Rumors about this set have been floating around for a while now, but it’s finally official: LEGO’s next set in the Ultimate Collector’s Series will be 75098 Assault on Hoth. It’s a play set, a bit in the style of the Ewok village, with all of the essential Hoth locations. You need to piece together 2144 bricks to build the main hangar, the trenches, the ion cannon, the Wampa’s lair, a snowspeeder… so it’s the definite Hoth playset. It contains 14 minifigures, many with updated prints, and they all look gorgeous. If it’s still to small for your liking, I have no doubt this year’s 75138 Hoth Attack set will be perfect to expand your trenches and your armies. All in all, it looks like a nice set (especially with that gorgeous box art), but to me it’s not much more than a lot of sets slapped together. To me it lacks the wow-feeling of a detailed and elaborate construction that’s so characteristic of the UCS sets. There’s no denying its tremendous play value though: this will be high on many a kid’s wishlist! This set will be released on April 30th, just in time for the May the Fourth craze, and will set you back $249.99/£219.99/€249.99. Check out the official descriptions and all of the pictures and discuss the set in our forum, and be sure to check out the designer video below for a great overview and an explosion!

At the beginning of every year, LEGO fans anxiously await the multiple toy fairs to get to see the upcoming sets. On the first few, it generally isn’t allowed to take pictures, and we only get descriptions. The New York Toy Fair, which ended just yesterday, is the first one where pictures are allowed, so now you get a first preliminary look at the sets you might be purchasing this summer. From Bricks To Bothans has great coverage as usual, so I suggest you head over to their report to see everything LEGO has in store for you. It seems like a healthy mix of The Force Awakens, Rebels and the Prequel Trilogy, and there are even some suprisingly awesome, never before seen vehicles in there. They’ll feature in The Freemaker Adventures, an animated series conceived by LEGO, set between Empire and Jedi, slated for release this summer on Disney ‘XD’. Curious? Read the article covering it on the Star Wars website, take a closer look at all of the pictures on FBTB and when you’re finished, discuss the new sets in our forum!

It remains one of the most controversial issues in the Original Trilogy: how is it possible that a bunch of teddy bears is able to take down an organized army with superior technology, advanced walkers and all? I mean, those tanks look pretty impenetrable and all, it seems like a pretty perfect design… Today’s walkers make you reconsider that: they illustrate there was a lot that could be improved. The Rebels should be thankful the Empire didn’t have Lego Junkie in service to design their walkers, because it looks like it would have crushed everything in its path. That’s because you immediately notice the changes that overcome the weakness of its predecessor, giving you the impression you’re looking at an invincible machine. The AT-ST’s feeble legs almost look like sticks compared to the solid ones on this AT-AEW. The cannon looks way more no-nonsense too. And the solid, curved cockpit, combined with the extra armor plating doesn’t look like it will surrender to some rocks and logs. It even has a more menacing look in its eyes… Lego Junkie did an excellent job in making everything more solid and compact, without making it look slow or unwieldy. And while fancy greebles have disappeared, the model has plenty of interesting features to feast you eyes upon, with lovely vents, ridges and convex shapes. The best thing is that it doesn’t look like a great compromise between form and function, but that the beautiful form seems to emerge from the function. It took me a while to realize this isn’t a depiction of a war machine, but something solely made to please our eyes, and that’s a level of realism a MOC seldomly achieves, no matter how detailed they get. Yes, this model, intimidating without being very big, sturdy without being heavy, is truly the perfect All-Terrain Anti Ewok Walker. There’s no use opposing it, dear Ewoks, so use your last moments to at least appreciate the walker in full glory in the photostream…

