Star Wars Advent Calendar - Day 17
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO Star Wars entered a new era in 2015, with the release of The Force Awakens and the range growing dramatically to offer over 60 sets, which was a record at the time.
I imagine today's item will come from The Force Awakens, but let's see...
In fact, I am surprised to find our second exclusive minifigure! This version of Luke Skywalker sports a superb festive jumper inspired by the sights of Tatooine, featuring his childhood home and the twin suns of Tatooine on one side and a Sandcrawler on the other. This pixelated style looks marvellous and the green and red colours are very Christmassy.
However, I find it strange that Tatooine was chosen for the jumper, when Endor seems like a more natural fit. The green colour would work nicely for the Forest Moon and Luke's hairstyle and gloved hand suggest a Return of the Jedi connection. Regardless, it is great to see Luke's updated hair piece again, having only appeared twice before, in much more expensive sets.
A green lightsaber is provided too. This minifigure could pay homage to Luke's appearance in 75093 Death Star Final Duel, but I think his infamous Buildable Figure, 75110 Luke Skywalker, is more likely. The sculpting of the hair piece certainly reminds me of that figure, though it works much better at a smaller scale, thankfully.
Luke and Leia look wonderful together in their festive jumpers. I do have questions about their fashion choices because neither character has many positive memories from Hoth or Tatooine, but that is part of the fun!
Overall - This is another excellent minifigure, although I am surprised it appeared today.
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45 comments on this article
"My...son! I mean...my...these...binary...suns...are hot!"
Here is today's ranking (in my opinion):
6. Harry Potter
5. Spider-Man
4. Friends
3. Disney
2. Star Wars
1. City
As much as the Sequels are controversial, I'd say TFA deserved a spot today - I can't be the only one with some fond nostalgia to the start of a (eventually false) hopeful new era too, right?
Opinions aside, if we're celebrating 25 Years of LSW, then the Sequels definitely deserve to be remembered too, imo.
I've seen the buildable figures before, but 75110 is new to me - who got Galidor in my Star Wars?
Tatooine on a sweater: Cute. A sweater on Tatooine: Not a good idea.
My thought is that the Luke minifigure connection is for the launch of the Star Wars CCBS Buildable Figures.
I am very pleased with this minifig. It's another reason why I got the calendar. I wanted that hairpiece. I love it. It is so Mark Hamill.
Day 1: X-Wing - representing 7140 from 1999
Day 2: Princess Leia - representing her first appearance in 2000
Day 3: TIE Fighter - representing 7146 from 2001
Day 4: Super Battle Droid - representing its first appearance in 2002
Day 5: AT-AT Walker - representing 4483 from 2003
Day 6: Y-Wing - representing 10134 from 2004
Day 7: Minikit - representing LEGO Star Wars: The Videogame, released in 2005
Day 8: Jabba's Sail Barge - representing 6210 from 2006
Day 9: Millennium Falcon - representing 10179 from 2007
Day 10: Ahsoka Tano - representing her first appearances in 2008
Day 11: Venator-Class Attack Cruiser, representing 8039 from 2009
Day 12: Theta-Class Shuttle, representing 8096 from 2010
Day 13: T-6 Jedi Shuttle, representing 7931 from 2011
Day 14: Mandalorian Starfighter, representing 9525 from 2012
Day 15: 501st Clone Trooper, representing his first appearance in 2013
Day 16: Ghost, representing 75053 from 2014
Day 17: Luke Skywalker, representing 75110 from 2015
Thanks Capn! Enjoyable reading both here and with Jay! I am certainly having a lot of fun with this years calendar and although not every build is wildly successful I feel that nothing has been mailed in. One comment about Luke’s choice of sweater would be Christmas and family are tightly bound so having his childhood home is not a huge leap in logic for me. Plus the design is awesome! Who doesn’t love a fresh layer of snow out on the desert plains O’Tatooine? Merry Christmas to all!!
@exoboy555 said:
"My thought is that the Luke minifigure connection is for the launch of the Star Wars CCBS Buildable Figures."
That's what I'm guessing too... 75110 is really the only Luke-based set from 2015 that would mark a significant moment in LEGO Star Wars history. And it also explains why Luke sports his ROTJ hair and hand why Leia has her classic buns.
Out of curiosity, has there been any confirmation from a LEGO designer that each day is in fact representing something from its respective year? It’s made perfect sense up until now, but associating this minifigure with 2015 feels like a stretch.
@TheMikeStrikesBack said:
"Out of curiosity, has there been any confirmation from a LEGO designer that each day is in fact representing something from its respective year? It’s made perfect sense up until now, but associating this minifigure with 2015 feels like a stretch."
