VIEW ALL PHOTOS IN GALLERY Surrounded by a storm trooper security detail, LEGO unveiled their largest model to date: a 5,335,200 piece Star Wars X-Wing fighter. The model is an astonishing 11 feet tall and 43 feet long with 44-foot wingspan, which means that it's unlikely to ever be sold in a store near you. However, its inspiration—set #9493 for you brick nerds out there—is available for purchase, just 42 times smaller. Interestingly, this gargantuan monstrosity of interlocking plastic bricks is slightly larger than the canonical T-65 X-Wing, which measures a mere 37.5 feet in length. Weighing in at 45,980 pounds, the model took a team of 32 builders from the LEGO model shop in Kladno, Czech Republic about four months to build. That's about 307-odd pieces per hour, a mark of the skill and careful design that went into the jumbo X-Wing's creation. "Our LEGO Master Builders are always testing their creative skills to top their last larger-than-life creations," said LEGO Brand Relations Director Michael McNally.
"The size and structural complexity of a freestanding model 42 times the size of one our retail sets was a challenge they could not resist." Simply designing and building the model weren't the only concerns. LEGO pointed out that the X-Wing needed to breakdown easily for transport, comply with the California's seismic requirements, and be able to sit safely above the cavernous subway station beneath Times Square. VIEW ALL PHOTOS IN GALLERY The model will be on display until May 26, when it will fire up its hyperdrive and cruise to Dagobah LEGOLAND in California, presumably with navigational aid from its astrometric droid. LEGO says that the model was built to celebrate the May 29th debut of LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles on Cartoon Network. If this is what LEGO does for an animated series, I can't wait to see what they pull out for the new J.J. Abrams-helmed Star Wars installments. A 1:1 replica of a Star Destroyer placed in permanent low-Earth orbit? VIEW ALL PHOTOS IN GALLERY
Poe Dameron’s X-Wing and the Millennium Falcon LEGO Sets Revealed! The site fbtb.net posted two images with new LEGO sets from The Force Awakens. Set 75102 is Poe Dameron’s X-Wing (717 pcs), and set 75105 is The Millennium Falcon (1329 pcs) with some curious minifgs of characters we haven’t heard before… *Images removed at the request of LEGO Poe Dameron’s Black X-Wing is no surprise at all. It’s been rumored for some time. The minifigs of this set didn’t reveal anything new The Millennium Falcon is huge, but the most interesting thing about this set is that the minifigs revealed two new characters from the movie. Tasu Leech and Kanjuklub Gang Member. What are these guys doing on the Falcon? Tell us what you think on these new guys in the comments below. Thanks to Tim Veekhoven for the heads up. More details on several other sets (via hothbricks): 75099 : 2 minifigs – Rey & Unkar Henchman 75100 : 3 minifigs – 2 First Order Snowtroopers & 1 First Order Snowtrooper Officer
75101 : 4 minifigs – 2 First Order TIE Fighter Pilots, 1 First Order Officer & 1 First Order Crew 75102 – 4 minifigs : Poe Dameron, BB-8, 1 Resistance X-Wing Pilot & 1 Resistance Ground Crew 75103 : 7 minifigs – 2 Resistance Soldiers, 2 First Order Flametroopers, 2 First Order Stormtroopers & Captain Phasma 75104 : 7 minifigs – Kylo Ren, General Hux, First Order Officer, 2 First Order Crew & 1 First Order (?) 75105 : 6 minifigs – Rey, Finn, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Tasu Leech, BB-8 & 1 Kanjiklub Gang Member Powered by WordPress | Designed by: seo services | Thanks to seo company, web designer and internet marketing companyHave you always wanted to do as the rebel fighters from "Star Wars" do and pilot your very own X-wing Starfighter? But you can gawk at a giant LEGO version of one here on Earth, which is almost as fun.Thursday, LEGO unveiled a full-scale X-wing fighter in New York's Times Square. At 44 feet long, with a 43-foot wingspan, the massive model plane is the largest LEGO structure in history.
It contains 5.3 million LEGO bricks built around a steel frame and weighing nearly 46,000 pounds. It’s 42 times larger than the X-wing LEGO set sold in toy stores, but like its miniature counterpart, this version can be easily disassembled.The structure took 17,000 hours and 32 LEGO builders working around the clock in the Czech Republic. As part of a display that also includes life-sized LEGO models of Darth Vader, Yoda, and R2D2, it will be in New York’s Times Square through Saturday to promote an array of "Star Wars" productions, including the animated TV miniseries “The Yoda Chronicles” on Cartoon Network, the animated series “Rebels,” and the J.J. Abrams film set to hit theaters in 2015. Following its Times Square stint, the X-wing will land permanently at LEGOLAND California. Top 15 money games, toys for kids LEGO teamed up with Lucasfilm and the "Star Wars" franchise in 1999, just as the latter was gearing up for the release of the first "Star Wars" film prequel (the franchise was recently sold to Disney).
Despite a few early hiccups, including overstocking that nearly led to the Danish toy company’s bankruptcy in 2003, it’s been a match made in licensing heaven. As outlined in a Bloomberg Businessweek article Thursday, the partnership connected LEGO and "Star Wars" to two key demographics: young boys and men who played with traditional LEGOS and watched the "Star Wars" films as children (the company calls them AFOLs – Adult Fans of LEGO).“We have 250,000 known AFOLs in the global community,” Michael McNally, brand director for LEGO in North America, told Bloomberg. “Of that total, we estimate about 60 percent of them would identify 'Star Wars' as their biggest LEGO passion, or who would say that LEGO 'Star Wars' reignited their passion for LEGO building in general.” Box: H28 x W48 x D6cm Model name / number Choking hazard - not suitable for children under 36 months due to small parts that may cause a choking hazard Email me when availableIt takes few things to really get the attention of New Yorkers, but something landed in the heart of Times Square this morning that will surely fascinate both locals and visitors over the Memorial Day Weekend.
A stunning 1:1 scale replica of "Star Wars’" iconic X-wing Starfighter built from LEGO bricks was unveiled today as an interactive fan experience, which also happens to be the 30th anniversary of 1983’s release of "Return Of The Jedi." MTV Geek was invited by the good folks at LEGO to the super secret hanger located outside of NYC where the massive model made its temporary home for a sneak peek tour before today’s big first public appearance. Everyone on site was sworn to secrecy (even the unsuspecting pizza delivery man), which is certainly not uncommon these days, all in the spirit of keeping a surprise an actual surprise. During my visit, LEGO Master Builder Erik Varszegi gave me the behind-the-scenes scoop on some of the things that went into the gargantuan undertaking that was the construction the world’s largest LEGO model ever built. Erik noted that not only are the X-wing’s dimensions screen accurate from tech specs provided by Lucasfilm, but the starfighter is 42 times the size of the LEGO toy construction set.
"It’s based on our retail set you can buy in stores,” he revealed. "We thought it would be a great idea to say ‘What if you took this, scaled it up to the size of what a real X-wing looks like, and here’s the end result.’" Built by a team of 32 Master LEGO builders located in Klando, Czech Republic over the course of four months, the massive model is comprised of over 5.3 million individual LEGO bricks and weighs nearly 46,000 pounds (which includes the steel infrastructure). "We’ve had a model building facility in the Czech Republic for 15 years or more. They have been outdoing themselves with every project," Varszegi said. The attention to detail will not be lost on fans, from the four cannons, to the X-wing’s nose, to the landing gear. "It's built using all the same parts kids can find at home. So in theory if somebody had 5 million bricks lying around, they could build their own X-wing," he laughed. "It's funny seeing it in toy form. Toys are always exaggerated anyway.
It's more bulky, blocky and kid friendly. It's probably a more massive, pumped up version than if you were to put the real X-wing prop next to it. It probably looks like it beats that out." Seeing it in person, in LEGO form or not, I admit it was a pretty awesome sight as a life long Star Wars fan, all the more so with it sitting in an actual plane hanger. The journey from the Czech Republic was only the first part of the ship’s trek prior to today’s heralded debut. It was shipped to the hanger in 34 separate pieces, taking up five huge containers and then re-assembled Stateside. “It was delivered here May 1st, after a month long ocean voyage and then brought here to this hanger. We needed a site close by we could assemble for our stage runs through. And we’ve been here for the past couple of weeks putting everything together and smoothing out any bumps along the way.” Standing 11’ feet high, measuring 43’ long and boasting a wingspan of 44’, the model can seat multiple fans for photo ops in the cockpit.
The four rear engines, which light up to a glowing neon red, replicate the authentic familiar iconic hum created by Skywalker Sound decades ago. Erik also took to his on-site computer and demonstrated the LEGO Brick Builder program, an in-house tool available only to professional LEGO model designers. He explained any 3D object can be imported and then translated to LEGO construction specs. The builders and designers can then get an approximate count of how many LEGO bricks are necessary for the project, but it’s up to them regarding which bricks are necessary. The fun end result is it always utilizes the materials in any construction set available on toy shelves. Erik also shared a great story that can only happen when your temporary Rebel Alliance base of operations is working plane hanger. “Last night we had the hanger doors open and a corporate jet pulled in. The pilot got out and he happened to peek inside and asked 'What is this?’ He had to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement and everything.
Anyone who walks in the door we bombard with secrecy. We had this jet outside with this pilot and he was like a little kid. As close as you can come to being an X-wing pilot when you grow up is to fly real planes. So he came in we let him sit in the cockpit. He was all happy and excited about this. We were comparing stats between our planes and his corporate jet. The wingspans were roughly the same, but his plane weighed 26,000 pounds. Ours outweighed his by tens of thousands. So that was a funny little statistic had no idea of. Everyone who has come in and gotten a glimpse of it has been in in shock and awe of it.” After the ship was tested and approved, it was prepped for its next trip to Times Square on flatbed trucks, driven into Manhattan last night, and assembled again during the wee hours hidden under a tent until the time for its unveiling. "It was conceived and designed to get as many kids in as possible during the course of the event." I will assume that hopefully includes kids of ALL ages.