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Comparing LEGO Star Wars Cloud Cities

by Thita (admin) on August 27, 2018

in LEGO Star Wars

A few days ago, LEGO announced the upcoming #75222 LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City (see the press-release here: LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City). While the set is large and impressive, and it has been 15 years since we got the last LEGO Star Wars Cloud City set, the announcement attracted quite a bit of controversy. Although many LEGO fans like the set as is, others feel that there is too much emphasis on play-features, and not much thought went into making sure that the set also looks good on display…

In the video-preview below, JANGBRiCKS does an excellent job discussing the plusses and minuses of the #75222 LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City set, and the issues LEGO Star Wars fans are unhappy about.

After watching JANG’s preview, carefully looking at pictures of the new set, comparing its design and features to the #10123 LEGO Star Wars Cloud City from 2003 (which is still considered one of the best LEGO Star Wars sets of all time), reading comments by LEGO fans, and looking through the Cloud City wiki page, I can definitely understand at least some of the complaints, so I thought to research a bit the way other LEGO fans have approached the idea of building Cloud City.

Basically, Cloud City is this gorgeous, almost dreamlike City, floating in the clouds of the gas planet Bespin. The city is characterized by round shapes, both for the entire city itself and also for individual buildings. Another important feature of the city is that it is multilayered with 392 levels. The top 50 levels of the city were basically a luxury resort, popular with affluent galactic tourists, while the lower levels housed workers and catered to the mining and processing of Tibanna gas from the planet below. When making a model of Cloud City, it makes sense to include these key features.

The #75222 LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City set did attempt to capture the disk shape of the entire city as well as its buildings by a circular layout. In addition to the roundness of the base itself, the micro Cloud City at the center of the model, the landing pad, the carbon freeze chamber, and the sensor balcony where Luke and Vader had their epic encounter are also round. All these different size circles do represent Cloud City well, but unfortunately, they come together kind of messy. A number of LEGO fans suggested that it would have been better to have the entire base of the model as a large circle, and then just place different scenes within it (much like how it is already done on two sides). With some customization, I suppose this could still be done, but when LEGO fans have to fork over $350 for a set, they don’t expect to have to spend extra money and time to fix it.

One main issue with circular LEGO models is that they don’t display well unless placed on something like a coffee table in the middle of a room. They usually don’t fit on standard size shelves, and even if you do have the perfect shelf, you can only display one side at a time. Instead of emphasizing the roundness of the city, some LEGO fans suggest that a linear and multi-layer layout would have been more display-friendly, while still keeping the playability. This is the approach that was taken with the earlier #10123 LEGO Star Wars Cloud City set. Such a display could have also been made modular with sections that can be connected in different ways for various layouts.

Now, let’s look at some Cloud City models built by LEGO fans. Perhaps the most well-known representation of Cloud City is by LEGO fan Vakkron, who submitted his project to LEGO Ideas. This enormous model is 34 inches (86 cm) in diameter and 39 inches (99 cm) tall (including the removable reactor stalk at the bottom), which is quite a bit larger than the 22 inches (58 cm) diameter and 6 inches (16cm) height of the #75222 LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City. Interestingly, the layout it actually quite similar to the official set, with a round shape divided into four segments. Also, just like in the official set, micro-scale and minifig-scale are used simultaneously. However, Vakkron’s Cloud City is multi-layered, and it is covered in a removable shell that gives it a beautifully finished look. Perhaps a smaller version of such a design would have worked for the official LEGO set. It certainly is beautiful. I also like Vakkron’s official description, which, according to him, is an excerpt from the Official Bespin Tour Guide pamphlet: “Bring your best friends in your favorite starship, land at one of the galaxy’s finest spaceports, and then enter into a world of metropolitan paradise! Cloud City is the proud home to the galaxy’s most opulent casinos, highest rated hotels and lodges, and first-class botanical gardens! Whether you come on business or at leisure, Cloud City offers something for you. With round-the-clock entertainment throughout all parts of the city, you will never lack something to see and do! So what are you waiting for? Come, visit us today!” Vakkron’s LEGO Ideas submission expired without a sufficient number of votes, so this Cloud City will have to remain a dream. See more pictures here.

