LEGO Star Wars

Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi with these two Dioramas

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It was 1983, and fourteen-year-old me had been waiting fairly patiently for the arrival of Return of the Jedi (teased for a while as Revenge of the Jedi) – bringing with is the conclusion to the story that had been inspiring my school friends and I for the previous 6 years. And with it, we saw some iconic scenes: Jabbas Palace and the Sarlacc Pitt; Heroes of the Rebellion gathering on board the Mon Calamari spaceship, Home One; Yoda’s death on Dagobah and, of course, the forest moon of Endor, as well as the Emporer’s throne room on the second death Star.

Originally intended to be revealed to an unsuspecting world at Star Wars Celebration, we can now bring you the press pack for the latest Star Wars Dioramas: The Emporer’s Throne Room and the Endor Speeder Chase. Last Year’s dioramas The Trash Compactor, Jedi Training Ground and the Trecnch run were some of my favourite display sets last year – being engaging subject matter, some interesting builds that could be completed in a little over the course of an evening, and (most importantly) able to fit on a relatively small footprint.

The 807-piece LEGO Star Wars – Emperor’s Throne Room and 608-piece LEGO Star Wars – Endor Speeder Chase diorama building sets are available to pre-order from April 7th, and available to purchase from May 1st from www.LEGO.com/Star-Wars and LEGO retailers priced at €99.99 / $US99.99 / £89.99/CAD129.99/$AUD159.99 and €79.99 / $US79.99 / £69.99 /99.99 CAD/$AUD129.99 respectively. 

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75355 UCS X-Wing Revealed: May 1 Release

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UCS X-Wing, ramblingbrick bedroom edition c.1978.

Now, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that with May the 4th less than a month away, we are starting to see new LEGO Star Wars sets officially revealed. Overnight, we got our first complete views of the third UCS X-Wing. (The first (7191) being released in 2000, the second (10240) in 2013. Now the X-wing has always been the iconic Star Fighter for me, ever since my first glimpse back in 1977. It was also the first Star Wars ship that I attempted to build to accomodate my action figures, back in the day.

However, I totally missed the previous versions of this ship: I just wasn’t really ready to make that sort of an investment at the time. Life has moved on, and I am glad that I can reconsider adding one to my collection, without investing excessively on the secondary market.

And so, here is 75355 X-Wing Starfighter, due for release on 1st of May for VIP Customers…

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LEGO Star Wars Helmets: 75349 Captain Rex And 75350 Commander Cody Officially Revealed.

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When the prequel trilogy was first released, I didn’t really get it. Whether this was just me, or intrinsic issues with the storytelling, I was not too sure. I didn’t really understand them the way I understood the original trilogy. And surely the fact that I watched individual films in the original trilogy approximately 200 times between 1977 and 1999 is probably irrelevant. Probably….

And then, during the pandemic lockdowns, my now adult son took me by the hand and said ‘Dad, I think you need to watch this. I have found a guide to take you through the essential episodes, but I think it will help everything make sense.’ And so we watched a sizable part of the clone wars: Campaign after campaign, Politics, Intrigue, Grumpy Padawans. And then I rewatched Revenge of the Sith. And on the whole, for the first time ever, it made sense to me. I became invested in Rex and Cody, as well as the rest of the 501st. enough to move on to Rebels. And now it looks like Asokha will make sense to me when it debuts. Woo Hoo.

And Not that I get it, I can understand why these helmets will spark a generational shift in the Star Wars Helmets: no longer limited to the Original Trilogy, fans of the Clone Wars can also feel specifically loved by this range, with the arrival of 75349 Captain Rex and 75350 Commander Cody.

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2022 Advent Calendar Minifigure Review

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**WARNING: This Post Contains Some Spoilers for the LEGO® Star Wars Advent Calendar. While the Minifigures present are revealed on the box, the box doesn’t show you the faces behind the masks.**

I was a little torn when I was offered the LEGO® Star Wars Advent Calendar to Review back in August. I mean, was I going to hold on to it until December, by which stage the set would be sold out (and so the review would benefit nobody)? Or open it up and spoil it all, months in advance? Not that the images on LEGO.com work to keep the contents a secret.

And so, prompted in part by the existence of this article on Medium.com, bemoaning the relative at the relative absence of female minifigures in the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendars, I was promoted to open mine, to see if there were any surprises to be found inside. I’ll reveal my discovery later.

As it is also the VIP Weekend (2x VIP Points at LEGO.com), and with Black Friday Sales next weekend, it might just be the time to pick up that Calendar you were wondering about, before you need to start opening those doors on a daily basis.

Now, I don’t want to spoil the calendar experience, so I didn’t open up the doors. I just removed the recyclable tray from the box and picked out the bags containing minifigures. I can’t even remember where they came from: I just picked them all out and closed the box again. I’m sure this won’t cause any real problems…

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Is This The Way? 75331 LEGO StarWars Ultimate Collector Series Razor Crest Revealed.

