Best Ever Year for Lego Star Wars Releases?

[Inzane]

After reviewing Brickset it would seem to me that 2006 is the best year so far. Here are my reasons...

- 9 out of the 10 sets released were from the Original Trilogy.
- While only Jabba's Sail Barge was new, it arrived unexpected and well crafted.
- The 4 system set redesigns were all huge improvements in accuracy, scale, and design features.
- Converting 2 previous UCS sets (Imperial Star Destroyer and TIE Interceptor) into system versions was genius.
- 2 UCS sets (AT-ST and Vader's TIE) in one year is rare.
- Various new minifigs (Dengar, Bespin guard, IG-88, Ten Numb, Lando Skiff guard, Grand Moff Tarkin, etc.)
- 9 out of 10 sets were sold at less than 10 cents-per-piece:

Bingo!

This would be my answer as well. I agree with all of your reasons too.

[brownie69yov4]

2006 by far, even though most mere remakes, they were just incredible builds and great values for the money- we need more years like that. I just wish Lego was willing to produce an extra 2-3 sets a wave and make them strictly Saga- better yet OT, since clone wars is mostly PT

br()wnie

[mrfootball]

Some excellent points made here. Seems that most adult collectors prefer the OT sets. I think it's important that Lego remember that keeping the 'oldsters' (who grew up in the 70's and 80's) interested is in their best interests. After all, we're the ones who buy the sets for our kiddos. Throw us a bone Lego...let's see some more OT releases for 2011.

[twentythree]

I've already put in my two cents earlier on my personal years for SW but after reading more and more I think there's really two arguments at stake here. There are those who were out of the dark ages prior to 99', in which case they truly favor 99' as the best year because they've had the advantage of collecting SW through that time period and beyond, and while others weigh in on alternate years I'd say it wins hands down for those people.

My dark ages ended in 1999, when Star Wars Lego was introduced, and I own nearly every set through 2007 (finally cut back to just OT when the Clone Wars sets arrived) so the view from here is that Lego has done well with regard to improving design and playability over the years. While 1999 was a great year, simply because of being the starting point, I picked 2006 for many other reasons (as stated in my previous post) and hope to see even more advances to come.

That being said, the vast majority of people who came out of the dark ages sometime between 2000-2010 are all over the board and I think that just stems from when you came out. My feelings on this now (and I have no doubt that I will catch grief over this) is that to truly judge the best year(s) for SW you need to take someone who has come out of the dark ages TODAY and have them go back through and pick those sets they'd actually spend top dollar on Ebay/Bricklink for.

I agree with your method, in part, for determining best ever year through market research. However, it would be difficult to differentiate between collectors' value and entrepreneur pricing when making a conclusion. A search of Ebay/BrickLink reveals a wide range of prices for Star Wars Lego and none are technically wrong as long as someone is willing to pay what is asked. Simply put, supply & demand doesn't equate to "best ever". The first part of your approach, having someone pick their favorite sets from the entire catalog (but not with money as a criteria), seems to be a more fair way to assess the results. Even that solution has a problem. What if someone loved all the sets from a particular year that had few releases, say 2006 with 10 sets for an example, but also enjoyed 11 sets from another year when 20+ were available? Which year is better (the entire year of 2006 or the partial year with more sets)? It is imprecise to make a true determination on limited criteria. Thankfully opinions can't be proven wrong.

Throw us a bone Lego...let's see some more OT releases for 2011.

It would appear that your plea has fallen on deaf ears (unless we get 20+ sets next year). Brickset reveals PT/Clone Wars will save my wallet from burning up over the next cycle of Star Wars releases:

http://www.brickset.com/browse/themes/?theme=Star%20Wars&year=2011

For me this is good and bad news...

Bad because there will be no new Star Wars sets that interest me until at least next July/August

Good because I won't feel so guilty for buying the UCS Imperial Shuttle that I've been drooling over since seeing it up close at Celebration V.

[mdilthey]

Because it epitomizes my childhood and contains elements that still make it into almost every model I build, I have to say 2002, and a little bit 03'. We got the Star Wars Episode 2 line all in 1 issue of Lego magazine, and my 12 year old eyes lit up- I hadn't even seen movie previews yet.

The Republic Gunship had all the features, style, size, and figs of the Pirate line from years before, but in the classic Star Wars sci-fi universe. We simply hadn't had such a well-proportioned large-scale space model before this one, with as many opportunities for playability. Christmas 2002 was a blast.

