Month: July 2021

The Fifth Element Flying Taxi MOC, a Genuinely Weird Left-Field Pickup

Vonado | Bought July 24, 2021 | $150 CAD from Vonado

Fifth Element flying taxi MOC brick model
Photo credit: lesdiy.com

Why I Bought It

Two weeks after the Ebon Hawk, I was still in a MOC-browsing mood and stumbled on a build of Korben Dallas’s flying taxi from The Fifth Element. It’s about as off-the-wall a choice as I’ve made for this collection, but the movie’s one of my all-time favorites and I’d never seen anyone build the taxi in brick form before, official or otherwise.

Living With It

It’s a smaller, faster build than the Ebon Hawk, and the designer did a great job capturing the taxi’s chunky, battered-future-noir look with a clever use of angled plating. It doesn’t get the same double-take from guests that a Star Wars ship does — most people just ask what it is — but for anyone who knows the movie, it’s an instant grin.

The Good

  • A genuinely unique build you won’t find anywhere else
  • Captures the taxi’s distinctive battered, boxy shape well
  • Quicker build than the larger Vonado ships

The Bad

  • Niche enough that most visitors won’t recognize what it is
  • Smaller scale makes it easy to overlook next to bigger builds on the shelf

Final Call

Rating: 3.5/5. A fun oddball pickup for fans of the movie, less essential if you’re not.

Grab One Here

A Vonado Ebon Hawk MOC, a Fan Build That Outdoes What LEGO Never Made

Vonado | Bought July 10, 2021 | $350 CAD from Vonado

Ebon Hawk MOC brick model
Photo credit: lesdiy.com

Why I Bought It

LEGO has never made an official Ebon Hawk set, which is honestly baffling given how iconic the ship is to anyone who played Knights of the Old Republic. Vonado fills exactly that kind of gap with fan-designed MOCs (my own custom creations, essentially, just professionally kitted and sold), and their Ebon Hawk build had been on my watch list for months before I finally pulled the trigger this July.

Living With It

The build is a multi-day project, not a weekend one, and the instructions are noticeably less polished than an official LEGO manual — a few steps needed a second look to figure out. But the finished ship nails the asymmetrical, cobbled-together silhouette that makes the Ebon Hawk instantly recognizable, right down to the boarding ramp. For a ship LEGO has ignored for two decades, this is about as good as it gets.

The Good

  • Fills a real gap in official LEGO Star Wars offerings
  • Accurate, distinctive silhouette that’s unmistakably the Ebon Hawk
  • Opening boarding ramp and cockpit detail add real play value

The Bad

  • Instructions are rougher than an official set and require patience
  • Not cheap for a third-party build without official LEGO backing

Final Call

Rating: 4/5. If you want an Ebon Hawk on your shelf, this is currently the only real way to get one.

Grab One Here