Review: 31200 Star Wars The Sith
Posted by CapnRex101,
Mosaics appear frequently throughout LEGO's extensive history, depicting various interesting subjects. LEGO Art augments the selection and incorporates marvellous detail, featuring more authentic shading and subtle reflections which generate realistic images.
31200 Star Wars The Sith contains 3406 pieces and three different images can be constructed from these elements. Furthermore, combining three packs allows you to assemble an even larger mosaic which measures 116cm in height and comprises nearly 7000 1x1 round plates! The resultant depiction of Darth Vader seems exceptionally impressive and was therefore the first LEGO Art mosaic which I constructed.
Box and Contents
Each mosaic is packaged in an unusually flat box and 31200 Star Wars The Sith displays Darth Vader on the cover, with Darth Maul and Kylo Ren appearing in smaller images underneath. Opening the box reveals several bags containing 1x1 round plates alongside a box which protects the 16x16 mosaic panels. The pieces for building the frame are kept under the instruction manual.
The instruction manual contains some information about previous LEGO products which are associated with the Dark Side and discusses the development of new artwork for this theme. Several images were apparently considered for each mosaic, featuring different lighting and poses, before these three examples were selected.
Information about each character is also provided, including how LEGO has depicted them previously. The artwork which inspired Darth Vader and Kylo Ren is only displayed as small images and the shots found on their respective character pages are generic, unfortunately. I was also disappointed to find the wrong emblem on the back of the instruction manual as the Sith Eternal symbol appears instead of the classic Sith insignia.
The building instructions differ from their standard design, showing each mosaic panel in two dimensions. That enables easier construction and appears somewhat reminiscent of paint-by-numbers kits as each colour is assigned a number. Two-dimensional building instructions are relatively rare but have been employed previously, including for 10018 Darth Maul.
The Completed Model
Darth Vader looks absolutely spectacular when assembled, carrying his famed red lightsaber that casts light across the helmet. The cropped design might not appeal to everyone but looks marvellous in my opinion, particularly given the relative height of this mosaic. Furthermore, the distribution of light bluish grey, dark bluish grey and dark blue 1x1 round plates is exceptionally effective, creating the illusion of reflective surfaces and shadows.
The mosaic measures almost 117cm in height and therefore requires considerable space to display, although its relatively narrow width of 40cm is helpful in that respect. The new Darth Vader minifigure from 75291 Death Star Final Duel is placed beside this mosaic in the image below, demonstrating its enormous size. The construction process is therefore repetitive and took about seven hours, providing adequate time for me to watch the Original Trilogy while building!
Despite that scale, the mosaic feels remarkably robust. The mosaic panels are joined using Technic pins and then secured inside the frame around the edge. Technic pins alone provide sufficient support for smaller mosaics but the frame is certainly required here as the weight of this model will otherwise cause different sections to become separated.
White, bright light yellow and red 1x1 round plates are combined to splendid effect along the lightsaber blade. I am particularly delighted with those bright light yellow elements that create depth around the lightsaber. The dark red and dark brown elements beside the blade appear similarly realistic, giving the impression of intense heat which is emanating from the weapon.
Additionally, the positioning of red and orange plates along the edge of Darth Vader's helmet looks magnificent. The contrast between illuminated sections and others in shadow is brilliant and I like the subtle reflections at the centre of each lens. The triangular respiratory filter looks fantastic too, albeit only when viewed from a distance as the white parts stand out significantly against the surrounding black pieces.
The white components across Darth Vader's shoulder armour also seem slightly awkward at close range, although they become authentic reflections when viewed from further away. The only obvious inaccuracy across this mosaic is the bright light yellow button on the chest panel which should appear blue or green, depending upon the film. I presume that was not possible because blue pieces were not required for any of the standard mosaics, although only twelve would have been necessary.
Overall
Darth Vader is undoubtedly among the most celebrated Star Wars characters and this mosaic appears suitably majestic. The colour combination is surprisingly effective and I enjoyed discovering how seemingly unsuitable colours were used to create realistic shading. Moreover, the pale lightsaber looks incredibly striking against Darth Vader's dark armour, particularly with reflections across one side.
