Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar, Day 13: GNK Power Droid

Remember in Return of the Jedi, when C-3PO sees 8D8 torturing the GNK droid?

Yipes!

Well, that is what we got in the calendar today: a GNK droid, also known as a gonk droid. See? Here he is, ready to be tortured:

Lego GNK droid:

Episode VI GNK droid:

Gonk droids are power droids, basically power generators that could move and communicate.

I like the detail of the feet in today's build. He's a cute little droid!

For more information about the GNK droid (and to become hopelessly curious about the phrase "Gonk. Gonk. Gonk ko kyenga see.") visit Wookieepedia.
For parts information for today's build, visit Bricklink.

Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar, Day 12: Hoth Rebel Trooper

My wish came true! We have a Rebel trooper to man our laser cannon!

Lego Rebel trooper:

Episode V Rebel troopers:

Lego Rebel trooper using the laser cannon against an Imperial Officer (whose face happens to resemble Ron Weasley's...):

For more information on Rebel troopers and Special Forces Rebel troops, see Wookieepedia.
For parts information for today's build, see Bricklink.

Short Poseable Minifig Legs

Have you ever wanted to pose your short minifig legs like you do with your regular minifig legs? Well, now you can!

My brother-in-law started producing these fantastic articulated short minifig legs, which are currently available in five different colors (black, dark blue, gray, reddish-brown, and tan). Check them out at Brick Fortress!

Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar, Day 11: Hoth Laser Cannon

The good news: it's not from Episode I. The bad news: it's not very exciting. Well, maybe you'll find it more exciting than I do.

Today's build is a Hoth laser cannon. The official term is a "1.4 FD P-Tower laser cannon." I thought for sure that even your standard Star Wars fan would have no idea what a "1.4 FD P-Tower laser cannon" is, but then I asked Boyfriend if he knew what it was, just off the top of his head, and he sent me this picture, so apparently he knew:

And apparently it's also called an Atgar laser cannon, so who knows what its real name is!

Lego Hoth laser cannon:

Episode V Hoth laser cannon:

The problem is that we need a rebel minifig to operate this laser cannon, but we don't have one yet. Maybe General Veers wants to use it?

The Gungan?

The droid?

Hopefully we'll get a rebel soon!

For more information on the Hoth laser cannon / 1.4 FD P-tower laser cannon / Atgar laser cannon, see Wookieepedia.
For parts information for this build, see Bricklink.

Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar, Day 10: AT-AT Walker

This is my favorite build so far! Today we get an AT-AT walker, which you should pronounce as "A-T-A-T walker," not "at-at walker" (learned that from my guy friend at work, who told me that I could pronounce it "at-at walker" but then people would laugh at me).

AT-AT stands for All-Terrain Armored Transport.

Lego AT-AT walker:

So cute!

Episode V AT-AT walker:

The thing about AT-ATs is that they are just so darn adorable. They resemble little dogs, and, in fact, there are many artworks and t-shirt designs to that effect:

AT-AT walker as a dog drinking from toilet:

AT-AT walker as dog, being walked by Darth Vader:

 

Then there's the AT-AT Walker walker, which is how to use a walker in style:

 

So fun!

When I saw the ads for this year's Lego Star Wars advent calendar, the first thing I did was to create my own AT-AT walker from my spare Lego bricks. It's a great build, and instantly recognizable.

Now the only question is who would win in a battle, an AT-AT Walker, or a mumakil?

For more information about the AT-AT walker, see Wookieepedia.
For parts information for this build, see Bricklink.
For more information on the mumakil, see the LOTR wiki.

Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar, Day 9: Imperial Officer

Hooray! It's another (real) minifigure! And he's not from Episode I, either!

This Imperial Officer may or may not be General Veers. Lego doesn't specify his name, but he looks awfully similar.

Lego Imperial Officer:

(with a two-sided head):

General Veers, as seen in Episode V:

For more information about Imperial Officers or General Veers, see Wookieepedia.
For parts information for this build, see Bricklink.

Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar, Day 8: Vulture Droid

The "official" name for this thing is a Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I, but "vulture droid" works just fine for me.

Vulture droids could "walk" on land in a sort of insectoid form, and then they'd transform into the figure we got in our calendar for flight mode. Once in flight, their wings could separate to fire off their blaster cannons.

Since these are droids, and not ships, they don't have a pilot in them; instead, they connect to a main ship and are controlled from remotely. According to Wookieepedia, the vulture droids were "programmed to self-destruct if their link with their host control ship was severed."

Lego vulture droid:

Episode III vulture droids:

On "land":

In flight:

Wings separated to dispatch weaponry:

A better view:

That last image looks kind of like a sting ray:

Visit Wookieepedia for more information about the vulture droid.
Visit Bricklink for parts information for this build.
Visit Arkive for more information about the stingray. :o)

Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar, Day 7: N-1 Starfighter

The Naboo N-1 Starfighter is a ship that has always captured my imagination: the lines, the curves, the shapes... it's a beautiful thing. This is definitely one of the better elements of Episode I.

Lego Naboo N-1 Starfighter:

Episode I Naboo N-1 Starfighter:

So pretty...

Incidentally, in Star Wars: A Complete Cross-Section, it says that "Only royal ships may carry the hand-finished royal chromium treatment." That would've been cool if we'd gotten metallic-finish pieces instead of grey, but it still looks good overall (and it certainly looks a million times better than the last vehicle we got). :o)

For more information on the Naboo N-1 Starfighter, visit Wookieepedia.
For parts information for this build, visit Bricklink.