Solo Chase

Solo is a week away, and the anticipation is growing. I remain cautiously optimistic for it, and will certainly see it opening weekend. Builder Boba-1980 built this pretty impressive little scene depicted in the trailer. No idea what Han has done, where he's going, where he's coming from or why he's being chased, but it's certainly exciting.

Han Shot First

Now that I've gotten that out of my system I can make this post about something different than the incredibly lame decision to make Han shoot first...I digress. I was fortunate enough to get to see this latest big fig duo by Miro78 at BricksLA, and they're a perfect addition to his growing collection. And to discourage my impulse to rail on that decision I referred to earlier I'll offer this fun fact: When the production wrapped in London, they did not bring the live firing hero prop of Han's blaster back to America with them . So when it came time to shoot this scene a new prop needed to be cobbled together. This prop blaster, unique to this scene, is fondly referred to by the prop reproduction community as the "Greedo Killer". And Han used it first.

Adam Savage Builds A LEGO Han Solo Blaster

I'll say it, Han Solo's DL-44 blaster is the coolest weapon of Star Wars (fight me!) and besides one of the screen used props or truly accurate prop replicas the coolest form of DL-44 has to be in LEGO. Adam Savage and Norm Chan think so too, and recently picked up kits from DemonHunterBricks on Etsy. In this video from Tested they build them, after showing off some other cool LEGO prop weapons, you might recognize one of them.

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Back in September when I visited the Tested headquarters to build the Millennium Falcon I gave a phaser to Norm. Seeing the disappointment on Adam's face I promised him one too. And last month when I went to see Tested: Deconstructed I was able to meet up with Adam after the show and present it to him, with a nifty little display stand.

I was delighted to see it at the start of this video.

Han Solo Takes A Break

I'm loving this series of Star Wars behind the scenes pictures from builder storm TK431. I'm a sucker for a peek behind the scenes anyway, plus it's Star Wars, plus it's LEGO. It's sort of a perfect storm for me to squee. This one captures Harrison Ford between takes while attempting to fix the ever-dysfunctional hyperdrive.

YT-Slave 1

Cecilie Fritzvold took two iconic ships from the Star Wars universe, and though the ships may oppose each other, combined them into something rather creative. Built for racing, not fighting, "the Boba" is a combo (obviously) of the Slave I and the Falcon. The unusual blending of sand green, red, and gray is a very interesting design choice. It also appears to be at a challenging scale, yet Cecilie pulled off many of the iconic details quite well. 

Rogue, Smuggler, Scoundrel.

This guy was perfectly happy (well, as happy as a guy can be with a price on his head) smuggling and hopping planets before he got mixed up with the rebellion. Then it was nothing but shoot and run, shoot and run. At least he ended up with a pretty spiffy medal. Finally builder Luc Byard's brilliant Leia has her love interest and eternal frustration, Han Solo.

Best Buddies

I love my collection of geek culture shirts, it's my way of saying "I am nerd, hear me roar" (or at least mumble semi-enthusiasticlly). By far the one I get the most comments on and questions about is this one. It's an awesome mashup of Calvin and Hobbes and Star Wars. Today it's back on Tee Fury, so now's your chance to nab one for yourself.

Star Wars: A New Hip

I'm old. I'm really old. But at least I still have vivid memories of seeing Star Wars in the theater (like every weekend for a year, plus many viewings during the summer, lost count). But the inevitable march of time means that everyone and everything involved in my favorite movie of all time is also aging. And Han & Leia are no exception as imagined by Pepa Quin.

Star Wars "Midifigs"

This is a project I've been watching for a while, Miro78's "Midifigs". It's a cool new scale for upsizing your favorite minifigs. I really like the scale of these, they're big enough to get some fun detail in, but small enough to not take up too much space. Just about perfect for displaying on a bookshelf or desktop. I'm sure it's a challenge to get the forms and details needed, but that's also part of the fun. 

Hokey Religions And Ancient Weapons Are No Match For A Good Blaster At Your Side

When Star Wars came out when I was a wee tike, there were many protracted arguments at playtime as to who would be Luke and who would be Han. Luke was the hero of course, but Han had a darker side, and he SHOT FIRST. There were of course arguments over who would end up with Leia, but later movies would reveal certain facts that made us all shudder just a bit. Anyway, Han also had the coolest blaster, and this mini version by Bruce Lowell shows us just how cool it was.

Weeeeeeeeee!

I remember being a kid and going to the local K-Mart. Out front there was always a small assortment of completely awful quarter rides. I don't recall ever riding on one however until I was a teen, odd. If this had been out front though, you would have never talked me off of it!

The Cutest Little Blaster Ever

Here's proof you don't need a lot of parts to be freakin' awesome. Han Solo's blaster, built with 15 pieces by ObedientMachine. I'm inspired to build a whole arsenal of mini props, who's with me? 

“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”

— Han Solo

"What If He Doesn't Survive?"

This carbon freezing chamber from KW Vaubon looks awesome. It reminds me of a Kenner playset from the 80's. If only LEGO had produced an Ugnaught this facility could be fully staffed. I would love to see this lit and photographed like the movie. It would take some patience, and a fog machine, but it would be amazing.

Thanks for the tip ElBarto!