Tag Archives: Star Wars

LEGO Star Wars 75419 Death Star | Set Preview

That’s no moon. But the price is lunacy. This is the brand new LEGO Star Wars 75419 Death Star.

Arriving outside the atmosphere of a planet near you on October 1st, 75419 brings Star Wars’ most iconic energy project into LEGO’s Ultimate Collector Series, with over 9,000 parts, thirty-eight mini-figures and an array of movie scenes held within a thin slice of space-station.

These include the crushing trash compactor, Princess Leia’s cell, the hangar control room infiltrated by Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, the tractor beam control deactivated by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Emperor Palpatine’s throne room, the Imperial Shuttle hangar bay, and the planet-destroying Superlaser. And all for $999.

Yes, it’s finally (if inevitably) happened, 75419 is the first one-thousand dollar LEGO set. With a recommended retail price of $999 / £899, it actually translates to over $1,200 in our home nation at today’s exchange rate. Which sounds, and is, a galactic amount of money. But perhaps black boxes and purple Imperial Dignitaries don’t come cheap.

If you’re head of a Galactic Empire you can get your black gloved hands on the new LEGO Star Wars 75419 Death Star set from October 1st. For the rest of us in the Republic, we haven’t forgotten that LEGO is supposed to be a toy, so we’ll be playing with what we’ve got.

Not a Jaguar

TLCB does not know much about Star Wars. 1970s British saloons yes, space battles between Jedis and an imperial galactic empire… not so much. Which is why if you said ‘XJ6′ to us we’d think of a classic luxury car rather than a vehicle from George Lucas’ famous movie franchise.

Unfortunately for TLCB Team, this ‘XJ6’ is not a Sir William Lyons-designed British sedan, but an Airspeeder from ‘Star Wars; Attack of the Clones’. However Swan Dutchman‘s replica of the ‘XJ-6 Airspeeder’ is nevertheless a stunning build, deploying some fantastic techniques to recreate the aircraft’s complex surfacing seen in the film.

There’s more of Swan’s ‘XJ-6’ to see on Flickr and you can head to, um… wherever it is that Airpseeders are via the link above. We’re better with cars…

Speeding Over Sand

This is an X-28 Landspeeder, and… um, that’s all we know. We’re not Star Trek Wars people. But we do like racing stripes and rooster-tail dust-clouds, and this has both! Ordo (Fabian B.) is the builder behind it and you can take a look via the link above.

Ginormous Interplanetary Spaceship

After bemoaning that most Lego sci-fi builds are ginormous interplanetary spaceships designed for various important space-based assignments, here’s a ginormous interplanetary spaceship designed for an important space-based assignment.

This is an ‘Acclamator-Class Assault Ship’ from ‘Star Wars – Episode II; Attack of the Clones’, and it has been built (and presented) absolutely beautifully by TLCB newcomer FlyInSpace from over 5,100 pieces.

Weighing 3.2kg and 72cm in length, Fly’s brick-built behemoth features detachable landing gear, opening hangar doors, and deployable boarding ramps, and is constructed entirely ‘studs-not-on-top’ to accurately portray the immensely complex geometric shape of the ‘real’ thing, with incredible results.

If you fancy creating a 1:1000 scale ‘Acclamator’ for yourself, building instructions are available and you can find them, plus all of the stunning imagery, at FlyInSpace’s UCCS Acclamator album. Click the link above  to get Acclimated.

Pew! Pew! Kablamo!

Or alternatively – because this is taking place in the vacuum of space – silence… But we suspect even there you’ll still be able to hear appalling George Lucas movie dialogue.

Anyway, this nerdiest-of-all-scenes comes from Flickr’s Tim Goddard, and there’s more to see of his delightfully explody TIE Fighter and the X-Wing wot did it at his photostream. Nerd-out via the link above.

Pew Pew!