However, assembling this mosaic requires three copies of 31200 Star Wars The Sith, costing £344.97 or $359.97 in total. That is extremely expensive and more traditional LEGO sets offer much better value where the building experience is concerned, although few models provide such extraordinary display value and I am looking forward to hanging this mosaic, unless the smaller designs prove even more attractive! Our review of those will be published soon.
This set was provided for review by The LEGO Group but the review represents an expression of my own opinions.
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79 comments on this article
the image like a computer game from 1993
It's very cool
Damn. Just damn. This thing is beautiful!
Maybe I missed it, if you mentioned it already; but I'm curious about the building experience itself. Is it not an incredibly monotonous process, placing so many 1x1 studs and nothing else? :o
Wish they hadn't used white for the grill on Vader's "mouth." It's distracting and he looks a bit derpy. Other than that, this looks pretty good.
Thanks for another great review Capn Rex.
Not only does this require the purchase of three sets to make the one large mosaic, but you would need three more if you wanted to display all of them together—ouch!
How would this look with normal 1x1 plates rather than round plates?
I wonder, and had been thinking about this with the Beatles one, if I bought three of them, how many more pieces would I need to get to build the fourth considering there may be a fair amount of spares.
With regard to the building experience, it took about seven hours and I watched the whole Original Trilogy while building. I found the process quickest if you place all the pieces of the same colour on each panel before moving onto the next colour, although others may find it easier to attach the plates in rows.
@jpmeier - I think the mosaic would appear more angular, of course, but that would also conceal the black colour underneath the plates so I imagine the colours would seem more saturated if standard 1x1 plates were used instead.
@imemine98 - I am not sure about 31198 The Beatles but will see whether you can build any smaller Star Wars mosaics using the parts remaining from this one. There are certainly plenty of elements left over!
So this set contains 877 (!!) of the black round stud... is this the LEGO record for the "largest quantity of an element in a single set"?
Do they provide trays to put all the studs in? Would be useful for keeping the colours all separated and ready to grab along the way!
Thanks for the review. Good idea to watch the OT. Did you listen to the podcast as well? Was that interesting and contributing to the experience?
Impressive. Most impressive.
Thanks for the review! My copy of The Sith just arrived. I'd love to build the giant Vader but not sure I can justify that much when there are so many other great sets out there. But I might fall in love when I've built the smaller Vader, and try to pick them up gradually (hoping they might not be exclusive to the LEGO store, and can maybe be found on promotion down the line).
I want this set and I would get it if it was more affordable.
I wonder how many extra pieces there are after building a single portrait, maybe you only need to buy 3? (For beatles )
@NATHANOS_RIDING_A_SEGWAY said:
" @CapnRex101 will you review the other three models?"
It says the reviews will be published soon at the end of the article.
It looks fantastic when finished, but the high price makes this feel like an awfully niche product. If I wanted a big piece of Star Wars art I'd probably just go for a print; even with a frame it'd probably work out significantly cheaper.
It looks stunning! How many parts did you have left over at the end?
I'm wondering how far you could get towards building the three-panel picture with just two of the sets and an extra bunch of the 16x16 base blocks.
September 1st can't get here soon enough!
BTW for anyone who has a cross stitch fan in their family, and either doesn't want to spend the money or doesn't have the space for the actual set, the LEGO ART instructions make great patterns!
I have been staring at the single Vader version next to the Iron man Mk3 as a comparison for two days and although I am a bigger Star Wars fan I have to say IMO as a stand-alone Vader is not right , the cheeks appear slatted and lower face just doesn’t work well as it looks decidedly off scale to the helmet (The best of the three as an accurate rendition is Kylo Wren , Maul is also just not quite convincing enough ) I will wait for a discount and grab two more to complete the big one but it won’t be going up on the wall as is.
I'd like to see the new parts close up. Can anyone tell me if different frame arrangements are possible? Could I use this to make a 32×32 frame, or a 32×64 frame? It appears to be 48×48 if I counted correctly.
"The resultant depiction of Darth Vader seems particularly impressive and was therefore the first LEGO Art mosaic which I constructed."
I normally don't criticize writing, but my mind is having trouble understanding the use of "therefore" in this sentence.
@BonkersBricks said:
"I'd like to see the new parts close up. Can anyone tell me if different frame arrangements are possible? Could I use this to make a 32×32 frame, or a 32×64 frame? It appears to be 48×48 if I counted correctly."
I haven't got this yet, but it seems that the 16x16 technic bricks should be able to form any size where width and height are multiples of 16.
For an extra challenge for the true OCD amongst us, you have to align the 1x1 plates with the word LEGO the right way up! That's one benefit of the Warhol ones as you can't get a tile the wrong way up.
@BionicleJedi said:
"Maybe I missed it, if you mentioned it already; but I'm curious about the building experience itself. Is it not an incredibly monotonous process, placing so many 1x1 studs and nothing else? :o"
I'm sure the monotony would be for some a zen type of experience; similar to those that count money or perform a repetitive remedial task. If it's a complicated or innovative build you're looking for I think you might want to pass on this one.
This mosaic is a beast of a picture, I might get it but I'll set with just one picture.
Would have preferred if they used the 1x1 round tile across all the mosaics as opposed to tile with some and plate with others.
Given that my "OCD" would demand the LEGO logo on the top of each stud be oriented correctly LOL
@Brainslugged said:
"For an extra challenge for the true OCD amongst us, you have to align the 1x1 plates with the word LEGO the right way up! That's one benefit of the Warhol ones as you can't get a tile the wrong way up."
Wait until your level of OCD has you lining up the gate marks on 1x1 tiles.
Oh, it’s beautiful’- Director Krennic.
@CapnRex101 said:
"With regard to the building experience, it took about seven hours and I watched the whole Original Trilogy while building. I found the process quickest if you place all the pieces of the same colour on each panel before moving onto the next colour, although others may find it easier to attach the plates in rows.
@jpmeier - I think the mosaic would appear more angular, of course, but that would also conceal the black colour underneath the plates so I imagine the colours would seem more saturated if standard 1x1 plates were used instead.
@imemine98 - I am not sure about 31198 The Beatles but will see whether you can build any smaller Star Wars mosaics using the parts remaining from this one. There are certainly plenty of elements left over!"
Thank you! As you mentioned these are expensive, so if people can buy 2 Star Wars sets and fashion the third out of the other two spares or unused pieces that’d be great. And the Beatles are four sets but there was a limit of three I thought I read somewhere.
@PDelahanty said:
""The resultant depiction of Darth Vader seems particularly impressive and was therefore the first LEGO Art mosaic which I constructed."
I normally don't criticize writing, but my mind is having trouble understanding the use of "therefore" in this sentence."
The Vader mosaic was more impressive, so that's the first one selected. What's confusing?
@CapnRex101 Might you talk a bit about the accompanying podcast when you review the individual set images? I’m curious to hear if it adds anything to the value of the set
This mega-mosaic is most impressive, and pretty much convinces me that if I'm going to buy one of "The Sith", then I need to buy two more to make the large Vader mosaic happen. However, LEGO could've gotten even more of my money if the third individual portrait was actually a Sith Lord, like Sidious or Tyrannus. The presence of a mere dark side warrior like Kylo Ren tarnishes the collection, and I presume it would be too much of a stretch to showcase an EU Sith Lord. But thankfully, due to it being LEGO, I would never need to build the Ren mosaic even if I bought a third set.
@CCC:
There was a guy at Brickworld Chicago in 2018 who had a mosaic of the Logan movie poster. While the silhouette of Logan was pretty chunky, he'd developed a color system that involved putting two layers of transparent colors over a third layer that would generally be opaque, allowing for thousands of colors that had previously been impossible. Since the background was just a vibrant sunset, the color variation across the entire build was so subtle that it looked just as good up close as it did from a distance.