Another interesting version of Cloud City is by LEGO fan by DanDare006. This model also follows a circular shape, but with a very interesting difference; the center is kept hollow to simulate the inside of the reactor shaft, and accommodate the balcony where Luke and Vader fought. There are a couple of small landing pads on the outside of the round shape, but other than that, the model is kept nice and tidy on the outside and action-packed on the inside. I quite like it! This model was also submitted to LEGO Ideas but failed to get enough votes. See more pictures here.

For yet another interpretation of Cloud City, LEGO fan mrbookieboo follows the basic structural design of the upper half of the #10188 LEGO Star Wars Death Star and the newer #75159 LEGO Star Wars Death Star. He felt that this shape accurately represented the roundness of Cloud City, had a sturdy design, looked decent on display, and allowed plenty of open areas for play. Interestingly, he also topped his model with a micro version of Cloud City. The design was intended to flow naturally so you can recreate the major scenes from Cloud City. Starting at the landing pad, there is a micro Millennium Falcon and the short walkway where Lando first greets Han, Leia, Chewie, and C-3PO. A doorway leads to the main concourse, which has access to the elevator and the dining room. The remainder of the top floor contains the holding cell. Taking the elevator to the middle level drops you off in a hallway, which leads to the junk room where Chewie finds C-3PO after he was blasted in pieces. There is also another doorway which leads to the carbon freeze chamber. The carbon freeze unit is fully functional with a LEGO Technic pin allowing you to lower Han into the pit and spin him around to his frozen state. Another door leads from the carbon freeze chamber to the interior control room where Luke and Vader duel. This room features the window that ejects Luke after breaking. The next room is the catwalk where Luke first learns the truth about his father. This section is open to the lower level and there is a simulated shaft that Luke can fall through and leads to the antenna that he hangs from before being rescued by the Millennium Falcon. The lower level contains the room where Han was tortured and a command room where the Bespin Guard can monitor the city. So many great ideas and great execution here as well, however, this project also did not reach the required minimum number of votes when it was submitted to LEGO Ideas. See more pictures here.

Focusing more on the key action scenes rather than recreating the overall disk shape of Cloud City, LEGO fan Eric Druon built this multi-layer Cloud City display including the carbon freeze chamber, the balcony where look and Vader fought, a Cloud Car, and more. This is a fantastic looking playset, and due to the mostly forward-facing design, it could also look great on display. See more pictures here.

Instead of putting attention to just the areas where most of the action we see in the movie took place, LEGO fan dougk32 depicts a larger layout of the mining operation and how the disk-shaped structures are connected. While this is not a minifig-scale model, it does look fantastic as a display-piece. You can see more pictures here.

As you can see, LEGO fans may approach building Cloud City in different ways, but there are some overarching design schemes that they tend to follow; recreating all the iconic scenes and places from the movie, using a multi-level layout, adding some roundness to at least some part of the design, allowing lots of playability, combining different scales, and making their models display-friendly.

Now that you have seen different approaches to building Cloud City, what do you think? Which interpretation do you like the most? And what features do you feel are the most important to include? How do you think the #75222 LEGO Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City set compares to the fan-created models? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉

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LEGO Architecture Great Wall of China review

by Thita (admin) on August 25, 2018

in Other LEGO Sets & Themes

We been talking about some of the recently released and upcoming big sets, but there are also a number of smaller models that are worth checking out. One of the new sets that I particularly like is the #21041 LEGO Architecture Great Wall of China. LEGO Architecture sets are known for their intricate details, interesting techniques, and dense building style, and the LEGO Great Wall of China excels in all of these areas. In addition, the set also includes some special features that we don’t see in other LEGO Architecture sets. So let’s take a closer look. 🙂

