Let me start by saying that I’m not really an uber fan of the Porgs – those little, wide-eyed birds that Chewie love to snack on at the planet Ahch-To from The Last Jedi. Well, I don’t hate them, but I don’t really go crazy over them either. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I really don’t admire LEGO’s latest brick rendition of this Star Wars creature. But a recent video posted by io9 somehow gives me a different perspective and appreciation on how Star Wars creature creators came up with the idea of adding the Porg in the Star Wars franchise. io9 video producer Tom Caswell gives us a bit of a back story on the creation of the Porg, while adding a nice LEGO twist: he does this while doing a LEGO Star Wars Porg (75230) speed build. Watch his video below.
Truth be told, there are already a handful of speed build and review videos of the LEGO Star Wars Porg out there, but I have to say that this video from io9 is the most entertaining to watch. This speed build video also underscores the creative process and the considerations that The Last Jedi’s set designers took in crafting the Porg. I may not be a fan of this extraterrestrial avian species, but I surely admire and respect the people behind its creation. Furthermore, though this particular LEGO Star Wars Porg (75230) speed build video may be less than 3 minutes, it actually took Tom a total of 3 hours to build this brick-built bird. With 811 pieces to boot, the LEGO Star Wars Porg is a “life-sized”, 7-inch replica of the TLJ Porg as we saw in the film. The set itself has 6 bags right out of the box, with Bag #6 containing the final pieces to build the Porg’s head. It also comes with a UCS-style plaque.
A simple lever mechanism at the back of the build, at the tail to be exact, allows for certain play functions such as making the LEGO Porg flaps its wings and open its mouth. The back of the LEGO Porg is pretty impressive as well – I like the attention to detail and how this is achieved by using a variety of jagged LEGO pieces and cheese slopes to recreate a feather-like effect. However, I wish LEGO designers added an option of keeping the mouth and wings extended to add variety in terms of posing the set. In any case, this is one LEGO Star Wars set that you might want to have as a nice desktop or table top accessory. It may even be a breath of fresh air among all those LEGO Star Wars star ships that you have amassed over the years.
The LEGO Star Wars Porg (75230) will be released on October 1, and is now listed at shop.LEGO.com with a retail price of $69.99.
Image credits: io9