@jpmeier:
Chunkier. The big benefit of round plates and tiles is that inexperienced builders don't have to worry about part orientation (round is round is round), but a side benefit is that the round pixels soften up angled edges.
@Brainslugged:
1x1 round tiles have a pip on the side where the gate was located, which causes a subtle fan-shaped pattern to form into that edge of the top surface. I suspect the tile mosaics will have a weird effect as a result of all those fans being oriented in different directions. You know, unless you line them all up properly, with the pip facing down. Or, if you really want a challenge, pick a focal point on the design and orient all of the pips either toward or away from that point.
Thank you that was a very informative review, and it does look fantastic.
Is the instructions included for all models? I‘m assuming the 3 square mosaics are included but is the one that is built in this review also included or is it only available as a download since you need 3 sets to build it?
Not going to pay too much mind to the "OCD" comments while I'm here actually tearing my body apart on a daily basis, but respect to @winbrant for at least putting it in quotes.
@BionicleJedi said:
"Maybe I missed it, if you mentioned it already; but I'm curious about the building experience itself. Is it not an incredibly monotonous process, placing so many 1x1 studs and nothing else? :o"
It is, that's why you need something in the background, or to occasionally redirect your attention to. The long hours mean you can use the time to do something else that you otherwise wouldn't have set aside the necessary amount of time for, in @CapnRex101's case, watching the OT. I agree that some commentary on the included soundtrack would be great as well, namely if there's really 7 hours worth of content in there (I'm guessing not
As cool as this looks, much like busts, I cannot see myself buying Lego as an art.
@Lego_Lord_Mayorca said:
"However, LEGO could've gotten even more of my money if the third individual portrait was actually a Sith Lord, like Sidious or Tyrannus. The presence of a mere dark side warrior like Kylo Ren tarnishes the collection(...)"
Luckily, LEGO are going to get even more of other people's money by putting Kylo Ren in because he looks bad-ass.
I can see the appeal of this 16-pit pixel art kind of thing, but the end result simply doesn't justify the cost; these really seem like something for people with too much money.
Slightly more abstractly: it says LEGO on the box, and the box contains LEGO, but the build isn't LEGO...
It's pretty, although the way Vader's face is done looks like he is wearing braces on his buck teeth. The price is ridiculous.
Waw, this actually looks a lot WORSE then I expected...goddamn this is some ugly stuff...
Also, why isnt his lightsaber red?
@Tuun said:
"Waw, this actually looks a lot WORSE then I expected...goddamn this is some ugly stuff...
Also, why isnt his lightsaber red?"
Er, it is? The part that's white is just highly concentrated with plasma so you can't see the color. Which is exactly how it appears in the films, no?
@bananaworld said:
"Slightly more abstractly: it says LEGO on the box, and the box contains LEGO, but the build isn't LEGO..."
How so? How many layers of stacking are required before a build becomes LEGO?
The lightsaber glow and shadow effect is well done. I'm sure like all good art I will eventually view in a Lego shop display or museum which will be sufficient for me. I doubt once you build one image you will ever have the patience to remove all the pieces and build another. Although could be a good group activity if each person does one part of the total, but would need to find some tubs for the pieces. I would consider buying and building if the creative people use the pieces to create more characters or a Star Wars Death Star battle scene or similar, but probably need a lot more white and grey pieces. An interesting Lego Ideas competition to win the above, would be to design a sliding robotic arm to build the mosaics for you using the colour sensor in mindstorms, spike or powered up? This would even increase sales if you could have copies of the winning entry in each Lego shop to watch it make up your mosaic after just purchasing.
@chrichrichri said:
"the image like a computer game from 1993"
You do understand that 1 stud represents one pixel right?
@LegoSonicBoy said:
"Not going to pay too much mind to the "OCD" comments while I'm here actually tearing my body apart on a daily basis, but respect to @winbrant for at least putting it in quotes.
