Statistical Distribution of LEGO Star Wars sets throughout the years

[XimenaPaulina]

One issue that has consistently been brought up in yearly LEGO Star Wars set release discussions is the perceived imbalance in the distribution of sets by subtheme. Since the start of the LEGO Star Wars license in 1999, all the sets have always been based on the OT and PT movies - until came the Clone Wars animated series in 2008 which has significantly changed the landscape of set distribution by subtheme. As expected, the onset of the new show has paved the way for a strong presence of TCW sets from that point forward, much to the dismay of some OT/PT fans. Most of the SW movie-based FOLs feel that "there aren't enough OT/PT sets" being released and "there's always too much CW sets" in the yearly line-up. While their sentiments can be understandably rooted to their passion towards the SW movies (most especially the most-beloved classic OT), are these sentiments fairly justified based on the actual numbers of the LSW sets released? To answer this question, I tried to conduct a simple (and hopefully useful) statistical investigation on the distribution of the LSW sets throughout the years - from the start of the license up to the present, and with a closer look in the so-called "Clone Wars Era" (2008-present).

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NOTES:

• The sets included in the statistical data are regular sets and does not include promotional polybags and minifigs, advent calendars, superpacks, conference exclusives, accessories (key chains, magnet sets, clocks, etc.)
  
• Brickset was used as basis of the set list by year, but I used my personal judgment in classifying in which subtheme the sets righfully belong to.
  
• The statistical data encompass all sets released from 1999 up to the confirmed 2013 sets (first half).
  
• I do not, in any way, claim to be a statistical expert but I did my best to make the statistical graphical analysis to be as accurate as possible. If you find any inaccuracy feel free to point it out and I'm very much open to corrections.
  

KEY FINDINGS

Overall (1999-2013*)

• Movie-based (OT/PT) sets account for almost 80% of all sets released, with OT sets making up almost half of all LSW sets.
  
• Both OT and PT have separately higher percentage of sets vs. CW overall (46% OT, 32% PT vs. 19% CW).
  

CW Era (2008-2013*)

• Even during the CW Era, the combined OT- and PT-based sets outnumber the CW sets (54% vs. 41%); though the two trilogies have lower individual percentages against the CW sets at this particular period. In terms of average sets per year, the movies has generated a combined ~11 sets/year during the CW era, as opposed to the ~8.5 sets/year by the CW series.
  
• During the 5.5 years (including the first half of 2013) of the CW era, CW sets have only outnumbered the movie-based sets during the first two years (2008, 2009), and in the succeeding 3.5 years CW sets have been signficantly reduced in favor of OT- and PT-based sets.
  
• Despite the presence of CW sets in the CW era, OT sets had maintained a respectable average of ~7 sets/year, which is only a slight drop-off from ~8 sets/year during the Pre-CW years.
  

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CONCLUSION

So what is our key takeaway from this statistical study? It is clear by the numbers that the perceived disappointment of some SW movie-based FOLs of having "not much OT/PT sets" is a bit 'unfounded' and presumably based on miscalculated personal judgement. The statistical results support the notion that TLG has been making a conscious effort during the past couple of years to please all LSW fanbases by giving a good balance of sets based on the OT & PT movies, CW series, and even SW video games like TFU and TOR. If there's one thing that I could suggest to TLG, if it is possible, is to give an equal number of sets for the movie and CW based sets, more like a 50-50 split (or close to it) - that way all the FOLs from the different SW genres will be satisfied with their "fair share" of LSW sets.

But what's most important is at the end of the day we all realize that we are all fans of LEGO and Star Wars, and as such we should be a bit more understanding and trust TLG's decision-making with regards to which sets will be released every year.

[Darth Dino]

Hi

thank you for your scientic research! That had to be a lot of work.

I am one if the "too much CW etc. - too less OT" guys. But if i have a look at my age, this is quiet obviously. I am a hugh SW fan in general, but mostly a "purist", OT first, PT then followed by... nothing ;) CW is not my style and taste of SW. I think that will be similar to many other older 35+ Afols here. If you grew up with OT, beeing a young adult when PT comes out, you probably never going to be a CW anime fan with age 30+

On the other hand: Lego can not come out every two years with a new set design of the MF. There had to be new content for new sets.

Dino

Edited October 19, 2012 by Darth Dino

[XimenaPaulina]

I am one if the "too much CW etc. - too less OT" guys. But if i have a look at my age, this is quiet obviously. I am a hugh SW fan in general, but mostly a "purist", OT first, PT then followed by... nothing ;) CW is not my style and taste of SW. I think that will be similar to many other older 35+ Afols here. If you grew up with OT, beeing a young adult when PT comes out, you probably never going to be a CW anime fan with age 30+

Thanks, glad you appreciate the mini-research. I do agree that age plays an important role on one's preference, though I guess it still depends on each person's "openness/willingness" to accept new things. I'm 30 now, I discovered SW (OT) in my teens, then came the PT movies, but I never found any problem accepting and 'liking to a degree' the animated CW series intended for the younger generation.

What I'm curious about is, if an OT/PT movie fan still feels "there's still too much CW sets", isn't a 50-50 split already a reasonable allocation for both movies and CW sets? If not then how much more you want of the share? 70%? 80%? or even 100%? (totally abolish the CW sets despite it being the "in thing" and probably one of the BIG reasons our beloved LSW license is still on-going?) I'm just curious...really curious...since I'm having trouble understanding fanbases not being content with (what I think) is their 'fair share of the deal'.

[Bob De Quatre]

I'm in the same situation as Darth Dino, and I don't know the CW show. I've also just get to the AFOL world so my opinion migth be biased.

But I think that the reiteration of the OT sets tends to comfort the OT lovers that the nulber of OT sets are less than the CW sets.

Look at the next wave, we got 8 sets, 2 of them are OT, and one of them is an A-wing...

[Darth Dino]

Hi

it is hard for me to figure out a percentage value that fits for OT-PT / CW. There are so many favtors that keeps me away purchasing CW sets. Most non OT sets are -by intention- OT lookalikes. For example the many X-Wing derivates, i still have problems to name them ;) But on the other hand those sets hav to look simular to OT vehicles. Price: SW sets have been always expensive and coupled with no or small discounts. If i have the money for a 130€ set, it will be 100% a OT set - PT ot CW sets have no price advantage. Last: UCS: Are there UCS sets out that are not OT or PT related?

As long as Lego gives "us" enougth OT sets so oong i will not care about the many CW sets focused mostly for younger (than me) builders or kids. Lego IS for kids ;)

Dino

[Wedge09]

Very good statistic :thumbup:

I'm of the same idea of Darth Dino and Bob de Quatre. I would like to see more Expanded Universe, there are a lot of model (Thrawn would be a fantastic idea).

[The Host 93]

I voted that there's a good balance of sets, mostly because from Lego's point of view their primary target audience (kids) will know more about CW than the OT, and possibly even the PT. If Lego is trying to sell a lot of sets, then it makes sense for CW sets to be dominant, and the fact that Lego still puts out a few OT/PT sets here and there is great. Considering that Lego has released quite a few OT sets each year (even since the CW release) that's fine by me, and the fact that in a few years the OT sets alone outnumber the CW sets means that the distribution may be a little off, and there were perhaps less CW sets released than maybe there should have been.

Darth Dino brought up a good point though: the UCS sets which are targeted at AFOLs are from the OT/PT, which means that Lego still knows who they're marketing towards. As long as the sets look nice, though, the distribution doesn't matter all that too much to me. Case in point: TOR Sith Fury Class Interceptor is one of the nicest looking sets I've seen in a while, even though it's not from OT/PT or even CW.

[Ki-Adi-Mundi]

Great poll and statistics!

I don't like anything based on the animated series. This does not mean that i hate the CW era - just anything corpse or manga like. Stuff appearing in CW and PT alike are of course within interest.

For as long as enough - and the right OT/PT sets - are being released, i don't care about the ratio between the themes. I.E. if there are 6 good OT/PT sets, i'll gladly see CW fans run into a frenzy about 44 CW sets coming to the shelves.

