It’s still another six months to go before the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, arrives in theaters. Lego fans will have new sets to look forward to closer to then, but in the meantime they’ll have to content themselves with some original trilogy action.New this month is the Death Star Final Duel, featuring the iconic scene at the end of Return of the Jedi where Luke Skywalker fights Darth Vader to the death while the sinister Emperor Palpatine looks on.This isn’t the first time the scene has popped up in Lego. It’s also featured in the massive, 3,803-piece Death Star, released in 2008. The new set, however, expands on what was just a small piece of that much bigger whole. Here are nine ways in which the Death Star Final Duel improves on its previous Lego incarnation. The original Death Star’s duel section is rather cramped, with the Emperor’s throne sitting atop a small floor section, across from a collapsible balcony. There’s hardly enough room for the five minifigures: Palpatine, Luke, Vader, and a pair of Imperial Guardsmen.The 724-piece Death Star Duel features a lot more real estate, with a large staircase leading up to the throne and a retractable drawbridge that leads to sliding doors with their associated guards.
A pair of side sections also swing out from the main trunk.The Death Star Final Duel runs $79, a far cry from the whopping $399 price tag of the full Death Star. Of course, the Death Star is perhaps the ultimate Star Wars Lego set, but still, this is a far more affordable chunk. The new Luke Skywalker minifigure has been completely redesigned, so much so that the older Death Star version looks positively ancient.Luke now has more details on his outfit, including a pretty boss belt buckle. His eyes are more two-dimensional, rather than just black dots, and it almost looks like he has a goatee. His hair is also a little more brown than blond.Most importantly, his lightsaber is green, rather than a greenish yellow. The online protests can finally end. Purists will love this one. Palpatine’s bodyguards are largely unchanged in this new set, except for two slight details that are more faithful to the movie. Gone are the black hands in favor of red, and the black staves have been replaced by two-piece black-and-grey polearms, which look more like what the guardsmen actually carry.
Star Wars nerds can sleep easier now that this travesty has been corrected.Who can forget Vader looking for Luke in the movie among the darkness and those weird blue-glowing terminals underneath Palpatine’s throne?They’re under-represented in the cramped quarters of the Death Star set, but here they’re fully realized. We’re still not quite sure what they’re for, but they look cool nevertheless. The Emperor is largely unchanged from the older Death Star, although the new version has a few more details in his robe. His face is no longer a sullen grey but rather a ghoulish flesh tone.He still has the same attachable lightning bolts, which are as inventive a design as Lego creators have ever come up with. The original Death Star designers deserve kudos for fitting in a collapsable balcony, a key part of the film’s duel segment. But the new set has three such action areas: a fall-away balcony, exploding stairs, and an ejecting floor near the drawbridge. More space equals more action, if you’re into that sort of thing.
It’s probably more of a draw for kids. What fun is killing the Emperor off when there’s no electrical shaft to throw him down?The Death Star Final Duel has one, complete with decals that provide all the piping and wiring details on the inside. Now you can replicate your own blood-curdling screams as Vader tosses his boss to his death.Hands-down the new set’s coolest feature is Darth Vader’s two-piece mask. Take the helmet off to reveal the pale, scarred head and face of Anakin Skywalker, so he can say, “Let me look on you with my own eyes.”As an extra bonus, the Death Star Final Duel doesn’t feature George Lucas’s edited-in Anakin ghost at the end. This is Return of the Jedi as it was meant to be. In Lego form, of course.Brickrolled is a monthly Lego review column by Peter Nowak. You can read about his previous builds here.Home > Guides > By Mike Flacy on October 17, 2015 Making for some seriously awesome shelf decorations for any Star Wars fan, these LEGO sets are awesome to look at as well as build.
It’s likely that we will have to wait until after The Force Awakens comes out to get even more new builds. Often selling out due to the popularity of the Sith Lord, this Darth Vader build includes fully posable limbs, black armored suit, fabric cape and a buildable red lightsaber. Similar to General Grievous, it’s a simpler build. One of the new characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Poe Dameron has been recreated in LEGO form along with his jet black X-Wing fighter. Features in this set include 4 spring-loaded shooters, 2 stud shooters, retractable landing gear, opening wings, opening cockpit with space for one of the minifigures (Poe Dameron, a Resistance ground crew member and a Resistance X-Wing Pilot) as well as space for the included BB-8 Astromech Droid. Replacing the 2014 build of the Millennium Falcon, this slightly more complex set comes with detachable cockpit with space for 2 minifigures, rotating top and bottom laser turrets with hatch and space for a minifigure, dual spring-loaded shooters, sensor dish, ramp, entrance hatch and opening hull plates.
There are seven included mini-figures: Han Solo, Chewbacca, Rey, Finn, Tasu Leech and a Kanjiklub Gang Member as well as a BB-8 Astromech Droid. I have been trained in your Jedi Arts… by Count Dooku.” Arguably a Star Wars villain that doesn’t get enough credit for being a badass, this General Grievous build includes posable limbs, 2-into-4 separating arms and 4 buildable lightsabers. It’s a much easier build than larger sets, and thus could be ideal for younger builders. Ideal for anyone who’s really into Return of the Jedi, the LEGO Ewok village is an impressive set with 17 minifigures: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, two Rebel soldiers, five Ewoks, two Scout Troopers and two Stormtroopers. Features include a tree-trunk hideout and secret lightsaber stash, spider web and net traps, slide, catapults, elevating throne, speeder rammer function, kitchen, food storage area, bedroom and a planning room. Who is ready to experience the power of the Imperial fleet?
This set features a lifting handle, removable top and fold-down sides for easy play, 8 synchronized turning cannons, 2 spring-loaded shooters, storage compartment for 2 spare missiles, 7 powerful blue engines, and a detailed interior including rotating Emperor Palpatine hologram, rotating chairs, turning weapon rack, bridge, blue screen and a control panel. Minifigures include Darth Vader, Imperial Officer, two Stormtroopers, Imperial Crew and Imperial Navy Trooper. Just make sure you have the cantina song playing on a loop when you build this. This set features a dome roof, entrance with sliding door and droid scanner, opening roof, slide-out floors to the middle rooms, bar with shelves, money and bottles, stage for the Bith band, seats, table and windows. Minifigures included are Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Greedo, a Sandtrooper (on a Dewback, no less!) and 3 Bith Musicians. While the actual LEGO Death Star is difficult to find (and expensive to buy at $400), this set allows you to recreate the moment when Luke triumphed over the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.
Features include swing-out side sections, opening entrance doors, Force Jump function, collapsing stairs and bridge, reactor shaft, and detachable throne section with rotating throne and hidden Lightsaber pop-up function. It also comes with five mini-figures: Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and two Royal Guards. Who’s ready to blast away at some Rebel scum? This metal beast is unstoppable (unless it’s tripped)! This set features a moving head with a cockpit for 2 minifigures and 2 spring-loaded shooters, posable legs and an opening body with switch-operated trap door. It comes with five minifigures: an AT-AT Driver, General Veers, Snowtrooper Commander and 2 Snowtroopers. Perfect for hunting down pesky smugglers who travel with Wookiees, Boba Fett’s Slave I features a rotating cockpit and wings, opening side hatches with hidden guns and missiles, 2 rotating dual shooters, cargo hold and a display stand with data sheet. It comes with four minifigures: Boba Fett, Bespin Guard, Stormtrooper and Han Solo encased in carbonite.