The LEGO Shop is holding its annual May the 4th “Star Wars Day” sales event, starting at midnight EDT Thursday, May the 4th (9 PM PDT Wednesday, May the 3rd) through Sunday, May 7th. Several LEGO Star Wars sets are on sale, with a free R2-D2 mini-set (on orders over $50), and double VIP points to maximize your savings. The R2-D2 figure is larger than the standard minifig, with a number of unique printed elements.
See all of the May the 4th deals for the US, UK, and Canada after the jump
LEGO builder Tan Kok Mun brings together a Fett family reunion with two creations in markedly different styles. First up: Boba in Brickheadz form. Everyone’s favourite bounty hunter is looking good here. The detailing around the helmet and the eye frames is excellent, and we’ve got all the accessories for an accurate finished look, including a cape and jetpack.
Next up: Papa Fett. Jango is created with parts from the LEGO Constraction big-fig series, which (although sometimes criticised as not being “real LEGO”) work really well here. The redesigned torso makes Jango look more buff, and I especially like the detailing of the jetpack…
Bonus points if you spotted the use of DUPLO bricks in the base of the Jango model — it’s certainly one way of saving bricks!
For long-time Star Wars fans, perhaps the most exciting thing to emerge from the current batch of LEGO Star Wars sets inspired by the Rebels animated TV series is the new Grand Admiral Thrawn minifigure, released as part of the 75170 The Phantom set, which depicts the modified Trade Federation shuttle that replaces the first Phantom part way through season 3.
Grand Admiral Thrawn himself was created by sci-fi author Timothy Zahn in Heir to the Empire, the first book in Zahn’s epic Thrawn Trilogy. TBB spoke with Timothy Zahn at Emerald City Comicon recently, and got his first impressions of the Thrawn minifig, which we’ll share later in our review.
Read the full review after the jump!
This stormtrooper probably needs to step closer to his target. Or maybe he should take a step back? One thing’s for sure, Jme Wheeler‘s tiny Star Wars blaster pistol practice scene in LEGO points out an obvious truth from the films: Contrary to what Obi-Wan Kenobi may tell you, stormtroopers are not gunslinging sharp shooters. So keep practicing, little buddy. Keep practicing.
We all had a good laugh and surprise at Finn’s response in The Force Awakens when we learnt that stormtroopers had day jobs back at the base. Even better, they do menial jobs even if it means cleaning up unmentionables, perhaps. Builder Andreas Lenander gives us a peek at perhaps what Finn had to do on days that they were not chasing the Resistance. You know what? I’d find that a perfect reason to defect from the First Order! No more sanitation duties!
The recent Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi teaser trailer has sparked a lot of dicussion amongst fans, but the visuals are undoubtedly breathtaking. The most impressive of all would be the speeder scene from the planet Crait, which has already inspired many LEGO builders to make their version. One of the earliest is this one by Grant Davis, and I am sure it will remain one of the best for a long time. Grant does an incredible job recreating the speeder with the already iconic red dust trail, inspired by a mere six seconds of blurry video. The speeder has excellent shaping and Grant’s signature greebling (which ironicaly he most often uses on pirate-themed builds), but the highlight would have to be the coloured lines, some of which he achieved with rubber bands.
Judging from this build, The Last Jedi will bring a lot of inspiration to LEGO builders, and I can’t wait to see what we see next.
Establishing himself as a master of customization and variation, Pangeran Panda, whose Imperial Carousel and BB-8 variations we featured recently, has created a version of Jason Allemann’s kinetic Sysyphus sculpture inspired by The Force Awakens. The base features Rey lounging in front of her crashed AT-AT home, while the upper sculpture shows Rey pushing BB-8 along.
Like Jason’s original, the figure’s legs “walk” and BB-8’s body rocks back and forth.
Immediately recognisable, and packed with a whole heap of attitude — that’s Miro Dudas‘s latest LEGO model: Princess Leia Organa, dressed for cold weather, hand on hip, all ready to give Han a hard time. In a relatively small amount of bricks, this creation really manages to capture Leia’s feisty character. The padded jacket and the boots are nicely built, but it’s the way the model has been posed which does all the work. The stance is perfect. I can almost hear her speak. “I don’t know where you get your delusions from, laser brain.”
We’ve covered one of Miro’s brick-built Leia figures previously, but he appears to be on a roll with a whole series of them. As well as the great Hoth-variant above, there’s an excellent rendition of the Princess disguised as Boushh the Bounty Hunter. Don’t miss the clever use of the printed letter-E tiles on the mask, and the great brickwork to create the belt and harness…
In addition to the best LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick also brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the second week of April 2017.
TBB NEWS, REVIEWS & INSTRUCTIONS: Star Wars ruled the week with a new movie trailer, new LEGO sets, and even free instructions. May the force ever be in your favor!
OTHER NEWS: There was a good amount of LEGO news from other places around the web this week. Here are a few items we noticed and thought you might enjoy.
KW_Vauban captured the Geonosian Petranaki Arena scene from Attack of the Clones rather well with LEGO bricks. The builder’s use of dark orange bricks on detailed and accurately constructed Geonosian architecture was a smart choice. In particular, I like the construction of the main gate with the CIS overlook above.
Dozens of Geonosians line the arena, while Battle Droids and Jedi fight below.
Click to see more of the Geonosian Arena
Last week we brought you instructions on how to build a terrifically cute GONK droid, and this week we’re excited about the brand new trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, so we’re revisiting the Star Wars universe for one of the more unusual ships. Although only seen in a few quick shots in The Empire Strikes Back, the little Storm IV Twin-Pod “Cloud Car” struck a chord with fans, including LEGO builder hachiroku24, who’s built an awesome minifigure-scale version. LEGO produced a single minifigure-scale set of the tiny two-seater craft back in 2002, but not only was it the wrong color, it wasn’t particularly detailed. This version is much improved, adding cool details like the engine intake between the pods and smoother curves.
Best yet, the builder also gives us instructions for it in this handy video walkthrough, so you can build your own Bespin security ship.
The Imperial forces from Star Wars sure do know how to have fun when they’re off-screen not fighting the rebels. At least that’s what Star Wars fan Handoko Setyawan imagined by taking the design of 10196 LEGO Creator Carousel, recoloring it, making a few mods, and throwing in some Micro Fighters to create what he calls the Imperial Carousel.
According to Handoko, the original design of LEGO’s carousel had to be structurally enhanced to accommodate the heavier Micro Fighter vehicles, which also required some tweaking. I love the various replacement motifs (such as the Storm Trooper helmets) as well as the muted Imperial grey theme.
The build really stands out once you see it running, as shown in the video below: