Bless The Bricks And The Children
By Michael Sullenger
Photography by Michael Sullenger

(CARLSBAD, CA April 30, 2005) While Southern California has its share of tremors, LEGOLAND in Carlsbad felt a disturbance in the Force as the theme park hosted its first ever Star Wars Weekends celebrating the upcoming release of Revenge of the Sith. If there was a notion that the Star Wars franchise is lost on the new generation of kids, it certainly didn't show here as multitudes of youngsters congregated for a day of fun under the sun scoping out the spiffy Star Wars LEGO displays, taking part in the various building competitions, answering Star Wars trivia, and having Kodak moments with members of the ubiquitous 501st Garrison. There was also a special screening of Revenge of the Brick, the new animated short starring LEGO Star Wars mini-figures that is slated to premiere on The Cartoon Network in a couple of weeks.

DARTH SIDENIUS SPEAKS

The special guest of the day was someone who traveled from the other side of the galaxy...that would be Denmark. LEGO Star Wars product designer Hans Henrik Sidenius held three Q&A sessions throughout the day and took questions from the audience about the production process, getting final approval from Lucasfilm, and why General Grievous has four lightsabers. Henrik also brought several protoypes of Arena creatures, Jabba, a couple of EP1 vehicles and several others and had them on display.

Equally as impressive were the various LEGO customs on exhibit created by some pretty talented enthusiasts, including an amazing Death Star diorama that would make Niub Niub proud. The main hangar with the Millennium Falcon is the central display of this astounding brick homage to the Imperial space station, while the outer panel featured various scenes and mini-dioramas.

BUILDING ZONE AND SCAVENGER HUNT

Young padawans can build the latest ROTS LEGO sets in the Building Zone, which also featured the humongous custom Republic Gunship that was originally showcased at the Celebration 3 LEGO booth. The Building Zone is the place for freebies such as the commemorative Star Wars Weekend Duplo Brick and you can test your knowledge in the Star Wars Trivia Contest, where Jedi Master "Tom" gave out a mini Anakin Skywalker Jedi Starfighter for those answering correctly.

The Stormtrooper Scavenger Hunt challenges you to find all the Imperial Stormtroopers hidden amongst the normal brick people in Miniland U.S.A., one of LEGOLAND's main attractions. Miniland is a faithful and amazing LEGO brick recreation of various American cities and landmarks like Washington D.C., New York City, Main Street U.S.A, and even Cape Canaveral. After counting the Stormtroopers you find, you turn in the Scavenger Hunt sheet for an exclusive Episode III LEGO poster.

STAR DESTROYER BUILDING COMPETITION

Local Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOL) competed in three teams to assemble the gigantic 3,000 piece UCS LEGO Star Destroyer in an attempt to beat the world record of 54 minutes. The pace was fast, confusion was the order of the day, and when we checked back half an hour later, each team barely had one hundred pieces completed. The world record is safe for now it seems.

LEGO STORE

LEGOLAND's store was chock full of Star Wars goodies, including every Star Wars LEGO set released the past six months. There's even a LEGO Costco/Wholesale warehouse type store where you can purchase sets like Jabba's Palace for $14.98 and older mini vehicles for $3.98.  The LEGO Star Wars kiosk located next to the Building Zone offered a Star Wars Weekends special on all 10 Revenge of the Sith LEGO sets for only $249.99 (20% off).

There were also free demos of the new LEGO Star Wars video game.

THAT'S GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN

While not yet in the scale Disney's more established Weekends, LEGOLAND's inaugural event showed promise. There didn't seem to be much hype and buildup for the event, and it certainly could have used a Jay Laga'aia, Warwick Davis, or even Anthony Daniels to add starpower. But judging from all the excitable kids having fun and getting into the Star Wars spirit, it may not even matter. We overheard a twenty something woman ask her husband who the blue skinned guy with the white uniform was. When her husband didn't have a clue, an eight year old-ish kid interjected and said, "That's Grand Admiral Thrawn. You should read Heir To The Empire."

The future of Star Wars is in good hands.

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