The 2013 NY Toy Fair Yoda Diorama

Broadway Comes to a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Fewer than 150 made. A storm made it even rarer. And the details inside have never been fully documented — until now.

In February 2013, LEGO was preparing one of its most ambitious promotional campaigns ever — a life-size X-Wing fighter in Times Square, a new Cartoon Network special, and a cascade of exclusive items tied to the launch of The Yoda Chronicles. The campaign wouldn’t reach the public until May, but the toy industry got its first look two months earlier at the New York Toy Fair.

And in the gift bag that media guests took home from the 2013 Toy Fair Collector Party was something remarkable — a miniature Broadway scene frozen in acrylic, featuring Yoda on a street corner in New York City, holding a newspaper and hawking the news of what was coming.

The Event

The 2013 New York Toy Fair was held on February 9 and 10, 2013. LEGO hosted a Collector Party for media guests as part of the Yoda Chronicles promotion activities. The gift bag given to attendees contained two items: the NY Yoda Diorama covered in this article, and the Empire Strikes Out DVD Promotional Card with Darth Vader with Medal minifig — covered separately on this site.

Only 150 dioramas were produced. Fewer than 150 are believed to have actually been distributed. A significant storm hit the Northeast that weekend, closing roads and airports and reducing attendance substantially. The true number of examples that left the Toy Fair in collectors’ hands is unknown — but it is almost certainly less than 150, making this one of the rarest items in the entire 2013 Yoda Chronicles campaign.

The examples in this collection are numbered 014 of 150 and 037 of 150.

The Container

The diorama is housed in an acrylic cube approximately 4 inches in each direction. The cube is constructed from two U-shaped pieces — a top and a bottom — that come apart to provide access to the interior. The bottom of the cube is etched with the manufacturer information: SPORTS CUBES, L.P. and U.S. PAT. # D498502.

This is a premium presentation format — the same style of acrylic display case used for sports memorabilia and high-end collectibles. It is a significant upgrade from the cardboard display box used for the 1999 Toy Fair Promotional Diorama, reflecting both the more sophisticated collector market LEGO was targeting in 2013 and the premium nature of this gift.

The Interior

Inside the cube, a folded cardstock piece covers the back and bottom of the display completely. It is printed on both sides. The diorama side — the side visible through the front of the cube — faces outward and depicts a New York City street corner. The reverse side is printed with the promotional announcement described below.

The Street Corner

The bottom of the interior shows the corner of 46th Street and Broadway — confirmed by the street signs on the lamppost in the scene. The road shows two crosswalks. The numbering on the bottom of the display reads “Limited Edition 037 of 150” — individually numbered for each example.

The brick-built street corner scene includes:

• A black lamppost with W 46 ST and BROADWAY street signs and a silver 1×1 round tile on top
• A blue mailbox-style build printed with “Sith Life!” — a parody of the luxury lifestyle brand Thug Life, reimagined for the dark side
• A newspaper bin containing a 2×2 printed tile reading “The Yoda Chronicles” with “Toy Fair 2013 Exclusive” and “February 10th” in small print on either side of the masthead. Below the masthead, an article titled “SECRETS TO REVEAL THERE ARE!” with a Yoda image and the teaser “BE HERE! MAY 2013”
• Yoda himself — the gray-haired sw0465 variant exclusive to this diorama — standing on the corner holding a copy of the same Yoda Chronicles newspaper tile in his left hand, as if hawking papers on the street

The Backdrop

The upper portion of the interior cardstock depicts a Broadway-style storefront with four minifigures posed as mannequins in shop windows — each a send-up of a Broadway show or New York institution. Above the store windows, a marquee sign reads “SECRETS TO REVEAL THERE ARE” in all caps. Above the marquee are two Broadway parody advertisements spanning the full width of the storefront: “Bricked” — almost certainly a play on the musical Wicked — and “Bricks” with a cat-eyes logo featuring two yellow eyes with black minifig pupils, an unmistakable parody of the musical Cats.

