[DogFashionDisco]

I read earlier that LEGO is complying with requests that the fairly new Jabba's Palace set be taken off the market because it resembles a historic mosque. Personally, I think that is pretty ridiculous considering that it is just a child's playset and to abolish something over a coincidence is unjustified. Of course, LEGO denies any intentional resemblance (as they should, because that would be silly), but they don't want to anger anyone and have caved on the matter. Anyway, I looked around and it has already been removed from LEGO's site, and is no longer available on Target.com or Walmart.com, so if you like Jabba get him now before its too late.

[BlackRazor]

Wow, the PC police strike again!

[stjuggernaut]

I live in England and I saw this on the dailymail news website. What a load of rubbish, looks nothing like it. Its a childs toy. Scalpers are going to have a field say with this in a few weeks

[black7towr]

Absolutely ridiculous.

[Shin Densetsu]

That is idiotic. It's Jabbas f%^&*(ing palace!

[PROVOST]

Looks like they were worried about suicide bombers attacking either LEGO facilities,offices,retailers or customers who have LEGO products.

[snake5289]

Wow that's some bull-shitake mushrooms right there.

[TheLongestDay]

FFS.........this world ayeayeaye.

My son really wanted this set.

[DogFashionDisco]

This won't be common knowledge for a few days so you might still be able to find one for him. Oh, and here is an article about it:
Lego Pulls 'Jabba's Palace' Set Following Racism Accusations, Says Criticism Not The Reason

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheLongestDay

FFS.........this world ayeayeaye.

My son really wanted this set.

[kylactus]

Why stop there? mabey they should re edit ROTJ so the palace looks less "ethnic" wile were at it Jabba is offensive to overweight people, no? all 80s movies are insensitive! Back to the future, It should not be "Irainans" that shot Dock over the platonium, it should be "extremists" and don't watch Raiders! Indy blows away an innocent man for puting on a cultural sword display in public! And only the three white Ghostbusters had PHDs whats up with that! more to the point lookin at my lego mini figs....alot of yellow there... not very diverse... shame on you Lego.

[DogFashionDisco]

I don't want this to turn into an ugly conversation, I just wanted to point out the ridiculousness of the situation and give Arkers a heads up in case they wanted to find the set before it disappears. It is unfortunate when something like this toy situation happens, because it takes away from more serious circumstances when people should actually be defending cultural diversity and promoting equality. The way to do that is NOT to flip out over building blocks.

[CarafelliusMaximus]

I think this is a very dumb situation though. It's a toy set based off the movie, which is pretty accurate too, plus it combines with the Rancor Pit. So it makes some nice interactivity thats not real common. This is just something to get upset over and cause controversy. In the end, its just meant to draw attention and headlines.

In other news though I was just at my local Target and they had two sets as of April 2. I'd be happy to work out a deal with someone if they really want it. Granted it's $120 but if you want it I'll be happy to help if I can, just PM me and we'll work out details.

[MeLikeJinx]

So lame... they should have taken away all the Lego Indy sets too then because all the bad guys resembled you know who. But anyway... was Lego Jabba really that popular to begin with? I mean like were people buying him up before?

[CMIII]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylactus

Back to the future, It should not be "Irainans" that shot Dock over the platonium, it should be "extremists"

Actually it was the Libyans

[Hot Shot.]

Everyone raging over this needs to chill out. The set had predetermined shelf-life, and it's reaching that. Lego is not pulling the set off shelves over this stupid overreaction, so stop acting like they are.

[BlackRazor]

Because Jabba The Hutt is a villain in the Star Wars films, the group claimed the alleged close resemblance reinforced negative stereotypes about Muslims.

“This does not belong in children’s bedrooms,” Kilic told NBC. “And the minaret-like tower features machine guns. Children will become insensitive to violence and other cultures.”
---------------------------------

Man, is that a reach! So they think people are so stupid they'll think Jabba is a Muslim?

[trebleshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shin Densetsu

That is idiotic. It's Jabbas f%^&*(ing palace!

Agreed. And you'd think if it was really an issue, someone would have complained about the other Jabba products long before that Lego set was released.

But anyone who has read the article linked above should be able to see that this whole situation is most likely just some member of a activist group trying to grab headlines and publicity for his "cause".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Shot.

Everyone raging over this needs to chill out. The set had predetermined shelf-life, and it's reaching that. Lego is not pulling the set off shelves over this stupid overreaction, so stop acting like they are.

Who's raging over this? No one here, as far as I can tell. Now, the DJ on the morning radio program I listen to? Yeah, he raged for about 10 minutes straight about this.

[Black Arbor]

Kinda sad when the only mainstream toy coverage is bad, or is full of handy tips for scalpers.

[brickflick]

So - when are they making a real - maybe even full sized - Lego mosque ?

[Nightwing]

This whole thing is getting blown way too out of proportion, but it's not just this, it's anything that anyone has a problem with these days. Anything and everything can be found offensive by one person or another. I don't want to seem insensitive here, but it's not like Lego came out with a set that said "Mosque" on the box and marketed it as a "Terrorist Hideout" or something else which might be just as racist. If they did then I could totally understand why people would be offended over that.

As silly as the following might sound it could also go in reverse. What if people told Mosque builders to change the style of buidlings they chose to build because they were offended that they looked too much like Jabba's Palace? Maybe they would feel that they are offending George Lucas in some way shape or form. Maybe the group of people who officially list their nationality or religion as "Jedi" could be offended by that as well. Would that make the builders of Mosques run out and alter their buildings right away to please the masses... I think not. If something was to be pulled off the market every time someone came out and said that it offended them, then there would be nothing left on the shelf. There also wouldn't be any movies in theaters or music on the radio. Just think about what would happen every single thing that someone complained about had to go away.

I'm sorry to hear that people have been offeneded, and that their feelings have been hurt, but there are much more important things in life which could be done with their time like spending it with their kids or something else like that. In a case like this if a person feels offeneded by it then they shouldn't buy it and make it a point not to buy anything else that Lego makes ever again. I guess that they could also boycott the stores which sell Lego products and no longer give those place their business. This way they make their own personal protest by no longer supporting the product, but people who don't feel offended can still decide for themselves.

I hope this dosen't offend anyone because it wasn't meant to.

In any case as far as Lego goes what I heard was that they said that they would stop producing it. They also said that since it was last year's model that the production run would have ended sooner or later in 2013 anyway. I haven't heard anything about them pulling it of the shelves yet anywhere. Lego still has it up for sale on their site. Target and walmart still have it up on their sites, but they are sold out. I was just at a local Target where they still had them on the shelf.

[DogFashionDisco]

On a related note - my local Target store had one of these in stock yesterday, but they wouldn't honor their own online price because it was out of stock. Long story short, I got a Walmart to price match it and they got my money. Target sucks.

edit: I paid $87.99 for it. If you get one, get the place you're buying it from to price match it for you. Also, it is back in stock on LEGO's site. It wasn't in stock yesterday, so who knows what is going on?

[Patient X]

First - DogFashionDisco...great band. I've been listening to Adultery a lot lately

Now, about the subject - I don't think they're disappeared too quickly, as I've seen a few of them around town recently. I don't know how much Lego is truly caving, or if it's just the natural cycle of their products only being on the shelves for a limited period of time before being retired, but I hope it's more of the latter. Today's society, people are so quick to ***** and moan about anything that will draw attention to themselves and any fabricated "cause" they can come up with. It's pretty sad.

Anyway, if Lego is truly pulling these off the shelves faster than expected, I hope that everyone that wants one gets one! It's a really cool set.