I don't feel like it's a stretch. If you can only add a minifigure when it's, for example, their first appearance, they would all be at the beginning of the calendar (for the main OT characters). 2015 was the first year of the buildable figures and Luke was one of the characters in the first batch so it makes sense to me.
Mrs. Clause, and this too? Excellent figures.
@mcbbvb said:
" @TheMikeStrikesBack said:
"Out of curiosity, has there been any confirmation from a LEGO designer that each day is in fact representing something from its respective year? It’s made perfect sense up until now, but associating this minifigure with 2015 feels like a stretch."
I don't feel like it's a stretch. If you can only add a minifigure when it's, for example, their first appearance, they would all be at the beginning of the calendar (for the main OT characters). 2015 was the first year of the buildable figures and Luke was one of the characters in the first batch so it makes sense to me. "
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I didn’t think the buildable figures were very popular or iconic. Just seems like an odd choice to me, especially when The Force Awakens was released that year.
@TheMikeStrikesBack said:
" @mcbbvb said:
" @TheMikeStrikesBack said:
"Out of curiosity, has there been any confirmation from a LEGO designer that each day is in fact representing something from its respective year? It’s made perfect sense up until now, but associating this minifigure with 2015 feels like a stretch."
I don't feel like it's a stretch. If you can only add a minifigure when it's, for example, their first appearance, they would all be at the beginning of the calendar (for the main OT characters). 2015 was the first year of the buildable figures and Luke was one of the characters in the first batch so it makes sense to me. "
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I didn’t think the buildable figures were very popular or iconic. Just seems like an odd choice to me, especially when The Force Awakens was released that year.
"
Maybe not popular, but absolutely iconic. What’s an iconic thing from TFA that isn’t just a holdover from previous things?
@TheMikeStrikesBack:
I’m more okay with honoring the CCBS stuff than TFA.
@TheMikeStrikesBack said:
" @mcbbvb said:
" @TheMikeStrikesBack said:
"Out of curiosity, has there been any confirmation from a LEGO designer that each day is in fact representing something from its respective year? It’s made perfect sense up until now, but associating this minifigure with 2015 feels like a stretch."
I don't feel like it's a stretch. If you can only add a minifigure when it's, for example, their first appearance, they would all be at the beginning of the calendar (for the main OT characters). 2015 was the first year of the buildable figures and Luke was one of the characters in the first batch so it makes sense to me. "
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I didn’t think the buildable figures were very popular or iconic. Just seems like an odd choice to me, especially when The Force Awakens was released that year.
"
I agree with your first statement as they're (in my eyes) not that iconic even though I own a couple. But I would say the same can be said about The Force Awakens :P
If this is representative of the start of CCBS Star Wars I must say I'm loving today's choice. Love them or hate them, but that line was definitely something new to the Lego Star Wars theme. It was also the last constraction line until we got those purely system builds a few years ago.
Personally I love my 75112 General Grievous, 75111 Darth Vader, 75534 Darth Vader, 75117 Kylo Ren etc so it's nice they are remembered. And yes, the droids, cyborgs and helmeted characters were the best.
It's odd we got no TFA representation but maybe next day? There's still plenty of years that can homage them, right?
Pretty good day today, no matter the ranking
6. HP Maybe it will look better once the tree is attached (0 points today + 43 points previously earned = 43 points total)
5. Dis Simple, yet important (1+36=37)
4. SM Minifigs don't wear socks (or shoes), so an appropiate re-use of them (2+32=34)
3. Fr I can already smell the cookies! (3+34=37)
2. SW Luke is happy, so am I (4+36=40)
1. City Looks like Mrs. Claus is the only "real" holiday minifigere this year (5+44=45)
I just want to note that there's still multiple significant characters who've never had a festive variant in a Star Wars Advent Calendar (or miscellaneous set):
- Han Solo
- Lando Calrissian
- Obi Wan Kenobi
- Anakin Skywalker (excluding Vader forms)
- Qui-Gon Jinn
- Padme Amidala
- Jar Jar Binks
- Kylo Ren
- Captain Phasma
(We could probably quibble over what counts as a "major character." Ackbar? Tarkin? Sebulba?)
I'm sure Luke has some happy memories of Tatooine, life with Owen and Beru wasn't that bad.
@TheMikeStrikesBack said:
"Out of curiosity, has there been any confirmation from a LEGO designer that each day is in fact representing something from its respective year? It’s made perfect sense up until now, but associating this minifigure with 2015 feels like a stretch."