[TheLegoDr]

Thanks for the statistics. That looks like a lot of work, but you were dedicated!

I only got into LEGO SW in 2012, so I can't say I've been unhappy with the distribution of sets. I don't care for the CW faces, even if they are accurate to the source material. I haven't watched that show at all, so maybe the story-lines are awesome, I don't know.

When I was first exposed to SW I saw them in order, essentially. Prequel movies then the original trilogy, which is different to most people. I can appreciate the originals because of the cast and story and effect on pop culture, but I also could appreciate the prequels because of the cast. I was more familiar with them. I think too much humor was involved so it did ruin it to a degree, but seeing earlier days of Jedi was pretty neat. But with that said, I essentially grew up with the PT (I'm 28 now) instead of the OT, even though I can appreciate both.

Since I only just started into LEGO SW and I'm not a die hard fan, it probably won't change my purchases too much. If I see a neat set of something/one I'm familiar with, then I will probably want to get it. Since I don't care for the CW faces and don't know much about those characters, I won't be excited for those figures. The Sith Nightspeeder set was neat because of the Sith figures, even though they weren't traditional canon.

But I agree as long as there are good sets for everyone, it doesn't really matter the ratio. Everyone will want to get something. And with the printing and designs, I can see lots of people being happy at everything other than the price.

[Brickdoctor]

Thanks, KDM, for finally putting into a graph what some of us have been trying to say for the past couple of years: there's already a good balance of sets, and TLG's done a great job of keeping the shelves full of both classic sets and sets from whatever new storyline is being added to Star Wars. Not only were the great CW waves of '08 and '09 comparable to the PT releases for Sith and Clones, but it was the PT subtheme that was left out, not the OT subtheme.

That said, I'm an OT fan, and there can never be too many OT sets for me. As has been said above, a lot of the OT sets are repeats which a lot of FOLs won't be buying, but these graphs convey the basic numbers which do show that there is actually a balance of sets favorable to OT fans.

[Drock]

Thanks for the effort, KielDaMan.

I like all sub themes equally. You can see it by looking at my display shelves. For me, most of the CW "good stuff" (the main staples that we see often in CW and also in PT - AT-TE, Gunship, AAT, Venator, etc.) was released in 08-09.

In order to come up with new sets, LEGO is relying on niche ships from single episodes or arcs: Dathomir Speeder, Bounty Hunter Ship, Umbaran thing, etc. I understand this. I just have little interest in these kinds if sets.

As far as OT, LSW has been around for long enough that I have most of what I like from the OT. For example, I don't have any interest in this years TIE, X-Wing, Y-Wing or next years A-Wing, because I'm happy with the older versions that I own.

Yeah, I may have sounded a little cranky in the other thread. Maybe Star Wars LEGO just isn't doing it for me anymore. I understand LEGO is doing what they can and have to do, so I don't blame them.

No worries, LEGO. You are still getting my money through Superheroes and whatever I buy for my kids.

[Blondie-Wan]

I'm a passionate devotee of the OT, and I tend to break the theme down a little differently - rather than breaking them down into the CW and "the movies" (further divided into PT and OT), I tend to think of these more as OT and "PE" - "prequel era," meaning the prequel trilogy and the Clone Wars combined (CW does fall into the timeframe of the PT, after all, specifically from Episode II to Episode III). I devote my resources predominantly to the OT, but prioritize other LEGO themes ahead of the PE. I don't fault TLG for producing a lot of PE sets, though - the overall PE (PT and CW combined) simply has a lot more material from which to make sets, and it's also that part of the SW saga with which the kids who make up LEGO's target audience are probably most familiar.

That said, I do wish we'd get some more material from the OT era, beyond the actual movies (for example, the Droids and Ewoks series, the various OT-era novels, even the Holiday Special) - but I should probably be careful about what I wish for, given that I can't afford the stuff that's already being done...

Edited October 19, 2012 by Blondie-Wan

[DFOL]

Thanks for adding up all the numbers KielDaMan, it's hard to argue with the statistics!

