Agent Palmer

A Special Holiday Report from Agent Hunt

There are few stories more synonymous with Christmas than Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I’ve never read it myself, but I’ve seen The Muppet Christmas Carol many times, so I get the gist.

This year Lego chose to immortalise Dickens’ book in plastic bricks with a buildable scene from the book and a couple of minifigures.

Designed by Ralph McQuarrie for Return of the Jedi, the RZ1 A-Wing is faster than a TIE Interceptor, perfect for hit and run attacks or recon missions. Although its first appearance was in 1983 at the Battle of Endor, the fighter has been a regular in other media, especially later episodes of Star Wars Rebels.

The Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) Lego Star Wars sets are the pinnacle of design and engineering. Built as large scale display pieces, we’ve had X-Wings, TIE Fighters, Millenium Falcons, and many, many more. We’ve never had an A-Wing before though. At $200, this set is in the (relatively) cheaper end of the UCS scale compared to the £700 Imperial Star Destroyer or £800 Falcon. As such this was my first foray into the world of UCS.

Maybe it’s because we’re an island nation, with a proud history of seafaring. Maybe it’s because my early years were spent living on the coast. Whatever the reason, the sea has always fascinated.

That said, I’ve never been particularly fascinated by lighthouses, as interesting as they are. Unlike writer and building conservationist Tom Nancollas. His love and admiration for these stone monoliths shine through in this book from the cover right through to the epilogue.

The Mandalorian surprised everyone with just how awesome a live-action Star Wars series could be before the show had even launched Lego had revealed it’s first Mandalorian Set. With 2020’s January wave, a second set appeared.

Sadly neither were the Razorcrest set we badly need in our lives, but let’s look at 2019’s AT-ST Raider and 2020’s Mandalorian Battle Pack.

What exactly is the Book of Sith? It’s not a novel but it’s also not a factbook. If anything it’s more akin to a collection of short stories, but not stories in the traditional sense. Rather the collective thoughts of several figures throughout the history of the Sith and the dark side. The book is published under the Legends banner, so it’s not considered canon.

The premise, for lack of a better word, is that great texts have been written over several thousand years, mostly by various Dark Side leaders and scholars…