DC Trawler

Lego responds to Jabba the Hut furor: We were going to phase out that toy anyway

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I didn’t realize Lego had a “newsroom,” and it’s kind of a sad statement on 21st Century life that they even need one. But here’s part of their press release trying to clear up that whole “Jabba the Hut is anti-Muslim or something” hubbub:

The Austrian Turkish Cultural Community has criticized a LEGO Star Wars product for looking similar to a mosque in Istanbul. The product is however not based on any real building but on a fictional building from a scene in the movie Star Wars Episode VI.

All LEGO Star Wars products are based on the movies of the Star Wars saga created by Lucasfilm. Jabba’s Palace appears in Star Wars Episode VI and appears in a famous scene on the planet Tatooine. The building is the palace of Jabba – a fictional movie character…

The LEGO Star Wars product Jabba´s palace does not reflect any non-fictional buildings, people, or the mentioned mosque…

A few media have reported that the product is being discontinued due to the mentioned criticism. This is, however, not correct.

As a normal process products in the LEGO Star Wars assortment usually have a life-cycle of one to three years after which they leave the assortment and may be renewed after some years. The LEGO Star Wars product Jabba’s Palace 9516 was planned from the beginning to be in the assortment only until the end of 2013 as new exciting models from the Star Wars universe will follow.

Yeah, but other than that!

It stinks that somebody at Lego had to take time away from their busy day of creating fun, wholesome toys for kids, just because a few ignorant, misguided religious zealots need to be appeased. Maybe this will settle the matter, but I suspect not.

If you happen to have one of these toys, you can get a pretty penny for it on eBay. Be sure to thank Not All Muslims for the spike in popularity.

(Hat tip: Twitchy)