I know it’s hard to imagine, but suppose for a minute the Rebels miraculously found a weak spot in the AT-AEW. They still shouldn’t cheer too loud, because Si-MOCs has got the Empire covered with his AT-TT. He drew inspiration of Lego Junkie’s model to build something that’s farther removed from the source material, but feels way more robust. The heavier cannons, less convoluted legs and plain, detail-less surfaces make it a walking fortress. I even get more of an AT-AT vibe than an AT-ST vibe from this one: the same power for destruction, only more agile and compact. And I can’t stop thinking about the iconic but extremely deadly ED-209 from Robocop. It’s because all of the intricate angles, curves and disks aren’t there to brighten up the model, but only to make it stronger and more effective. Once again, it seems like every brick is dedicated to making it the perfect war machine, with every part firmly connected to the rest. Even the joints look indestructible, like the droid head cones that adorn the ‘kneecaps’ of the machine, or the extra support at the ankles. Even though LEGO does everything it can to optimize clutch power, Si-MOCs convinced me that you can’t take this collection of interlocking bricks apart. Just imagine how robust the real thing would be… If your imagination fails you, you can always take a closer look at the pictures of the model. Just remember to run away when it starts looking your way.

It’s clear that the Galactic Empire likes grey. A lot. Star Destroyers, walkers, fighters… only the Imperial Shuttle escapes the greyness. With his stunning walker, Rat Dude makes you regret not more vehicles got a fresh lick of paint. Because just look at that black, yellow and hints of red: bold, oddly menacing and so Blacktron! The great contrast could’ve been overpowering, but in this model the colors are nicely distributed and help you to understand its structure, nicely occurring in patches around sections you definitely need to look at. It’s enough to make the creation pop, but not too much that it distracts from it. The great photography that captures the notorious black bricks also goes a long way.

Colors alone don’t do the trick though: I’m pretty confident the standard AT-AT with these colors would look odd to say the least, definitely not intimidating. You need the right shapes and details to make it a consistent creation, and that’s just what the builder achieved. The giant canopy, impenetrable neck, hoses and radar dishes make this model a great yet whimsical combination of walker, base, cannon and spaceship. It futuristic and clean, unlike the vehicles we know and love, but that’s just what makes this model work. It’s design is based on something incredibly efficient, it’s color induce a wave of nostalgia with many a viewer, and the many hoses and greebles (especially at the underside!) make it a creation that has something for everyone, and still manages to be a coherent whole. Feeling the urge to dig up some old Blacktron sets? Well then, be sure to check Rat Dude’s photos out to get you started all over again.

This June, an all new LEGO Star Wars book will hit stores. It’s called Chronicles of the Force and will count 96 pages full of pictures and texts covering everything LEGO produced covering the seven Star Wars movies. There are trivia, set overviews, character quizzes and more… but what’s more important, there will be the obligatory exclusive minifigure. This time, the character is truly exclusive, not having appeared in any form in the history of LEGO. But it’s not exactly a character a lot of people were waiting for. It’s “Unkar’s Brute”, one of the two of Unkar Plutt’s henchmen that try to wrest BB-8 away from Rey. The other one of the duo already appeared in the official set Rey’s speeder, under the name of “Unkar’s Thug”. So now you can fully reenact that crucial scene from the movie. Reactions haven’t been overly enthusiastic to this minifigure, but you have to recognize it’s a good looking one with an incredible torso that wouldn’t look bad at all on a zombie. So if you’re curious, find out all about the new book on StarWars.com, and discuss it in our Pictures and Rumors thread.

By now we’ve seen plenty of iterations of The Force Awakens‘ main vehicles. But don’t worry: there’s still plenty of material to capture for the first time, because it has remained pretty quiet on the side of large diorama’s. You can already scrap the Niima Outpost on Jakku from your list however, since Wookieewarrior already recreated it, and it’ll be hard to top this beauty. That’s because he already thought not just to include all of the memorable features, but the unique atmosphere of the place as well.

See, it’s hard to imagine a recreation of Niima Outpost without the arch, Unkar Plutt’s Concession stand or even the market place. Most will immediately think of the Falcon as well, and some of you will want to include the drinking pit. Wookieewarrior included all of this and recreated it beautifully. He did especially well on all of the roofs, employing smooth red curves, jagged sails, nets, a variety of bows and cones to create a wealth of intricate, varied yet suitably weathered roofs. The perfect executions of all of these parts make it great, but it’s something else that pushes the result completely overboard. It’s the haphazard nature of everything, that perfectly captures the feeling of desolation and lawlessness we’ve all come to associate with the location. Just look at all of the scattered tubes and other technical necessities that were installed wherever most convenient and without any consideration for order and aesthetics. And there are the speeders and ships no one took care to park out decently of the way. There’s the fence that once served a purpose but nobody valued enough to bother to repair… All of that on that flat but just enough textured desert really makes you feel the lack of perspective of the place. No need for exposition, emotional music and character closeups: we understand Rey simply by looking at Wookieewarrior’s creation for a couple of seconds. For those of us who need bigger pictures to achieve that, the builder’s Flickr is the place to experience the connection his marvelous creation offers.

The eleventh episode of our role playing building experience the Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka has just begun. The Rebels take the super computer, captured from the Empire, to the surface of the planet of Kuat, known for its shipyards on its ring. The surface, however, is rural, and the Rebels hide there from the Empire while they try to get to the valuable information inside of the computer. The Empire won’t let that happen, however, and has deployed its forces on the planet and its rings in order to try to recapture the computer. You have until April 30th to build a diorama, ship… portraying your character partaking in this game of hide and seek of high stakes. RoyalBrickCustoms has once again offered to provide the winner with a special minifig cloth accessory, so there’s no time to waste! Everyone can participate, whether you have a large collection or not, build your creations digitally or not or have been a member for years or not. If you’re not a member of SoNE yet, you can always join by going to this topic and picking a side. From then on, it’s building along with talented builders, getting valuable feedback from the community, telling stories together and having lots of fun! Enjoy yourself!

Rocks and lava, that must be Mustaf… – but this creation somehow doesn’t look like that planet thanks to markus1984‘s usual mastery of the bricks. His creation is set on the planet of Sullust instead, which is one of the battlefronts in the eponymous game. While this particular location doesn’t appear in the latest Battlefront, the atmosphere of the scene is spot on, and that’s far from self-evident. Sullust has this hard to capture feeling of coldness despite having lava everywhere, which sets it apart from Mustafar. The builder manages to capture this by refraining from using yellows and oranges for the lava, having people close to the lava and photographing everything in a rather cold and hard light, setting the contrasting mood perfectly. The rocks have many facets yet no sharp edges, which makes them look hard, cold and unyielding.

It’s a place I’d rather not be, but still markus1984 retains your attention, because there’s that beautiful architecture in there. His Imperial bunker is absolutely fabulous. You could say it’s just a mere copy of the Endor bunker, but the Empire having standard components makes sense, and I’m almost inclined to say it looks way better here than in those forests. It being one of the best versions I’ve ever seen goes a long way too. You might know markus1984 has created a battle of Endor scene before, yet here he didn’t just throw in an exact copy of the bunker he created then. He made some changes to his already stellar design to make it look even better. With its sturdy shape and many ridges, it looks absolutely beautiful on its own, but also meshes really well with the rocks. It offers some variation by having smoother surfaces, but still looks as cold and hard as the rocks themselves, making it look like the Rebels will have a hard time getting in there, even without Boba Fett getting involved. Through a variety of different techniques and his amazing talent for putting bricks together, markus1984 has managed to set the mood of this scene so that the action in it seems far from evident. Will the Rebels beat the odds and defeat the Empire? The answer isn’t clear for once. Yes, that’s the tension in this scene that makes you want to grab your controller, settle yourself in the couch and prepare for having a hard time. Just press this link to begin.

When I mentioned a couple of articles ago that we’ve seen plenty of recreations of The Force Awakens‘ main vehicles, it didn’t really occur to me that wasn’t completely true for the new TIE fighter. It’s only when I stumbled across this excellent rendition of the Space Superiority variant by Yubnub!, that I realized the new X-wings are far outnumbering them. What could possibly be the reason for that? Maybe because it’s too similar to the original TIE, and we’ve all seen lots of creations tackling that one? Well, there are actually quite a few subtle differences that make it interesting, and Yubnub! managed to capture most of them. The new colors stand out, but the builder noticed that the white wings bring out the ridges more, so he used grill bricks to lovely accentuate this feature. He also saw that the red portion on the cockpit goes together with a new geometry, which he tackled in a simple but effective manner. Like many, he noticed the pylons have changed, but also that the wings’ connection point has become thicker and smoother. You only need to look at this model to know what differences were made to the design in the movies. So the similarity of the two models is hardly a problem then…

So maybe not more people are building this TIE variant because it’s too difficult? Well, Yubnub!’s model doesn’t really reveal area’s that expose some underlying complicated structure. The panels of the wings mesh just right despite the use of grill bricks which should make things a lot harder. And the cockpit looks perfectly round with that innovative use of arches, even though the inclusion of the red stripe limits the possibilities. There’s even plenty of room inside to seat two figures comfortably. The new pylons fit perfectly as well: I guess roundness isn’t such a big problem with LEGO bricks after all… So looking at this model, there’s nothing that seems to indicate this vehicle is particularly hard to recreate. Not if you have the talent of using basic bricks and assemblies to convey complex and subtle shapes and details only a few spot. Not if you find ways to make bricks come together truly seamlessly. Not if you succeed in creating shapes in ways everybody could, but no one actually did think off. It’s not hard to perfectly recreate this new TIE, not if your name is Yubnub!. And if it isn’t, looking closer at his pictures might be the only way of coming closer to building anything.

One of the best things about Star Wars, besides its awesome story, exciting action and beautiful technology, is that it’s just so much fun! We all love the interplay between our two droids, cheer when Chewie gives us that look and all laughed with the many hilarious moments from the seventh episode. Sad Brick clearly feels the same way (contrary to what his name would lead you to suspect), judging by his trash can and toilet diorama’s from a few months back, and even more by this incredible bowling alley he whipped up for us. It all looks great. I just love the way the pins with their unexpected ice cream pieces look like wobble-head stormtroopers, completely helpless against the helmet coming in. Details like the overhanging clearing system, the slightly curved seats, and the expert use of Imperial Navy helmets as hubs from which the ball appear make for a great, beautiful foundation for a good joke. He doesn’t hit us over the head with that joke either, which gives a lot of room for your imagination to go further on the ridiculous idea. You already feel the giggles coming in anticipation of those cuddly pins flying around. You just know things will get interesting when Luke learns to use the Force to hit the target and navigate this different kind of trench. And the mere thought of Chewie on the bowling alley is enough to cheer you up for days. So I don’t know where Sad Brick gets these great ideas, but I can see he executes them perfectly, dressing them in a beautiful build and leaving everything open for us to play with. Just check out the topic, and you’ll be sure to be struck by sudden silent giggles for days to come.

One of the things I really like about Star Wars Rebels, is that you get to see the Rebel fleet growing one ship at a time, which makes you really cheer when you eventually see it in full glory in episode VI. The Hammerhead Corvettes introduced in Rebels never show up in the movies though, so I fear the worst for them. Luckily, TheNerdyOne has already captured them in brick form, so we can keep enjoying their Knights of the Old Republic inspired design no matter what happens to them. He did a great job capturing their bulbous form with a variety of bows and slopes that mesh incredibly well. I especially enjoy the engine block, for which he managed to put together a nearly seamless triangle shape, of which the seams that are present fit markings on the original model to boot. He also expertly used studs there to provide detailing. They’re clearly not random as in a weathered texture (which would look decidedly odd in this scale), but at the same time they’re not cluttered together. The builder found the right grouping of studs in a seemingly structured pattern, which makes you see the studs as a vital detail instead of a nuisance. As for other details, I love how TheNerdyOne didn’t use your classic greeble pieces to evoke complex tube contraptions and the like, but opted for more subtle detailing with rectangular protrusions, as can be seen on the bottom and under the ‘hood’ at the top. Once again, it makes you see everything as functional units, and gives you a sense of scale. Especially if you take into account the marvelous paint job, these small models look like a complete representation of the real thing. The only inaccuracy: these models look way more swooshable than their on screen counterparts… But still a great addition to the Rebel fleet that’s amassing in this topic.