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When the first season of ‘The Mandalorian’ premiered on Disney Plus was launched 3 years ago, an icon was born. Well, several. And while ‘Baby Yoda’ was an instant hit, Din Djarin’s ship, the Razor Crest became part of the soul of the series, and many of us were shocked when…. But never mind: spoilers.

Today, the LEGO Group have revealed their latest UCS ship, and it’s a 6187 piece version of the Bounty Hunter’s transport ship. This version has a figure collection consistent with Series 1, episode 1: The Mandalorian, Grogu, the escapee Mythrol and the Ugnaut Kuill.

The 71 cm long set set goes on sale October 3rd to VIPs and October 7th to the rest of the world.

With a wingspan of 50cm, it is less wide than the UCS republic gunship of 2021, and as such is likely to fit onto a standard bench top with minimal overhang.

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LEGO® CON REVEAL: LEGO Star Wars – 75323 The Justifier and 75337 AT-TE Walker

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We have just seen two new LEGO Star Wars sets unveiled at LEGO® CON, the LEGO Group’s live streamed product showcase. Both Hark from the era of the Clone Wars – The Cad Bane’s ship, The Justifier from the Bad Batch, and the AT-TE (All-Terrain Tactical Enforcer) as seen with the 212th Clone Troopers at the Battle of Utapu, during Revenge of the Sith.

Read on for details, and closer images of the minifigures

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LEGO® Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used To Be… [Guest Review]

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Like many people of a certain age, I grew up watching the Original Trilogy of Star Wars Movies as they rolled out in the cinemas. I then set watched the prequels as they played out, around the same time as my kids were born and in their early years. Finally, their first exposure to Star Wars came: not through the movies in the first instance, but through playing the TT Games – LEGO® Star Wars (covering episodes 1-3), LEGO® Star Wars II – Espisodes IV -VI, and then picking up the omnibus Complete Saga, on an alternative platform. This also served as part of their introduction to video games, and as a parent, I preferred this style of gameplay – mixed puzzles and cartoon gunfire, while tethered to each other, and taking the journey together. To be honest, I would have never completed episode VI if it were not for the cooperative play afforded by my son.

Now, 15 years is a long time in video games, but it might have even been a bit longer. Our kids have pretty well grown up (but are still at home), and the closest thing we now have in our house to cooperative regular game play is a game of Trivial pursuit (either via a Nintendo Switch or going old school, using a board, actual pieces and a 6-sided die.).

So part of me was quite excited about the prospect of sitting down again and replaying LEGO® Star Wars, covering the entire saga and spending some quality couch time with Harry. He has spent a little bit of time contemplating Games And Interactivity at university, while focussing on creative writing. I figured I could get him to write a review.

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Making Miniland Scale for May the Fourth. Delays Mean It Will Be The Revenge of the Sixth…

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Last week, I presented my review of the new 75341 Luke’s Landspeeder. While this latest UCS set comes with 2 minifigures, the set has been designed at decidedly greater than Minifigure scale – greater even than Jack Stone or Belville Scale. And so I put together some figures using techniques used for building the figures populating the Miniland Displays at the LEGOLAND theme parks. Don’t confuse these with the Minilands in the LEGOLAND Discovery Centres – they just use minifigures.

One of the great things about Miniland figures is that they can be built with the bricks that many of us have close to hand, and there is no obligation to make them posable – but you might need to think about the pose to strike before you start building.

Today, we will take a look through the pictures I have of the Star Wars Minilands from over the years, and we will look at building Luke Skywalker at Miniland scale.

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75341: UCS Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder: Rambling Review

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Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder was the first personal vehicle that we were introduced to when Star Wars was first released in 1977. It truly embodied George Lucas’s notion of a ’used’ galaxy – where buildings and vehicles seen on screen had a few years or miles behind them, and were no longer in brand new condition. While the X-34 Landspeeder has been produced in several forms in the past, typically at Minifigure or microscale, it has often been at the expense of being able to brick build the fine details. By producing this set at a larger scale, many of these details are able to be demonstrated without resorting to stickers, except where necessary.

This latest addition to the Ultimate Collector Series has 1890 pieces and will be available from 1st of May, 2022. I was sent a prerelease copy by the LEGO Group for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

Without further ado, let’s take a look.

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75341 LEGO® Star Wars Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder Revealed

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As May the Fourth Approaches at what feels llike an ever glacial pace, it is time to see the official release images of the latest Ultimate Collector Series set: Set 75341 has 1890 pieces, comes with a Luke Skywalker minifigure, as well as a new exclusive C-3PO figure and will be priced at $319 AUD/$269.99 CAD/£174.99 GB/€199.99 EU/$199.99 US. It will be available exclusively from LEGO Stores.

Luke Skywalker, like any young adult around our world, values the freedoms that he has, despite the pressures from his Uncle Owen, and his X-34 Landspeeder is the key to those freedoms. While it allows him to go out to service the vaporators around the Lars’ moisture farm, it also gives Luke the chance to head over to Anchorhead, and catch up with his friends at Toschi’s Station.

This model is remarkably large, measuring 50cm longx 30 cm wide and 17cm high – significantly larger than any of the existing 6- 8 stud wide versions released over the years.

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