The original Star Wars hadn’t even been released when Alan Dean Foster started writing Splinter of the Minds Eye, the first story in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (later called Legends). Prior to Lucasfilm’s sale to Disney, telling stories in the Star Wars sandbox was a fairly freewheeling business, guided more by a code of honor to not contradict what came before, and to be game to retcon anything that George made canon.( I had first-hand experience writing in this era, penning a choose-your-own-adventure style book full of EU easter eggs.) These days, the Star Wars Universe feels a bit trapped between three aesthetically very different trilogies, with Dave Filoni doing his best to fold EU favorites like Thrawn into the continuity between Clone Wars and Rise of Skywalker. I love The Last Jedi and Andor, but I also miss the era when the Adventures of Luke Skywalker was an endless blue ocean of possibility.

Jan Woźnica certainly carries a torch for the Expanded Universe. In the past, the builder shared an incredible LEGO model of the Moldy Crow from Star Wars: Dark Forces. Now Jan is back with a bevy of expanded universe characters, perfectly assembled from official LEGO parts and staged on custom stands. There are some pretty deep cuts here, so in the gallery that follows, I’ve added links to Wookiepedia if you need a refresher on who’s who.

From left to right:
– Yomin Carr
– Lumiya
– Borsk Fey’lya
– Antares Draco
– Vergere

Lightwhip-wielding Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya is my favorite character to see brought back, as she’s one of the EU’s most significant villains who, barring a Filoni miracle, seems unlikely to come to screen. For NPU though, Borsk Fey’la takes the cake with that perfect application of the Splinter head from TMNT.

From left to right:
– Mirax Terrik
– Ooryl Qrygg
– Corran Horn (with Whistler)
– Soontir Fel
– Iella Wessiri

It’s just a Zuckuss head on an X-Wing pilot uniform, but I like seeing more Gand characters like Ooryl Qrygg. Jan’s straging withh just a stripe of X-Wing, fueling tube and the ladder is perfect at evoking the scene of a pilot before battle.

From left to right:
– Exar Kun
– Ulic Quel-Droma
– Zayne Carrick
– Nomi Sunrider
– HK-47

As a proud “meatbag,” I’m not sure how I feel about seeing HK-47 here. The three Jedi are a bittersweet reminder of how much more interesting Jedi could have looked if Episode 1 hadn’t made it canon that all Jedi dress like Obi-Wan in his desert disguise.

From left to right:
– Gilad Pellaeon
– Talon Karrde
– Joruus C’baoth
– Flim
– Qwi Xux

I’ll always give the edge to Timothy Zahn characters, so it’s great to see clone-mad dark Jedi Joruus and Thrawn imposter Flim in brick form. The presentation for flim, with a blue paint brush, made me laugh.

From left to right:
– Rahm Kota
– Dash Rendar
– Winter Celchu
– Prince Xizor
– Darth Plagueis
– Kir Kanos

Jan’s take on the Shadows of the Empire leads Rendar and Xizor are perfect! Darth Plagueis has gone on to have many canon stories, including the briefest of teases at the end of Acolyte that sadly seems undestined to pay off. Winter Celchu could have made a cameo in Obi-Wan as she was Leia’s childhood friend, so it’s nice to see her remembered here.

Which is your favorite Expanded Universe character? Is there a character or vehicle from the Star Wars EU that you’d like to see turned into an official set?