Have you ever fantasised about winning the lottery, or being incredibly rich that money is no object? Imagine all the LEGO you would buy, or the crazy things you could build if money and your measly LEGO budget wasn’t an obstacle?
LEGO superfan and NBA superstar Myles Turner who plays for the Indiana Pacers has some ideas, because over the weekend, he unveiled a very special LEGO model – a 7″ tall “Darth Myles” statue made of over 100,000 LEGO pieces.
How rich do you need to be to afford on of these? Myles Turner earns about US$18 million a year playing for the Indiana Pacers, and was on a 4-year contract, and is looking to sign either a contract extension, or move, so yeah – if you’re earning megabucks like that – you get to do all sorts of cool stuff like this.
The one-of-a-kind model was commissioned by black LEGO artist Ekow Nimako, whose artworks celebrating his rich heritage (and are almost exclusively made from black elements) are world-renowned.
Ekow also fronted LEGO’s Black History Month campaign from earlier in the year.
Here’s a closer look at the incredible details of Darth Myles. According to Ekow Nimako, the build is about 7’3″ tall (a smidge taller than Myles who is almost 7′ himself), and took 716 hours to build.
Apart from being an accomplished basketball player, Myles Turner is the real deal, and a massive fan of Star Wars and LEGO.
While most NBA fans flex with designer fashion, and expensive sneakers, we have Myles entering the NBA arena dressed as Vader, flanked by 2 Stormtroopers.
In case you doubt his AFOL-creds, Myles also made headlines last year when he showed off his LEGO collection on TikTok last year.
Any fan who owns a large and varied collection, from UCS Y-Wing, to Joker Manors, to the Disney Castle, and Titanic has plenty of AFOL-cred in my eyes.
Judging by the incredible love it’s been getting on social media, I’m super happy (and a little jealous!) for Myles showing off his hobby, that we can all relate too.
One day, I too hope to be able to commission statues of myself in LEGO just because I can. To see more of Ekow Nimako’s art, check him out on Instagram or his website.
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That’s awesome!
Thanks for sharing, Jay!
Two of my biggest loves combined, LEGO & basketball!