But how could the Rebel fleet be complete without the show’s main ship, the Ghost? By now, we’ve seen some micro versions of it, and some UCS versions, but a really nice and accurate swooshable version has been missing. That’s until picardsbricks stepped in and put the beauty above together. It looks sturdy and sleek. That’s because the construction more or less speaks for itself, yet it looks like you could never find these solutions yourself. Take the docking stations at the sides, for example, for which the builder used those wedge/slope pieces to ensure a smooth transition, or the use of side to side wedge plates in the front to avoid nasty gaps and recreate the coloring pattern of the original to surprising accuracy. The slickness also follows from the great care the builder took to fill in any unwanted gaps, like with the panels underneath the hinge at the front. That way the intricacy of the shape of the ship is the focal point, and there aren’t any artifacts drawing away your attention. Everything just comes so nicely together, I bet you hadn’t noticed the adorable micro Phantom in the back. And if you did, I doubt you realized it’s detachable – it’s integrated just too well. How can you not want to play with this model now? Hesitate no more, go to picardsbricks Flickr and start zooming your screen around. I guarantee the model won’t fall apart.

When modernizing a ship, many builders flesh out the shape and make it more curved for that futuristic appearance. Most of the times, it works beautifully. But with Star Wars, there’s a slight problem. The ships featured in the prequel trilogy are usually quite curved and smooth, but those of the original and sequel trilogy look more boxy. They have a more effective, useful and no-nonsense look about them, which makes you understand and appreciate them immediately. That’s all nice and all, but when you’re updating a prequel trilogy vehicle to a later era, it means that you can’t just use the recipe of smoothing the thing out to make it look like it evolved.

Veynom understood this perfectly when working on a ship the First Order’s engineers based of the Separatist shuttle. He turned those curved surfaces into flat planes, and added a big, clunky box shape underneath it all. It clearly isn’t the fastest ship around, but you know it isn’t build for speed, but for transport. The creator wisely let the wall more or less untouched, so that it’s clear they serve no other function to separate space from the inside, which is exactly what a transporter is all about. Those are the things that make a vehicle instantly understandable and relatable, like all of the ships we love. It also makes sure you can pin point the setting of this ship perfectly: just take away the blue, and you have yourself a First Order transporter – especially from the back. The only thing is, this one is prettier. The back fin gives it greater visual interest, and all of the grills, bars and ridges that would otherwise be annoying form decorations that are both pretty and seem to serve some purpose. It might just basically be a box, but Veynom did a great job uniting the old with the new, the interesting but lifeless design of the prequel ship with the simple, effective and purposeful aesthetic of the originals and sequels. It’s not what most people would picture with an evolution, but it’s perfect for the Star Wars universe. While we wait for this ship to get its own wookieepedia page, you’ll have to visit the Eurobricks topic.

Some creations have so much charisma, you can’t help smiling, slowly nodding, and saying “O hell yes!”. ‘Don’t Talk to Robots‘ rendition of what Darth Vader’s car might look like is definitely one of those badass creations. It just oozes style, speed and guts – it’s the Batmobile of the Star Wars universe. It captures everything there is to like about the original Hot Wheels model, every fun reference to the Sith Lord that sits behind the steering wheel of this beast. There’s the obvious front grill, the headlights inspired by the little knobs at the same spot on the helmet, the little round nose with the same flair of the Spirit of Ecstasy, the lightsaber bars at the sides, the breathing controls that almost merge with the hot rod type engine, the grated support in the middle of the windscreen… Those are the things that make this model so much fun. It takes a bit more to make it look completely badass though. The original model looks so great because of its smooth sharpness, the gently curved surfaces that end in sudden sharp edges just scream aggression. And let just that be nearly impossible to render in bricks. Still, ‘Don’t Talk to Robots’ managed to deliver, with his tilted panels with bows on them, wonderfully sleek wheel hubs, flaps and slopes at the side, and a lovely smooth back portion. By brilliantly putting flat and curved pieces together, by creating ridges where needed and lovely complex curves where possible, and finally accentuating the smooth reflection in the photos, the creator really made this model pop. He managed to get the ultra-aggressive, slender and sharp aesthetic of Ralph McQuarrie concept art for the helmet across, which makes this a car you’ll keep at a safe distance. Because you don’t want to know what the road rage would be like. So just wait a second, give it priority, listen to its mechanical roaring and drool at it passing in the photostream.

