Battered and bruised after fighting a ferocious battle with the separatist droid army, the few remaining Jedi Knights form a last-ditch, desperate, defensive circle together with Obi Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala in the center of the Petranaki arena. Surrounded by hundreds of B1 and B2 battle droids, death seems certain, when suddenly, a handful of heavily armed Republic Gunships swoop down from the sky and lay down a barrage of covering blaster fire, giving our brave heroes a chance to jump on board and escape.
Arguably the best "Star Wars" prequel is "Attack of the Clones" and arguably the best bit in that film is the first appearance of the Republic Gunships (or Low Altitude Assault Transports) in action, like Air Cavalry Bell Hueys in a monumental Vietnam War movie. These iconic vehicles also appeared in the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."
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And now you too can own a massive, Lego Ultimate Collectors Series version of this iconic ground support gunship. Measuring 13 inches (33 cm) wide, 29 inches (74 centimeters) long and 27 inches (68 cm) tall and coming with 3,292 pieces, you'll need to make some room on the shelf for this set. Compared to the Gunship set from 2013, this has 2,117 more pieces and the set from 2013 is itself is pretty big. Accompanying the ship, the set will also contain Lego "Star Wars" minifigures Jedi Master Mace Windu and a Clone Trooper Commander.
This set is incredibly detailed, even if it does look a little bit larger than true minifigure scale. It also features some of the largest moving parts in any Lego "Star Wars" set to date. The set was created by veteran designer Hans Schölmer, who previously designed the iconic UCS Millennium Falcon and UCS A-wing and has designed a total of 37 Lego sets.
Lego aficionados have shared their passion, ideas and creative takes on the "Star Wars" saga with the Denmark-based company for more than 20 years, so they invited fans to vote on the top three requested sets via the Lego Ideas website. As such, the Republic Gunship rose supreme with over 30,000 votes, accounting for 58% of all votes cast.
"Our fans are always coming up with concepts and ideas for the Lego 'Star Wars' range — so it was great to give them the opportunity to let their voices be heard and choose the next UCS set," Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, Creative Lead of Lego "Star Wars" said in a statement emailed to Space.com.
"There is always an enormous responsibility to deliver a quality design, and the set that Hans has crafted is a triumph, particularly the size. We knew our fans would want to display this model but we didn't want to compromise on the scale versus the ability to exhibit it," Kronvold added. "I can't wait to see how the fans incorporate the set into their 'Star Wars' collections."
The Ultimate Collector Series "Star Wars" Republic Gunship Lego set (75309) will be released on August 1 for $349.99 and will be available for purchase from Lego.
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