The May-June issue of the LEGO Club Magazine was released just a few days ago, and there is a really interesting insert in the “boys’ version” of the magazine about the LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures. You might remember from our previous discussion that The Freemaker Adventures is an upcoming LEGO Star Wars television series, with the story set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It introduces new heroes and villains, along with many familiar Star Wars characters. You can read the press-release and watch the trailer here: LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, and below we will discuss all the new information that was included in the LEGO Club Magazine. 🙂
The LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures insert is fifteen pages long, and it basically introduces us to the story and characters. Here is the story: Since the defeat of the Death Star, the Empire has been hard at work coming up with new ways to conquer and rule the galaxy. A search of the old Jedi Archives has revealed the existence of the legendary Kyber Saber, an ancient weapon with the ability to channel the Force to its most destructive potential. And now that the Emperor knows about it, he wants it. A lot.
The Emperor has commanded Darth Vader to find the saber for him. Fortunately, it was shattered long ago, with its crystal fragments hidden throughout the galaxy to prevent their power from being used for evil. But nothing can be lost forever, and the quest to unite the Kyber Saber is about to draw in an unlikely young trio of heroes; the Freemaker, a family of siblings who run a humble starship salvage and repair shop aboard the space station known as The Wheel. Although they don’t know it, the Freemakers are about to be caught up in an adventure that may decide the future of the galaxy…
Then there is a bit of a bio about each of the siblings: Zander is the oldest of the Freemaker siblings and the pilot of their salvage ship. He has a great memory for starship design and can identify one from just a small piece. As a self-trained builder, he would much rather patch together something new than look at diagrams and schematics. He proudly calls his creations “Z-wings”… but pretty much everyone else calls them “Uglies”.
Kordi is the brains behind Freemaker Salvage and Repair. She chooses where the family will go to search for scrap, and she’s a master salesperson whose rapid-fire speech is equally good at selling custom-built starships and talking herself and her brothers out of trouble. Her elaborate organizing system may look like a chaotic mess of parts and paperwork, but it keeps the shop running smoothly.
As the youngest Freemaker, Rowan is used to being left behind on the ship when his older siblings go hunting for salvage on strange alien planets. Needless to say, he looks for any opportunity he can get to have some adventure and excitement. Thanks to his unexpected Force ability to sense the location of the Kyber Saber fragments, he’s about to get even more than he can handle!
Then there is the family droid: Once a Separatist battle droid who fought the Jedi in the Clone Wars, RO-GR was salvaged from a garbage heap and given a fresh coat of paint and some new programming. Now a beloved member of the Freemaker family, “Roger” tries his best to be a good butler droid, but he has a habit of accidentally causing disasters. Fortunately he’s also a great source of useful historical information.
Also there is a mysterious and powerful figure who once came to the rescue of Rowan with the aid of a blazing lightsaber. Revealing herself to be one of the last Jedi Knights, Naare told the Freemakers about the Emperor’s plot to find the Kyber Saber. Although she must keep her identity secret, she has promised to help Rowan train in the Force so they can locate the crystal fragments first.
The insert also gives instructions to build an “Ugly”, and encourages you to also try to build your own. An “Ugly” is basically a customized starship made out of pieces from two or more other ships. Just like what you would find Zander building at the Freemaker Salvage and Repair shop.
I really like these Star Wars spinoff stories. The LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles, and the LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales were both great. Then there is also LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises (which is another series of animated shorts airing this year), that take place prior to the First Order’s attack on Jakku and tell never-before-told stories about Kylo Ren, Han Solo, Finn, Rey, BB-8, Maz Kanata and more. But from all of these stories I’m attracted to The Freemaker Adventures the most. I like the idea of the siblings – Zander, Kordi and Rowan – being just three salvage engineers trying to scrape a living repairing starships, then getting caught up in the galactic drama of looking for the Kyber Saber. It is similar to the story of Anakin, Luke and Rey, yet still fresh by having the three siblings together. I’m looking forward to their adventures.
Another aspect of these LEGO Star Wars spinoffs that I really like is the potential of getting some interesting LEGO Star Wars sets that are not tied to the main films. While I like Star Wars vehicles, because they have to be film-accurate, they can’t fully take advantage of the potential offered by the LEGO building system. With having their own Star Wars stories, LEGO designers can create a lot more freely. Curiously, they haven’t been really capitalizing on this opportunity. The LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles only gave us a couple of promotional sets, Jek-14’s #75018 LEGO Star Wars Stealth Starfighter, and the #75051 LEGO Star Wars Jedi Scout Fighter. They are nice, but not particularly bold. This time we will also be getting two sets: the #75145 LEGO Star Wars Eclipse Fighter for $29.99, and the #75147 LEGO Star Wars Star Scavenger for $49.99. They are more interesting, and I would say that they both qualify as “Uglies”. Which is the whole point of the story; a ragtag group of kids cobbling together spaceships. 🙄
The last couple of pages of the The Freemaker Adventures insert includes an interview with LEGO designer Erik Varszegi, who built a very detailed custom model of the Freemaker Salvage and Repair shop. The model is 20 inches wide and 28 inches deep, and includes the main hangar-bay, as well as offices, workshops, equipment bays and more. There are also working lights creating all kinds of cool light effects, sliding doors, and even an elevator. There are several pictures of the model, so make sure you check them out. Also, the main magazine (not the insert) got a really nice two-page pull-out poster of the LEGO Star Wars Star Scavenger that looks awesome.
The LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures will begin airing on Disney XD on June 20th, so mark your calendar. I’m sure the episodes will also be available on DVD at some point, and likely on YouTube as well. The sets themselves should be released this summer, so look for them under the LEGO Star Wars section of the Online LEGO Shop.
So what do you think? Are you looking forward to LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures? Did you like the previous LEGO Star Wars films? And what do you think of the new LEGO Star Wars sets? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 🙂
And you might also like to check out the LEGO Star Wars section for more news, reviews and discussions, or select from the following recent pots:
Very cool, I want those sets so bad, the waiting for them almost hurts. I like the idea of a story inside a story, because there are so many holes in the STAR WARS story itself ,that people can get away with it as long as its matches up with the original STAR WARS story.
Yes, I like the story too. It is refreshing and interesting, while still in the larger SW universe.
I really want to see this, so it better turn up on Youtube, as I don’t have Disney XD. I don’t have CN either, so no LEGO shows period unless they’re online. 🙁
I like the Star Scavenger set a lot, it’s one of the few 2016 Star Wars sets I’m interested in, and maybe the only one I will get. 🙂
Another Yoda Chronicles set you missed is the 75051 Jedi Scout Fighter, from 2014. That set was very good in my opinion.
Thanks for mentioning that. Somehow I forgot about that Yoda Chronicles set. And yes, I’m also really looking forward to this series. Sounds fun and interesting. I will try to find the episodes online as I don’t have Disney XD or CN either. If I do find them I will post them here as well. 🙂
I thought that Jedi Scout Fighter was a pretty good value, too. I gave one to my son for Christmas. Good build and good minifigs, including an Ithorian!
I think you meant that they found RO-GR in a garbage heap, not a garbage heal.
LOL! Yeah, got that fixed. 🙄
My friend wondered about those minifig stands. Looks like an emulation of tabletop miniature gaming…
My understanding is that those stands should have been photoshopped out, but whoever is responsible, forgot to do it. They are only there to put minifigs in position for taking pictures. There are a number of recent LEGO sets with the same issue. LEGO is getting sloppy…
Ah. Just a security reason to prevent them from dropping…
Yeah, basically. 🙂