@BionicleJedi said:
"Maybe I missed it, if you mentioned it already; but I'm curious about the building experience itself. Is it not an incredibly monotonous process, placing so many 1x1 studs and nothing else? :o"
It is, that's why you need something in the background, or to occasionally redirect your attention to. The long hours mean you can use the time to do something else that you otherwise wouldn't have set aside the necessary amount of time for, in @CapnRex101's case, watching the OT. I agree that some commentary on the included soundtrack would be great as well, namely if there's really 7 hours worth of content in there (I'm guessing not"
I believe that the podcast/soundtrack is 90 minutes long.
@8BrickMario said:
" @PDelahanty said:
""The resultant depiction of Darth Vader seems particularly impressive and was therefore the first LEGO Art mosaic which I constructed."
I normally don't criticize writing, but my mind is having trouble understanding the use of "therefore" in this sentence."
The Vader mosaic was more impressive, so that's the first one selected. What's confusing?"
The word "therefore" is meant to introduce a consequence, but it appears that it's an explanation in hindsight here. To make sense of the sentence, it would seem that CapnRex101 saw a picture of the mosaic somewhere and therefore decided to construct it.
@CliveyB said:
"It's pretty, although the way Vader's face is done looks like he is wearing braces on his buck teeth."
{Vader voice} You do not know the power of the orthodontic side of the Force! {End Vader voice}
Nope, thank you. I'd rather get a framed poster for a fraction of the price. Heck, I could probably even commission a painting for that money. Not to mention how tedious the build must be.
These sets are $200 apiece in Australia. $600 for the full mosaic... TLG is having a larf
@Slobrojoe said:
"I believe that the podcast/soundtrack is 90 minutes long."
Bruh you'd have to listen to it almost 5 times over to complete the set of 3. No wonder CapnRex went with watching the trilogy instead.
I got a 35% discount on release day and decided to buy three sets to build the large Darth Vader. I wasn't able to find a proper place to hang it though. As mentioned in the review it's very tall and looks best when looked at from a distance.
I decided to build two of the smaller versions (Maul and Vader. Discarded Kylo Ren as I don't like the sequel trilogy).
I started with Maul, but was disappointed. The resolution is way too low, due to the facial markings. The mosaic only looks good at 2.5+ meters distance, which is rarely possible in my apartment. I disassembled it and started the smaller Vader. I'm nearly done right now and it looks much better. Still a bit too pixelated, but much better.
I will be returning two of the sets and keep the smaller Vader.
The building process is the worst I have experienced so far among my current sets (roughly 100 different). It's very boring and tedious.
Overall I would rate the set 2/5.
I finished the “master build” 3 set mosaic for Iron Man a few days ago. Did it in two sittings while watching Iron Man 1-3.
Question: any idea why Iron Man uses 1x1 studs while this set (and the other two) use 1x1 tiles? I’d really like to know the reasoning for Iron Man.
Apparently to differentiate between existing licences such as Star Wars and Marvel and new ones.
@SINTAX said:
"I finished the “master build” 3 set mosaic for Iron Man a few days ago. Did it in two sittings while watching Iron Man 1-3.
Question: any idea why Iron Man uses 1x1 studs while this set (and the other two) use 1x1 tiles? I’d really like to know the reasoning for Iron Man. "
Well this one doesn’t use tiles, it uses studs. In one of the designer interviews they said that since Marvel and Star Wars have been a part of Lego’s portfolio for a long time, the studs gave a more Lego look, while the other two being more strictly art fit better with the classic 2D look
@LegoSonicBoy said:
" @Tuun said:
"Waw, this actually looks a lot WORSE then I expected...goddamn this is some ugly stuff...
Also, why isnt his lightsaber red?"
Er, it is? The part that's white is just highly concentrated with plasma so you can't see the color. Which is exactly how it appears in the films, no?"
Er no,...in the movies there is a clear bright red glow coming from his saber. In this mosaic that glow is mostly absent and orange-yellow instead of bright red. Simply look at the reflection on Darth Vader's clothes...