First of all, here is the official description to give you the basic features and stats of the set: Discover the architectural secrets of the World Heritage Great Wall with this #21041 LEGO Architecture Great Wall of China set. Explore the ingenious building techniques that allow the structure to drape across thousands of miles of countryside, curving up, down and around mountains and rugged undulating terrain to form a harmonious blend of nature and architecture. This accurately detailed LEGO interpretation depicts two turrets joined by a winding section of wall atop a dark-green mountainous landscape with lush valleys, trees and lakes, and is finished with decorative English and Chinese nameplates. The model has been designed to deliver a rewarding and relaxing building experience to all with an interest in architecture, travel, history and design, and makes a truly dynastic centerpiece for the home or office. Connect multiple models to extend your Great Wall display. Measures over 4” (12cm) high, 10” (27cm) wide and 3” (9cm) deep. 551 pieces. Price: $49.99 – BUY HERE

Like all LEGO Architecture sets, the #21041 LEGO Architecture Great Wall of China is packaged in a sleek black box with a lift-open style lid that doubles as a storage container for the pieces. The included booklet contains information about the design, architecture, and history of the building in English, French and Chinese. There are some really beautiful pictures on the first few pages of the real Great Wall of China, along with a timeline of major historical events related to building this massive fortification. Even on the building instruction pages you will find some additional interesting facts and figures. All of the tastefully presented information puts you in the mood of building a LEGO replica of a segment of the great historic structure, and not just any LEGO set.

One thing you will notice immediately when looking at pictures of the set is that the LEGO Great Wall of China includes more natural scenery than any previously released set. In fact, you will spend most of your time and the majority of pieces to build up the mountainous landscape with dark-green bricks, plates, slopes, tiles, and other elements around an internal skeleton that holds it all together. Building this section is not as monotonous as you might think as the landscape is quite varied, and all that dark-green is beautiful to look at.

Once you finish building the mountains, you start working on the Great Wall itself. As the wall is not straight, but snakes left and right and also curves up and down, some pretty clever techniques had to be used to make an accurate LEGO replica. Most of this is achieved with small plates, panels, hinges, modified bricks, slopes, and tiles, along with a cleverly implemented bal-joint connection. The wall is built in segments, that are then connected in various ways. It’s a great building experience overall.

The model is built on a cleverly designed 34×12-stud base with removable end sections. This allows you to easily remove the frame on the two ends, and connect multiple sets together for a longer layout. Encouraging you to combine several sets is another unique feature we haven’t seen before in the LEGO Architecture collection. I would say that the set looks perfect as it is, and there is really no need to extend it, but if you do want a longer wall, the modification is very easy. In the pictures below you can see single set, double set, and four sets variations.

The #21041 LEGO Architecture Great Wall of China is an impressive set, and I really don’t have anything negative to say about it. The colors are lovely, the building experience is interesting, and the finished model looks sophisticated. In the video-review below, JANGBRiCKS will show you the set more detail and will also share his own opinion about it.

Building LEGO Architecture sets is a very different experience compared to building regular LEGO sets. The structures are much more dense (using lots of small pieces in unique ways), which makes the models surprisingly heavy. They are more like modeling kits for adults rather than construction toys for children. I’m a big fan of the LEGO Architecture line, especially the medium-size sets like the #21041 LEGO Architecture Great Wall of China. They give you enough substance for a satisfying building experience, and they also look beautiful on display.

If you are not familiar with LEGO Architecture sets, but you do enjoy building more serious models, like LEGO Creator Expert vehicles, the LEGO Modular Buildings, LEGO Technic sets, Ultimate Collector Series sets, etc., I highly recommend getting at least one or two LEGO Architecture sets. They may not look as big, cool, and colorful as sets from other LEGO themes, but they do take the serious part of LEGO building to a whole other level. If you are an architect, interior designer, or other creative type, you will have an especially satisfying experience. You can find all the currently available sets at the LEGO Architecture section of the Online LEGO Shop.

What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Great Wall of China? Do you have it already? Have you connected multiple sets together? Or are you planning to? Feel free to share your thoughts and own review in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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