No, but I think we can safely assume that is the intention. I consider this and the 501st Clone Trooper minifigure from a couple of days ago, representing 2013, odd choices, but given the need to include minifigures already in production and a limited number of new printed parts, I can see the designer's logic.
Still, I would have chosen something related to The Force Awakens for today and tried to find somewhere else for Luke.
Luke's seen some stuff. And it only's gonna get worse for him.
@mafon2 said:
"Luke's seen some stuff. And it only's gonna get worse for him."
You could always just ignore Disney Luke and think about Legends Luke instead. Pro: he's still alive 40-50 years after Endor and raising a son. Con: his nephew murdered his wife, the nephew also died, and so did his other nephew. Niece is doing okay, though.
Luke may be dead by 130 years after Endor. He's probably a ghost. He's probably dead. Who's to say?
@fakespacesquid
@PurpleDave
@mcbbvb
Ha! I second your disdain for The Force Awakens. I didn’t say the buildable figures were a bad choice, just an odd choice :)
In fact, this is the first Star Wars Advent Calendar I’ve bought in years, partly because its Disney trilogy influence is so limited.
@Binnekamp said:
"If this is representative of the start of CCBS Star Wars I must say I'm loving today's choice. Love them or hate them, but that line was definitely something new to the Lego Star Wars theme. It was also the last constraction line until we got those purely system builds a few years ago.
Personally I love my 75112 General Grievous, 75111 Darth Vader, 75534 Darth Vader, 75117 Kylo Ren etc so it's nice they are remembered. And yes, the droids, cyborgs and helmeted characters were the best.
It's odd we got no TFA representation but maybe next day? There's still plenty of years that can homage them, right?"
I do sort of wish I'd gotten 75534, but seeing as how I already had 75111, it seemed redundant at the time. I just wish 75538 had gone beyond prototype stage. Would have been nice to see 75539 become a real boy, er, set, too, but considering that I didn't get 75532, I don't know if I would have gotten that one.
@TheMikeStrikesBack said:
" @fakespacesquid
@PurpleDave
@mcbbvb
Ha! I second your disdain for The Force Awakens. I didn’t say the buildable figures were a bad choice, just an odd choice :)
In fact, this is the first Star Wars Advent Calendar I’ve bought in years, partly because its Disney trilogy influence is so limited."
Not so much disdain, more like I don't think about it at all. I can totally agree that it was big that year, but it really didn't have anything iconic that wasn't taken from previous stuff, outside of maybe Kylo's lightsaber shape and Rey's red speeder thingy.
And as we noted earlier with the Minikit, this calendar is less about 24 years of Star Wars and more about 24 years of Lego Star Wars. I'd say the buildable figures had a much bigger effect than TFA did (they killed CCBS!). Add in the aspect that only one of the Prequels got something related for their release year (99 and 05 pulled from other stuff), and I think it makes sense overall that TFA didn't get something today
Does the little red blob beside the Moistur Vap represent a young and wistful Luke or Santa?
@mshcollector said:
"As much as the Sequels are controversial, I'd say TFA deserved a spot today - I can't be the only one with some fond nostalgia to the start of a (eventually false) hopeful new era too, right?
Opinions aside, if we're celebrating 25 Years of LSW, then the Sequels definitely deserve to be remembered too, imo."
Agreed. Would've loved to see a microscale version of something like 75104 or 75099
@Binnekamp said:
"It's odd we got no TFA representation but maybe next day? There's still plenty of years that can homage them, right?"
December 26th? Or maybe the 32nd of Octember.
@mshcollector said:
"As much as the Sequels are controversial, I'd say TFA deserved a spot today - I can't be the only one with some fond nostalgia to the start of a (eventually false) hopeful new era too, right?
Opinions aside, if we're celebrating 25 Years of LSW, then the Sequels definitely deserve to be remembered too, imo."
TFA absolutely deserved a spot. I understand there's people that don't like the new movies, but I've got a lot of nostalgia for the late-2010's era of Star Wars, much like the Prequel generation has for their movies. I personally love all three Sequels (well, most of TLJ), and would have loved to at least see some reference to them in this calendar.
@TheMikeStrikesBack said:
" @fakespacesquid
@PurpleDave
@mcbbvb
Ha! I second your disdain for The Force Awakens. I didn’t say the buildable figures were a bad choice, just an odd choice :)
In fact, this is the first Star Wars Advent Calendar I’ve bought in years, partly because its Disney trilogy influence is so limited."
