It’s a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial Troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base on Yavin 4, and pursued them across the galaxy. Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth.

This is the opening scrawl for Empire Strikes Back, one of the most iconic movies of the Star Wars franchise. Since 1980, the massive walking AT-AT and snow speeders have captivated us all. Since LEGO started the Star Wars line in 1999, people have imagined many Star Wars-themed builds. Most of us grew up with the original trilogy, at the time only three movies just called Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

To celebrate May the Fourth, today we are chatting with Mark B. of Las Vegas who has built an amazing MOC, “The Battle of Hoth”. He has been a fan of Star Wars since it came out, and he’s an AFOL that has combined his love of the brick with the Star Wars fandom. He first started his Hoth build more than 10 years ago in 2007 with a 3 ft x 5 ft scene and it has since grown through five iterations, now reaching its massive 7 ft x 15 ft size.

LEGO Magazine has a Star Wars Contest, Mark B. won and was featured in May/June issue 2008

Lorren: Hi Mark! Thanks for chatting with BrickNerd. For a bit of background, how long have you been an AFOL?

Mark: I have been an “adult” fan since 1997 when my son was born and I got back into LEGO, but I would really say that it became official in 2006—that’s when I saw other AFOLs on the internet and started to do custom things.

Lorren: I‘ve seen many stages of your Battle of Hoth build. It has really grown since the first build in 2007. How many iterations have there been?

Mark: Five so far! It started in 2007—I did a little 3 ft x 5 ft version for my son to play with. My son talked me into entering a Star Wars contest that the LEGO Club Magazine put on. I didn’t think LEGO would pick it as we were both on the entry, but we ended up winning! We were featured in the May-June 2008 issue.

(Images via the Internet Archive)

Lorren: Congratulations! Being in the LEGO Club Magazine was every kid’s dream! What made you want to make Hoth bigger?

Mark: I got the bug and decided to go bigger for Star Wars Days in 2009 at Legoland. I nearly doubled the size to 5 ft x 8 ft. It was a hit, but unfortunately got destroyed on the return trip because I didn’t really have a good way for transporting it at the time. After returning home to find the 60,000-piece MOC destroyed, I decided to go bigger and do some things I had not done in the last one. Over the next six months, I rebuilt it to 6 ft x 12 ft and around 100,000 pieces.

Unfortunately, after a few more trips to Legoland, it was badly damaged on the last return trip. I didn’t touch it for around five years (I built two other large MOCs during that time). But then I decided to completely tear it down and do one last revision (which turned into two…).

Battle of Hoth -Version 3 - lasted 5 years (and Mark B. of course.)

Lorren: Wow, that’s amazing and really shows dedication. I’m not sure my will to keep building a MOC would persevere after it was demolished at least two times. How many pieces have you estimated are in this latest build?

Mark: I’ve never counted them! I do not have an exact piece count, however, I would estimate probably around 150,00-200,000 pieces. It is now on a base that is 7 ft x 15 ft.

Version 5 - Estimated at 150,000-200,000 elements. Picture by Mark Bhome

Lorren: I love the terrain and the footprints in the snow. I see you have AT-AT Walkers. Those aren’t the new UCS versions, are they?

Mark: These are all custom. I built my first custom AT-AT in 2005—it was the first custom thing I ever built. Took me over a year to design. My latest versions are almost six years old.

Picture by Mark Bhome

Lorren: I love the detail! The AT-AT interior is awesome, and I love the details of it squishing the speeder, and one speeder wrapping the legs. How many figs do you have in the MOC?

Mark: Around 92 Empire and 234 Rebel troops. Speeders are custom as well with six total Speeders, more speeder bikes, also a fuel car and a little taxi/transporter. The two X-Wings are standard LEGO X-Wings, but I plan to make custom ones soon.

Picture by Mark Bhome

Lorren: It looks like the Rebels have a way to defend themselves with their Ion Cannon, generators, and a battlefield trench.

Mark: I've also included the flight hanger and full interior.

Lorren: Of course you did… I’m taking a look… Let me go full Star Wars fan for one sec… OMB - OH MY BRICK! This is way cool. Batha Tank for healing and Tauntauns. Oh wait - LIGHTS - amazing lights add so much to this MOC. I see the guns firing, explosions, lights in the interior. SO COOL!

Picture by Mark Bhome

Picture by Mark Bhome

Mark: Haha! Yeah, lighting adds quite a bit. I use mainly Lifelites, some standard LED strips and a few things from Brickstuff.

Lorren: Do you have any custom figs in your MOC?

Mark: Depends on what is considered custom. Many of my Rebel and Empire figures are equipped with guns that are lit up. I do have a custom R2D2 that I did. I have many figures that I put together to handle the cold Hoth weather.

Lorren: With the size, do you plan to display it anywhere in the future?

Mark: I had displayed at Legoland every year from 2007-2016 I believe. Hoth was there probably five or six times in different stages. I displayed the front half one year at Bricks LA—I wasn’t all done with the Echo base portion. I plan on just some finetuning to hopefully take it to Bricks LA next year (if there is an in-person event). I was thinking of taking it this past year but didn’t get the last part rebuilt in time.

Lorren: A few last quick questions. What makes yyou want to upgrade your MOC over and over?

Mark: Many things have led me to upsize/redesign Hoth. Some were it being destroyed, and then wanting to add more detai. When I redesigned my AT-AT’s, I decided to build what I have now. In Version 4, I had to redesign the build because I realized that I didn’t make the area where the Millenium Falcon goes. It was a tight fit and didn’t look good. So I ended up tearing half of the entire Echo base apart and widening the Falcon landing area by 20 studs. That took a while. I also then had to remove about 10,000 yellowing pieces and replace them with new white ones…

Lorren: I can only imagine the horror of the build yellowing—unless you want a free Tatooine MOC! Do you have any special Star Wars minifigs or sets as part of your MOC?

Mark: I have a lot—it’s not a complete set, but since I have been collecting since it started in 1999, my collection is pretty large. I probably have a thousand Star Wars figures.

Lorren: I spy a couple of Easter Eggs in your MOC. These are awesome.

Picture by Mark Bhome

Mark: Thanks! I wanted to add a bit of humor to the build for others to find.

Lorren: I love the lunchroom, movie room, George on the scene and Wampa scene. So what’s next? Besides updating this one, what’s your next MOC or build?

Mark: I have a complete Emperors throne room I started years ago, I may finally finish it.

Lorren: Thanks for taking the time to do the interview! I am looking forward to what you do next.

Well there you go. A fitingly large MOC for another May the Fourth. It was a such a pleasure to see and interview Mark B. Keep an eye out for Battle of Hoth at a convention near Las Vegas or a future Bricks LA to see it in person. His techniques, builds and custom work is “out of this world” and luckily not in a “galaxy far, far away.”

(Article pictures by Mark B. (Designer) and Mark Bhome)

What’s your favorite aspect of this massive display? Do Tauntauns really smell worse on the inside? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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