The Brick Connection – A novice Lego fan explores the great brick world of LEGO

Star Wars!!

Yeah, that’s how I greet people now. If you’re one of those annoying traditional greeting people, allow me to offer you a simple “hello” instead.

I think myself and the rest of the world are coming back down to earth from the Star Wars frenzy. But just because I have my obsession under control, doesn’t mean I’m not still obsessed.

Last week’s discussion was focused on the Millennium Falcon’s journey through The Force Awakens.

Now we are going to talk about AT-ATs.

Yes, those AT-ATs. Best known for their attack on Echo Base in Empire Strikes Back. 

But if you were paying attention, you saw that an AT-AT also made an appearance in The Force Awakens. The wreckage of one, a remnant of the Galactic Civil War is seen on the planet Jakku. And seen living in the wreckage is the new star of Star Wars, Rey.

If you can forget for a second about the depressing fact that this young woman is living alone in a desert, inside an abandoned machine of war, that wide shot of the AT-AT laying on its side was a nice jolt of nostalgia.

Okay it's not really that relevant to the new movie, but the real reason I bring up the AT-AT is because of this epic LEGO version that was built by the awesome people at Brick Vault, a LEGO Enthusiast YouTube channel.

This LEGO monstrosity was made using over 6000 pieces. The original design was done by Peter Brookdale and you can see his version here.

What Charlie at Brick Vault gives us is an awesome time lapse video of his AT-AT build along with some insight into how each section is made, and how difficult it was to get the AT-AT to stand on its legs.

Check out the video:

The build took a total of 26 hours, spread out over 3 days. Charlie says it was the most difficult LEGO build he has ever done. It is not for a novice builder he says. (Way to crush my dreams, Charlie.) One of the many reasons why it is not for a beginner is that he actually had to redesign the legs in order to make them sturdy enough to hold the weight of the body. This thing is very top-heavy and it took some trial and error for Charlie to get it standing. And even then, he was quite nervous about its stability. He ultimately would like to build a snow platform out of LEGO (to replicate the planet Hoth) so he can clip the legs in and then they will always be at the proper angles needed to hold up the body.

Despite all that, the model is extremely detailed and accurate, even the undercarriage. Charlie noted that from a few steps back you can barely tell it’s made of LEGO. There was some excellent utilization of SNOT, so there are not a lot of studs showing. Major props to the original designer and Charlie from Brick Vault for these amazing LEGO accomplishments. 

Speaking of AT-ATs, let’s talk about a person that lives inside of one.

Rey

Ah Rey. More like, a ray of sunshine in this dark and sad new Star Wars world.

Before I continue. Just two quick reminders as I talk about The Force Awakens.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS

THERE WILL BE LEGO

Okay, back to Rey.

There were many questions left unanswered after this film and the biggest question is still, who is Rey? There was speculation back when the new cast was first announced that Rey was the daughter of Princess Leia and Han Solo. And there is still speculation about that. Yes, despite the fact that we saw her interact with both Han and Leia, with no mention of familial relations, a lot of people still think she could be their daughter.

Or is she Luke Skywalker’s daughter?

Or is she related to Obi-Wan Kenobi?

One thing is for sure, she has the making of a Jedi Knight. And you don’t have to be related to a Jedi to have that. Does ANYONE remember the prequels?? There were a bunch of Jedi going about their Jedi business: male, female, human, non-human…. and none of them were related to a Skywalker or Obi-Wan.

So although it is possible that she is related to a Skywalker (and it would certainly parallel the original trilogy nicely if she was), I’m not completely sold either way.

Let’s take a look at Rey’s journey through The Force Awakens, and the LEGO sets related to her story.

Like I said before, Rey is in quite unfortunate circumstances when we meet her, but she does have one good thing going for her: she owns a kick-ass speeder.

Now maybe non-LEGO fans will quickly forget that this vehicle appeared in the film, but due to the fantastic LEGO set, Rey’s Speeder, WHICH I OWN, the speeder’s time onscreen was very important to me.

Check out my video review of this set:

You can also find more of my thoughts on it in my blog review.

I thought the speeder looked great in the film and reminded me nicely of the set I built. So overall I’d give LEGO an A for film accuracy. In addition to the Rey minifigure, which looks great with Rey’s hair (3 buns this time!) and her hood/goggles, the second minifigure was called Unkar’s Thug. Unkar was the gross, blob of an alien that gave out Rey’s food rations based on the parts she found while scavenging. I couldn’t remember when his thugs appeared, but fortunately the official Star Wars website was very helpful:

The picture is from the scene where the thugs try to steal BB-8. Well they messed with the wrong scavenger! Speaking of BB-8. He/She/It would have been a great addition to this set. But BB-8 was included with the Millennium Falcon and Poe’s X-Wing sets. Unfortunately those are $150 and $80 sets. I think most of us would prefer a more affordable way to get the cutest droid in the galaxy.

