Any new Star Wars property is pretty much guaranteed to include at least one new highly-merchandisable droid friend, and the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series is no exception. Nick Jensen has (swiftly!) created an amazing likeness of the adorable L0-LA59 out of LEGO, complete with articulated wings and buzz-saw blade. I particularly like the use of the opalized transparent blue dish and Mysterio helmet elements.
What is worse than being trapped in a submersible with Jar Jar Binks? Being trapped on that same submersible while being chased by a huge hungry predator. This LEGO creation by al is depicts a scene from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in which our heroes (and Jar Jar) are in their Gungan Bongo Sub being persued by a ravenous Opee Sea Killer. It also marks right about the first instance in which I started rooting for the bad guys. There were many others to come. Still, it’s pretty impressive that this builder can cram so much detail into such a small build. It just goes to show that you don’t need a lot of pieces to build something neat and well-detailed nor to wish to wring Jar Jar’s scrawny neck all over again. How wuud!
Somewhere in the Minions universe, there’s probably a galaxy far, far away with its own Mandalorian and Child. It’s certainly a fun idea builder Damian Thomas explores in this cute LEGO build. What screams Minions are those big ol’eyes! The printed eye pieces are in fact from the LEGO Minions sets. Besides the eyes, the spirit of the Minions is captured in the shape of the bodies, done with slopes and round bricks. The Child even has their little cradle so they can zip around the Mandalorian. The little barb pieces standing out on the Child’s head are secured with clips for that tuft of hair. The Mandalorian’s belt and armor are chock full of interesting details. The definition is a nice balance between the Star Wars elements and the Minions style. This is a well-done mashup, and I can imagine all the hijinks these two are going to get into on their adventures!
Native to the sands of Tatooine, eopies are a great way of traveling the desert planet. Builder Shaun Sheepa gives us LEGO Obi-Wan Kenobi with a cute brick-built eopie, the former Jedi’s only companion in his exile. Shaun uses an angled cone piece to capture the iconic snout of the desert dwelling creature. The eyes are absolutely adorable with those printed round tiles, and I do like how the legs are rendered. The use of bars for the slender front legs is a clean approach. Linked bar holders standout for those rear legs, giving them the thicker appearance. The greebling of the harness and saddle is simple and effective. I do like those quarter round tiles for that back saddlebag. A nice usage of another Star Wars piece is the poncho Obi-Wan is wearing–this part is from a Luke Skywalker minifigure.
As the premiere of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ invites us back to the harsh sands of Tatooine, Shaun Sheepa reminds us that you can still travel in style on a desert planet. This fantastic rendition of Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge from Return of the Jedi is just 50 studs long, but is still packed with all the comforts you want in your intergalactic super yacht, like hover engines and deck-mounted cannons. The pentagonal tiles and ingots do a great job of adding some screen accuracy to the ship’s hull.
Inside, there’s room for a brick-built Jabba and plenty of the Hutt’s crew. The front also features a cockpit worthy of the finest starfighters, a feature that both of LEGO’s official sail barge sets has lacked.
From the Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett, builder Ordo (Fabian B.) brings us a wonderful LEGO depiction of Fett and his Tusken Raider clan taking on the Pykes atop their repulsor train. There’s just some fantastic sculpting at the front of the train, using hinges and bars/clips to create the right domed shape for the nose. I also appreciate the texturing choices along the cylindrical engine, providing variety while at the same time focusing on clean lines. But what really takes the cake for me here is the speeder bike design! They look so lithe and agile, zooming across the Tatooine sands. And the clouds of dust they’re kicking up are ingeniously built!
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.
Greg Dalink is slowly making his way through the bounty hunters from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back with his awesome battle-mech concept. With IG-88 and Boba Fett already part of the roster, it’s now the turn of the Trandoshan terror Bossk. Unlike the previous two, Bossk naturally has a lot more ‘organic’ parts on show, and Greg has boldly elected to stick with olive green for his scaly skin. There are still a limited number of parts in this colour, so there are a few creative choices – most notably the use of a dinosaur head for, er, the head. Bossk’s signature yellow jumpsuit is well integrated with mechanical details accomplished by greebling, which makes it look more like armour than a cloth suit. It adds some good emphasis to the heavy-duty feel of the mech.
