LEGO Star Wars is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the beloved saga with a collection of minifigures inspired by Ralph McQuarrie’s renowned concept art.
2027 marks 50 years since the release of Star Wars: A New Hope (originally without the subtitle of course), so the LEGO Group are doing something special for collectors. Select 2027 sets will include minifigures inspired by classic concept art.
When George Lucas was writing Star Wars, he needed someone to help visualise his unique ideas. He turned to artist Ralph McQuarrie to help define what a galaxy far, far away would look like. McQuarrie painted the first ideas for the characters, aliens, droids, spaceships and locations that gave direction to the saga’s visual language. A lot changed during the preproduction of Star Wars: A New Hope, but McQuarrie’s concepts were the vital starting point and many aspects of his designs are apparent in the finished film.
Those original paintings still influence the storytelling today. Many creatures and locations in recent storytelling take inspiration from this work, including characters like Chopper and Zeb in Star Wars Rebels and the core squad’s armour design in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Here are the McQuarrie minifigures that will come in the January 2027 wave of sets:
Luke Starkiller
Luke Starkiller comes in 75478 Rebel Y-wing Starfighter. This version of the character is very different to the final design. The minifigure features a dark grey flight suit and a rebreather mask with goggles that covers most of their face. This is deliberately ambiguous because, at this point in preproduction, George Lucas hadn’t finalised whether the character would be a man or woman.
Luke’s name ended up being Skywalker instead, but the name Starkiller went on to be used for the main protagonist in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game and is the namesake for Starkiller Base in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Princess Leia
75482 Up-Scaled Luke Skywalker Minifigure includes a concept art inspired Princess Leia minifigure. This version of the princess has a more utilitarian white and silver jumpsuit with a belt for her blaster, inspired by sci-fi comics like John Carter of Mars.
This version will also be familiar to Star Wars Rebels fans as it inspired Leia’s outfit in the Season 2 episode “A Princess on Lothal”. While that design was given a few more regal touches, such as the intricate details on Leia’s belt, it retains the basic idea from the original McQuarrie concepts.
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Han Solo
Concept art inspired Han Solo minifigure comes in 75470 Mustafar Duel. Han Solo was conceived as a dashing lightsaber-wielding space pirate. Accordingly, the minifigure has a luxurious outfit complete with a purple cape and wields a white lightsaber.
It was after George Lucas shifted the concept of Han as a character to a pilot sidekick that he gained the practical vest, shirt and plain trousers that define his look in the films.
Darth Vader
Concept art inspired Darth Vader minifigure is included in 75480 Duel on Bespin. This is very similar to the final design, decorated with Vader’s flowing robes and chest box. There are significant differences too, such as the helmet’s elongated lines and larger eyes, so the minifigure has a new sculpted helmet that depicts McQuarrie’s early version.
In addition to the concept art minifigures, there are LEGO depictions is iconic Star Wars posters to collect. The three that have been revealed come in the massive 75467 A New Hope Poster, 75466 Darth Vader 2 in 1 Wall Art and 75495 Stormtrooper (Concept Art) Helmet.
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