The four mannequins and their signage, fully documented here for the first time:

• Boba Fett — a variant of sw0396 with yellow helmet center print instead of red and light yellow knee detail instead of orange, posed over the sign “ARMOR AMOUR” — a parody Broadway show title, playing on both the word “armor” and the French word for love
• Stass Allie (sw0469) — the Tholothian Jedi Master with her distinctive head coverings and flowing lekku, tan robes, and lightsaber, with the words “Galaxy Fashions” printed on the bottom of the store window in script
• Princess Leia — a variant of sw0371 with gray clothing instead of white, posed alongside Stass Allie with a repeat of the words “Galaxy Fashions” on the bottom of the store window
• Jedi Consular (sw0501) — green faced, white robes, double green lightsaber

It is worth noting that both the Boba Fett and the Leia appear to be deliberately modified versions of existing production minifigs with subtle color shifts — yellow instead of red on Fett’s helmet, gray instead of white on Leia’s clothing. This suggests LEGO designers specifically altered these prints for the diorama mannequins rather than using standard off-the-shelf figures, making these variants unique to this piece.

The Announcement

The reverse side of the folded cardstock carries the promotional announcement in Yoda-speak:

Celebrating the launch of “The Yoda Chronicles” we are. Join us for a major LEGO® Star Wars™ event in New York you should. More information to come there will be.

Below the text are the LEGO and Star Wars logos. At the bottom, in small print:

THIS IS NOT A TOY. © 2013 Lucasfilm Ltd. TM. All rights reserved. I LOVE NEW YORK is a trademark and service mark of the New York State Department of Economic Development; used with permission. LEGO, the LEGO logo and the Minifigure are trademarks of The LEGO Group © 2013 The LEGO Group.

The “THIS IS NOT A TOY” designation is consistent with other LEGO promotional items designed for adult collectors rather than children — the same designation appears on other Toy Fair exclusives.

The I LOVE NEW YORK trademark notice is a notable legal detail — LEGO obtained formal permission from the New York State Department of Economic Development to use the iconic I ♥ NY branding for this campaign, confirming this was a properly licensed use of one of the most recognized trademarks in the world.

The Minifigure

The Yoda in this diorama is sw0465 — the gray-haired Toy Fair 2013 Exclusive variant. This is distinct from sw0465a, the white-haired version given away at the Times Square Toys R Us event in May 2013. The gray hair makes this version significantly rarer — only 150 dioramas were produced compared to 1,000 of the white-haired minifig. The gray-haired Yoda exists only within this diorama and cannot be separated from it without disassembly.

The Storm

The reduced attendance at the 2013 Toy Fair due to the winter storm is an important and underappreciated detail in the history of this item. Fewer than 150 were actually distributed, but the exact number is not known. If 20% of expected attendees couldn’t make it due to weather, the actual distribution could be as low as 120 or fewer. Although, the undistributed items may have made their way into circulation through some other means after the event.

This makes the NY Yoda Diorama one of the few collector items where a weather event directly affected the distribution quantity — not how many were made, but how many actually reached collectors’ hands.

What We Don’t Know

• The exact number distributed — 150 were produced but fewer were given out due to storm-related reduced attendance. Does anyone know the actual count distributed at the Toy Fair or how the remaining items may have been distributed after the event?
• The Bricked parody — the first Broadway advertisement above the store windows reads “Bricked.” Which Broadway show is this a parody of? The spelling suggests Wicked. If you know, please leave a comment.
• The cardstock attachment — the folded cardstock appears to be affixed inside the cube. How is it attached? Is it glued or held in place by the build itself? There is no evidence of adhesive on the exposed back of the cardstock.
• Current value — no confirmed recent sold prices have been located. If you have bought or sold one recently, please share the details.

The 2013 NY Toy Fair Yoda Diorama
Produced: 2013
Distribution: NY Toy Fair Collector Party gift bag, February 9–10, 2013
Quantity: 150 produced, likely fewer distributed at the actual event
BrickLink: yoda2
Brickset: NYCC2013-1
BrickEconomy: NYCC2013-1