Tag Archives: Return of the Jedi

Can’t see the forest for the trees – but we can see the Empire instead

The forest moon of Endor is the scene of the Star Wars equivalent of the Teddy Bear’s Picnic, where a coalition of Ewoks and Rebels (oh, and some Jedi) defeated the might of the Empire once and for all. It’s a scene that has been rendered in LEGO many times, to great effect. Abe Fortier (AKA Hypolite Bricks) has joined the fray with a superb effort! Often, these dioramas are dense with vegetation and trees; it did take place on the forest moon of Endor (not Endor itself!), after all. Abe’s isn’t quite as densely populated with plants, but that might be for the better here. It gives some space to focus on the scene’s protagonists and antagonists – and the superb landscaping. It looks like it gave the good guys a better line of sight to take down that AT-ST, too!

Battle of Endor LEGO Star Wars MOC

LEGO Star Wars 40730 Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber: Return of the GWP [Review]

Nothing quite says Star Wars like a lightsaber, does it? Many a happy childhood has been had waving around anything from sticks to plastic replicas and making humming noises. While many film props have seen official LEGO sets (think the helmet series), lightsaber replicas have been restricted to Gift-with-purchase (GWP) slots. 40730 Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber is set to be the third such promotion, with availability from October 3rd through to October 10th. To qualify for it, you’ll need to spend a hefty US $499.99 | CAN $649.99 | UK £429.99 on 75397 Jabba’s Sail Barge. Read our review to find out if it’s a weapon worthy of the Jedi, or if it should be consigned to the Pit of Carkoon…

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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LEGO Star Wars 75397 UCS Jabba’s Sail Barge: Time to set sail, or wait for set sale? [Review]

The LEGO Star Wars line is no stranger to big, expensive sets. Since the second edition of the UCS Millenium Falcon in 2017, we’ve averaged one $500+ set every other year, ranging from the minifigure-scale 75313 AT-AT and 75331 Razor Crest to Star Destroyers both Imperial (75252) and Republic (75367). In 2024, we are being graced with another – and for once, it’s not overwhelmingly grey! 75397 Jabba’s Sail Barge is the latest entry to the Ultimate Collector Series line, and a minifigure-scale one, at that. With 3,942 pieces, it will retail for US $499.99 | CAN $649.99 | UK £429.99, and may also be found at third-party retailers like Amazon or eBay. This LEGO Sail Barge will start crossing the Dune Sea from October 3rd for LEGO Insiders, while journeys for everyone else start from October 6th. Jabba has invited you on board as a guest of honour; should you join him?

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Read on to see how our cruise aboard the Khetanna went!

This Star Wars AT-ST was made for walking. That’s because it’s motorized!

LEGO builder xelabricks tells us that this is their first time posting on Flickr, and yet already they’ve dialed in on the formula for success. Anything Star Wars will pretty much become a blip on our radar but it’s great detail like this that will perk our senses. I love the trees and the forested base, but the real star of the show is the highly-detailed AT-ST, or “chicken walker” seen on the forest moon of Endor in films such as Return of the Jedi.

Forest Skirmish

But what pushes this creation into the stratosphere is the Power Functions that make this walker appear to…well, walk. Check out the video below to see what I mean. With LEGO creations this good, we’ll surely look forward to whatever else this builder comes up with.

Intensify the forward firepower! (And the detail level, too)

The official LEGO Star Wars Executor Super Star Destroyer is a great set. But if it’s missing anything, it’s perhaps a fully operational moon-sized superweapon to crash into after its shields fail and some crazy A-wing plows through its command bridge. This fiery diorama by Codyaner fixes that oversight with aplomb. The build captures one of Return of the Jedi‘s most thrilling moments as the mighty Imperial flagship collides with the Death Star’s surface, complete with backlit orange and red flames and a dazzling array of greebles (you know, the little doodads that give the surface its texture) to represent towers, power stations, and whatever else the Empire likes to stick on the surface of their surprisingly fragile planet-killing toys.

LEGO Executor Star Destroyer Crash MOC

LEGO Star Wars 75382 TIE Interceptor: the Ultimate Collector Series returns to its roots [Review]

2024 marks an auspicious year for LEGO Star Wars, as it hits its quarter-century. The theme has evolved and changed a lot over the years, but one mainstay has been the Ultimate Collector Series, which launched just a year after the Star Wars theme’s debut. 7191 X-Wing Fighter and 7181 TIE Interceptor were the first sets to be released under this banner in the year 2000. While the former has seen two re-releases, one of which is on shelves at the moment, the latter has not been re-visited at this larger, detailed scale – until now. With 1,931 pieces, it will retail for US $229.99 | CAN $299.99 | UK £199.99 (non-Insiders can get it from May 4th). Has it been worth the wait? Read on to find out!

