The 2010 CubeDude — The Clone Wars Edition
1,800 or 2,000 Made. A Daily Lottery to Buy It. Five Cardstock Collector Cards Nobody Talks About. And an Instruction Book You Can Only See When the Light Hits It Just Right.
The first of two CubeDude exclusives LEGO released in the summer of 2010 — and the one that introduced the format to the Star Wars collector world. Five Clone Wars characters, a fragile cardstock box that most examples haven’t survived intact, and contents that have never been fully documented.
San Diego Comic-Con 2010 ran July 22–25. LEGO was there with a single Star Wars exclusive: COMCON012, the CubeDude — Clone Wars Edition. Officially revealed on July 19, 2010 via the Star Wars website, it was a 416-piece set of five brick-built characters from The Clone Wars animated series, available only through a daily lottery at the LEGO booth. Attendees entered a draw each day for the right to purchase one at $75. According to the Holo-Brick Archives, 450 were sold per day across four days — 1,800 total. Brickset lists the quantity as 2,000. The box itself carries no production number, so the true figure remains unconfirmed. Each box was individually numbered via a limited edition seal sticker.
This collection holds two examples of COMCON012. One with the original tape intact, one where the tape has separated due to age.
The CubeDude Origin
CubeDudes were invented by Angus MacLane — a Pixar animator and lifelong LEGO enthusiast — in April 2009, when he began sketching out a formula for brick-built characters influenced by the super-deformed style of Japanese anime. After a four-month building frenzy that produced his first 100 models, MacLane uploaded them to Flickr. The response was immediate enough that LEGO took notice.
LEGO first approached MacLane about designing a CubeDude Buzz Lightyear for the New York Toy Fair 2010. That collaboration went smoothly enough that LEGO then commissioned two Star Wars CubeDude exclusives for the summer convention circuit — one for SDCC, one for Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando the following month. COMCON012 was the first of the two to reach the public.
MacLane was present at San Diego Comic-Con to sign boxes. Many signed examples exist in the secondary market — his signature appears in all-caps block letters in marker, with a small hand-drawn CubeDude above his name. None of the examples in this collection carry his signature.
The Box
COMCON012 is packaged in an approximately 5-inch cube box made of thin cardstock — noticeably lighter and more fragile than standard LEGO retail packaging. The flap opens at the top and is secured by a sticker seal that wraps from the top face over onto the back. There are three distinct preservation problems with this seal. First, like all pressure-sensitive adhesives, it may release gradually over time — the tape can curl away from the box surface or detach entirely without any physical interference. Second, any inward pressure on the top of the box can shear the seal at the fold line, breaking it without the box ever being intentionally opened. Third, the tape material itself appears to become more brittle with age and may split along the seam independently of either of the above. One of this collection’s two examples has a separated seal — the tape split along the seam seemingly from pressure on the top of the box. Buyers on the secondary market should expect most examples to show bends, dents, or compromised seals; pristine examples are the exception. If purchasing, requesting double-boxing from the seller is strongly advised.
The seal sticker itself carries two pieces of information: the LEGO logo on the portion that sits on the top face of the box, and the unit number and the words LIMITED EDITION on the portion that wraps over onto the back. This is how individual numbering is applied — not handwritten on the box itself, but printed on the seal sticker.
The front face of the box carries the LEGO and Star Wars logos at the top, the set name — The Clone Wars™ Edition — and images of the CubeDude builds. The layout wraps: two and a half figures appear on the front, with Yoda positioned at the corner so that he continues onto the left side. The remaining figures complete on the left side panel.
The two other panels (back and right) show the backs of the same five builds, with each character’s name printed in the shadow beneath the figure’s left leg. The back of the box carries CubeDude / Designed by Angus MacLane in the bottom right corner and the Comic-Con logo in the bottom left corner of the left panel.
The top carries the LEGO and Comic-Con logos. The bottom carries the standard small-print legal text — manufacturing locations, distribution information, trademarks and copyrights — along with a StarWars.com logo marked THE OFFICIAL STAR WARS FAN CLUB in all caps.
The Five Characters
The set contains parts to build five CubeDude figures from The Clone Wars animated series: R2-D2, C-3PO, Yoda, Captain Rex, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Unlike the Bounty Hunter Edition released the following month at Celebration V — which drew from MacLane’s original 100 builds — these five were designed specifically for SDCC and had not previously existed as MacLane models. Each figure follows the standard CubeDude formula: approximately 13 plates tall, with a 3×3 head, a 2×3 torso, and mirrored arms and legs.
