What're your favorite and least favorite Star Wars sets?

[jasbury]

In no particular order:

Gungan Sub (7161)

UCS Naboo Starfighter (10026)

Droid Tri-Fighter (7252)

Assasin Droids Battle Pack (8015)

And (sorry Doc ) Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser (7754)

That set included to much chrome to be considered ugly, in my opinion!

I agree that the Twilight and Podracer bucket were pretty ugly!

[tvih]

I'm not sure what the worst one would be for Star Wars, since in the end I'm not really familiar with that many - currently I have TIE Defender (which I like, despite the OP's misgivings ) and Ewok Attack, though I also have Death Star and TIE Fighter on the way... but I will say that a lot of the early sets seemed quite lackluster. I guess it's part of the reason why I drifted into my dark ages - just about everything in the catalogue from any theme in '99-'00 when SW came out seemed lackluster compared to what came before. So I kinda lost interest with so many other things taking up my time

[Faefrost]

This is going to sound weird, but I'm gonna argue that the Podracer bucket wasn't the absolute worst. Yeah it was ugly. But it was an interesting experiment, targeted not so much at folks like us, as at the younger construction builders. Old school, where you use Lego to build your imagination, and not just a set. As such it was an interesting throw back idea. One that I wish they would explore a little more.

Now the Ultimate Lightsaber Duel? That was just awful in every conceivable way.

Edited July 4, 2012 by Faefrost

[samiam391]

Personally, I never liked 8088 ARC Fighter.. Flimsy wings, poor construction, rubber bands. Sold that set right after I got it, no regrets.

[Masked Builder]

Wow! No hate yet for the more recent abominations? (Often flagged under the TRU Exclusive banner).

How could we miss this one? 7869 Battle for Geonosis

Actually, I thought that one was pretty darn good. Nothing wrong with it. But that's me.

[Lieutenant_Colonel_Fifi]

How could we miss this one? 7869 Battle for Geonosis

I'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Yes; the turret is actually pretty bad, but Luminara more than makes up for it. And a rocket arm SBD, which, I think, only came in one other set?

[wokajablocka]

How about the 7111 droid fighter from way back in 99. It had the worst play features and bad colouring compared the the much better, redesigned representations in later years. You had to pull the wings off to transform it. The new design is one of my favourite ships/droids Lego has made, for its size it looks accurate and the folding wings and pop up rotating head is genius. You didn't get a Minifig with the set with makes it for the cheapest set to buy second hand and it's 13-14 years old (usually SW set go up in price over the years). You can currently buy it brand new on bricklink for less that the RRP.

Also hated the original Falcon, AT-ST and the original slave 1.

Edited July 5, 2012 by wokajablocka

[friedchikenfairy]

Definitely the 'Podracer Bucket' The pod racers looked like pieces of junk rather than fast speedy racers! They should've just named this set Watto's Junkyard

[Jedd the Jedi]

For me, it was the Ultimate Lightsaber Battle. You'd think that one of the biggest, most epic scenes in the movie and indeed in the prequel trilogy would warrant an awesome set, but we got a very half-hearted attempt with a silly, completely non-functioning play feature, only two minifigures (that were light-up lightsaber ones to boot) and the set was barely an accurate recreation of the scene. It was a complete waste and I felt really cheated, because I was 12 then and bought the set with my own money, I was looking forward to enjoying it and it certainly seemed cool for about thirty minutes. Eugh.

[leng jai]

No one has mentioned Darth Maul's head yet? That thing is hideous.

[The Blue Brick]

I definitely have to agree with the Podracer bucket. That thing was hideous and the worst excuse for a bucket.

I also agree about that Hoth Base. I never liked it, including the minifigures.

[HawkLord]

For me, it's not really worth calling any of the early sets "the worst". I look at it as though Lego was still getting into their stride, so it's not fair to compare the older sets to those made today. When you go from something like the Podracer Bucket to the 7965 Millennium Falcon, there's no real contest.

I'd say the Sith Nightspeeder, Bounty Hunter Assault Gunship, and T-6 Jedi Shuttle are all pretty bad.