Some things get stuck in your head so quickly, you never get to consider the alternatives. When one person breaks free and shows the world a better alternative, you get that magical moment of surprise, disbelief and admiration. That’s what happened to me when I laid first laid eyes on SPARKART!‘s rendition of Rey’s speeder. The official LEGO set lacked the rounded features of the original model, but it was a decent set, and a model that stuck with people. Many creations kept things rather flat, but kept looking good as well. Not this model: it’s all about the roundness again, and works so well, you can’t belief how you didn’t miss that in previous creations. The roundness makes the model look so much more real and tangible, and recreates that pleasant nostalgic association with Luke’s landspeeder that got flipped to its side in a traffic accident. The realism of this MOC doesn’t just come from the curves on the nose of the speeder. It’s the consistency of them popping up all around the model, to convince you the rounded nose wasn’t just a brilliant accident. You can see them towards the back as well, and more subtly in the side intakes for that wonderfully finished look. SPARKART! did an incredible job breaking with the image of an angled speeder, and seems to rediscover the use of bows all over again. And what’s more, that isn’t the only silently limiting convention he breaks. To return to the official set, the speeder was quite a bit too big compared to the minifigure. Just a constraint of the LEGO system we have to live with, right? Wrong. The creator demonstrates that just because we have minifigures, we don’t have to limit ourselves to using only them. And we don’t have to separate minifigs from brick built figures either. His figure is perfect for this scale, a great combination of the right proportions and plenty of details. It’s the final revolutionizing touch that makes this creation complete and prompts this weird reaction when you first see the picture. Because why would a picture that clearly comes right out of the movie include a support to the model? Then it’s time to reassure yourself these are bricks all right, and what better way to do that than to take a closer look?

I was in class this morning when a friend showed me his smartphone with the devastating report of the tragedy that had happened just half an hour’s drive away in Brussels. Our thoughts and support go out to all the victims, the people close to them, the people helping them, the people supporting them. Not just of this attack, but of every act of cruelty, told or untold. So today no glorification of war machines, weapons and battles, even though they don’t belong to our own galaxy. Today we pray for Star Peace, and double our efforts to build it.

Creation above by Julien Andries

Quite a few rumors were circulating about what would be the polybag you get this year for the May the Fourth celebration. Turns out all of them were false, because the store calendar for May just popped up and revealed a completely new polybag that will be offered this year. It’s called 30602 First Order Stormtrooper, and contains a minifigure that looks incredibly similar to one in the First Order battle pack, but with a slightly updated torso and a backpack this time. It seems a bit like a waste of an unedited character (like Darth Revan was in the past), especially when the equivalent comes in such a cheap set. But still, it’s a nice bonus to get. So delay all of your LEGO Star Wars purchases until the period of April 30 to March 4, as you’ll get this polybag for free with a purchase of $50 or more on those products. You’ll get double VIP points and a The Force Awakens poster to boot. In the meantime, you can discuss the polybag in our news thread.

Visually, one of the more interesting scenes in A New Hope is when Obi-Wan shuts down the terminal powering the tractor beam. You have the fancy station with the blue energy beam, the walkways leading to nice doors, the incredible details in the walls of the shaft with those round thingies, the stormtroopers walking… wait a second, those aren’t stormtrooper minifigs walking around in Bricking It‘s stunning diorama. And he didn’t just run out of them either: now that I mention it, that’s not a Star Wars creation at all. Oops. But I’m quite sure you don’t mind us looking at this awesome creation for a little longer!