If there’s a model that goes ‘Pew Pew!’ more than this one, we haven’t seen it. Making his TLCB debut, Joe (jnj_bricks) hasn’t just encapsulated our default science-fiction noise beautifully in brick-form, he’s included no less than twenty-eight golden handcuffs in the build, which is even more than your Mom has at her ‘special parties’. Take a look, make some ‘Pew Pew!’ noises, and ponder why your Mom says you have to be out of the house every second Friday night via the link in the text above.

Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday

Motor racing has long been used to change brand image. Or, in the case of the tobacco industry, market cigarettes to children.

Audi’s ‘What Dieselgate?’ hybrid Dakar racers, Inifiniti, then Aston Martin, and next Ford, all pretending they have something to do with the Red Bull F1 car, fictitious energy drink company ‘Rich Energy’ sponsoring Haas F1, without having any money… or even an energy drink… Yes the world of race sponsorship makes about as much sense as a LEGO website staffed by Elves.

Fast-forward to the future of racing (or is the past? We’re never quite sure with Star Wars), and the Galactic Empire is still using the same tactics to transform its brand image / market itself to children. Because what better way to convince a sixteen year old to die* on a far away planet than to go racing!

This marvellous ‘Imperial Pod Racer’ is the work of Rubblemaker of Flickr, who has imagined what it would look like if the Galactic Empire went racing. TIE Fighter aesthetics, top-notch building techniques, and stellar presentation have us ready to enlist at the Stormtrooper recruitment office, and you can join us there via the link above!

*And yes, this is actually happening. Still, it’s better than Marlboro.

Wrath of the Sith

This is a ‘Sith Wrath Class Light Frigate’, and we know that because builder BobDeQuatre wrote it in the description. Yup, this is another attempt by The Lego Car Blog to post something about Star Wars, a topic about which we understand as much as Kim Kardashian does about plumbing.

Should the proper Lego blogs pick this one up they will no doubt be far more useful. Until then, you’ve just got us going ‘Ooooh, that looks cool’. See more of Bob’s spectacular Sith thingy at his ‘Sith Wrath’ Flickr album via the link above, where further Star Wars information may be available.

Black-AT

In some kind of TLCB nightmare, Flickr’s Jens Ådne J. Rydland has managed a gloriously successful mashup of two sci-fi themes about which we know nothing. So here’s one of those walking things from Star Wars merged with LEGO’s own Blacktron and Ice Planet themes, for a reference so nerdy it’s probably got adenoids. Join the sci-fi convention via the link above, whilst this TLCB Staffer tries to counterbalance writing this by drinking a beer and giving a wedgie to one of the Elves or something.

Some Like it Hoth

A fallen AT-AT, T-47 Airspeeders overhead, and somewhere Luke Skywalker is making a sleeping bag out of a Tauntaun carcass. It’s the Battle of Hoth, a Star Wars fight between the Dark Side and Jedis or something, of which we know nothing besides what Wookiepedia told us.

Still, TLCB’s usual sci-fi incompetence aside, this micro-scale scene by Flickr’s Pasq67 is fantastic, and sure to excite fans of George Lucus’ overlong space saga. If you’re one of them you can take a look at all the details via Pasq67’s ‘Micro AT-AT’ album via think above. You nerd.

Han Solo. Snigger

It’s well documented that TLCB isn’t madly in love with Star Wars, but even ardent fans of the franchise must admit Han Solo is funny. Insert your own teenage joke.

Anyway, when Han wasn’t Soloing he did get to drive (fly?) some cool stuff, such as this marvellous M68 Landspeeder from the move ‘Solo – A Star Wars Story’, as recreated brilliantly in brick form by Aliencat! of Flickr.

Constructed in LEGO’s ‘Ultimate Collector Series’ style, Aliencat’s Landspeeder includes extensive greebling, racy checkered seats, and excellent presentation, and there’s much more to see at his ‘UCS Han Solo’s M68 Landspeeder’ album.

Click the link above to beat your bishop, burp your worm, audition your hand puppet, ooze your noodle, badger the witness, and blow your own horn. Sorry, we’re done now.

