Tuesday, January 10, 2006

LEGO Sail Barge and Star Destroyer are Cruising Soon (Update)



Two of the Star Wars galaxy's most notorious vehicles are soon to be available in LEGO form -- Imperial Star Destroyer and Jabba's Sail Barge!
While a Star Destroyer model has previously been offered as part of LEGO's Ultimate Collector's Series, Jabba's Sail Barge makes its long awaited debut this July!


"The Sail Barge has been on the top of the fans' wish list for a long time and was a gaping hole in the LEGO Star Wars collection," says LEGO Global Partnerships and Alliances Director Jay Bruns. "We worked hard to ensure that the Sail Barge had a great visual appeal as well as a great play experience. There are tons of great features and surprises within the set."

Besides a generous 781-piece count, the Sail Barge includes a skiff, sarlacc monster, an all-new Lando figure with helmet, flesh-toned Slave Leia, Han, and Luke, and an R2-D2 fitted with a serving tray. Added figures include Jabba, Boba Fett, and Gamorrean Guard. The Sail Barge will retail for $74.99.


Joining the Sail Barge is a new scaled-down version of the Imperial Star Destroyer, previously only available as part of the Ultimate Collector's Series. While the premium edition cost $299 when it was released in 2002, this latest version can be had for a relatively affordable $99.

"While we had to take a hit on scale, we felt that kids and fans needed to have access to a LEGO version of the ISD," says Bruns, who admits that scaling down the behemoth starship was no easy task. "The ISD was particularly challenging due to the shape of the model -- creating smooth lines, and adding in the 'notches' along the sides were just a couple of the more difficult parts. We also wanted to be sure that this set had a great play experience so it has been designed with a very creative twist: the cockpit can be removed and the model opens up to reveal the interior features. This is similar to how we treated the Millennium Falcon but in a bigger scale."

Boasting a 1,366 piece-count, new figures included with the Imperial Star Destroyer are Grand Moff Tarkin, Imperial Officer, R2-D5, and a mouse droid. Additional figures include Darth Vader, two royal guards, and a pair of stormtroopers. Even the Emperor's hologram gets its own piece!

Look for these great new LEGO kits soon at StarWarsShop.com and be sure to stay tuned to starwars.com for all the latest Star Wars LEGO updates!

5 comments:

JPX said...

I actually saw these for sale at that Lego store in the Redwood City Mall ($145 for the barge!)

Octopunk said...

You did? Are you sure? The article you just posted said the Sail Barge was a 70-clam set. I think maybe you saw the Sandcrawler.

Octopunk said...

I'm actually not sure I'll go for the Sail Barge. I don't like the flesh-toned minifigs, so a flesh Slave Leia is a real put-off. The Star Destroyer, on the other hand, looks pretty tempting. Emperor's Royal Guard and a black R2! Rock.

JPX said...

You're right, it was the Sandcrawler! I love those Royal Guards, have they ever been available before? The black R2 is pretty cool too. Damn, why are these things so expensive???

Octopunk said...

There's two Royal Guards in the Imperial Shuttle set, which at 35 bucks was a one-time purchase for me. The cheapest one on Bricklink right now is going for 6 bucks, which is too high in my book. They are great, though.

(Damn, even the cheapest helmet is going for 4 bucks a pop. I doubt their appearance in this much more expensive set will drop the bootleg price significantly.)