LEGO Star Wars sets

[CloneCommanderDelta7]

I was in a sitting behind a desk working out problems, it was boring. My mind wavered over to think of the Lego sitting on an (dust-proof) enclosed shelf. I thought about the gunship, the AT-TE and the fighter tank. Then I thought about the 2nd half 2009 sets, of which I have none of. They are overpriced and overexaggerated.

THE QUESTION: ARE LEGO SETS BETTER THAN THEY ARE WHEN THEY WERE TEN YEARS AGO??? I think not, although they are better in some ways, but uglier in pricing.

Check brickset: http://www.brickset.com/browse/themes/?theme=Star Wars&year=2009

[Oky]

I think there was a similar topic at some point, but anyway:

Of course they have improved! The first wave was very mediocre looking compared to today's sets! Sure, we have to pay more for today's sets, but most of them are worth it IMO. Besides, the economy is partly responsible for that, I think.

And I'm sure that most people will agree with me, so I don't see much of a point in this thread. Just my thoughts.

[RileyC]

Yea of course they have. With the variety of parts now you can make sleeker more rounded models. Yea they are more expensive but I feel that with all the new parts and exclusive minifigs lego gives us in some if the sets the prices fair

[CloneCommanderDelta7]

BUT, will they get cheaper once the global financial crisis is over?

Edited July 27, 2009 by CloneCommanderDelta7

[Strand]

Today's sets are much, much better than the early ones. Everytime I look at something like my first Sith Infiltrator or Gungan Sub, they're blocky as hell, horrible scale, bad features etc and I personally prefer peach-coloured minifigs.

Only worse thing is the price. But you that's a whole other can or worms.

[rriggs]

Today's sets have seom cool features and some of the bigger models are just awesome. Also I love sets like the Hoth base and the Ewok attack. There are two things however that consistently bug me about the newer sets.

Firstly, sets that only have droids in and no actual minifigs. For me it's all about the minifigs and while I realise that droids are key to stories getting only droids in a set is a disappointment and enough to put me off buying in some cases. Secondly, I just don't like fleshies. What was wrong with yellow Star Wars heads? Thankfully, the majority (only just!) of my Star Wars minifigs have yellow heads.

Cheers

Rog

[def]

Sets have improved a heck of a lot. 10 years ago, they were really primitive looking. I was happy with them at the time, but it's like comparing a Walkman to an iPod. The old one is nostalgic, but it really doesn't compare.

[SWMAN]

Of course they are. Look at things like the old X-Wing, A-Wing, and B-Wing. All three of those have been remade, and all of the remakes were vastly superior in size, detail, accuracy, and figures included. While the prices have jumped, that is due to simply inflation and the change in production costs. Sets today are a lot more accurate and have way cooler playing feature.

And now that a few people have voiced their opinion, it is probably time to close this thread.

[Skipper 24]

I pretty much agree with everyone else. The oldschool sets were great in their day (and still are to a certain extent). However they were blocky and not very 'swooshable'. But it is thanks to these sets that we have what we have today.

The sets of today are sleek, swooshable (in most cases) and organicly shaped. This is down to lego's advancment in pieces and part selection.

[Alldarker]

Sets have improved a heck of a lot. 10 years ago, they were really primitive looking. I was happy with them at the time, but it's like comparing a Walkman to an iPod. The old one is nostalgic, but it really doesn't compare.

These are exactly my thoughts. When they came out, every new set was amazing and every big set would be my new favorite set. But newer pieces and especially more attention to the details of the original vehicles have improved SW sets a LOT over these last ten years.

This goes for almost all vehicles, but not all... I still prefer the 2004 4483 AT-AT a lot over the newer 2008 motorized AT-AT!

[-JD-]

They have inproved a bit, but the first few waves were special. Now what annoys me is the generic figures and the bloody stickers, which are in almost every set these days. The variety of pieces is great and again the let down is stickers and misprints. But hey, the sets look good!

I could whine on and on about pricing but you know already.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Jammiedodger714

[KimT]

I'll make sure to comment thoroughly on this when I get back from vacation to my 4Mbit connection

For now, I'll just fix the title of this good discussion.

[Saint]

The biggest problem I had was that they changed the grey into bley .

Sets do look a lot better, the new parts are great and the figs even better !!

But don't get me started on the pricing... just terrible, but that is between LEGO and LUCAS I guess.

I did have all the SW sets in Classic grey, butt, sins the colourchange, I don't buy that much sets anymore, and IF I do, they stay build on the shelf longer, because I don't want to mix them with my LEGO.

The new colors are great on the other hand

[Tohst]

I like the people who are saying we don't need this topic because everyone will agree with me.

That's nice.

When in reality, there have been improvements in parts selection and design as the line has gone forward but looking at the whole package including cost, mini-figs, design, parts selection, the early sets hold up very well.

The original snow speeder is a great set and the update didn't make the set better. I actually like the first x-wing version better than the second. The second one just looked a little akward to me with its wing opening mechinism causing the back to be bigger than it should be.

And when you factor in price (and yes, I know why prices are going up. So what?), those early sets were a steal compared to sets now. Is the new Clone gunship a 40 dollar improvement over the old? No. But it is an improvement.

So, mini-figs...I'm pretty neutral on the flesh vs. yellow but the cartoon faces...blech. We get better molds these days like the new ewoks or the hat in the seperatist shuttle but give me the simple face of obi-won in the Gungan Sub (which I will admit did not age well as a set but was actually pretty good at the time given the poor designs that had been coming out) over the power-puff girl eye lookin' cartoon obi any day.