@fakespacesquid said:
" @SINTAX said:
"I finished the “master build” 3 set mosaic for Iron Man a few days ago. Did it in two sittings while watching Iron Man 1-3.
Question: any idea why Iron Man uses 1x1 studs while this set (and the other two) use 1x1 tiles? I’d really like to know the reasoning for Iron Man. "
Well this one doesn’t use tiles, it uses studs. In one of the designer interviews they said that since Marvel and Star Wars have been a part of Lego’s portfolio for a long time, the studs gave a more Lego look, while the other two being more strictly art fit better with the classic 2D look"
Awesome. Thank you for letting me know that.
I have to say that I was really skeptical about these when they were first announced, and while I still think the price might be steep, taking into consideration the sheer detail and effort put into these it's impossible to deny that this is a beautiful set.
@Tuun said:
" @LegoSonicBoy said:
" @Tuun said:
"Waw, this actually looks a lot WORSE then I expected...goddamn this is some ugly stuff...
Also, why isnt his lightsaber red?"
Er, it is? The part that's white is just highly concentrated with plasma so you can't see the color. Which is exactly how it appears in the films, no?"
Er no,...in the movies there is a clear bright red glow coming from his saber. In this mosaic that glow is mostly absent and orange-yellow instead of bright red. Simply look at the reflection on Darth Vader's clothes..."
Perhaps the yellow could've been replaced with bright pink for a more accurate white-red gradient. But the red glow is clearly there and CapnRex themself paid special mention to it.
Should've posted pictures of the new 16x16 elements.
@LegoSonicBoy said:
" @Tuun said:
" @LegoSonicBoy said:
" @Tuun said:
"Waw, this actually looks a lot WORSE then I expected...goddamn this is some ugly stuff...
Also, why isnt his lightsaber red?"
Er, it is? The part that's white is just highly concentrated with plasma so you can't see the color. Which is exactly how it appears in the films, no?"
Er no,...in the movies there is a clear bright red glow coming from his saber. In this mosaic that glow is mostly absent and orange-yellow instead of bright red. Simply look at the reflection on Darth Vader's clothes..."
Perhaps the yellow could've been replaced with bright pink for a more accurate white-red gradient. But the red glow is clearly there and CapnRex themself paid special mention to it."
The middle of the beam is pinkish-white as you can see from this movie still: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/7/71/Lukevaderesb.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/500?cb=20130219045408 . So the mosaic got that right. Would it have looked better using pink near the edge of the beam in the gradation to white? Not using any of LEGO's current shades of pink.
I still do not see the appeal of the series mainly because of: 1) The extensive and repetitive work to put in the 'bricks' one by one, 2) The so called 'art' in a digitized form. I'd rather pick up some paint brushes and learn about drawing with those hours. I will frown if this is given as a gift to me, let alone paying some money to get it.
@audiobean said:
"I still do not see the appeal of the series mainly because of: 1) The extensive and repetitive work to put in the 'bricks' one by one, 2) The so called 'art' in a digitized form. I'd rather pick up some paint brushes and learn about drawing with those hours. I will frown if this is given as a gift to me, let alone paying some money to get it."
You're right, and this extends to every other theme too. Technic isn't real machinery, your time would be better spent picking up a blowtorch. City isn't actual cityplanning, your time would be better spent working with schematics. Dots isn't actual jewelry, your time would be better spent weaving leather bracelets from cowhide that you tanned yourself
Wait, maybe that isn't actually a good way to look at these.......
Also, imagine having so strong of an opinion that you'd sneer at a gift of anything, much less a gift of Lego. I envy your position
@fakespacesquid said:
" @audiobean said:
"I still do not see the appeal of the series mainly because of: 1) The extensive and repetitive work to put in the 'bricks' one by one, 2) The so called 'art' in a digitized form. I'd rather pick up some paint brushes and learn about drawing with those hours. I will frown if this is given as a gift to me, let alone paying some money to get it."
