If you haven’t blown your holiday LEGO budget on the Black Friday deals from the LEGO shop (which go through Cyber Monday tomorrow), Amazon.com is spinning up its “Cyber Monday Week” sales, with a number of great deals on LEGO sets.
We’ve picked a few highlights, but you can see everything on sale the Amazon.com LEGO deals page.
See more LEGO sales and deals from Amazon for Cyber Monday
It’s been more than 10 years since Jarek shared the first version of his LEGO A-wing, a sleek starfighter first seen in Return of the Jedi. It’s always interesting to see how builders approach the same subject matter years apart, with improved building skills as well as access to new LEGO pieces. Jarek says that his updated A-wing has better proportions than the 2008 version, with properly brick-built missile launchers.
See more photos of Jarek’s A-wing along with new variants
Pictures are finally available online for the LEGO Star Wars lineup of sets that are set to be released in the first half of 2019. These include themes from not only the classic trilogy but including the prequels and sequels. Check out the playsets below for now. You can be sure we’ll be reviewing most of these come 2019 to give you our independent view once they hit the shelves in January.
75225 Elite Praetorian Guard Battle Back, 109 Pieces
Click to see the rest of the Star Wars sets
Builder Bruce Lowell built a bust of Boba Fett using a technique he made popular known as the Lowell Sphere but left it unfinished 5 years ago. It was only now that he picked up the recent Boba Fett BrickHeadz which came with the 2×2 printed triangle pieces that it made sense to revisit the project. Sometimes you just need the right part to come along to inspire you to finish an outstanding build. The result speaks for itself with the instantly recognisable bounty hunter from a galaxy far far away.
Elemental LEGO’s micro build of Otoh Gunga is a superb example of micro building. How can any of us forget seeing the shot of Jar Jar and the Jedi swimming under water revealing the glowing city of golden spheres with John William’s score a swelling maelstrom of choral voices filling out the soundscape.
The builder has made an effective use of Submersible Bubble, Canopy Dome, Glass Dome, Minifigure Globe, Crystal Ball, and Minifigure Helmet as the hydrostatic spheres encapsulating the city. Notice the small Bonga Submersible made from Ninjago Throwing Star, and Mifigure Claw. Using the Infinity Stone this must be the smallest school of fish made with LEGO elements.
Elemental LEGO is on Instagram and Flickr.
Some LEGO contests begin with improbable premises, and in the case of Grid Wars, that means building a Star Wars vehicle in the TRON aesthetic. Many builders would struggle, but the theme plays to Shannon Sproule‘s strengths. I’ve followed his work for many years now, long ago falling in love with his ability to capture the complex, often asymmetric beauty, of classic 1970s science fiction illustration.
In this case, his take on the Nebulon B escort Frigate results in a bold turquoise splash of abstract brilliance. Tapping into the original design’s unorthodox form, he imposes some dramatic angles and bold colours. Part spaceship, part Kandinsky painting, its an amazing testimony to what science fiction art can be.
If the Disney animated series Star Wars: Rebels was any indication, LEGO fans can look forward to a full assortment of sets featuring the characters and vehicles from the new series, Star Wars: Resistance, which just debuted a couple weeks ago. While we wait for official sets, we can enjoy this lovely mini version of the Fireball, a racing ship maintained by Kaz Xiono, Tam Ryvora, and their teammates, built in brick by Tim Goddard. Tim captures the unique color schemes and markings wonderfully, including the little fins and vanes on the nose and wingtips, and even the small gray panel in the white stripe near the nose.
Next up, Torra Doza’s Blue Ace in iconic Gulf Oil livery?
A warm, sunny and pleasant tropical paradise was an odd choice to place the plans for the sinister Empire’s Death Star in Rogue One: a Star Wars Story, but this very choice is what made the final act of the film so unique and memorable. While most of the action was focused on small operations and personal stories of the Rebellion, the Empire’s side was all about large plans and large machines, much like this LEGO UCS-scale AT-ACT by yoshix.
As can be seen by the palm tree and the bunker besides the AT-ACT, the walker is made in minifig scale. This scale is quite rewarding for Star Wars vehicles, either due to many specialized parts designed for them in the nearly two decades of the official LEGO Star Wars line or because some designs from the films simply happen to be blocky. Yoshix’s design mixes studless and studded surfaces to create fine textures and details. My favourite parts are the little splashes of white on the orange section, which give the AT-ACT a great detail of character.
For a spaceship whose screen time is brief, the Tantive IV occupies a special place in the hearts of Star Wars fans — probably because everyone remembers that first moment of A New Hope as the ship thunders overhead, pursued by the formidable heft of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Tino Poutiainen has put together a detailed LEGO version of this famous spaceship, with every signature element in place, from the hammerhead barrel-shaped cockpit through to the red striping and the midship comms array.
The model is half a meter long and apparently separates into two sections for easy transport despite its beefy 2kg. Much of that weight must be in the rear section — an impressive recreation of the corvette’s multiple engines…
According to concept art, the RZ-1 A-wing interceptor is the fastest ship in the rebel fleet. It is certainly one of the sleekest fighters in the Star Wars universe. This model by Thomas Jenkins is high on my list of fan creations. The off-set tiles down the front of the ship lend a realistic look, without detracting from the clean lines. I also really like the angled detail on either side of the front fuselage that smoothes out an otherwise sharp edge.
The slight angle of the engine pods is quite accurate to its on-screen inspiration, and there are some excellent details along the back of the fighter as well, including an asymmetrical ingot on one side, and a very nice rear thruster detail using 2 spoilers in white.
Most LEGO Star Wars sets are naturally starships and various vehicles for transportation to the many planets of the galaxy, so every building or other structure released by LEGO sparks many fans’ interest. This time, the galaxy’s greatest villain, Darth Vader, welcomes everyone to his formidable castle on the planet Mustafar, as seen in Rogue One. The new LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle, which will be available exclusively at Amazon.com during the upcoming holiday season, features a massive-looking castle built with nearly a 1,000 pieces.
The castle’s hangar houses a copy of the Dark Lord of the Sith’s iconic TIE Advanced starfighter, while the castle itself is populated with Darth Vader in his usual black armor, a second Darth Vader (as seen in his bacta tank), two Royal Guards, an Imperial Transport Pilot, and even a mouse droid.
Darth Vader’s Castle has multiple rooms, featuring several play scenarios such as Vader’s recovery in the bacta tank, communing with the Dark Side of the Force in his meditation chamber, and a landing platform at the very top of the castle.
LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle set will retail $129.99 US and pre-orders start October 4, 2018.
LEGO Shop@Home has started taking reservations as well. The item will be shipped on 1st December if preordered now.
LEGO Star Wars 75251 Darth Vader’s Castle: 1060 pieces | US: $129.99 | Canada: 149.99 CAD | UK: £119.99
See the full photo gallery and press release after the jump
Back in late 2017, before LEGO released any BrickHeadz characters from the Star Wars Classic Trilogy, we reviewed the New York Comic-Con exclusive Boba Fett & Han Solo in Carbonite. I excoriated LEGO for creating artificial scarcity in what would inevitably be an incredibly popular set. That set is now selling for at least $200 on eBay, but there’s good news: LEGO has now released another wave of Star Wars BrickHeadz characters, this time including Boba Fett (41629), Princess Leia (41628), and Luke Skywalker & Yoda (41627).
Read our full review of the latest LEGO Star Wars BrickHeadz characters