Speaking even more of BB-8, it is Rey’s encounter with this wonderful little droid that starts her on the way to awakening the force. Much like Luke’s first meeting with R2-D2 and C3PO kicks off his journey in the original film.

R2-D2 is my favorite character in all the films so I was surprised how much I fell in love with another droid (gasp!).In fact I think I’d have to call BB-8 my second favorite character in all the films. Yes, out of all seven of them. Sorry human characters.

After escaping Jakku with Finn and BB-8 on the Millennium Falcon and then meeting Han Solo and Chewbaca, Rey ends up on the planet Takodana where the group tries to get help from Maz Kanata, a cantina owner that can help them get BB8 to the Resistance. That is where Rey makes a great big discovery: Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber...Which used to be Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber...Which was last seen in Cloud City in the hand of Luke Skywalker that got chopped off by Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader. 

How did Luke or whoever get this lightsaber back? Well, we don’t know.

But when Rey touches it, her mind is flooded with disturbing visions related to Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren’s turn to the dark side, and her own abandonment on Jakku when she was a young child.

Maz tells her it is her destiny to have the lightsaber, but Rey is too freaked out and runs away to the forest. That is where Kylo Ren finds her and kidnaps her, flying away on his Command Shuttle.

Speaking of Kylo Ren’s Command Shuttle. Let’s talk about the set. It was great that they had this set because the command shuttle is seen often in the film and I’m sure will be seen in future films. There is the really great introduction of Kylo Ren when he steps off his shuttle on Jakku at the very beginning of the movie. At this point he is a very scary and mysterious character. And then we see him carrying Rey onto his shuttle on Takodana before taking off. This is an important moment in the film because Han sees him doing this and we can assume that it’s the first time he’s seen his son in a long time. Just moments later Han relays this information to his estranged wife, Leia.

Oh, those two. Other than Han’s son being evil and murdering him, the saddest part of the movie for me was Han and Leia’s relationship. What was once a fiery and steamy romance is now a sad and heavily burdened one. (I mean if there was ever proof that having kids ruins your life, this is it!)

Back to Kylo and his shuttle. Despite the prominence of the vehicle in the film, the set itself did not seem to be well-liked amongst LEGO builders. 

The set does come with some nice minifigs though, including Kylo Ren and his funky lightsaber, some First Order crew and stormtrooper, and General Hux. I knew nothing about General Hux going into this film. But boy did he make an impression. The dude is basically the Adolf Hitler of the Star Wars universe. And he seems way more intimidating and commanding then any Imperial officer from the original trilogy. So if you have the money to spend ($120), then the Kylo Ren Command Shuttle is at least worth it satisfactory for the minifigs.

One thing about Kylo Ren before going back to Rey. I love all the new characters. All of them. Rey, Finn, Poe, and of course BB-8. Kylo Ren, I guess I’ll say I love to hate. I think I liked him a lot more in the first half of the movie though, before he took his mask off and you realized he’s just a whiny little bitch butthead.

So after the butthead unsuccessfully interrogates Rey using the force, Rey uses the force herself to escape and runs into Han, Finn, and Chewie, who have come to save her.

It is around this point that the Snowspeeder LEGO set was supposed to come into play. But I did not see one onscreen. I’ve heard that some people saw one or two in the background of a scene.

According to a very interesting Telegraph article about scenes that were changed or cut for the final version of the film, there was supposed to be an epic Snowspeeder chase with Finn and Rey. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be before or after that horrible thing that happened, but basically Rey and Finn steal a snowspeeder and get chased. Maybe there will be a deleted scene on the DVD.

The set itself got mixed reviews. Funny enough, Stephen from The Brick Show’s main issue with the set was that he had no context for it. Welp, still no context really. Except that we know the snow-covered place was the Starkiller Base. 

After an epic lightsaber battle with Kylo Ren, Rey escapes Starkiller Base with Finn and Chewie. It is after this that we see what may or may not be her first time meeting Leia. It's a very nice moment of force, recognizing force. But is it daughter re-meeting mother? Or did daughter meet father in that epic last scene on an island?

Hopefully we will find out sooner than later. Unfortunately I'm worried we won't know for sure until Episode IX.

Alright, that was my way too many thoughts on The Force Awakens and specifically Rey. She is an amazing new addition to the Star Wars universe and I'm very excited I get to own a LEGO version of her. 

Believe it or not, I have more thoughts to share next week, but this time the focus will be on Poe Dameron and Finn. Will you stick around?

In the mean time, I still want to know what you thought of the film and specifically Rey? How do you think the LEGO sets hold up in comparison to the film? Also, would you like to punch Kylo Ren in the face? 

I thought so. 

Thanks for sticking with me! Until next time...may Han and Leia's love never die! Unlike Han :(

*Compliments, general feedback, and constructive criticism are welcome. Any haters that are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate can go step on some Lego with their bare feet.*