This is one of those creations you can enjoy for the quality greebles alone. All of the hoses and pipes work really well, there are some interesting patterns, and some great uses of parts. Furthermore, Bricking It perfectly understands the concept of grouping greebles in subassemblies to make it look awesome. That’s because a sea of random greebles can look cool, but can’t hold your interest. When you break it up in parts, it’s more manageable. Furthermore, it’s more realistic that way, because greebles always try to represent plausible machinery, and that has components and functional units as well. He also wonderfully used standard, non-detailed geometric shapes, and not just fancy grills and minifig accessories. There are ridges, protrusions and notches everywhere, which keep big surfaces interesting but not overwhelming, and look functional to boot: this had to be assembled at some point. So without this creation being an obvious greeblefest, it’s one of the best implementations of those tiny details I’ve ever seen. It would almost make you forget the beautiful presentation with the industrial lighting which seems to come from the scene itself, the sci fi looking frame, the cleverly angled walls to draw the viewer in and minifigs that are part of the action, even though not a lot is happening. All of that makes this one of the easiest to watch complex builds, great from far off and close by, crude nor myopic. It may not be Star Wars, but it comes close enough to what we all love about that visual style to make an exception. Than Bricking It’s creation clearly deserves to be looked at from up close.

Please focus, because I’m going to ask you to recall two things. First off, set 75098 Assault on Hoth. Not many people liked it completely, but there was one feature that stood out and I want you to remember. It’s the Wampa cave part, with that super inventive play feature that lets you launch the lightsaber towards Luke. It will be a bit harder to remember the second thing, because it’s more than ten years ago since we saw it. It are the minifigs that came in a couple of the original Revenge of the Sith sets and with the 7263 set shown above. The reason is that they contained a unique feature: if you pushed their heads, the lightsaber would light up for extra action.

So why do I ask you to remember two features that aren’t/weren’t really a huge success? Because it seems that the LEGO group thinks to have found a way to combine them into something amazing, as indicated by the news of the day. Ever since the success of the new stud blasters, they have been trying to bring new play features in their sets. Their latest innovation, that will find its way into some of the winter 2017 sets, is that minifig hands will be easier to pull out, will have a string attached to them, and will quickly retract in their socket after a push on the minifig’s head. It’s basically a miniaturization of their existing winch mechanisms that fits into what looks like an ordinary minifig: simple, but it opens up a whole new world of play features. Minifigs will now be able to “use the Force” to retrieve objects, just like Luke in episode V or Rey in episode VII. I’m really excited to see how this plays out, but I see this becoming the next big innovation that will find its way into other themes as well, like the Superheroes line. LEGO never ceases to amaze me with their creative finds. Who knows what’s next, minifigs that will play mindtricks on us to make us buy more sets (o wait, I guess this feature has been implemented for quite some time now)? So be excited, and discuss it in our forum. Warning: it’s possible you might have to brush off your Korean first.

Star Wars MOCcers have this great tradition of building so-called “Uglies”. In-universe, these are ships cobbled together by scavengers and pirates from a variety of parts salvaged from other ships. For MOCcers, it’s mainly an excuse to do something fresh, something fun and something whimsical. The results are often so ludicrous, they’re good. They definitely draw a chuckle from you, but it’s hard to see them as a new and plausible ship instead of just some sets thrown together. But along came .Tromas’ Draygon fighter above. It obviously fits the objective description of the Uglies, with parts from the X-, Y- and B-wing. But it doesn’t feel like most other Uglies. This ship is perfectly believable, and despite having recognizable subcomponents, it has its own identity. Someone who isn’t familiar with the Star Wars galaxy would never guess this is an amalgamate of other ships.