See, I'm the opposite; I've been disappointed at the lack of Sequel stuff in recent years....
@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
""My...son! I mean...my...these...binary...suns...are hot!""
Love the Holiday Special (the LEGO one, that is)!
As much as it bugs me that they decided to ignore Episode VII for 2015, I'm really happy with this choice. This and the Leia from this set are going to go nicely with all of my other Ugly Sweater minifigs displayed on my 40658.
I remember how much I wanted 75093 for Christmas in 2015, and it wound up being my last present that year! I also have 75110, and don't hate it as much as most other people.
@BabuBrick said:
"As much as it bugs me that they decided to ignore Episode VII for 2015, I'm really happy with this choice. This and the Leia from this set are going to go nicely with all of my other Ugly Sweater minifigs displayed on my 40658 .
I remember how much I wanted 75093 for Christmas in 2015, and it wound up being my last present that year! I also have 75110 , and don't hate it as much as most other people."
I just remembered there is technically an official Life Day set now that even has a wookie in it, and I'm not sure what to do with this knowledge.
@BabuBrick said:
"This and the Leia from this set are going to go nicely with all of my other Ugly Sweater minifigs displayed on my 40658."
I gave them both short legs and put them walking with their dad in his red Death Star sweater. It’s cute, until you realize that little Luke still has the glove on his hand.
Given how poorly the Sequels and their reception have aged, putting Luke in today's slot was a smart idea. Either that, or a MauLer minifigure since he'll never get that TFA critique series finished.
@WolfpackBricksStudios said:
" @mshcollector said:
"As much as the Sequels are controversial, I'd say TFA deserved a spot today - I can't be the only one with some fond nostalgia to the start of a (eventually false) hopeful new era too, right?
Opinions aside, if we're celebrating 25 Years of LSW, then the Sequels definitely deserve to be remembered too, imo."
Agreed. Would've loved to see a microscale version of something like 75104 or 75099 "
A dark bluish grey version of the Command Shuttle would have been perfect, matching the colour scheme of the original set, much like the X-wing and TIE Fighter from days one and three. I probably would include the opening wings though, rather than adhering strictly to 75104 Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle.
@jkb said:
"Pretty good day today, no matter the ranking
6. HP Maybe it will look better once the tree is attached (0 points today + 43 points previously earned = 43 points total)
5. Dis Simple, yet important (1+36=37)
4. SM Minifigs don't wear socks (or shoes), so an appropiate re-use of them (2+32=34)
3. Fr I can already smell the cookies! (3+34=37)
2. SW Luke is happy, so am I (4+36=40)
1. City Looks like Mrs. Claus is the only "real" holiday minifigere this year (5+44=45)"
That updated City total should be 49, instead of 45.
@PurpleDave said:
" @BabuBrick said:
"This and the Leia from this set are going to go nicely with all of my other Ugly Sweater minifigs displayed on my 40658."
I gave them both short legs and put them walking with their dad in his red Death Star sweater. It’s cute, until you realize that little Luke still has the glove on his hand."
Cute; I like that!
I understand the dislikes with the sequels, but tfa should have gotten something today, maybe a kylo ren's shuttle, or rey's Speeder as others have mentioned, but the Luke minifig is still great, my only other rotj Luke minifig is from the 2012 desert skiff
Mini Rey's speeder would've been most suitable build uniquely from force awakens - or even a minifig from it - we haven't had a Christmas Kylo yet
@TomNeumo said:
" @jkb said:
"Pretty good day today, no matter the ranking
6. HP Maybe it will look better once the tree is attached (0 points today + 43 points previously earned = 43 points total)
5. Dis Simple, yet important (1+36=37)
4. SM Minifigs don't wear socks (or shoes), so an appropiate re-use of them (2+32=34)
3. Fr I can already smell the cookies! (3+34=37)
2. SW Luke is happy, so am I (4+36=40)
1. City Looks like Mrs. Claus is the only "real" holiday minifigere this year (5+44=45)"
That updated City total should be 49, instead of 45."
Thank you! Will take that into account for day 18!
I am actually a bit surprised that Luke was not the day 24 selection. With Leia appearing so early, I thought he might come in the end and effectively bookend the AC with the Force Twins. I cannot think of anything left that I know about that would rival a Christmas sweater Luke for that last spot.
@stevesheriw said:
"I am actually a bit surprised that Luke was not the day 24 selection. With Leia appearing so early, I thought he might come in the end and effectively bookend the AC with the Force Twins. I cannot think of anything left that I know about that would rival a Christmas sweater Luke for that last spot. "
Force Twin Powers…activate!