thousands of Clone Troopers marching on to at the end of Attack of the Clones.
Once you can understand and see the difference it becomes more apparent and helps to give 75404 Acclamator-class Assault Ship greater relevance in this midi-scale collection of ships. For the simple fact we have the UCS 75367 Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser available at the moment there’s no other scale (bar perhaps polybag or advent calendar) where we’d get an Acclamator, which is something that can also be said for a few other ships so far released in this ever-unique selection.
There’s an opportunity with the midi-scale ships to offer LEGO Star Wars fans new experiences not only in how they put together these vehicles but in which ones they are building in the first place. Good LEGO sets don’t rely on novelty to succeed, but it’s always a good first step.
Building up to something
Beyond the uniqueness of 75404 Acclamator-class Assault Ship, though, is yet another fascinating and intelligent LEGO construction. We have playsets that have to be designed for younger audiences that don’t always have the most compelling LEGO build experiences, and we have the Ultimate Collector Series that does offer detailed, complex sets but that are often out of most people’s budgets.
The LEGO Star Wars team have clearly identified this gap in their audience, and following on from the success of what we built in 2024 we are starting 2025 with yet further examples of some of the smartest LEGO sets to come out of the theme.
The Helmet Collection of recent years arguably forged the way for this series – and likely had to make way for it – but the midi-scale ships have clearly ramped up the level of intricacy and technique that is built into a LEGO Star Wars set, even more so than we saw in most of the helmets (and that’s saying something for how impressive some of those really were). In the case of the Acclamator it is an open study of the mathematical properties of both the source material and LEGO as a medium to find this quite intriguing way of working various shapes together and placed at angles ever-so-subtle in their directional changes.
Which is all to say, what it looks like on screen is how it looks in LEGO, from the broader triangular shape of the entire thing and the minute angles at which the wings slope, through to the details that build out the bridge and operations rooms at the top of the ship and the series of thrusters that power it at the back. And it is all achieved at this smaller scale too thanks to very particular parts usage and placement.
What lies beneath
These midi-scale LEGO Star Wars ships are a harder sell than they should be, because once they are built there’s nothing to them beyond display, and half the beauty to each one that we have had the pleasure of building so far is in exactly that – the pleasure to be found in building them.
Such sets as LEGO Star Wars 75404 Acclamator-class Assault Ship are explorations not only into each vessel and the specific details that make them up, but also into LEGO as a creative medium and what can be achieved when limitations around accommodating for a younger audience are taken out of the equation. Each set is so good at pulling you in that you can’t help but finish the model with a deeper understanding and appreciation for both the source material and for LEGO itself. Not every LEGO set can do that and certainly not every LEGO Star Wars set.
These midi-scale LEGO Star Wars ships will make many an ‘underrated LEGO set’ list in years to come – don’t sleep on them because they look different or less playable. Beyond the better options for display, the better size of each model and the authentic nature of each one’s design, these are just as fun to put together, and in a way that will stay with you afterwards.
Our honest opinion: 75404 Acclamator-class Assault Ship stands to be an underrated gem of the LEGO Star Wars catalogue for its relatively simple appearance, because lifting the hood reveals an elegant LEGO experience worthy of your time and attention.
This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.
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