You're right, and this extends to every other theme too. Technic isn't real machinery, your time would be better spent picking up a blowtorch. City isn't actual cityplanning, your time would be better spent working with schematics. Dots isn't actual jewelry, your time would be better spent weaving leather bracelets from cowhide that you tanned yourself
Wait, maybe that isn't actually a good way to look at these.......
Also, imagine having so strong of an opinion that you'd sneer at a gift of anything, much less a gift of Lego. I envy your position"
Rather than going into an argument or state my position. I'd rather just explain to make it clear about my message. First of all I would love it if I receive Lego as a gift, I love the models from a 3D perspectives, I enjoy the different building techniques from the usual Lego that we know. But due to this series being totally 2D and by looking at the extensive 1x1 dot pieces here, and thinking about the repetitive effort needed to make this art, I would honestly frown, I am not joking. But this doesn't mean the product is not good, it just mean it's not for me. To a certain extend, I do not think Lego should start to 'legolized' our life, i.e. making every other thing (a TV, a Piano, for example), into Lego. Yes those are new concept, but not exactly innovative. That's maybe an extension to my feel about this series.
Thanks for the review. Can i please know how many pieces leftover AFTER assembling 3 x sets into the large Vader mosaic?
I'd like to hang this on the basement staircase, but there's no room for depth viewing. So maybe I'd do the smaller ones instead.
@bananaworld:
As much as I'd like to hang the Maul mosaic on my wall, the inclusion of Darth Tantrum really kills most of that appeal. So, how many people are going to skip this because they didn't put a third Sith Lord in the Sith Lord mosaic? They had _FOUR_ to choose from, and they didn't even include the Sith boss!
@LegoSonicBoy:
It gets a lot weirder with the original theatrical release of Ep4. When they were filming that, they put reflective white rods on the hilts to represent the blades, and added the colored halo in post. The problem with this solution was that they had to do jump-cuts to disguise when they switched from just a hilt to a hilt with the blade attached. The actors faked turning on the lightsaber by pointing the blade directly at the camera and shifting their hand to a different pose, which made it look like the blade was extending from the hilt as they did so. It all worked okay, except for one tiny problem. During Vader's duel with Obi-Wan, they forgot to add the red halo in about half of the shots. This is most noticeable as he's striding towards the blast doors into the docking bay while they're closing. I _believe_ this problem was finally corrected in ANH:SE, or the revised ANH:SE, but Vader definitely had a pure white lightsaber for two full decades in some of those shots.
By the time they filmed Ep5, they dropped the white blades and replaced them with a dark-grey blade that wouldn't jump out at you if they missed it in a shot (and would probably make it more obvious if they forgot to add the blade effect), and they simply created the entire blade in post rather than adding a halo to an existing white blade. And with the prequels, the FX was done entirely by CGI, but I believe they still used a physical stand-in blade for the stunt work.
@Spike730:
For their 25th wedding anniversary, my dad commissioned a painting of the farm house where my mom grew up. For a painting that's just a bit larger than half of one of these plates, I think he paid about what it would cost to build all six plates simultaneously. Prices have gone up since then. Could you find someone to do it cheaper? Sure, but for a comparable size, you're either going to get a very simple result, or a low-quality result. Even a very simple painting can take a couple days to complete, and that's the only source of income that a professional painter will bring in during that time.
@yjcha2:
Based on the Bricklink inventory, building a single plate without the logo tile, you should end up with 909 official leftover 1x1 round plates. There are twelve colors of 1x1 round plate in this set, so that _should_ add 8 to that result, but the Bricklink inventory includes extras ranging from 1 (orange) to 20 (black), with a total of 71 extras credited to this set. So, that would mean 980, if those counts are correct.
@chrichrichri said:
"the image like a computer game from 1993"
Well yes, I think we can render a lot of bitmapped art from that era in this way very beautifully. Especially since the dots give a similar effect to blurry scanlines of CRTs. Waiting for the first Castlevania LEGO art.
@PurpleDave said:
"As much as I'd like to hang the Maul mosaic on my wall, the inclusion of Darth Tantrum really kills most of that appeal.(...)"
