Okay Yaramanoglu (okayaraman) created a series of minifigs of the Toy Story cast dressed up as Star Wars characters. Though I object to the use of multiple Buzz Lightyears used in the same photo, nonetheless it is pretty awesome stuff! More in his stream.
Toys R Us in the UK have slashed an amazing 40% off this set, which is, in my opinion, one of the stand out sets from the Toy Story 3 line. This takes the price from £49.99 to £29.99. It’s available in store and online, subject to stock. Click here to see this deal online.
Star Wars Celebration wrapped up this weekend and I received a link to a video of LEGO’s presence at the event. The video has a time-lapse segment revealing the mystery mural that was hyped just before the event:
BrickBuildr from our forums attended the event with his lug, GFLUG, and posted some pictures to his stream.
Mislabeled because it should be called a MIDI-scale Venator. rack911‘s MINI Venator puts the Brickmaster version to shame. To shame!
Nicely complementing 10199 Winter Toy Shop, LEGO Shop@Home today announced their newest holiday-themed set, 10216 Winter Village Bakery. The set will cost you US $54.99 UK £ 49.99 DE 54.99€ and CA $74.99 and will be available starting in October. Interesting note: I accidentally had my Shop@Home country preference set to Ireland, and noticed that 10199 Winter Toy Shop was available. Could this set be making a comeback this season? I hope so as I missed it the first time around. 10216 images below the press release:
10216 – Winter Village Bakery
Ages 12+. 687 pieces.
US $ 54.99 UK £ 49.99 DE 54.99 € CA $74.99Return to yesteryear with this festive holiday scene! It’s a winter wonderland in this snow-covered little town! A special-delivery evergreen, all ready for decorating, arrives at the tree-seller’s stand by horse-drawn cart, while ice skaters frolic on the frozen pond with colorful lights and a curious owl perched overhead. Just look out for the freshly-shoveled snow piles – one skater has already tumbled in head-first! At the bakery nearby, the friendly baker prepares delicious holiday treats in his oven and rings up sales at the cash register. Push the glowing LEGO Power Functions brick to fill the building with warm interior light! Includes 7 ½ minifigures, snow owl, horse and lots of winter accessories.
- Includes 7 ½ minifigures as well as a snow owl and horse!
- Features LEGO Power Functions light-up brick which lights the interiorof the bakery when you push it!
- Includes lots of fun winter accessorieslike a dark blue minifigure hood with new fur print!
- Prepare holiday treats and ring up sales at the cash register!
- Skate on the frozen pond made of 8×8 transparent blue plates!
- Interesting elements include a camera, tan baguettes, croissants, green apple, 8×8 transparent blue plates, medium blue tiles and even a new ‘caramel’ color for several brick and arch elements outside the bakery!
- Features an evergreen tree for decorating, tree seller’s stand and even a horse-drawn cart!
- Bakery measures 7″ (18 cm) wide!
- Completed model (depending on space allocated between the individual parts) measures 16″ (40 cm) wide, 12″ (30 cm) deep and 7″ (18 cm) high!
Available for order directly through LEGO® beginning October 2010 via shop.LEGO.com or via phone:
US Contact Center 1-800-453-4652
CA (English) Contact Center 1-800-453-4652
CA (French) Contact Center 1-877-518-5346
European Contact Center 00-800-5346-1111
“I could see where things were headed,” Kurtz said. “The toy business began to drive the [Lucasfilm] empire. It’s a shame. They make three times as much on toys as they do on films. It’s natural to make decisions that protect the toy business, but that’s not the best thing for making quality films.”
That’s Gary Kurtz, producer and second-unit director of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, describing the circumstances surrounding his departure from the Star Wars film franchise way back in 1980. The L.A. Times article is a pretty lengthy read, but is worth the time as it gives the reader an insight to the way the Star Wars universe we know and love took shape back in the day.
The article may not be directly relevant to the site, and a few things aren’t exactly earth-shattering breaking news (Lucasfilm Licensing is all about making money off it’s toys? REALLY?), but I found it quite a good read as I found out some things that I didn’t know before, such as the original vision of how ROTJ ends; so, with that, I thought I’d share.
Thanks to chief for the link.
Inspired by the Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters ride at Disneyland, which, to be honest, is one of the better rides at Tomorrowland, the above was created by Jordan Schwartz (sirnadroj). There’s something so organic and creepy about it, I had no choice to post since I, too, am organic and creepy.