I don't even know if we can say we are getting better parts. As time goes one, there is a parts selection more tailored to Star Wars ships and their designs and I do love some of the new pieces (cheese cheeeeeeese CHEEEEEEEEESE) but I'd be just as willing to be an old TIE fighter for the smooth hinge opener as the new Vader's TIE for the more recent pieces. (When are we getting a new TIE fighter in grey to match the Vader's version? And a new bomber? And a new Interceptor (ooh, with red highlights)....sorry, I get distracted thinking about TIEs).

I think there is a natural tendency to say new equals better. I just don't think its the case here. There were some good sets and bad sets when Star Wars started. There are some good sets and bad sets now.

-Tohst

[Clone OPatra]

On the whole, Star Wars sets have definitely gotten better since the first waves. Most sets have way more detail, and the models look sleeker. there are also now a few lovely playset type things, which you can't even compare to the shlubby command center that came with the original B-Wing or any of the other scenery in the original sets.

I'm not sure the minifigures have gotten better, they have just changed, and I think variety is good. I like the cartoon faces because they're something different and funny in their own way. Sure, if you're a purist you can't combine them with minifigures from non- Clone Wars sets, but they're still cool as their own thing. The original minifigures also looked nice, and I don't agree with people who say that the moulds have gotten better. The moulds have stayed the same, just look at Jar Jar and Qui-Gon's hair, they were great then and still are.

The one exception to the sets getting better for me is the X-Wing, just like Tohst. In the movies, the X-Wing looked basically like a little gray kid's toy. Actually, that's what it was, a gray plastic model ship (if I'm not mistaken). That's why I like the original X-Wing best, not for nostalgia factor, but because it being gray and clunky makes it look more like the actual ship than the newer sleeker versions do.

Apart from that exception though, sets have certainly evolved for the better.

[The Who]

BUT, will they get cheaper once the global financial crisis is over?

It's possible, but that could be a while.

...but it's like comparing a Walkman to an iPod. The old one is nostalgic, but it really doesn't compare.

That's an opinion.

I pretty much agree with everyone else. The oldschool sets were great in their day (and still are to a certain extent). However they were blocky and not very 'swooshable'.

Exactly. Thanks to all sorts of tiles and slick, smooth parts, things like the UCS Falcon make the first Falcon look like crap, even though it was so awesome when it first came out.

The variety of pieces is great and again the let down is stickers and misprints.

Try telling ImperialShadows that misprints are a let down.

[CloneCommanderDelta7]

Okay, maybe I have made a mistake. They are definately better than the older sets, but is this as good as it will get? The gunship was awesome and is my set flagship, my favourite, and the AT-TE and Fighter Tank are awesome too. But that was last year and this year they LOOK good but do they compare, minifigs aside/included. Are minifigs the only things (most of the time) to persuade us to buy a set nowadays.

[Rijkvv]

In general the sets made a big improvement. But as already mentioned, there are some exeptions. I think the older AT-AT was better. The Y-wing (2007) was a big improvement, but IMHO also better than the 2009 Clone Wars one. The original Hailfire Droid was also better than the new one. The only thing I don't like are the Expanded Universe sets and the cartoony faces. I prefer sets from the OT and PT.

[Big Cam]

They have gotten much much better very quickly.

I just started collecting about 2-3 years ago, and I started immedietaly looking for older sets that I ahd missed out on, and to me the quality remained the same for about the first 7 years and the last 3 they have just gotten exponetially better. I love the newest stuff, the design is just so much better, I've actually stopped looking for old stuff mainly because alot is getting re-done, plus the new stuff is just so much more worth the money than over-paying for an old set.

[Commander Assassin]

I don't think there should be any argument over this. Of course they've improved!

The first snowspeeder was grey! The first Sith Infiltrator looked like a pile of bricks! I don't even think I have to mention the Jabba's Palace Leia disaster!

There is no reason anyone should think that the above sets and minifigs are better than today's!

[Star_Wars_Rules]

Probably the biggest improved set was the falcon. The old falcon was just a bad design. I never got it. I did get the newer falcon set 4504 a few years back and that was a much better solid design.

Edited August 26, 2009 by Star_Wars_Rules

[Forresto]

They have deffinently improved! I mean take for example the the AAT,Sith Infiltrator, Dwarf Spider droid, MTT, Millenium Falcon. All sets have remakes and they are all superior to the original.

[382nd Legionnaire]

yes of course they improved!

take the these two sets for consideration

AT-TE: More stable and the right colored pieces

MTT: Can fit 4 times more droids and is much larger.

[Fluyt]

Some sets have improved, while some are absolutely horrible compared to some early ones (like the original at-at and snowspeeder were absolutely awesome, while the later versions just sucked).

I don't think there were really horrible looking sets in the first couple of years in the sw line, while today, a fair amount of sets look quite bad (but that might be because they aren't pretty to look at in the movie/eu either), but todays sets that do look good, mostly look awesome. The "average set" in the sw line hasn't really changed over the years, it's just that the early years it was more consistent in good-looking sets, and now the quality of the sets just swings in all directions.

[Lego Builder]

The sets obviously have improved, just compare them. There is a significant difference in such things as smoothness. Old sets relied on roof slopes to give them shape but now there is a lot of new pieces that do that job better. For example the old slave 1 was to small and very blocky but the new one is much bigger and more detailed .