With the recent release of the three Star Wars diorama sets – 75329 Death Star Trench Run, 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training and 75339 Death Star Trash Compactor – it’s got Blocks, the LEGO magazine for fans, thinking about what other scenes from the Star Wars universe deserve the diorama treatment.
However, watching all of the Star Wars films means revelling in more than 20 hours of sci-fi cinema. So, we’ve decided to split the potential sets into three features – one each for the prequel, original and sequel trilogies. And so we present the first of these articles – five dioramas we’d like to see based on the prequel trilogy.
‘Now this is podracing’
75329 Death Star Trench Run makes clear that dioramas need not solely focus on minifigure-scale scenes. Hence it wouldn’t be unsurprising to get a diorama based on the podracing scene from The Phantom Menace.
The set itself will be relatively simple. A rocky out-crop will frame three podracers. Indeed, the podracers have previously been shown to work well in miniature – as early as 2003 there was 4485 Sebulba’s Podracer and Anakin’s Podracer, part of the mini build set sub-theme from the early 2000s, whilst in 2012 there was the planet set 9675 Sebulba’s Podracer and Tatooine.
We might add to Anakin and Sebulba a podracer who has as yet never been seen in LEGO form before – other entrants to the Boonta Eve Classic include Ben Quadinaros, Gasgano and Ratts Tyerell. The sharp colour contrast between the brown rocks and the colourful podracers would make this an exciting display set that’s filled with movement.
‘They are totally obedient, taking any order without question’
We’re long overdue sets located on Kamino, specifically Tipoca City where the Republic’s Clone army is created, but the Diorama Collection is the ideal opportunity to depict a difficult location to turn into a regular playset.
Obi-Wan Kenobi visits Kamino in Attack of the Clones and marvels at the cloning facilities. Tipoca City itself is a mixture of cloning facility and military barracks, so the set should try to give some spatial depth to the set by having Obi-Wan walking with Lama Su and Taun We through an open corridor with the the cloning facilities themselves below and to the side are. This way, the aggressively white corridors would be replaced by the electric blues of the machinery.
For The Clones Wars fans, this could even be a set that focuses more on the Battle of Kamino, perhaps including the Clone barracks and the heroic actions of a certain Clone 99. Either way, let’s finally spend some time in Tipoca City!
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Jedi Generals
The diorama subtheme often depicts only one scene from the Star Wars films. However one of the most integral parts of the known history of the Galaxy Far, Far Away is the Clone Wars, during which Jedi generals led armies of clones against the Separatist forces.
So why not have a diorama that pays homage to these generals by splitting the available space into three sections? One to show the fauna-ladened and lush world of Felucia with Aayla Secura and Commander Bly, another to depict the cold and ruined world of Mygeeto with Ki Adi Mundi and a (much needed) Galactic Marine and, finally, a third section in which Luminara Unduli and Commander Gree prepare for battle on the beaches of Kashyyyk.
Canny readers might implicitly see this as an Order 66 set, but it’s doubtful that scene would ever make it into LEGO form, hence this diorama will show the relationship between Jedi and clones at its healthiest and, arguably, most innocent, when they fought for peace in the galaxy.
‘Hello there’
It’s time to turn the meme into a LEGO set. As Obi-Wan confronts General Grievous in a hangar on Utapau in Revenge of the Sith, he soon finds himself surrounded by an army of Battle Droids. But why would this make for an interesting diorama set?
The hanger itself offers a useful setting, with the floor design, machinery and rocky backdrop all providing various textures and colours. Kenobi can then face off against Grievous and two of his Magna Guards (who were last seen in 2009’s 7752 Count Dooku’s Solar Sailer and are in drastic need of an update) whilst being perhaps ‘surrounded’ by one or two Battle Droids.
It’s rare for a set to refer to itself so clearly as a meme, but with the quotation plaque there’s the perfect opportunity with the diorama range to capture what is now one of the most iconic lines in the Star Wars universe.
‘So this is how democracy dies’
One of the grandest and most symbolic battles of the Star Wars franchise is between Jedi Master Yoda and the newly-appointed Emperor and Sith Lord Sidious at the end of Revenge of the Sith. As the two fight for the future of the galaxy, the Senate, an image (albeit a hollow one) of democracy is destroyed just as the Republic crumbles.
Yoda and Sidious will fight on a number of pods that are poised at different levels. There might even be one or two pods that are vertical, mimicking how Sidious throws the senate at Yoda; there should even be a nifty play feature where you can spin the senate pods in place.
And yes, I know the quotation is not from this scene, but unless we have ‘Palpatine’s cackles’, there is no actual dialogue exchanged during this fight. The dioramas capture key moments from the Star Wars franchise, but few are as significant as this final fight between Yoda and Sidious and thus it’s perfect for the diorama treatment.