2009 marks the 10th anniversary of LEGO® Star Wars sets, and to celebrate, Toys R Us is releasing an exclusive new set consisting of the control room and repair hangar from Admiral Ackbar's Rebel flagship, Home One!
Included in the set will be an A-wing fighter and six mini-figures: Admiral Ackbar, Mon Calamari, Mon Mothma, General Lando Calrissian, General Madine and A-wing Pilot.
Moving features also abound: On the command bridge, Admiral Ackbar can move and rotate on his seat controlled by a stick; in the hangar, the crane can lift out the engine from the A-wing fighter, tools can be hidden in the floor compartments, and the fighter can be moved and rotated with a long stick. The A-wing fighter sports opening cockpit, fold-up front landing gear, and opening rear doors that access the engine and two flick missiles. Whew!
We asked the set's designer, Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, a few questions about the exclusive Mon Calamari Star Cruiser:
The packaging states this is a "fan's choice" edition. Can you elaborate?
Very early in the development process we decided to ask our consumers what model we should make to celebrate LEGO Star Wars' 10th anniversary. TRU was our partner in that process. We prepared three concept visuals representing three very different and very iconic Star Wars models and scenes. TRU posted those concept visuals on their web site and consumers in the US and Germany voted for their favorite.
After the voting process, we asked LEGO fans for more specific input -- i.e. what functions and characters should be included in the ideal model? With this quantitative and qualitative input, the Mon Calamari set has been created. It's exclusive and available only at TRU. This was a very new and very interesting process for us. Something we might do again in the future.
It appears many of these mini-figures are new -- I don't think I've seen most of these expressed in LEGO form before.
Actually all the mini-figures except the A-wing pilot are brand new!
Combining the control room and hangar into a single set really seems to enhance the play value here. Was the set always to include the two, or did it evolve to include one or the other?
The idea was to include the most exciting areas from the Home One, therefore we planned to include command room, briefing room and the hangar from the beginning.
It looks like there's quite a few newly-tooled pieces made specifically for this set -- can you share specifics for those LEGO enthusiasts who like to keep track of new pieces?
There are some existing LEGO pieces molded in new colors, but the new molded element in the set is the Mon Calamari head used for Ackbar and the crew member.
Can you share your favorite features of this set?
I like it all! I think the A-wing in new colors and especially the control room with Ackbar's turning chair are cool!
Is there any chance we can get a special edition Ackbar figure with a sound chip that says "It's a trap!"?
Well I doubt that it is possible to put a sound chip inside a mini-figure! And to be honest, I would prefer a lot of LEGO bricks instead of an expensive sound chip. I prefer to say "It's a trap" myself.
Look for the LEGO Star Wars Mon Calamari Star Cruiser exclusively at Toys R Us this August, and be sure to check out the Toys R Us LEGO page here!
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