You are not unaware, unless you live on another planet, that LEGOLAND park in California opens on March 31, 2011 its Miniland Star Wars. 

Six mythical scenes from the film saga and one scene from the animated series have been reconstructed using more than 1.5 million bricks for a total of 2000 models which will be on display to the public.

Photos of the installation of the different models have already been released (see this news ou this one), and it's now a 6-minute video that is available on LEGOLAND Youtube channel.

We discover a little more these different universes and models that will be offered and more particularly the arena of Geonosis assembled by Stephan Bentivoglio, "Master Model Builder" at LEGO. 

In total, it took 5 weeks of intensive work and no less than 30.000 bricks to reconstruct this arena, well known to fans of the saga.

 The result is breathtaking detail and realism. Remember, however, that these models are designed at 1:20 scale and to be seen from a certain distance before bitching about the finish ......
 

I also offer for download the official LEGO press release, where we learn among other things that the dioramas will be animated and interactive via activation buttons of different functions, that the models were designed and assembled in Germany by 8 "Model Designers" and 2 electricians specializing in animation, before being entrusted to their American colleagues for the final installation.

It is the colludo.de site which offers the first image of this reference set 7877: Naboo Starfighter with a visual which however lets glimpse what this novelty will be, ultimately not that new .....

The Starfighter is an almost exact copy of the one in the set 7660: Naboo N-1 Starfighter with Vulture Droid released in 2007, this time delivered with a different medium that we can guess on the photo.

Among the miniatures, a new version of the Droideka (Destroyer Droid) is provided and accompanies the young Anakin, R2-D2, the pilot Naboo and the two battle droids.

In short, a barely veiled reissue, without particular panache, which will allow those who missed the 2007 version to afford this device despite everything emblematic of the Star Wars saga. The price announced on colludo.de is 40 euros, to be checked at the time of release this summer.

Click on the visual to display a larger version.

The publishing company DK Publishing has just updated its 2011 catalog and there is a little more information about THE book fans have been waiting for: LEGO® Star Wars® Character Encyclopedia.

First of all, we discover two new double pages with Mace Windu and a Captain of the Republic, or even Boba Fett and Bossk.

This 208-page book scheduled for October 2011 should contain no less than 200 minifigures and 400 photos in total.

An exclusive minifigure will of course be there, and you will notice the words "JACKET NOT FINAL" in gray below the visual of the book cover, thus cutting short all speculation as to the shadow of the possible minifigure represented. on the visuals circulating.

I therefore suggest that you download the two pages concerned in a pdf document:

- LEGO® Star Wars® Character Encyclopedia (249 KB)

In addition, DK Publishing also presents in its catalog new visuals from the LEGO® Ideas Book scheduled for September 2011 (200 pages) that you can download below:

- LEGO® Ideas Book (197 KB)

You've all more or less heard of the various limited editions of the C-3PO minifigure released to date, but there is some confusion as to which versions are released and what quantities are released.

3K Solid Gold C-24PO Minifig (Solid Gold C-3PO)

To date, there are only 5 examples of this solid gold minifigure, not one more. 

It was produced in 2007 and was distributed as a prize for a competition organized by the LEGO company. It is broken down into 3 parts, head, torso and legs, not articulated. The torso has benefited from a specific engraving.

Different versions circulate as to the material used in the design of this minifigure: The use of pure gold would have been impossible, the material being too "soft", and this minifigure would in reality be gold plated. However, no one could really verify this statement .....

The lucky winners (Andrew Hoffman, Christopher Giancola, Elizabeth Jacome, Jason Masey and Chris Melchin from the list published by LEGO Magazine) were selected in December 2007, and this minifigure did not appear on the resale market of LEGO Star Wars products since.

This minifigure has been produced in 10.000 copies. This is a plastic minifigure covered with gold colored chrome and delivered in a white bag mentioning the limited nature of this edition and celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. 

This minifigure was inserted randomly in sets marketed in the United States in 2007 (except for battle packs). this minifigure is in all points similar to a classic C-3PO minifig, it is articulated in the same way. His torso is screen printed.
 

This minifig can be found for sale on bricklink, Amazon ou eBay at exorbitant prices depending on the presence or not of the bag (sealed or not).

This unique minifig was created for Comic Con in San Diego (USA) in 2007 and was offered through a raffle.

The XG-3 Star Wing model can be built using the set 20016 Imperial Shuttle released in 2010. Nothing very original on arrival, but you can be satisfied to have assembled an imperial shuttle whose project remained top secret, equipped with Hyperdrive technology and many weapons. 

This powerful shuttle will join your army and will justify getting you as soon as possible a new BrickMaster 20016 set, if you only have one .....

The Stealth Recon Ship model can be built using the parts in the set. 8095 General Grievous' Starfighter also released in 2010. This Republic reconnaissance vehicle is intended to move discreetly and not to be detected by Spearatist sensors. This Stealth Recon Ship will be very useful to Jedis like Nahdar Vebb in their hunt for General Grievous.

Following the publication by KimT of Eurobricks on his flickr page of these instructions, I have compiled them neatly in two pdf files that I suggest you download here:

XG-3 Star Wing pdf instructions (3.58 MB)

Stealth Recon Ship pdf instructions (4.34 MB)