Boba Fett's Slave I was a must-have after the scene in the movie, and is the only full-sized slave that missed the grey/brown color-pocalypse. One of the best generational improvements from the OT line of 1999, with the new curved elements.

The minifigure sets were bought in bulk, because a local Toys R Us went out of business and they were 75 cents each. I got like 15. (Final Duel II Baseplates are the lifeblood of my collection, making up the base of almost half my models!)

I say a little 2003 because I like to throw the AT-TE in there, which was a great set.

Not to mention from 2002... The Bespin Cloud Car! My personal favorite star wars set.

If I could, I'd buy the entire year out one more time.

http://www.brickwars-sets.com/sets_index_2002.html

[infallible]

I'd like to congratulate everyone that agreed with 2002, you're all correct. I initially thought that 1999 was getting a boost from nostalgia alone, but then I went and looked, and it had some fantastic sets. That year holds up well (and, really, it should since it's the year where everything was wide open).

I also like the corollary about the worst year. I was tempted by 2005, the year that gave me my least favorite sets (Wookiee Catamaran, Ultimate Lightsaber Duel [which should have been great, but wasn't]) and light up lightsabers, but we also got some great sets that year (Sandcrawler, Turbo Tank). I also am tempted to say recent years, not because of bad sets, but because of the increasing trend of nothing but big sets. Battle packs are the only sets for less than $20.

But, ultimately, I had to go with 2001 as the worst year. Look at this lineup. Only six minifig-based sets, 2 Technic characters, Maul bust, and UCS Tantive IV. I admit my bias from disinterest in Technic, UCS, and the bust, but even so, there's not much to look at. I seem to counter my own argument, as 3 of those sets are the small ones that I love (Droid Escape, Droid Carrier, AT-ST). But they're just not very good small sets (look at the small sets from 2002 or 1999 and compare). It was just a slow year in general, so it gets my vote for worst.

[mr_joshua]

I have to say 2002. Fortunately I got hooked back into LEGO when they released the mini sets(2003). They gave me a justifying reason for my wife. My son was just old enough to handle the mini sets, and it was early enough in 2003 that I could still find all the 2002 sets. I mean come on...the UCS ISD!!???! That was the best christmas ever (sorry Mom). Plus we got the RGS, Jango, and armies of stormies!!!

[~Legolot~]

Hhmm.... I'm surprised to see that not many people have said 2005. It was the year my 2nd favorite SW movie was released (2nd to The Empire Strikes Back) and it held and abundance of sets. Although I will admit the Ultimate Jedi duel was dissapointing, 2005 was really the first year LEGO started making very detailed sets with somewhat good minifig scale. Although I do prefer yellow heads because of the nostalgia, the flesh heads gave it an extra push of detail

Now my favorite sets from 2005:

10143 Death Star II was a truely outstanding set. It's attention to detail is amazing and it was a bit easier than I expected. Not to mention the abundance of grey and trans-green pieces. Not much more to say other than that it was truely incredible. Plus and amazing price for the piece count. I mean 3441 pieces for $270? Was LEGO desperate?

7264 Imperial Inspection was truely a great set. Although the shuttle was a bit meh, the figs were great. I mean, who couldn't love those legs on the stormies? And no to mention the Imperial guards. And of course, Emporer Palpatine. Definitely one of my favorite sets for minifigs. Also a pretty good price for the piece count.

10144 Sandcrawler was a really awesome set considering how hard it should be to acomplish. In the movies, the Sandcrawler was huge, and I must say. LEGO did a pretty good job considering it's size. And not to mention 11 minifigs! And we finally got Owen Lars! Also, there was a huge abundance of brown pieces which is always good to have. With 1669 pieces for $140 dollars, it again has a great price.

7283 Ultimate Space battle is rather big for it's 567 piece count. Not much to say other than that it was good for pieces and that it had some pretty decent figs. $50 for 567 pieces is a pretty spot on price.

7258 Wookiee Attack is good in comparison to the recent Corparate Alliance Tank Droid. The Tank in Wookiee attack was bigger and far better than the CW version. That's really the only reason I included this set. $30 for 366 pieces gives it a pretty spot on price.

7250 and 7251, Clone Scout Walker and Darth Vader Transformation are on here because they are such nice little sets. Both have nice figs and good prices.

There are still other sets from other years that I love such as the 2004 and 2006 X-Wing or the UCS General Grievous from 2008 or the Death Star from 2008. But 2005 takes the cake for detailed sets, pretty darn good prices, and good minifigs.