Tag: Star Wars Lego

Lego Gungan Sub Box 9499

Lego Gungan Sub Review (9499) Star Wars 2012

My daughter recently bought the Lego Gungan Sub for her brother on his birthday, the only Star Wars themed set he received this year.

My son just turned 12 and this is the first year he has not received one of the larger Lego Star Wars sets for his birthday. While we have given him a Lego set for every birthday (and Christmas) for the last 11 years or so, he has always requested “Star Wars”. This year, like many fans, he was heavily invested in Lord of the Rings and so asked for Helm’s Deep instead (which is absolutely awesome but I’ll save that for another review!).

My daughter, however had her eye on the Gungan Sub and so the tradition of Star Wars Lego remained in tact for another year 🙂

Lets take a closer look:

Lego Gungan Sub – A Little Background

Lego Gungan Sub 9499 SetThe Gungan Sub featured in only one Star Wars movie, Episode One The Phantom Menace.

Having journeyed to the planet Naboo, Jedi Master  Qui Gon Jinn and his padawan Obi Wan Kenobi find themselves in the company of a clumsy, but cute (hey, ask anyone under the age of 8), creature by the name of Jar Jar Binks.

Jar Jar takes them to his underwater city, Otoh Gunga, where the Jedi request transport to the city of Theed.

Using a vehicle the Gungans call a “Bongo” they travel through the planet’s core to the other side of Naboo and arrive at the grand capital.

The “Bongo” is what we know as the Gungan Sub and is a beautiful merging of natural forms with advanced technology.

Lego Gungan Sub
Set 9499

Lego Set Number: 9499
Pieces: 465
Minifigures: 4 (Queen Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Jar Jar Binks)
Price: US $69.99 / £54.99 /AU $99.99
Ages: 8-14
Released: August 2012
Theme: Star Wars Lego
Instructions in PDF: Available at Lego.com
Best Prices: Amazon I   Amazon UK
The Lego Shop (Earn VIP Points): Lego Shop US  |  Lego Shop UK  | Lego Shop AUS

Lego Gungan Sub – Set 9499 Description

Navigate the underwater world of Naboo with the Gungan Sub! 

Jar Jar Binks guides his friends Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn through the watery core of planet Naboo in the elegant Gungan Sub. Built to resemble some of the many creatures that inhabit the underwater world, the Gungan Sub features a large cockpit, cargo bays, storage boxes, rotating tail propulsion, missiles and even a mini-sub with harpoon.

• Includes Queen Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Jar Jar Binks
• Features opening cockpit, 2 cargo holds, 2 cargo containers, rotating tail, 4 flick missiles, detachable mini-sub with harpoon and 2 Lightsabers
• Detach the mini-sub!
• Fire the missiles!
• Rotate Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi minifigure heads to reveal decoration with underwater breathing devices!
• Gungan Sub measures over 16″ (43cm) long and 10″ (27cm) wide

Lego Gungan Sub – Set 9499 Images

Lego Gungan Sub 9499
The Brick Life Review

Lego-Queen-AmidalaThe one thing that people mention when talking about this set is the minifigures.
And not all the minifigures, just one.

The Lego Queen Amidala minifigure that comes with this set is almost worth the price of the set itself – it is THAT beautiful.

I could appreciate the photos other people have taken, but until I actually held it in my hand I couldn’t quite undertand how awesome this figure is – a thing of beauty.

With the amount of detail Lego are putting into figures this year, we are very lucky Lego fans indeed! I just can’t wait to see what Lego has in store for Star Wars and other themes like Lord Of The Rings over the next year or so.

Anyway, moving on to the other parts of the set 🙂

The Gungan ship is very cool, better and larger than I expected. The escape pod is a nice touch and adds levels of playability to the set that would be otherwise hard to find in a medium sized vehicle.

The blue swirly motor at the back distinguishes the sub from most other vehicles in the Star Wars universe, most of which are very angular and “mechanical”.  The Gungan city was such a beautiful, Art Nouveau inspired moment in the film, it is nice to have a small part of it depicted in Lego (now we just need an Otoh Gunga playset!),

The other minifigures have their own strengths, the two Jedi come with rebreather prints on one of their (two sided) faces, adding to the aquatic theme of the set.

And Jar Jar? Having another Gungan can’t be a bad thing, even if half the world’s population blame him for ruining their childhood.

Overall it is a great little set, a tad too expensive for my liking but the presence of Queen Amidala will drive up prices on the secondary market so I don’t expect the price-tag will drop too much over time.

The Gungan sub is a wonderful addition to our collection and I would recommend it to fans of Star Wars and minifigure collectors.

Star Wars Oola Minifigure

Lego Star Wars Oola Minifigure – Too Risque?

Star Wars Oola MinifigureI was on a Lego Forum today, when I came across a thread written by parents who were shocked at the latest Lego Star Wars Oola Minifigure – they believed she showed too much “flesh” as it were.

If you are not aware, Oola is a figure in the beautiful new Lego Star Wars Jabba’s Palace set (9515) released in June of this year. Oola is the green skinned minifigure wearing a dance costume made of transparent net material.

To be honest I hadn’t taken a close look at the figure, so hunted down an image online to get abreast of the situation (sorry…last pun I promise). The image to the right is courtesy of Brickpedia.

Looking at the minifigure closely, I’m not sure if it is my upbringing or my adult sensibilities, but I wasn’t shocked, perhaps a little surprised and amused. Having said that I can understand some parents being concerned.

What do you think? IS Oola a little risque for a Lego set?

The Lego Oola Minifigure

Oola was always going to be a tough character for Lego designers to re-create in a child friendly way.

Oola

If you take a look at a promotional image of the character from Return Of the Jedi and you’ll see what I mean.

Twi’lek’s are never dressed very modestly at the best of times and being an exotic dancer in Jabba The Hutt’s court, Oola wears not much of very little.

Interestingly also present at Jabba’s court is a bikini clad Princess Leia, images of whom fast became fanboy favorites. Lego has already produced a number of Bikini Leia minifigures with similar amounts of flesh.

Also in this “revealing” category could be placed fellow Twi-lek and Jedi Master, Aalya Secura from Revenge Of The Sith. As a character and a minifigure, she also wears very little.

In Oola’s case I suppose what sets her apart from existing Star Wars minfigures it is the “transparent” net top which reveals the shape of her chest underneath.

In isolation, it could understandably ruffle a few feathers. However for me it is movie-authentic and I hadn’t thought twice about it when looking at the set – I was mostly in awe of the architectural design of the palace and the gorgeous range of minifigures.

I should say I am a lifelong fan of Star Wars. I saw Return Of The Jedi as a child (I was 10 when it came out) and have watched it dozens of times since then, as have millions of fellow geeks.  I was familiar with the character. Her costume (or lack thereof) didn’t make me bat an eyelid, now or then.

For me personally the figure won’t stop me from buying the set for my kids who are 8 and 11.  I can understand though, in some cases & for some families, the Oola minifigure figure could be construed as too risque and inappropriate for a children’s toy.

However I am curious to hear what other parents think.

Do you think Oola is a little too scantily clad for  a Lego set? Post your comments below.