Having the familiar models from the movies we all love redesigned and made better every few years is great, but i think exploring storylines outside the movies for interesting new ships and vehicles and turning them into LEGO models is a wonderful way to add more diversity to our collection. Still, with a limited budget i have to be picky and i find myself buying mostly movie based sets, leaving the Clone Wars sets on the shelves. Why? The cartoonish faces on the figures are increasingly putting me off, as does the abundance of brightly colored individual markings on the clones, making most of the CW figures pretty much worthless to me.

So with that in mind i voted for getting more sets based on the OT, PT and also a special mention for the EU.

[Sir_Basil_Ashton]

KielDaMan, Thanks for putting those statistics together. I love all Star Wars and since this is the so called "Clone Wars Era", I believe the set distribution has been fair. I firmly believe that the LEGO Star Wars theme would have ended years ago if The Clone Wars was never released. I love that I can sit down with my kids and see/watch new Star Wars material together.

[XimenaPaulina]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys! Though it's not that much work as most of you think (~6 hours gathering/sorting data, input in Excel + generating the graphs), I'm glad the statistical work has served its purpose in visualizing that there is indeed a decent balance in the current distibution of LSW sets by subtheme.

I could understand the sentiments of OT/movie fans and I agree that "there could never be too many OT-based sets", though a good point has been raised that maybe it would be a better strategy for TLG to minimize rehashes of sets previously released and possibly explore new ideas or even new source material (novels/books? - even if it's a bit sketchy considering most of the classic ones are years-old already). But the major question is what else has TLG not covered in the movies? Cantina with the Bith band? A Yavin celebration set? (like the unreleased set) Geonosis Arena set? A set with Banthas? Probably an updated Cloud City? Just throwing out a few possibilities.

As for CW fans, I don't think we'll be hearing anything from them since they're still getting their sufficient dose of CW sets - and with the on-going series source of new material will never be a problem.

[Brickdoctor]

I could understand the sentiments of OT/movie fans and I agree that "there could never be too many OT-based sets",

*Resists urge to abuse Reg powers and make that a poll option.*

though a good point has been raised that maybe it would be a better strategy for TLG to minimize rehashes of sets previously released and possibly explore new ideas or even new source material (novels/books? - even if it's a bit sketchy considering most of the classic ones are years-old already).

I know a lot of OT fans love to point out that the OT is the critically-acclaimed classic portion of the Star Wars saga. Well, with that status of being a classic comes the fact that there's always a demand for those iconic sets - X-wing, Falcon, TIE Fighter... I think TLG's done a good job of reintroducing those every now and then to make sure they're almost always available, given that they're probably pretty much always in demand. If you don't like those rereleases, then just don't buy them and save your money for other sets. TLG's introduced plenty of new OT sets for the older fans, and they're not exactly cheap. (as for those who just have to have every single set, well, I'm of the opinion that that's not the point of buying LEGO, but that's just me)

[Ackbar]

Very nice poll!

As an older (well, in the 35+ category...) AFOL, I'm only into OT (and occationally PT), mostly the UCS-series.

Yet, I still voted there's a god balance. LEGO is also a toy, and has to follow trends, new series and appeal a big group of fans.

If there would be more OT and UCS I would be very poor, so I'm happy NOT feeling the urge to buy everything...

[wesker]

I think the distribution between OT, PT and TCW has been quite fair. The only thing I'm not a big fan of is the occassional lack of variety within these subthemes.

Take a look at TCW sets for 2013 - every single one of them is clone centric. Where's the variety? Why not a set based on the Zillo Beast arc? Or the Nightsisters? Or the Zygarians? More Mandalorians? Bounty Hunters? Mortis? Mon Calamari? There's so much material to work with, but instead its all just clones, clones and more clones.

[Fuppylodders]

Thanks for the 6+hours of work KDM, thats great proof that TLG does cater for everyone as fairly as possible.

As for those wincing at the rehashes of things like the A-Wing... I never had the chance to get the A-wing the first time round (or even the second)... so this third time round, is absolutely perfect for me.

There will be many more people like me too who have missed out and are extremely happy to get one.