[Knightsword]

I like to look at as pre 2004 and post 2004, as that was the year when Lego really stepped up thier game on making more accurate sets. Pre '04 it would be the pod racer bucket hands down, post '04 The ultimate lightsaber dual.

[Admiral-Ackbar]

I think that so far we have a winner for '99-'04 and '04 onwards:

7159 Star Wars Bucket

and 7257 Ultimate Lightsaber Battle

Thanks for all of your comments everyone!

[Nightshroud99]

No one has mentioned Darth Maul's head yet? That thing is hideous.

And if we want to add minifigs, I'd say the new CW Padme.

As for sets, THIS

Really monstrous and ugly.

[tvih]

Personally I don't see the TIE Bomber being any worse than the other TIEs from the "blue" period. But I'd love a black-and-gray remake.

[Zzz]

I still haven't recovered from seeing this monstrosity!

Completely agree here. By now they should know that play features are not that necessary to sell a good designed LSW set. Ion cannon, control room, medical center, that would have been it. This is simply a shame and such a slap in my face: "You want the updated Hoth Rebels? We give you garbage and still take your money!" "Pass."

In all honesty, I have to defend sets like Seperatists Shuttle, The Twilight, etc. It's not TLCs fault that Lucas came up with these crappy things. Overall, I don't like the idea that many CW / PT vehicles are based on early prototypes for the OT, it just seems lazy and not too creative. But don't blame TLC, I think they did a good or OK job on these and others.

About the very early 1999-2001 sets, I again have to defend TLC. Slave I, Cloud Car, Falcon etc - those look only bad by todays standards. Plus, they came on lovely designed boxes!

[Jeff Huntington]

About the very early 1999-2001 sets, I again have to defend TLC. Slave I, Cloud Car, Falcon etc - those look only bad by todays standards. Plus, they came on lovely designed boxes!

Agreed. Considering the state of the other LEGO themes at that time (Town, better known as Town Jr., etc), the Star Wars sets for that time were pretty good. Most of those early sets have all been re-released with a lot more detail and look a lot prettier, but are also a lot more expensive. Paying $50 for 7150 would be a steal today.

[Rogue Angel]

Frankly, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the original Hoth Rebel Base! A speeder and a big set of doors? It did have the snowies, hoth troops and rebel pilots, but come on! The only redeeming quality is the fact that you can combine it with Hoth Echo Base. And in defense of Hoth Echo Base, I think it is very reminiscent of playsets you used to get for He-Man or Batman, and it has a lot of features that little kids would like. Also, it is not that different from Cloud City, which no one has mentioned (even though Cloud City has rooms, it's pretty similar). I also agree that the early sets were all amazing steps forward for Lego (Except this piece of junk), especially the original Slave 1 and Jabba's Palace. These were so awesome when they came out! You can't really compare preprint molds to print molds IMO. And of course who can forget old bow-legged Motorized Walking AT-AT which just looks so wrong to me.

I have only chosen OT sets even though I despise minis, midis, busts and half the Prequel sets - but that's because of the movies, not the Lego versions, although Palpatine's Arrest is looking pretty miserable already.

[Mofo Jones]

I think the worst set I own is the previously mentioned 7127 AT-ST. It was a cheap way to get Chewie and I'm certain that I bought it as part of a BOGO sale at Kmart way back when.

I have to agree with rogueang that the Hoth Rebel Wall..er...Base is one of the most hyped, yet most disappointing sets. Figure selection was decent, but it was doors, a console, a speeder and a crane. Overpriced and overhyped.

However, I also have to disagree with rogueang on one set. My Motorized AT-AT is one of my favorite sets. No, it's not screen-accurate, but it walks by itself and terrorizes small children and cats*...which is just too much fun!

I never had Ultimate Lightsaber Battle and never really wanted it either.

*my at-home results. Yours may vary.

[getdamonkey]

My vote

Several things are just simply horrible about this set.

-The cockpit looks like it was an afterthought (Gee, wasn't there something on the side?).

-It has by far the worst nose of any of the minifig scale falcons.

-Quarter Dome Panels

-$0.15 per piece in the US.

