Better late than never, right? We’ve done reviews on almost all of the sets in LEGO’s Star Wars summer range. But astute readers may have noticed one set missing, one that’s caused quite the stir in the community: 75413 Republic Juggernaut. It has 813 pieces, and includes 8 minifigures, including the long-awaited Galactic Marines and Commander Bacara. But it’s had something of a frosty reception so far, largely down to its price of US $159.99 | CAN $199.99 | UK £139.99. So, finally, let’s take a look at it ourselves, and crunch some numbers to see if said reception is justified!
Tag Archives: Revenge of the Sith
LEGO Star Wars 74535 Battle of Felucia Separatist MTT [REVIEW]
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and so it is no surprise that this summer’s wave of LEGO Star Wars sets highlights vehicles and locations featured in the 2005 film, such as the Clone Turbotank from the battle of Kashyyyk. The Separatists join the fun with a new version of the Trade Federation’s Multi-Troop Transport, or MTT, which gets an impressive if somewhat small update with LEGO Star Wars 75435 Battle of Felucia Separatist MTT, which comes with 976 pieces and will retail for US $159.99 | CAN $199.99 | UK £139.99 starting on August 1st.
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Celebrating a LEGO anniversary in style with a 26,000 piece Revenge of the Sith diorama
Now normally, when we feature LEGO creations on the Brothers Brick, we like to lead with some nice clear photos that really show a build off. But sometimes we have to make an exception, such as when the scene is set as fantastically as in Kyle Collard (LordofVador)’s colossal Mustafer diorama! This of course depicts Anakin and Obi-Wan’s duel at the climax of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The moody lighting and bright blue lightsaber blades instantly evoke that epic scene on Mustafar.
But it doesn’t look half bad in daylight either! This was a heck of an effort by Kyle: over 26,000 pieces and close to 300 hours of building and re-building. It has real meaning, too. Kyle tells us that this same scene was the subject of one of his first MOCs, some 14 (!) years ago. So this build doubles as a showcase for his growth as a builder, and a celebration.
And every celebration needs a present, right? You might have sussed out from the above photo that this diorama made it a convention (which is an achievement in its own right, taking something this big on the road!). And it’s at Brick Rodeo that this build received the Best Star Wars Scene award. Congratulations, Kyle, and happy LEGO anniversary!
The sun sets on Revenge of the Fifth
In Revenge of the Sith, we witness the twilight of the Jedi in the glow of lasers, lightsabers, and lava. Sam (dewback_bricks) brings cinematic lighting to Anakin’s fall in a LEGO diorama that infuses excellent brickwork with a powerful air of tragedy. The floor design is brilliantly done, as is the forced perspective through the tall window. (And no doubt many builders are envious of those sand red columns!)
Thanks to LED lighting and a few minor changes, the scene transforms as the Dark Side rises.
As George Lucas famously said about the prequels, “It’s like poetry. It rhymes.”
Revenge of the Fifth: Star Wars day for prequel trilogy fans
For some people, there are two Star Wars days. Yeah, yeah, we all know about May the Fourth be with you – but don’t forget Revenge of the Fifth (of May)! This year, it’s even more pertinent than ever, as Revenge of the Sith has enjoyed a mighty-successful 20th anniversary re-release. It’s also getting a re-run in our LEGO feeds, too, thanks to builders like Nicholas Goodman. I haven’t seen the re-release of Episode III, but I hear that seeing Order 66 on the big screen really hits different. I’m more than happy to settle for brick-built dioramas such as this, though. The Jedi Archives look resplendent made up of various shades of trans-blue tiles!
Hey, we’ve got some archives of our own too! Why not look through them to see what else 20 years of Episode III LEGO builds has brought us?
LEGO Star Wars 75402 ARC-170 Starfighter: the comeback story arc [Review]
Before the X-wing, there was the ARC-170. Well OK, technically there was nothing before the X-wing as the original Star Wars came out before the prequel films – but let’s not get into semantics just yet! While the former has seen plenty of LEGO iterations down the years, there have been just two sets of the Republic’s main starfighter, and none since 2011. None until now, that is! LEGO Star Wars 75402 ARC-170 Starfighter forms part of the new line of LEGO Star Wars sets coming out on January 1, 2025. With 497 pieces, it can be pre-ordered now for US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £59.99, and will likely be available on eBay and Amazon too. Does this hotly-anticipated comeback live up to its billing? Read on to find out!
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Take flight in our review to see how this fighter stacks up!
Dogfighting Star Wars starfighters in LEGO form
It’s fair to say that the Star Wars prequels had a lot of ups and downs. Among the definite ups, though, is the opening scene to the third instalment, Revenge of the Sith. Spaceships! Dogfights! Explosions! Sassy Jedi! LEGO builder Thomas Jenkins has got us reminiscing about that scene with this ARC-170. Billed as the predecessor to the venerable X-wing, it’s a ship design I’ve always loved. Thomas is a dab hand when it comes to LEGO spaceships, so it’s no surprise to see some fantastic shaping mixed with admirable attention to detail.
