LEGO Star Wars History – Who is Jedi Bob?

June 19, 2021 | 1

After the conclusion of last year’s LEGO Ideas Star Wars UCS Fan vote, which saw a victory for the Republic Gunship, there has been a lot of debate and speculation around this upcoming Ultimate Collector’s Series set.

This is a guest post contributed by @vaderfan_2187. Go check him out on Instagram, and his daily comparison, trivia and minifigure content!

Recent LEGO Media Roundtable discussions have revealed that this new UCS set will soon be arriving on shelves sometime later this year, although not much else has been revealed yet.

LEGO CON, an all-new 2-hour live event streaming from The LEGO House is less than a week away, premiering on 26 June 2021 at 5pm BST, 12pm EST, 9am PST, and 2am (27 June 2021) in AEST for those of us in Australia, and the team have teased the reveal of a new LEGO Star Wars set – of which many are speculating that it will be the UCS Republic Gunship.

During a recent LEGO Star Wars roundtable, we got the opportunity to hear from the LEGO Star Wars design team, and ask a few questions about the upcoming UCS Republic Gunship, and while they did rule out the inclusion of the Jedi Bob minifigure, who knows, they might surprise us.

Nothing is known of the 2021 LEGO UCS Republic Gunship minifigure selection – no information has been given yet, and this has led to a lot of speculation as to what minifigures will hopefully be included.

Some fans want an updated Mace Windu, others want a never-seen-before Phase II Commander Cody, but there has been one interesting yet common request from fans of the original.

Jedi Bob.

While he may not be included in the set… (or will he make a surprise appearance?), let’s get into the history and answer the question.

Who is Jedi Bob?

Jedi Bob is the name given by LEGO fans to an unnamed Jedi Knight minifigure that appeared in 7163 Republic Gunship from 2002, alongside four clone troopers, two super battle droids, and a droideka. He wields a green lightsaber and sports a grey tunic with a brown Jedi cloak.

Why is he so popular among LEGO fans? That isn’t entirely clear. Maybe it’s his friendly smiling demeanor, with his bearded face lifted from the LEGO City line.

Maybe it’s the fact that he is the only generic Jedi minifigure LEGO has made in a yellow skin tone. Or maybe it’s the fact that he’s one of the few Star Wars characters with the name “Bob”.

Unfortunately, little else is known about Jedi Bob. The only information we have about him is from the LEGO Star Wars DK encyclopedias. In fact, the 2009 DK LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary book was the first to name him “Jedi Bob”.

His legendary status also means that he’s worth quite a bit to LEGO Star Wars collectors. How much does a Jedi Bob cost?

At the time of writing, it’ll cost you on average, about US$100 for a used one, and approximately US$170 for a new copy on Bricklink. If you own the original Republic Gunship with Jedi Bob still intact… you’re probably sitting on a small LEGO fortune.

Some fans have speculated that Jedi Bob is based on Nicanas Tassu from Attack of the Clones, due to his beard, dark-colored robes, and green lightsaber.

Tassu was the Jedi who tossed a lightsaber to Anakin at the Battle of Geonosis, but no official source from LEGO has ever stated that Jedi Bob was based on Tassu.

So how does this factor into the upcoming UCS Republic Gunship set? Well, with its imminent release, many fans are hoping that we will get a new, updated minifigure of Jedi Bob in the set.

That said, it has not, and has never been confirmed that Jedi Bob will make an appearance – it’s all wishful thinking at the moment.

Nonetheless, it’s great to see an obscure LEGO Star Wars character get so much love for the fans, and the lore behind Jedi Bob (or the lack thereof) is interesting and worth exploring.

Time will tell whether or not this beloved Jedi will reappear in the upcoming UCS Gunship, but what do you think? Even if he won’t make an appearance in the set, I think it’s more than possible he’ll make an appearance as a gift with purchase, or maybe even a VIP reward.

What minifigures do you think will be included in the upcoming UCS Republic Gunship set? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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