LEGO unveils Ewok Village set 10236

It appears the rumors were true. LEGO will be releasing a giant set this year based on the Ewok Village from Return of the Jedi. Cute teddy bear characters aside, this looks like an extremely well detailed set full of vegetation and great play features.

I don't know if this will end up replacing the Death Star, or if it's just a sign that more large playsets will be coming in the future. This set reminds me very much of the classic Kenner Ewok Village, which was probably one of my favorite non-LEGO toys as a kid. I had hours of fun using it as a base for action figures from many different lines.

LEGO shows off full scale X-Wing Fighter in Times Square

To help promote the release of the Yoda Chronicles, LEGO has built a giant X-Wing that's currently on display in Times Square in New York City. This nearly 23 ton model clocks in at an overwhelming 5,335,200 bricks. It was built in the Czech Republic and then transported to the US. After its stop in NYC, the iconic Star Wars fighter will make its way to LEGO Land in California.

Photo: StarWars.com

Gizmodo has a ton of pictures from a sneak peek at a hangar just outside of New York.

Not only is this a great way to promote LEGO's latest Star Wars movie, it's also a great reminder of the two very excellent X-Wing sets LEGO currently has out there. There's both a standard system set and of course the new UCS version that came out on May the 4th.

LEGO Star Wars 2013 summer sets - first look

High quality images of the upcoming summer wave of LEGO Star Wars sets are starting to circulate online. There's a good mix of stuff, although it looks like prequel/Clone Wars-era sets dominate most of the line. There are re-hashes of several popular sets, such as the Republic Gunship and AT-TE. There's also a new version of Jabba's Sail Barge, which I'm sure will make many people happy given how expensive the last release is now.

Let's start with the release most Clone Wars fans are looking forward to, the 75021 Republic Gunship.

 Then we have a new version of the AT-TE (75019)

Red Five standing by - LEGO unveils new UCS X-wing

The rumors are true. It looks like LEGO has looped back around to the start of the UCS line and will be bringing back a new version of the X-Wing starfighter. The set was revealed Friday at LEGO World in Denmark.

This 1559 piece set will retail for $199.99 and will release this coming May, just in time for the annual May the 4th celebration and sale that LEGO runs each year.

2013 LEGO Star Wars, Super Heroes, and TMNT sets on sale!

Just in case you need that last minute Christmas gift, it appears several retailers are starting to sell the early 2013 waves of LEGO sets. Multiple new sets are now available on Amazon and have been reported in local stores, although I have not been lucky enough to see anything but Hobbit sets so far.

The Super Heroes sets include the Arctic Batman and Mr. Freeze and Spider-Cycle Chase (with Venom and Nick Fury). Sadly, it does not appear Arkham Asylum, The Bat, or Daily Bugle showdown are available to order yet. Both of the sets up right now are only $19.99, which is pretty awesome.

On the Star Wars side of things, Clone Troopers vs Droidekas, Republic vs Sith Troopers, AT-RT, and the Rancor Pit. No sign of the A-Wing or Z-95 Headhunter yet, but the A-Wing did show up on ebay recently...so retail may not be far behind.

Desert Skiff 9496 - Review

Boba Fett. What else matters?

I seem to be on a roll this week and have been fitting in a little extra building time. Tonight, I decided to tackle one of the new Star Wars LEGO entries, set 9496: Desert Skiff. I'm a pretty big Star Wars fan and grew up with the original trilogy. As I've mentioned before, I try to avoid going crazy on the theme just because I've missed so much and I don't want to build the urge to get them all. The modular bug is bad enough. Return of the Jedi was the first movie I ever went to see in the theater though, so it was really hard to resist this set once I knew it was coming out. Also, it comes with Boba Fett.

Bag End and Rancor Pit revealed

San Diego Comic Con is in full swing, and LEGO looks like it will be using the opportunity to give us a glimpse at what 2013 holds in store. First up is a set that I'm pretty sure many people have been looking forward to ever since the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit line was introduced. It's Bag End, the home of Bilbo and (later on) Frodo Baggins.

I love it. You get a range of great figures and a very awesome looking little hobbit hole. I'll be curious to see what the interior looks like, but it better include a kitchen!

Apparently it's Star Wars day...UCS B-Wing revealed

I must have missed the memo, but apparently today is some sort of Star Wars news event. First, summer sets started showing up with online retailers...now, we're getting our first glimpses of the UCS B-Wing set. Check out the video posted by LEGO earlier today.