OT fans must understand that there is a limited amount of things that they can release with regards to ships/vehicles due to the fact that the films are long been done and dusted. Sure there are playsets, but do AFOLS really want playsets aimed at kids? I know a lot that would prefer not. So what are TLG to do to keep everyone happy? Its a tough decision for them, but, being on the other side where I like almost everything SW, and that I have actually missed out on a lot of their vehicles, like the A-Wing, B-wing playset (of which the second one was awesome), I look forward to some rehashes, especially with the increase in quality designing they are doing nowadays.

[Sir_Basil_Ashton]

I think the distribution between OT, PT and TCW has been quite fair. The only thing I'm not a big fan of is the occassional lack of variety within these subthemes.

Take a look at TCW sets for 2013 - every single one of them is clone centric. Where's the variety? Why not a set based on the Zillo Beast arc? Or the Nightsisters? Or the Zygarians? More Mandalorians? Bounty Hunters? Mortis? Mon Calamari? There's so much material to work with, but instead its all just clones, clones and more clones.

I don't have a problem with the 2013 TCW sets actually having clones in them. Since it is TCW, I think it's fitting that there are clones in the sets. When there aren't clones, people complain that there aren't enough clones in TCW. When there are clones, people complain that there are clones. There clones are represented well in the show so I expect to see them in the sets.

[LegoDad]

KDM - Thanks for the research. While I voted that there is too much CW sets currently, I fully understand why Lego distributes the themes the way they do now. Clone Wars is what is current, and it is what is buttering the Lucas/Lego bread right now. Lego's prime demographic is for the kids that are watching this show, and are going to recognize the people/ships/cannons that are represented in the show. As long as they keep up with the UCS theme at the same rate, I will be ok, that is what I am most interested in, and if my son likes something, those get picked up for birthdays/Christmas also.

[XimenaPaulina]

As for those wincing at the rehashes of things like the A-Wing... I never had the chance to get the A-wing the first time round (or even the second)... so this third time round, is absolutely perfect for me.

There will be many more people like me too who have missed out and are extremely happy to get one.

I'm on the same boat as you as I'm appreciative of the more recent rehashes as it gave me the opportunity to own LSW vehicles I missed out before - like the Millennium Falcon, Gungan Sub, Desert Skiff, Jedi Interceptor, etc. The set updates have proven to be also good opportunities to significantly improve the previous designs with the availability of new parts.

What I think TLG could do better to improve the perception of set rehashes is to spread the 'scheduled' re-releases in such a way that they aren't concentrated in a single year, just like this year where there seemed to be a huge concentration of rehashes - X-Wing, Y-Wing, TIE Fighter, Gungan sub, etc. - which gives the wrong impression that TLG might be running out of new ideas. They could probably balance out the line-up, say half should be "new sets" while the other half re-releases.

Take a look at TCW sets for 2013 - every single one of them is clone centric. Where's the variety? Why not a set based on the Zillo Beast arc? Or the Nightsisters? Or the Zygarians? More Mandalorians? Bounty Hunters? Mortis? Mon Calamari? There's so much material to work with, but instead its all just clones, clones and more clones.

Again it all boils down to the target market of TCW series - the kids (boys). The clones (along with the Jedi) are the main heroes of the series and as such appeal the most to the kids. Just think of how the 90s kids adored the Power Rangers or even the current younger generation's fondness of Ninjago - different-colored characters kids could choose from and "imagine themselves" as those characters.

TLG has tried their best to diversify the CW sets - that's why we've gotten Bounty Hunters (Embo, Sugi, Bane, Sing), Nightsister Ventress and Nightbrother Savage Oppress, Pre Visla and Mandos. It's just in the so-called "pecking order", Clones and Jedis are prioritized first, followed by the other supporting characters. Besides, we don't even know what TLG has in store for us - remember that they plan things in advance and for all we know there are non-clone-centric sets down the pipeline.

[Only Sinner]

[ (for example, the Droids and Ewoks series, the various OT-era novels, even the Holiday Special)

Oh my god, could you imagine an Ellen DeGeneres minifig head on the rebel pilot body? Perfect for Holiday Special Luke.