May the Fourth…

It’s May the 4th, a day observed by countless nerds in celebration of a ’70s movie that began part way through for some reason. Star Wars devotees mark the occasion through quiet contemplation, internet forum bickering, and absolutely not taking to girls, because they’re scary. Which is the same as every other day, only this one involves a Star Wars-y pun.

TLCB, what with our formidable knowledge of popular culture and cinema history, are joining the Star Wars Day festivities with a quartet of Tie Fighters, which all probably feature in a movie or something.

Each has come spectacularly built and presented by Flickr’s Jerac, with (clockwise from top left); a TIE Fighter, Iden Versio’s TIE Fighter, a TIE Interceptor, and a Royal Guard TIE Interceptor, which we definitely knew ourselves and aren’t simply quoting the builder.

It means today The Lego Car Blog has more TIEs than a political convention, and thus we feel satisfied we have sufficiently acknowledged this great and noble day and can lay it to rest for another year, unless we forget about it in which case it might end up being longer.

Adherents to the Star Wars religion can see more of Jerac’s stunning brick-built TIE Fighters via the link above, where quite contemplation, internet forum bickering, and absolutely not talking to girls can all be undertaken too.

May the fourth be with you.

Use Your Illusion

Making something static appear to be in motion is a tricky thing. Of course photo editing means almost anything is possibly digitally, but adding movement purely in brick-form is something we rarely see.

Today though, two builders have absolutely nailed it, by deploying some ingenious techniques to give their creations the appearance of speed.

Taken from the Japanese Manga ‘Dominion’, David Collins‘ ‘Bonaparte’ police tank has arrived on the scene in violent sideways fashion, kicking up a shower of broken asphalt and smoke as it does so. It’s a killer technique and one that would work brilliantly for rally cars, drift cars, and off-road motorbikes, and you can see more of how David has done it via the link.

Today’s second build manages to convey both ponderous movement and agile flight, as MadLEGOman recreates the iconic ‘Battle of Hoth’ scene from ‘The Empire Strikes Back’. An AT-AT is striding through the snow towards the Rebel Alliance base from which this A-Wing has departed, with cable in tow in hope of tripping the attacker.

Mad has cunningly used the cable to both support the A-Wing in-flight and depict the path it’s taken, to brilliant effect. Click the link above to jump to Hoth for more movement illusion.

Outrider

This is a YT-2400 Outrider from the Star Wars universe, which we definitely knew for ourselves and aren’t simply quoting the builder in an effort to appear knowledgeable about sci-fi.

Built by aido k, the model uses around 4,000 pieces and weighs in at 5kg, which includes a neat lighting system to illuminate the engine.

There’s more superb imagery of the Outrider to see at aido’s album on Flickr – click the link above to something something dark side.

The Moneylorian

Props to Disney. After buying Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012, they have cranked out Star Wars movies to capitalise on their investment, with additions to the main storyline, spin-offs, and now a TV series, all with essentially the same plot.

Still, we do keep watching them, because pew pew pew! This is one of Disney’s newest additions, and one we haven’t seen, because well… it’ll be the same as all the others and there’s already plenty of pew pew pew in those.

From what we can tell ‘The Mandalorian’ seems to have been devised primarily to sell a toy of a green alien with poor sentence structure, but it has resulted in this rather magnificent creation from Flickr’s Jerac.

Entitled the ‘Razor Crest’, it sounds like a combination of things you’d find in your bathroom, but Google assures us it’s a gunship used by Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin, which gets destroyed during a skirmish on Tython. That may have been a spoiler.

Anyway, Jerac’s spectacular Razor Crest build took five months and around five thousand pieces to create, and it looks simply wonderful photographed on the sand with a few LEGO plant stalks poking through as in the images here.

A three seat cockpit, opening hatches and doors, and internal lighting are all included, and there’s loads more to see at Jerac’s photostream via the link above, where – sticking with the cashing-in theme – Jerac will soon add a link to building instructions available to buy, so that you can build your own Razor Crest at home.