In our review of 75218 X-wing Starfighter last week, we covered the build process, minifigures, and the finished model, but we wanted to take another look at this new LEGO Star Wars set and show off some of the play features, as well as comparisons to previous incarnations of this iconic Rebel Alliance fighter.
Watch the video and see more details about this new LEGO Star Wars set after the jump
The first in a new series of movies set in J.K. Rowling’s “Wizarding World,” Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in 2016. Many LEGO fans were disappointed that the movie wasn’t accompanied by more LEGO sets — and reminded us that it had been many years since the last Harry Potter sets. Two LEGO Dimensions sets were in fact released, but many builders and collectors may have chosen to pass them up due to the high price of video game tie-ins in which you’re paying for new downloadable content as much as physical bricks. But with the sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald set for release on November 16 this year, LEGO has resurrected the Harry Potter theme overall, along with several new Fantastic Beasts LEGO sets. Available on August 1st, we’ll be reviewing both of the new Fantastic Beasts sets, starting with 75952 Newt’s Case of Magical Creatures.
Newt’s case includes 694 pieces and four minifigures, and retails for $49.99 ($64.99 in Canada | £44.99 in the UK).
It’s rare that LEGO sets are directly affected by the tragedies that happen in the real world. But just as the first photos were turning up online of a new LEGO Architecture set depicting the Las Vegas skyline, a gunman opened fire on October 1st, 2017, firing down onto a packed concert venue from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel casino. The gunman murdered 58 people, injuring hundreds of others. In light of this tragedy, LEGO never officially unveiled the Las Vegas set, originally scheduled to be released alongside 21039 Shanghai in January 2018. LEGO has finally revealed the redesigned (and re-numbered) set, 21047 Las Vegas on Amazon.fr.
The French Amazon website doesn’t list a price or part count, but we expect it to be in the same range as Shanghai (597 pieces for $59.99) and New York City (598 pieces for $59.99). We’ll update you as we learn more, though thus far LEGO has been keeping this set fairly low profile.
See more photos of 21047 Las Vegas skyline, along with the original version
Luke Skywalker gets roughed up quite a bit in The Empire Strikes Back, first by a giant Yeti-beast and later by his own dad, who cuts off his hand just for mouthing off and refusing to obey! As a result, Luke spends quite a bit of time in Rebel Alliance medical facilities, both on Hoth and aboard the Nebulon-B medical frigate. While LEGO Star Wars fans have clamored for a UCS or even microscale medical frigate for years, LEGO has instead focused twice on the bacta tank treatment scene, most recently with 75203 Hoth Medical Chamber. Available August 1st, this set includes 255 pieces with 3 minifigures and retails for $29.99.
Read our hands-on review of 75203 Hoth Medical Chamber
One of the most shocking scenes in Star Wars: The Last Jedi occurs on Supreme Leader Snoke’s enormous flagship the Supremacy, when Kylo Ren turns on Snoke and he and Rey join forces to battle the Supreme Leader’s Praetorian Guards. 75216 Snoke’s Throne Room captures this scene as a playset. The set includes 492 pieces with 5 minifigures and retails for $69.99.
Read our hands-on review of 75216 Snoke’s Throne Room from The Last Jedi
The Mesoamerican ballgame is an ancient sport played throughout Central America starting more than three thousand years ago. While some games may have been played purely for exercise or entertainment, there is strong archaeological and historical evidence for highly ritualized games that could even end in human sacrifice for some or all of the losers. W. Navarre has captured the action of a ballgame from the Aztec era, when ballcourts included rings through which players tried to bounce the rubber ball. The builder uses forced perspective to achieve a backdrop with a stepped pyramid temple — even the blazing blue sky is built with bricks.
The microscale pyramid includes decorative elements made from cut stickers — only official LEGO stickers, of course! The cheese slopes work wonderfully for the pyramid’s steps.