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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Even by Ewok standards, this village is really small

This year celebrates a very important Star Wars anniversary. One that brought the Ewoks and their home on the forest moon of Endor to everyone’s living rooms. Huh? Return of the Jedi? What’s that? No, I’m obviously talking about 10236 Ewok Village‘s tenth birthday! LEGO builder ABrickDreamer knows what I’m talking about. To celebrate, he’s recreated this legendary set in a more diminutive form. The original is pretty expensive on the aftermarket, so this is definitely a more wallet-friendly alternative. It’s a faithful recreation, even including the catapult and a very cute little speeder bike alongside the iconic treetop village. Happy birthday, 10236! If you want to keep celebrating Star Wars anniversaries, why not peruse our Return of the Jedi archives?

Microscale LEGO Ewok Village

An Ewok Village redo and redemption

A LEGO builder who goes by the name of Simulterious tells us that they took apart the Ewok Village 10236 set and regretted it. Yeah, we know all about regret here at TBB, don’t we? Wait, what the hell does that mean? Anyway, they turned their regret into a redo and redemption of sorts by building a new version depicting what the set could look like today. I’m enjoying the use of shields as sort of a thatched roof design and the diversity of leaves is a welcome change from the old set. This builder also rectifies the obvious omission of the AT-ST from the original. Even though there seem to be slightly fewer Minifigures (that are visible, anyway) this would be an insta-buy for me if this were a real set. While we most certainly have our regrets, (wait, that again?) showcasing this builder’s work isn’t among them. Check out our Simulterious archives to see what I mean.

Ewok Village

Staying hidden on the forest moon.

Two Rebel soldiers find themselves a little too close to the Empire for comfort in this vignette by Jonas. Thankfully, Jonas has constructed a lush amount of Endorian flora for them to hide among. The Imperial Soldiers have it easy, with their elevated walkway and a dirt road constructed from some surprisingly elaborate techniques. Hopefully they don’t look too closely at what’s hiding in the local vegetation.

hidden

I seek an audience with Your Greatness to bargain for Solo’s life

Luke Skywalker was dedicated to getting his friends back at all costs. Star Wars fans share in that dedication when constructing their detailed reproductions of scenes from the series. Here, Anthony shows us an excellent slice of Jabba’s Palace from an iconic scene in the Return of the Jedi. The detailing captures the throne room well and I love the bottles with spilled liquid along the edges of the display. I also enjoy how Anthony decided to portray the scene. On top of the notable characters, the builder staged the display at a great scale and in a way that evokes some emotion. Having Luke’s back to the viewer helps us imagine that we are in Luke’s place, facing down a wretched scumlord holding our friends captive. Paired with the dramatic irony of knowing what’s in store for our hero, I think it helps add a feeling to the model that hits me right in the nostalgia.

Felt cute, might bring down a Super Star Destroyer later

I love it when LEGO builders use unexpected pieces in their creations. There’s even contests revolving around using a seed part in a variety of builds. After all, LEGO is all about creativity, and thinking outside the box. I (Mansur “Waffles” Soeleman) grew up with Technic and Bionicle, which both contain strange LEGO parts that you don’t see mixed with the usual building system. However, I am a firm believer that even the most unconventional LEGO parts can fit perfectly with the common ones. That was partly my inspiration in building a perfectly minifigure-scale RZ-1 A-wing Starfighter from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

RZ-1 A-wing Starfighter

Find out about the build process and the weird parts Waffles used to build his A-wing!

Not a very “chicken” walker

Known to fans as the “chicken walker”, this LEGO All Terrain-Scout Transport (AT-ST) model by builder Lewis Kiwi is anything but a wimpy chicken. I’d use this beast to stand up to rebel scum any day of the week.

AT-ST

This has to be the most well-built AT-ST I’ve ever seen. From the top of the highly-detailed roof to the bottom of the articulated feet, this AT-ST outshines even the Ultimate Collector’s Series AT-ST set. Just look at the joints! The blasters! The engine work!

Some of the best LEGO creations have a level of detail that implies more detail beneath it. Notice how simple pieces like tubing and fans draw your eyes into the walker’s interior, making you wonder where those tubes connect to and how the walker is powered.

AT-ST

Where Lewis shines the most, however, is in his color schemes. This AT-ST uses light gray as the main armor layer, while underlying dark gray form the walker’s structure. This effect establishes the battle-readiness and is a detail not seen in many of the AT-ST models built over the years.