But it takes two to tango dogfight! So to oppose the Republic starfighter, we’ve also got a Separatist Vulture Droid from the same builder. What I like the most about this one is the walking wing mechanism, achieved with clever use of Mixel ball joints.
Go bananas for this Boga
A long time ago, knights would sometimes ride into battle on a trusty steed. I’m not talking about horses of course – that’s so this galaxy. I’m talking about Jedi knights, and Okay Yaramanoglu is clearly on my wavelength. They’ve reconstructed Jedi knight (okay, he was a master at the time) Obi-Wan Kenobi’s varactyl mount from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, named Boga. It’s quite a unique ride, and with its bright colours it certainly stands out a bit more than the traditional equine mount. Okay’s build is no different, cleverly using palm leaf elements for the beast’s headdress. (Is it a headdress? Maybe it’s a mane. I don’t know, I’m no varactologist.) The coloured feathers contrast nicely with the dark green of Boga’s body, with a couple of boomerangs used for her tail feathers. More leaf elements are used as an excellent match for the feet – perfect for chasing after fleeing cyborg separatist leaders.
The End of the Clone Wars
Fans of a galaxy far, far away should instantly recognize this planet as seen in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Depicted here in LEGO by builder Simulterious is one of the last battles of the Clone Wars.
With its cabling arches and splashes of colored vegetation, Felucia instantly grabbed the attention of moviegoers back in 2005. It was again featured in the 2006 game Star Wars: Battlefront II, where clone troopers fought back waves of droids and monsters. I still get those vibes just by looking at the incredible attention to detail that Simulterious has built into this creation.
The flora of Felucia is always a challenge for any builder. Simulterious manages to combine unique parts and colors to establish a strong alien look, with towering plants and deadly bushes harboring even more lethal foes for the clone troopers and Aayla Secura, their Jedi commander. I really like the overgrowth on the Republic tank. As anyone who has visited the tropics know, it only takes a day or two for Nature to take over anything that isn’t natural.
A warning to the Jedi waging war on this planet: watch your back!
“You must realise, you are doomed.”
The title is a quote, recited by our favourite coughing cyborg from Star Wars. This brilliant LEGO build by Marcin Otreba captures the essence of General Grievous’ grim looking form. The skull-like features of the helmet are well defined and detailed while still staying true to the thin alien style of the head. But the best part has to be the piercing eyes of the model. Created simply by a tooth plate over a gold circular piece, this technique captures the animalistic nature in Grievous’ eyes. The use of dark red as flesh around the eyes suggests that there might be something even worse under this menacing mask.
I hear drums. Drums in space.
The blackness of space. Drums that become louder. Pan down, a massive angular spaceship hovers above a planet covered in city lights. These images and sounds make a very strong first impression of a movie. It sets the tone of Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, and many of us associate that opening shot to the angular Venator-class Star Destroyer. Martin Latta spent two years building a massive and accurate LEGO model of this beautiful ship. He painstakingly recreated every small detail he could find on the original studio miniature model, bringing his build to be over a meter long and consisting of 11103 pieces.
Not only did Martin nail the complex angles of this ship with clever layers of tiles and panels, he also threw used the shapes of LEGO pieces to create textures on an otherwise smooth hull. Dark red highlights break up the typical grey of this Star Wars vessel, and the brick-built Open Circle Fleet insignia brings a splash of an additional colour. What I consider the icing on the cake: the top red hull paneling splits open to reveal a hangar, from which Anakin and Obi-Wan’s starfighters take off to partake in the Battle of Coruscant.
Check out Martin’s Flickr album for more shots of this behemoth, as well as work in progress pictures!
Nimble Nimbus V-wing Fighter
Star Wars is notorious for its level of detail and worldbuilding that we barely notice at times. Things like a background character or a vehicle that appears for a split second have extensive Wookieepedia articles. Many of these elements receive backstories from writers of the extended universe. And many of them return to the forefront of newer Star Wars media due to popular demand. For example, the Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighter – as built by Pande (Malen Garek) appears at the end of Revenge of the Sith for a few seconds. Yet, its striking unique silhouette piqued the interest of many vehicle-oriented fans. Many LEGO builders built their own version of this starfighter despite not being very well known.
You could say that the V-wing is essentially an evolutionary step between the Delta-7 Jedi Starfighter and the TIE Fighter. Its sleek arrowhead shape and bladelike wings are tough to get right considering looks and structure. You either make it too skinny and it falls apart, or you make it too thick. Pande found the balance between the two in a beautiful clean finish and sharp angles. I particularly like the usage of tall slopes to make the front wedges and throwing in a little dark grey for greyscale colour variation.