Toy Fair 2013: Star Wars Lego!

More Toy Fair 2013 coverage, this time combining two of my favourite things in the last thirty plus years: Lego and Star Wars (just narrowly coming in behind beer and boobs). But first I really can't thank our pal, Travis Denman, and Vinylmation Kingdom enough. They certainly don't owe us anything, and are out there on the frontlines doing all the hard work while I'm stuck on the other side of the globe in a former penal colony. So thanks heaps to those guys for the pictures (which I am going to pick and choose from) and let's begin with my biased commentary. Beginning with the best Lego minifigure of all time...

Holy. Crap.

That there is the first ever minifig of everybody's favourite piano playing space elephant, Max Rebo! The only thing missing is he modesty-protecting underpants! Lego, you ingenious Danish bastards, you have once again out done yourselves!

And to find out what else those crafty characters are up to, join me... after the jump!

So that Max Rebo (and the new, sexy flesh-toned Slave Leia, it should be mentioned) are from the upcoming new iteration of Jabba's sail barge. I never had the original so I can't tell you how it compares, but it looks pretty solid. It may not be exactly to scale but it looks like there's ample room to fit Jabba and his space-beer swilling cronies...

If you squint you may notice a nearly camouflaged Weequay to the left of that previous shot as well. Although Travis didn't manage to snap him, this set also includes three-eyed drunkard space goat, Ree Yees, which may well be another contender for my favourite Lego minifig of 2013. 

And while we're speaking of Jabba, I couldn't resist this awesome image...

The rancor pit (with rancor) is beyond impressive, especially considering that it attaches to the magnificent Jabba's Palace set from last year. And if you're quick and lucky then I've already seen this set on the shelves. I don't own any of the most recent Star Wars Lego, but were I to pick some up then I would definitely opt for a Jabba diorama. The sail barge segues into that arrangement nicely. There's great synergy there from Lego and these are perfect sets for displaying your mass of minifigs. Bravo. 

Okay that was - in my opinion - the absolute best stuff. Now for the rest (which are still pretty cool).

As you may have heard, the 3D re-release of Attack of the Clones has been indefinitely postponed, but licensees are still stuck with plenty of Attack of the Clones product. Like this updated version of the Yoda/Dooku duel...

Now I used to have the original release of this ten years or so again and back then Dooku had yellow skin and it all it came with was his golf buggy speeder and a tiny crane. This new diorama set is leagues better. And check out this wacky new Yoda sculpt...

Tell me what you think that expression is trying to encapsulate in the barren comments section below!

Okay, now on to expanded universe and Clone Wars animated series stuff. I have just about zero reference point for this...

If your eyes are too dull to read that tiny text, this is Jek-14's Stealth Starfighter. Now, from what I can gather, Jek-14 is a character from Lego Star Wars web series Yoda Chronicles. I haven't seen much of that yet but he looks to be a clone trooper with a lightsaber which raises all manner of troublesome questions. Cool ship though...

Now here's something I'm a little more familiar with. This Umbaran MHC (Mobile Heavy Cannon) is from an animated Clone Wars arc. It's a four episode story that could have easily been condensed to three, but the pay off is well worth it. It was set on a pitch black planet where light sensitive aliens had some pretty impressive new tech, including this beast...

Also of note is Jedi General Krell who appears as a brand new minifig...

He may look like a disgruntled Muppet in that picture but if you've seen the show then you know how badass he gets. He's unlike any character we've ever seen before and I'm glad Lego found the opportunity to include him!

Okay, speaking of Clone Wars, guess who's back? Back again?

So Darth Maul's cut-in-half injury healed and he came back full force these last couple of seasons. Recent episodes saw him teaming up with the Mandalorians and he is pictured there with a Mandalorian speeder.

It may not be the most exciting vehicle ever made (I think it's cool even though it's not iconic) but the Maul with robotic legs minifig is certainly a nice touch... (as opposed to a "bad touch"??)

And finally this one goes out to fans of our site. Many of you followed along to last year's Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar. The response was very mixed with fans loving the minifigs but hating some of the obscure and difficult to identify mini vehicles. So here is your preview of the 2013 Advent Calendar...

Travis has plenty of spoiler photos of the contents of this set, but I'm just going to show off this one (relax, you'll forget about this by Christmas and will be surprised all over again)....

I've now seen everything included and to be honest I'm worried that it's overall worse than last year's. But I'll still get it and we'll have more fun this December.

And that's it for now! What did you like best? Don't be shy? I'm safely stashed away in a former penal colony...