Notable build details include the use of a lipped slope — normally a racecar hood element — as Obi-Wan’s hair, solid tubes for Yoda’s ears, headlight pieces on R2-D2’s body, and modified plates with light attachments for C-3PO’s knees. Captain Rex and Obi-Wan’s torsos use brick selections that effectively replicate the armor of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The Contents
Inside the box is an instruction booklet and the parts to build all five figures.
The instruction booklet — both covers are white. The paper is glossy and the booklet is stapled. The front and back covers carry a subtle embossed decoration: a clear plastic layer over the white paper printed with silhouette outlines of the five figures — two and a half on the front, two and a half on the back, with Yoda again split across the spine. The embossing is nearly invisible in flat light and only becomes visible when light catches it at an angle. It is one of the more quietly impressive production details on the set.
The parts — sealed in resealable bags, most likely one bag per figure with a title sheet, consistent with the packaging format used for the Bounty Hunter Edition released the same summer. This collection’s opened example has loose parts, having likely been opened prior to acquisition. A supplemental ziplock bag is present containing a small yellow paper card reading SUPPLEMENTAL ELEMENTS FOR CAPTAIN REX — presumably containing his helmet antennae and blasters, which may have been added after the main bags were packed.
Five collector cards — this detail does not appear in any collector database entry for COMCON012. Each card is approximately 2¼ inches square, printed on glossy photo-weight cardstock — thinner than a trading card but with the same surface finish. The front carries the LEGO and Star Wars logos at the top, an image of the built CubeDude figure in the center, the character’s name below the image, and copyright and trademark information at the bottom. The reverse is blank. One card per figure. Whether the cards were originally loose inside the box or packaged in the resealable bags is not confirmed from this collection’s example; the opened example was acquired with the cards stored in individual small ziplock bags, which may have been added by a previous owner for protection.
The Distribution
COMCON012 was available exclusively via a daily lottery at the LEGO booth at San Diego Comic-Con between July 22 and July 25, 2010. Winning the lottery gave the attendee the right to purchase the set at $75 — it was not a free giveaway. The same lottery-to-purchase mechanism was used for the Bounty Hunter Edition at Celebration V three weeks later.
Current Value
Brickset lists the current value at approximately $282 new and $170 used. BrickEconomy places the current value at approximately $275. Parts cost roughly $46 new on BrickOwl, meaning a sealed example commands roughly a 6× premium over parts value — modest by the standards of some Star Wars exclusives, reflecting a production run large enough that the set circulates regularly on the secondary market.
In This Collection
This collection holds two examples. One is sealed with the original tape intact. The second has a separated seal — the tape broke due to age without the box being opened — and has been opened for documentation purposes. The supplemental Captain Rex bag and the five collector cards are documented from firsthand examination of the opened example.
What We Don’t Know
- The exact production quantity — the box carries no total print run number. The Holo-Brick Archives calculates 1,800 (450 per day × 4 days); Brickset lists 2,000. Both are plausible and neither has been definitively confirmed from a primary source.
- The collector cards — original packaging — the five glossy character cards are undocumented in collector databases. It is not confirmed whether they were loose in the box, included in the parts bags, or packed separately. Cross-referencing against the Bounty Hunter Edition, once a sealed example of that set is opened, may resolve this.
- The Captain Rex supplemental bag — the small ziplock bag with supplemental parts and a yellow paper card is present in this collection’s opened example. Whether this appears in all examples or only some — and whether it indicates a known packaging error or intentional inclusion — has not been documented elsewhere.
- Bag count — the Holo-Brick Archives notes that some COMCON012 examples contained five bags and some contained six. The reason for the discrepancy is not documented. The supplemental Captain Rex bag may account for the variation.
- MacLane signing scope — signed examples appear regularly on the secondary market, suggesting MacLane signed a significant portion of the run at the event. The proportion of signed versus unsigned examples is not known.
COMCON012-1 — CubeDude — The Clone Wars Edition (San Diego Comic-Con 2010 Exclusive)
BrickLink: comcon012-1
Distributed: July 22–25, 2010 | Event: San Diego Comic-Con International 2010
Price: $75.00 | Distribution: Daily on-site lottery purchase
Contents: Parts for 5 CubeDude figures (R2-D2, C-3PO, Yoda, Captain Rex, Obi-Wan Kenobi) + instruction booklet + 5 collector cards + supplemental Captain Rex parts bag
Pieces: 416
Quantity: 1,800–2,000 individually numbered (quantity unconfirmed)
Current value: ~$282 sealed
Status: Owned × 2 (1 sealed, 1 opened for documentation)