And here's the press release info, courtesy of Brickset and a bunch of other places:

10227 B-wing Starfighter™
Ages 16+.  1,486 pieces.
US $199.99   CA $249.99   DE 199.99€ UK 169.99£ DK 1699 DKK
Take on the Empire in the Ultimate Collector Series B-wing Starfighter!
Now you can experience the ultimate B-wing Starfighter from the Star Wars galaxy like never before. This fantastic model features everything you would expect from our premium collector range, including rotating, self-levelling cockpit and realistic wing configurations for landing and flight. And when you’re finished battling in the skies above Endor or helping to restore freedom in the galaxy, place this highly detailed B-wing Starfighter on its own dedicated display stand and fact plaque. Measures 26” (66 cm) wide and 15” (38 cm) high in flight configuration, and 17” (43 cm) high on display stand.

• A highly detailed Ultimate Collector Series B-wing Starfighter model
• Features rotating, self-levelling cockpit
• Features realistic wing configurations for landing and flight
• Includes display stand and fact plaque
• Model can be detached from display stand
• Measures 26” (66cm) wide and 15” (38cm) high in flight configuration, and 17” (43cm) high when mounted on display stand

Summer Star Wars sets showing up in the US

Rancor not included :(

Some of you overseas AFOLs got a shot at these earlier this summer, but the wait is over for those of use here in the US. Online retailers started adding the summer Star Wars (and Friends too, apparenty) to their catalogs today for order.

All sets appear to be up now on Toys'r'us, WalMart and Amazon.com. TRU has the usual insane markup on most of the sets, including a $30 price hike on Jabba's Palace. Amazon is usually my first choice, as you can easily get free shipping. You can usually get it from them it at RRP or below and many states pay no tax.

Honestly, I'm pretty much an OT only person, so the sets I'm interested in out of these are Jabba's Palace and the Desert Skiff. However, I have to admit that the Fury Class Interceptor is pretty freaking sweet. I just have no frame of reference for it, so I can't see myself wanting to drop $90 to pick it up.

R2-D2 UCS 10225 - Review

Big droid, little droid.

I was going to build Town Hall while I waited for Cafe Corner parts to come in, but the UCS R2-D2 I picked up after working the LEGO Store grand opening in Milwaukee was calling my name. While I love Star Wars, I have somehow avoided building anything from that theme so far. I'm not sure why, but if I had to guess, it's probably because I'm afraid of the path it could set me on. I've missed almost a decade worth of sets and it would be hard to resist the urge to go back and get favorites I have missed.

R2-D2 convinced me to give them a try though. Due to his size, he feels more like a sculpture than a regular ship or playset. The fact that I had a chance to get him at a discount pretty much guaranteed that I needed to have him as well. Also, it's freaking R2-D2, probably one of the coolest robots in all of science fiction history.

May the Fourth be with you!

I admit it. I'm weak. I could not resist the sirens call of a shiny TC-14. Especially after it became widely known that the $75 limit did not require you to buy Star Wars sets to get the fig. As with most of my shopping on LEGO's site, I stuck with exclusives. The Dynamic Duo Fun House is FINALLY back in stock, so I combined that with a Y-Wing to get over the threshold for the TC-14, the R2 poster, and I guess a TIE Fighter mini that comes with the poster. With the free shipping and some VIP points claimed, I think I'm getting off pretty easy.

Making those May decisions

Like most other fans out there, I do not have an infinite budget to fuel my LEGO addiction. I have to earmark a certain amount of cash each month that I can direct towards picking up sets I want to add to my collection. That's why these two little freebies for the month of May have made me a little apprehensive about figuring out my purchases.


Not the droid I'm looking for?

Having just recently rejoined the collecting world, I am exceedingly far behind on the Star Wars offerings that have been released. I grew up with the original trilogy, but have little interest in picking up the Clone Wars inspired sets. My attention so far has been on the classic ships I grew up loving, which is why I recently picked up the latest incarnations of the X-wing, Y-wing, and TIE Fighter. All three of those are iconic ships from the series that I feel are pretty much necessary to own. However, aside from the UCS Imperial Shuttle, the Death Star, and the Millennium Falcon, there are not really any sets under the $100 mark I have any interest in right now.