[trekking95]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylactus

Why stop there? mabey they should re edit ROTJ so the palace looks less "ethnic" wile were at it Jabba is offensive to overweight people, no? all 80s movies are insensitive! Back to the future, It should not be "Irainans" that shot Dock over the platonium, it should be "extremists" and don't watch Raiders! Indy blows away an innocent man for puting on a cultural sword display in public! And only the three white Ghostbusters had PHDs whats up with that! more to the point lookin at my lego mini figs....alot of yellow there... not very diverse... shame on you Lego.

Not to pick on you but it was Libyans that shot him. Kinda of a thing I have, correcting people on movie stuff.

Back on topic, people these days are nuts! We are all so concerned that we will offend someone so we allow everyone else to push us around they way they want it. People need to grow up, stand up, and man up! Who the heck cares if it offends someone? It likely wouldn't anyway, but if it did that person who was offended has a problem with their mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeLikeJinx

So lame... they should have taken away all the Lego Indy sets too then because all the bad guys resembled you know who. But anyway... was Lego Jabba really that popular to begin with? I mean like were people buying him up before?

I always thought someone would have raged over IM 1, since the 10 Rings group is all made up of "you know who". But even with Indy you're right, and they also made 3.75 in. figures of the Cairo swordsman and assassins.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMIII

Actually it was the Libyans

Beat me to it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackRazor

Because Jabba The Hutt is a villain in the Star Wars films, the group claimed the alleged close resemblance reinforced negative stereotypes about Muslims.

“This does not belong in children’s bedrooms,” Kilic told NBC. “And the minaret-like tower features machine guns. Children will become insensitive to violence and other cultures.”
---------------------------------
Man, is that a reach! So they think people are so stupid they'll think Jabba is a Muslim?

Good post! Well I have seen fat Muslims, but none that looked like Jabba. Or none that ate live frogs, had Rancor pits, or guards that look like green pigs. This is sci-fi for goodness sakes, it ain't real! And what about the "machine guns" (laser guns, what a fool) on the Falcon and other starships, or with the Indy sets, or even the Blasters and machine guns every Star Wars/Trek, Joe, Cobra, Indy, Transformer, Marvel, etc. figure carries? If that were the case they couldn't sell any figures or toys ANYWHERE! Man, Kilic should put the pipe down and take off his rose-colored glasses. Wake up, dummy!


Sorry for the rant, but likely most here agree!

(EDIT: Don't forget the prince of Persia sets! They would be the worst of all!

Quote:

Originally Posted by brickflick

So - when are they making a real - maybe even full sized - Lego mosque ?

Ha ha! No, wont happen. Because there would those too tempted to make fun of it, or put a scale bomb making kit in the basement, or something "racist" (even though Muslims are not a race, but a belief). Or they would just get angry like they did over that youtube video making fun of their "god" profit (misspelled purposely). Lego will not open that box of snakes, by making that set.



If I'm allowed to post links, here is another article. If not, please remove.
Star Wars toy is racist

I also read where someone said: "The terrorist Jabba the Hutt likes to smoke a hookah and have his victims killed. It is clear that the ugly figure of Jabba and the whole scene smacks of racial prejudice and vulgar insinuations against Asians and Orientals as people with deceitful and criminal personalities.

Yeah, cause all the Asians and Middle Eastern people I know look like big slugs smoking, eating frogs and killing people with huge monsters.

[trebleshot]

We have an EDIT POST button for a reason. Just sayin'.

Also, wearing "rose-colored glasses" means having an overly-optimistic view of something or someone. It's a reference to a particular style of eyewear from the 60's that's usually associated with hippies.

So Kilic is obviously not wearing any, since he is upset about a children's building-block set based on a 30-year-old science-fiction film. If he were wearing any, he might have said that the set is a wonderful representation of the architecture and design of the building and downplayed any negative aspects.

[BlackRazor]

Right trekking95, your point about claiming those were machine guns on the Jabba set too. Speaking of guns, years ago I'd read that Sweden (I believe) didn't allow Star Wars toys because they didn't like the term "Wars" on the product or the fact most of the figures had weapons. Not sure if that's still true but I do recall seeing that article years ago.