As I said, they included Kylo Ren because he looks bad-ass. Simple as that. They 100% had mock-ups of Dooku, the Emperor, and probably Ventress, Grievous, etc. and who knows who else.
Imagine the sheer volume of concept art they went through when designing these...
However much Ren offends anyone's delicate traditionalist sensibilities, he undeniably looks bad-ass in this (massively-overpriced) rendition.
Now, on the other hand, Darth Maul's nose...
It's more likely that they included Kylo Ren because he was easier to build with mostly pieces that were already used for Vader and Maul. If they included Dooku or Palpatine they'd probably have to include more pieces that were unique for that design which would lead to an even higher price.
It seems to me that for people who want to build the large Vader mosaic, Lego decided to screw as much money as possible from them by forcing them to buy three copies of this set. This review states that the large Vader mosaic is made up of almost 7000 1 x 1 pieces. Each copy of this set contains 3213 1 x 1 round plates. The other 200 or so pieces in each set make up the base and frame. Each small mosaic is 48 studs by 48 studs (2304 1 x 1 round plates). The large Vader mosaic is 48 studs by 144 studs (6912 1 x 1 round plates). When you have finished building the large Vader mosaic, you will be left with 2727 unused 1 x 1 round plates.
To my mind, Lego have been greedy and cynical by requiring people to buy a full third set in order to complete the large Vader mosaic. They should have produced a smaller and much cheaper accessory pack containing the parts for extending the base and frame plus the 1 x 1 round plates required to complete the large mosaic. Then it would have been necessary to buy only two copies of this set plus the cheaper accessory pack to be able to build the larger mosaic.
@Sabreman64 said:
"It seems to me that for people who want to build the large Vader mosaic, Lego decided to screw as much money as possible from them by forcing them to buy three copies of this set. "
No, I think Lego are just making people pay for the convenience of clicking "add to cart" and getting everything they need to build the three-panel picture. They aren't selling an accessory kit as such, but the 16x16 base bricks for the panel are on sale at Bricks and Pieces for £5.76 each (or £51.84 for a full panel of nine). So in principle, after buying two kits, you'll have ~1800 1x1 round plates left, which might be enough to cover most of the third panel (depending on the colour mix).
I would love it if someone could post a parts list for the three panel picture to see how much of the giant picture can be built from just two sets.
These seem like Lego for people that don't like Lego
@bananaworld :
Dark Helmet was more intimidating than Darth Whingy. The general garbageness of the Disney Wars trilogy aside, he seriously just came across like a petulant teenager who had just figured out that the entire world wasn't in awe of his edgy emo style. Or really even aware of it. The helmet looks ridiculous, like something a grade-schooler would come up with to look exactly like Darth Vader without being accused of cribbing Vader's look, and without the helmet...well, he'd clearly hit the point where most parents would have made him start taking daily showers (with shampoo). Mostly he just looks like someone was given two minutes to come up with a character design based on the Dodge Durango taillights.
@Fingerinsocket:
The mosaic brick bases and the awesome new wide brick seperator are exclusive to this line, at least for the moment. Besides that, while _some_ of the parts are super common (black 1x1 round plates), there are 5-7 new colors for the 1x1 round plate (New Elementary identified five unreleased colors, plus two that haven't been around in ages, but the official number was presented as seven), and there are 9 new colors for the 1x1 round tile. So, try to get those at $0.01/pc on Bricklink when these sets are the only source, and all of those super common parts aren't going to cover their own cost.
what the hell that is good but dam it lego why the hell did you make it 120 dollers each ... dam it lego with this all you care about is money. no it is not th3 dam ass hell with this gov we have you know how they do with all the money like dam it gov why are you killing the money
I’m really interested in this series. But hoping they add more themes/subjects. To me, there’s a certain fatigue on Star Wars and Iron Man. I’ll pick up the Warhol art for the wife. Not interested in the Beatles, sorry.
@Agnew said:
"These seem like Lego for people that don't like Lego"
That's the point.
Going to build these mosaics in Minecraft instead.. xD