Greg has gone the extra mile and created a sandy base for this bounty-hunting walker to stand upon as well. My favourite detail of these battle-mechs is the fact they can seat a minifigure version of the mech itself, and they can poke their heads out of the top. I can only assume that Bossk is having a friendly conversation with this Tusken raider, rather than looking to gobble him up…
Star Wars: Visions is a testament to what imaginative and unbridled creativity can do with Star Wars storytelling. This LEGO build by ABrickDreamer continues in this same spirit of creativity. The scene, from the short film The Duel, focuses on the two duelists–Ronin and the Sith Bandit Leader. Both wield their crimson blades with skill while perched upon a log headed for a waterfall. The Sith Bandit Leader deflects a rocket meant to destroy her while one of her bandits watches from the riverbank. This build is all about motion! There’s a flow from the tree in the back to the waterfall in the front, near the Ronin’s side of the log. The water’s movement is achieved through alternating how the transparent clear and blue pieces are positioned. The flower petals in the water also help show the river’s flow.
The log’s shape comes from a pretty cool method–there are flex tubes linked together at the log’s core. The sides and top are clipped on the core, creating the stage for the epic duel. The riverbanks have some nice variations of green in with the greys to capture mossy river stones. A cool little Easter egg is the little brown piece floating in the water behind the log. It’s actually from a broken reddish-brown plate! Above it is some fire dripping from where the log was cut by a lightsaber. The wonderful piece used is from the minfigure blast effects pack, same for the explosion splash by the Sith Bandit Leader. If you want to take a closer look at this LEGO creation, check out this video where ABrickDreamer talks about the build and how it’s constructed:
This dynamic vehicle is lovingly crafted from LEGO by Matt in excellent detail! I’ve always loved this podracer, and this build reminds me why. The engines are slick, and the cockpit is stylish. Of course, it doesn’t hurt it’s the fastest racer ever! Can you hear those engines purring, the energy binder humming? Some cool parts usage at work in those racing engines, like the yellow helmets from the LEGO Space theme. Another nice callback, this time to the Arctic theme, are the yellow snowshoes on the engines’ midsection. They have the waffle cutouts perfect for those vent covers! Something I appreciate is the use of transparent cones for that undulating effect of the active energy binder.
One of the key design elements of the Star Wars universe is its ‘lived-in universe’ feel. A consequence of that is that some of the ships can sometimes look a bit drab in their greys and blacks. Joey Klusnick has seen fit to remedy that with a ship designed to fit in the Star Wars galaxy, but with a colourful twist! The bright yellowish-orange paintwork, alongside the purple canopy, really makes this little spacecraft pop. There are some design cues taken from elsewhere in the galaxy far, far away. The unique, asymmetrical shape reminds me a bit of a B-wing, while the smaller engine ports follow the same Incom design used on the X-wing or U-wing. There is just about enough grey and battle damage (created with stickers) to keep that signature used feel. It even comes with a few play features – the cannons on the end can rotate on their axis, and the Astromech’s port actually opens rather than being an empty 2×4 hole!
I used to think I was the only one who did this; you look at a Star Wars vehicle and imagine its Earthly counterpart. For example, the Millenium Falcon could be a Ford Falcon, Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter could be a Jedi Starliner and Darth Vader’s TIE-Fighter could be a bitchin’ 70’s era Econoline with shag carpeting, beef jerky dispenser, lava lamps and a Boris Valejo space-wizard airbrushed on the side. Right? Well, it worked better before I put it to writing. Anyway, LEGO car guru and real-life car guru Peter Blackert clearly thinks of this stuff too as evidenced by this terrestrial 1939 Buick Y-Job concept made into Luke’s Landspeeder. There aren’t a lot of these lying around so I had to Google the vehicle but once I did, I can see how Peter saw the retro-futuristic shape of the Landspeeder. This computer render, in my opinion, perfectly melds the swooping curves of both designs.
Doing this sort of thing is a fun and imaginative exercise but if you prefer to keep your Landspeeder designs true to the movie, then try your hand at building the official UCS Luke’s Landspeeder LEGO set that has come out recently. Installing a beef jerky dispenser in the dash would only sweeten the deal.