[Clone OPatra]

I have to agree with rogueang that the Hoth Rebel Wall..er...Base is one of the most hyped, yet most disappointing sets. Figure selection was decent, but it was doors, a console, a speeder and a crane. Overpriced and overhyped.

Overpriced? I think not (at least in the US). More than 500 pieces for $50. The first release of Snowtroopers not in a $100 set. A white 3PO. A nice turret. People might be quick to call it lame because the name doesn't fit what it is, but there are a lot of good things about that set.

[prateek]

Overpriced? I think not (at least in the US). More than 500 pieces for $50. The first release of Snowtroopers not in a $100 set. A white 3PO. A nice turret. People might be quick to call it lame because the name doesn't fit what it is, but there are a lot of good things about that set.

I like that set too. It at least resembles something from the movie. The newer Hoth Base is just a line up of half-assed renditions of famous Hoth scenes.

[BigOnBricks]

I still haven't recovered from seeing this monstrosity!

I just finished building this set and after I was done I looked at it and questioned why I bought it. At least I got it on sale.

It is all over the place. It looks sloppy. The minifigs might be the one saving point.

I won't be wasting displaying space to keep it out.

[Commander Colt]

I happen to agree with many of the sentiments shown above and have some of my own to add. While I do feel that some of the earlier star wars sets weren’t great, I have something to back it up- my own desires when I was a child. I was in the prime target range in the early era of star wars, and I can tell you that even though I was gifted two of the sets from that range, Naboo Swamp and Anakin’s Podracer which I greatly enjoyed, I did not desire the others in the range and saw them as blocky and misshapen. It wasn’t until the EPIII started rolling that I saw potential in Star Wars, and though I saw many sets that could have been good, I chose the one that I saw at the time as the best value. That happened to be a V-wing, the first and only time that an entire star fighter was sold for ten dollars. Pessimists in the reviews all yelled at it for its shape, and yet it had all the basics that a kid needs, a ship that he could buy for his own money and that he knew he would enjoy. The people on this board are not the target audience, and the majority of hate spewed on the Hoth sets seems to be on their style as play sets with no unifying canopy. Kids don’t need that, they just need as much action, and features as they can into one thing, and that goes hand in hand with the rise of the dreaded flick fire missile. Others here rage on The Twilight, and I could see people potentially hating sets with Jar-Jar for his inclusion, but that may be due to weak source material. A lot of the problems people are having with the earlier sets are the minifigs, and that is because we have been spoiled in those terms. As the years have progressed we have reviewed sets and called all the latest minifigs the most beautiful and shown Lego that what we really want are good minifigs. Yet, as the minifigs became more detailed the prices on sets went up, we wanted printed elements yet knew that they would make the price go up, we wanted curved slopes, yet they would make the price go up. So as we have been getting more and more, we have also been paying more and more and in the end the attention to minifigs has created some ships that were below par and were overlooked as people gazed at the wonderful printing of the minifigs, with a glaring example being the thirty dollar price hike between the second and third iterations of the Slave I, where the ship barely changed and got little designer love, while the minifigs became so much more detailed and desired, that Lego was able to successfully resell a ship, with newer minifigs for Thirty Dollars More. However, the set that I believe, after all that that was truly the worst, I would have to agree with Ultimate duel, even though as I say, we are nowhere near as a target audience, I remember that when that set came out I was in the target, and I can tell you I did not want it at all. Out of the sets that I have actually owned, I would have to say the biggest disappointment was, and this is partially because I thought long and hard before every purchase whether I really wanted a set, was the 6212(?) Imperial Star Destroyer, because for me the minifigs were average and the set itself wasn’t spectacular in its given state, but the real deal breaker for me as an out of box set, I changed it soon after and found it much more to my liking, was its impracticality. It was the flagship set of the range, a giant monstrosity that every kid, having seen EPIV wanted to use to bear down upon another ship, and it simply was not moveable. This ship had such a flimsy bottom area, probably part of the reason it was at the same time a really good deal and the last time a flagship set could be had for a hundred dollars, that it was immobilized by its own mistake and while it did look great just sitting there, that was not its purpose. It had failed its purpose. Sorry about the really long rant, but it is now over and you may go back to your day , if you have not already done so.