Got the following press release detailing some events LEGO is hosting at Star Wars Celebration:
LEGO® STAR WARS™ Celebrates 30th Anniversary of
The Empire Strikes Back at Star Wars Celebration V–Interactive LEGO mural building event supports ‘The Empire Gives Back’ and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–
ORLANDO (August 13th, 2010) – To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, LEGO Systems, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. are summoning the force of LEGO® and STAR WARS fans and families to participate in a three-day collaborative build of an eight-foot tall, 15-foot wide LEGO mystery mural to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The mural will be constructed by attendees of Star Wars Celebration V and a LEGO Master Builder at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center from August 13-15.
Fans who help the LEGO Master Builder to construct the mural will receive one of 10,000 limited edition white Boba Fett LEGO minifigures. Additionally, for every LEGO plate a fan builds and adds to the mural, LEGO Systems and Lucasfilm’s “The Empire Gives Back” program will donate 330 LEGO System and LEGO DUPLO® bricks to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to encourage imagination and creative play and support the patients of St. Jude. In total, more than 1.5 million LEGO bricks will be donated..
“The STAR WARS franchise has creatively inspired so many people since its debut, and has motivated LEGO enthusiasts to build models, create their own stories and, in some cases, produce their own films,” said Michael McNally, brand relations director, LEGO Systems, Inc. “We’re particularly proud to partner with Lucasfilm’s ‘The Empire Gives Back’ charitable giving program to both commemorate an important milestone for The Empire Strikes Back, but also to help carry forward its creative spirit with yet another generation of children through St. Jude.”
STAR WARS enthusiasts will also be able to see new LEGO products on display, have their picture taken with life-sized LEGO STAR WARS models and check out fan created LEGO models. A second LEGO Master Builder will be doing a live build of a 6-foot tall Boba Fett model.
The LEGO Store will have products available for purchase and will feature an exclusive Celebration V STAR WARS CubeDude set, designed by fan and Pixar animator, Angus MacLane, who will be on-site to sign boxes. To purchase the set, a raffle ticket must be drawn. Tickets will be pulled at the LEGO booth each day at 11 a.m.
For more information and news about LEGO STAR WARS and STAR WARS Celebration V, visit www.starwars.lego.com and www.starwarscelebration.com.
# # #LEGO Systems Inc. (LSI) is the Americas (North America and Latin America) division of The LEGO Group, a privately-held firm based in Billund, Denmark. The company is committed to the development of children’s creative and imaginative abilities through high-quality, creatively educational play materials, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: “Only the best is good enough.” For more information, visit www.LEGO.com
Lucasfilm, the Lucasfilm logo, Star Wars™ and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.
If you’re going to Celebration, please share your experience in our forums and/or post your pictures to the FBTB: flickr Outpost.
No doubt by now you’ve seen some of the awesome battle tauntauns on display at the Fan Gallery during Star Wars Days at LEGOLand California. The one above is by Paul Meissner (legosamurai), the battle tauntaun is his brainchild of an idea, it is a tauntaun outfitted with weapons and armor to help the Rebels defend their base against Imperial forces, probe droids, and the occasional pesky wampa or two. Highly customizable, they can be armed with a wide array of ordnance, surveillance gear, and other equipment depending on the task at hand.
I’ve been searching for a community project idea that is easily accessible to just about everybody, doesn’t require a big budget of parts, and is open to interpretation. The Battle Tauntaun project fits the bill perfectly. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to build your own Battle Tauntaun, post it in our Community Project thread, and add it to both the Battle Tauntaun flickr group and the FBTB: flickr Outpost group. If you need some inspiration, take a look at Paul Lee’s and Brandon Griffith’s Battle Tauntauns below. Pictures by Don:
The minifigures above and below made an appearance at the Fan Display at Star Wars Weekend this past weekend, but they are cool enough to deserve their own post. If you remember from the LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary book, there was a picture of a George Lucas minifigure somewhere in the back. At least that’s what I was told since a) I can’t remember and b) I can’t find my copy of the book. There was also a picture of every Star Wars minifigure ever made, including prototypes. The George Lucas minifigure you see above is the real deal, not a custom job. The pink R2 unit below, dubbed R2-KT due to its resemblance to the real life R2-KT droid, is a prototype figure used to test the printing pattern for the Clone Wars era R2-D2 minifigure. Only 50 of the pink R2 minifigure are known to exist. Ol’ George? His production number is unknown, making it truly a one of a kind.
These minifigures are not mine, though I wish they were, just shown to me to make me faint with wanton desire. Now, if only a kind soul in Billund would gift me some of these….
