Pop on your tin foil hat for a moment: there’s a conspiracy theory floating around that 2024 might see the return of Jedi Bob to the LEGO Star Wars line-up…
A mythical figure in LEGO Star Wars history, Jedi Bob originally debuted in 2002’s 7163 Republic Gunship. Why did the LEGO Group choose an anonymous Jedi over the dozens of named characters that fought in the Battle of Geonosis? Your guess is as good as ours. But this nameless warrior has since ascended to legendary status among the community, especially after being crowned ‘Jedi Bob’ by the original LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary in 2009.
It’s with that knowledge in mind that we approach a theory shared by YouTuber MandRproductions (or Ryan), who reckons the stars are aligning for Jedi Bob to return for LEGO Star Wars’ 25th anniversary in 2024. These are the facts: a new LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary is in the works from DK Books, and the Amazon AU listing states that it includes ‘an exclusive LEGO Star Wars minifigure with special 25th anniversary printing’.
That immediately conjures up memories of 2019’s 20th anniversary LEGO Star Wars minifigures, which resurrected classic yellow characters from the original trilogy with unique back printing. The rumour mill claims that we’ll see a similar spread of minifigures among 2024’s sets for the theme’s 25th anniversary, only this time delivering obscure characters we likely wouldn’t see otherwise in sets, such as Darth Malak and Fives.
Including back printing on those minifigures would be a strange move, as Ryan notes, given we’ve never had those characters before. But if the LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary includes a remake of a classic character, the ‘special 25th anniversary printing’ would help to differentiate it from the original minifigure. And what if that character was Jedi Bob?
For one thing, DK Books – the publisher of the new visual dictionary – has made a point of the fact that it was the first to bestow the anonymous minifigure with the moniker ‘Jedi Bob’. “The 2024 visual dictionary would certainly make a good home for an anniversary figure like [Jedi Bob] given the way they’ve talked about him in previous books,” Ryan argues.
So far so good, but we’re still in the realms of theory here. What pushes it into conspiracy is the final piece of what Ryan calls ‘the Jedi Bob puzzle’. The YouTuber claims that the LEGO Star Wars team held a secret meeting with a group of community members following the stunted release of 75309 Republic Gunship, which arrived in 2021 to a mixed reception – partly owing to the minifigure selection, which overlooked calls from the community (and a campaign from Ryan) for an updated Jedi Bob.
“I was told they were basically trying to figure out why LEGO Star Wars fans were so unhappy with the release of the Gunship,” Ryan says. “I hadn’t been sure if that meeting had actually happened or not, because it seemed so far-fetched and ridiculous to me. But then, two weeks later, the blog Brickset messaged me.”
The video then includes a screenshot of the alleged message, which apparently came a week or two after the meeting is said to have happened. Brickset admin Chris (or CapnRex101) asks Ryan what he (and ‘the broader LEGO Star Wars fan community’) would prefer for a new Jedi Bob minifigure: a new face print, or a generic head from another theme.
Ryan states in voiceover that Chris also asked him whether Jedi Bob should have a yellow skin tone (as per the original minifigure) or follow the conventions of modern LEGO Star Wars minifigures, but doesn’t show that message. Regardless, you can see where he’s going with this.
“Why would this guy ask me about Jedi Bob after the Gunship came out?” Ryan says. “Brickset didn’t talk about Jedi Bob, didn’t advocate for [the LEGO Group] to put Jedi Bob in a set, didn’t campaign. They had no skin in the game. They didn’t care about it… but now they care about it? After the set had released? So to me, the only question is… why would Brickset do that?”
The timing does seem like a pretty big coincidence. But would the LEGO Star Wars team really ask Brickset to measure the pulse of the LEGO Star Wars community by messaging MandRproductions out of the blue? For it to be possible, the meeting and messages Ryan talks about in his video would have to be legit. And without further verification, they should definitely be taken lightly.
Yet at the same time… you can see the argument for Jedi Bob starting to crystalise. We’ll find out one way or the other when DK reveals the minifigure included in the updated LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary, which is due to launch on April 4, 2024.
For now, head here to build your own updated LEGO Star Wars Jedi Bob minifigure.
Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO using our affiliate links.
Comments
Be the first to comment!