A little over a year ago, in a galaxy far, far away, we were introduced to a little green—yet 50-year-old—foster child with an insatiable appetite for just about anything it could cram down its throat. By now, you know who I am talking about. It’s “The Child” from the Disney Plus streaming Star Wars show The Mandalorian. Even after two seasons, mysteries still cloud this little creature who we now know is named Grogu. (Really? Grogu?) No matter what you want to call it, Grogu, Baby Yoda or The Child, it clearly stole the spotlight. Sorry, Mando.

Many official LEGO attempts have been made at immortalizing Grogu, first as a baby-minifigure in The Razor Crest, then in BrickHeadz form, and most recently as a larger UCS-like brick-built figure. But before LEGO could even react to the Baby Yoda craze, the fan community took to their brick bins and started building a veritable army of Baby Yodas in various scales and forms. Probably one of the more popular large scale models from the past year is the alternate-build version by Allouryuen using pieces from Yoda’s UCS-like brick-built figure currently posted on Rebrickable (MOC-38952) and pictured below.

Yoda 75255 to The Child Alternative Build.jpg

Like many of my fellow builders, I too felt compelled to build a LEGO Baby Yoda back in December 2019. I unveiled my original version at the BricksLA 2020 convention in January and, not surprisingly, the wide eyes of the brick-built child captured the attention of the public, AFOLs and judges alike. It didn’t take long until I received many requests for the instructions… but 2020 had a wrinkle in store for all of us, so the model just sat there collecting dust. It took a new spark to get my interest back to the model with the start of the second season of The Mandalorian and a looming deadline for the BricksLA 2021 convention. So I decided to dust him off and start the long process of making instructions. The model went through a few minor rebuild iterations mainly to update the mouth and ears as well as part-optimization of the body. You can see how the model has changed over the course of the three versions below, and I am happy to announce that instructions are now available.

In comparison to the official LEGO set versions of Yoda (75255) and The Child (75318), the scale of my version is nearly the same. In the photo below, you can see I built the head in a smaller proportion to the body in comparison to the official LEGO set, despite their heights being almost identical. Much like the official sets, I too built the head using a sideways construction technique of subassemblies which then get sandwiched on a middle core. The main construction difference is in the body. I used a studs-up approach and added texture using various slopes. Much like the official sets, my MOC is a static display model with a limited range of movements in the arms, hands, neck and mouth. The model consists of 747 pieces and measures a little over 8 inches (25 cm) in height. I imagine people might display it on their desk or a shelf, which was the primary purpose of the build—much like its official set counterparts I presume (or maybe looking up at you like it is adorably hungry all the time).

When making instructions for a custom MOC, one crucial skill is part-optimization. This process involves comparing the model against other sets used as parts packs for the model. If you would like to build this Grogu model from an existing set and you feel no remorse in cannibalizing either Yoda (75317) or The Child (75318), you will find yourself having around 260-280 (around 35%) of the 747 total pieces on hand already. Using parts from BOTH of those sets would bring you closer to 426 pieces (57%). The bulk of the other parts needed are the dark tan pieces for the body as well as some additional sand green pieces for the hands and head. All of the tan parts are hidden from the view of the finished model, so in essence, you could substitute all the tan-colored parts for any other color from your own collection. The parts list for this model is shown in the following gallery and can also be seen in the instructions linked to below and on the model’s Rebrickable page (MOC-62063). Below you can also see what parts are shared between this Grogu MOC and the two other Yoda and Child LEGO sets.

So if you are having major Mandalorian withdrawals and you would fancy having this little guy keep you company around the house, here are the instructions for my Baby Yoda hosted by BrickNerd. The instructions are free for personal use, but if you would like to support the hard-working BrickNerd team and extend your gratitude, feel free to smash that donation button. You will be rewarded with feelings of warmth and fuzziness, much like the snuggly Grogu.