Despite — or perhaps because of — the release of two different T-70 X-wings produced in support of The Force Awakens in late 2015 and mid-2016, it’s been over six years since LEGO has released a version of the iconic T-65 starfighter featured in the Classic Trilogy. With the release of 75218 X-wing Starfighter on August 1st, the most recognizable Rebel fighter in the Star Wars universe becomes available to a new generation of LEGO builders. The latest X-wing includes 731 pieces and four minifigs and will retail for $79.99 in the US (CDN 99.99 | GBP 89.99).
How does this latest LEGO X-wing stack up against the previous X-wings released over the years?
Read our hands-on review of 75218 X-wing Starfighter
Flying ships are certainly not uncommon among LEGO builds, going back to the heyday of LEGO steampunk and floating rocks eight or ten years ago. Mark Erickson has incorporated large LEGO boat hull pieces into a rather amazing flagship for his fictional Vermillion Empire.
Mark’s ship uses custom-printed sails cut to standard LEGO size, but the most impressive part of the ship is all the gold detail, both surrounding the cannon ports and at the prow of the ship, where a mighty ram is ready to impale enemy ships.
The Japanese Shinto-Buddhist gods of wind and storms have an eternal rivalry for control of the skies. Fūjin is the god of wind, and carries an enormous bag of air to blow, while Raijin beats drums to make thunder and lightning. LEGO 7 has captured the look of these well-known deities perfectly in LEGO, complete with bolts of lightning emanating from the cloud that Raijin is floating on. Although Fūjin is typically depicted with red hair, the white hair that both characters share ties them together wonderfully, while both gods sport distinct armor around their waists in silver and gold. This pair of fearsome spirits would fit in perfectly guarding the Kaminarimon “Thunder Gate” at Senso-ji in Tokyo.
Despite a long sequence of cars from Lotus, BMW, Ford, and others, no other car maker featured in the James Bond movies can come close to the iconic status of Aston Martin, starting with the 1963 Aston Martin DB5 first featured in Goldfinger. Long rumored and officially announced at a special event in London earlier today (see our complete coverage here on The Brothers Brick), the latest vehicle in the LEGO Creator Expert series is 10262 James Bond Aston Martin DB5, which includes 1,290 pieces and is available now for LEGO VIPs and will be available worldwide August 1st (USD $149.99, CDN $179.99, 149.99€, £129.99, 1399DK, etc.).
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A UNESCO World Heritage Site full of wonderful architecture like the University of Sankore, the city of Timbuktu in the West African country of Mali has been a center of trade and learning for nearly a thousand years. Hardly an inaccessible or mythical place, the very real, not at all mythical or inaccessible city has thrived on modern tourism for decades. Sadly, the last several years have seen strife overtake the city, with jihadist rebels occupying the city for about 8 months in 2012 and 2013. Nathan takes us back to a happier time in the city, when it was the capital of the Malian Empire. Nathan adds to his collection of world architecture creations by depicting the royal palace in the Sudano-Sahelian architecture style as it might have existed during the reign of Musa the First (r. 1312–1337).
Nathan has accurately captured the iconic architectural style, built from adobe or mud-brick, with supporting wood beams or logs that jut from the walls. He’s also given us a view into a scene described by a medieval Arab historian, showing the ruler on his throne holding an audience with his people. The large, raised throne is wonderfully detailed, and every group of people — soldiers, supplicants, royalty, and even musicians — has a unique look. From the people to the architecture, Nathan’s research into the material shows in his LEGO build.
The Summer Joust contest is generating some amazing LEGO builds in a variety of categories. Talented multi-theme builder David Zambito‘s entry in the “Mesoamerican Setting” category depicts an Aztec-style temple overgrown with foliage. While the well-built temple is the center of the scene, the landscaping also deserves your attention. The plants are built not just from actual LEGO foliage pieces like bushes, bamboo, and flowers, but also from the plastic sprues that three-leaf plants come in, as well as street sweeper brushes.
If you like this Aztec-style pyramid, you might also like the Maya-style LEGO pyramid we featured previously.