The Empire strikes brick: Building Boba Fett's ship Lego by Lego
One bounty hunter, 2,000 Lego bricks and no disintegrations: CNET's Luke Lancaster pieces together a Lego Star Wars kit of Boba Fett's spaceship, Slave I.
In terms of pure efficiency, it's hard to pick a cooler "Star Wars" character than bounty hunter Boba Fett. Not counting the ""="" shortcode="link" asset-type="article" uuid="175a8d5c-8533-11e3-bc97-14feb5ca9861" slug="in-defense-of-the-star-wars-holiday-special" link-text="infamous " section="news" title="In defense of 'The Star Wars Holiday Special'" edition="us" data-key="link_bulk_key" api="{"id":"175a8d5c-8533-11e3-bc97-14feb5ca9861","slug":"in-defense-of-the-star-wars-holiday-special-as-it-turns-40","contentType":null,"edition":"us","topic":{"slug":"tv-and-movies"},"metaData":{"typeTitle":null,"hubTopicPathString":"Culture^Entertainment^TV and Movies","reviewType":null},"section":"news"}"> he first appeared in "The Empire Strikes Back" with 6.5 minutes of screen time and a grand total of four lines. But it was enough to get people hooked.
He just oozes cool. Seeing him onscreen for the first time -- with his weathered, piecemeal armour, Man-With-No-Name-style cape and ice-cold ruthlessness -- blew my young mind. And then there was his ship, the Slave I. Looming and unique even among the stellar ship designs in "Star Wars," Fett and his Slave I were more than a match for Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon in my eyes.
So it will come as no surprise that I'd commit to spending the better part of a day to building his ship out of Lego. At almost 2,000 pieces, the Slave I Star Wars Lego kit is the largest I've personally put together (which makes it something of a feat, if you consider the thousands of hours I've spent with Lego bricks across almost 25 years).
For comparison, the last two kits I built were the Marvel Super Heroes Hulk Buster (248 pieces), and another "Star Wars" kit, the TIE Advance Prototype (355 pieces). The Slave I even dwarfs the "Guardians of the Galaxy" Milano (665 pieces) sitting next to it on my desk. This one doesn't mess around.
The Slave I is available from Lego's online store and certain retailers for a suggested retail price of $200, £170 or AU$300. Check out the video below for a much sped-up version of the construction process and some close-ups of the cooler elements of the kit in action.