The key is that, while most Uglies are just a copy-paste job of various LEGO sets, the concepts of the other ships are used, instead of their literal components. Those concepts were then translated into new shapes to come together into a coherent whole. The B-wing’s wing is quite thin for example, but that wouldn’t match at all with the bulky cockpit of the Y-wing. So here it was beautifully beefed up and shortened, to form an almost chibi B-wing. Matching components with each other is the key to creating a coherent ship. But that doesn’t give the ship a new identity. This creation is particularly impressive to me, because it started from a concept and adapted all of the parts to it, so that every bit gets this new edge. That concept is that of a strong ship, with a substantial shape, rounded corners, no unnecessary frivolities exposed and a simple color scheme. And then you can use all of those familiar components, change them so that they correspond to the idea of the new ship, and you’ll end up with a new ship, and not a jumble of other ships. The result is far from Ugly or awkward, it’s gorgeous. And the way it is conceived might be a great starting point for anyone wanting to design a ship of his own. So I suggest you learn all about the art of throwing together by taking a closer look at .Tromas’ YB-81 Long Range Fighter-Bomber!

Before there was The Force Awakens‘ T-70 X-wing fighter, there was the Original Trilogy’s X-wing. Before there was the Original Trilogy’s X-wing, there was the ARC-170 fighter, one of the coolest ships to come out of the Prequel Trilogy. It is as if the ship went through an evolution, like it only can in the Star Wars universe. But evolution is a tricky thing. If you’d do it all over, you’d end up with a wildly different result. Now imagine doing the entire evolution of Star Wars ships again. Excited yet? If not, let me show you Maelven‘s creation above to illustrate how awesome the results can be.

I love how it clearly has the ARC-170 DNA but instantly convinces that it is the better design. It looks sleek and agile, like a darting dragonfly. You’d gaze at in amazement, until you realize it’s high time to run. That’s because the shape is so unique, without being over the top. The body is fairly standard, but the wings!… You have to have some guts to build wings that big, because they can begin to look flat and boring. You can cover them with greebles and intimidating cannons to fix that, but you’ll loose the sleekness that can give a creation that awe-inspiring touch. Or… you can have the genius idea of playing with the contours of the wings. You can make holes in them, that magically make them look stronger. And you can make notches, that paradoxically improve the aerodynamics. You detail with geometry. It’s the hardest kind of detail to pull off, because bricks and smooth angles don’t mesh that well, and generally, you have no idea about the result, while it will impact your design drastically. But if it’s executed perfectly, like Maelvan did, the results are stunning and make way more impact than the fanciest greebles you can think of. It’s a ship that would look magnificent if it were nothing but the wings, and it’s an indescribable beauty if you add a soberly complex body and unparalleled stand to it. Of all of the possible outcomes of the evolution, this one might be the prettiest. So hurry to Maelven’s photostream before it evolves even further!

Wow, that was awesome. Let’s do it again! Let’s think again what the ARC-170 might involve to in another parallel universe… You could end up with Bob De Quatre‘s version, for instance. It’s an evolution more along the path that lead to the X-wings. It’s great how the feature of that ship that gives it its name is alluded to, but interpreted completely different, with the wings separating but meeting again in that unique teardrop shape. It’s a wonderful place for the engines to rest, so far away from the body for a ship of this lineage. The void between the main part of the ship and its engines is something I’ve never seen before but don’t mind seeing again, because it gives the ship a light and fast look, without compromising on the power it commands. Furthermore, those engines being apart gives you plenty of room to look at them from all sides, to take in all of the greebleless detail with all of those layers. The same goes for the fuselage, almost suspended in mid-air to look impressive from all angles, from its big bold blue nose to its intricately shaped back. Every component gets room to breathe, but everything is still firmly connected to each other in a beauty of a ship. Bob De Quatre, the driving force behind this evolution, pushed things in a new and wonderful direction, so go explore his topic. It once again shows how creative evolution is in taking what we all think is incredbile, and turn it into something even more superior and previously unthinkable, all with the help of the intelligent design of some amazing builders.