Lego Star Wars

Lego Star Wars (stylized as LEGO Star Wars) is a Lego theme based on the Star Wars media franchise created by George Lucas. It includes over 928 Lego building toy sets, 1389 Lego minifigures, an eponymous video game series containing six games, and multiple animated short films and television series.

Originally it was only licensed from 1998 to 2009, but The Lego Group extended the license with Lucasfilm, first until 2011, then until 2016, then again until 2022, and then once more until 2032.

Overview
Lego Star Wars is based on the Star Wars saga and franchise. The product line directly focuses on the Star Wars characters from the films and TV Series, with the exception of a few special characters. It was first announced in February 1999 at the North American International Toy Fair, serving as a tie-in to Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, that would be released in May.

Development
The Lego Star Wars designers have revealed how they have "changed strategy" to get popular minifigures into cheaper and more accessible sets. Lego Star Wars Creative Lead Jens Kronvold Frederiksen explained, "We have changed our strategy a little bit over the years," and continued, "Where in the past, we often kept some of them – the most important especially – for the higher prices, we are now thinking young kids, maybe newcomers to Star Wars, want to get into it."

The designers revealed the Force Ghost minifigures as a result of changes to the company's transparent plastic. Creative Lead Jens Kronvold Frederiksen, "The reason for not doing it was that the minifigures are made out of many different types of plastic, because they need to have different abilities and characteristics," Design Director Michael Lee Stockwell explained, "Some have to be flexible, some need to use clutch power and whatnot," and continued, "So the hands are different material than the heads, for example."

Stockwell explained how coming up with playsets based on new shows and movies is trickier than creating vehicles. Referring to a Lego set based on The Mandalorian, Stockwell explained, "We were interested in [the Armourer's forge] already from the first season, but we didn't know enough about the context," and continued, "We didn't know enough of what was happening around this. That's one of the major differences between designing a ship and a playset like this, because it's sometimes easier to understand a ship." The designers explained the Mandalorian Starfighter (set number: 75316) is a great example of how they decide which sets to produce. Frederiksen explained, "If it's something that's exposed in more places, then there's a high chance that it's popular," and continued, "We did the same thing when creating stuff from The Clone Wars. We always thought the best set was [vehicles] that were both from the prequel movies, but also in The Clone Wars, [because] then we make more people happy."

The designers explained the design process of a minifigures and how they feel responsible for their accuracy. Lego Star Wars designer Madison O'Neil explained, "Part of that is just trying to fit these details in. The leg print, the arm print, wherever we can that's a new thing that we're starting to be able to do a little bit more of which is great to have the capacity to do that. We work within these frames that we have within the company that everyone has, and we just try to do the absolute best we can."

Construction sets
According to the Lego-owned marketplace BrickLink, The Lego Group has, released a total of 928 Lego sets and promotional polybags and 1389 minifigures as part of its Lego Star Wars theme.

Minifigures
Some minifigures repeatedly appear across multiple Lego sets, while others can be very rare, vastly increasing their resale value. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader are the themes most prominent minifigures while battle droids are, by quantity, one of the most often appearing minifigures in all of Lego. The first Lego Star Wars minifigures to ever be released were Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi from #7110 "Landspeeder". Tan colored OOM battle droids are the first Lego Star Wars minifigure by production code (sw0001a) and have only four different unique designs, all of which are only different oriented arms and an additional backplate. Lego switched the skin tone from yellow to a more natural skin tone between 2003 and 2004, and by 2005 the yellow skin tone was retired in the Lego Star Wars line. In 2019, the number of Lego Star Wars minifigures has surpassed 1000, with the Battlefront II protagonist Iden Versio bearing code sw1000.

Lego Star Wars construction sets
The first few sets based on the original trilogy were released in 1999, coinciding with the release of The Phantom Menace. The first wave of Lego Star Wars sets included model 7140, an X-wing fighter. Sets based on the prequel trilogy (Episodes I to III) of Star Wars would follow, starting with Episode I – The Phantom Menace. As each new film in the prequel trilogy neared its release date, Lego issued new models of ships and scenes in those films, as well as additional sets from the original trilogy. Lego also produced models based on Clone Wars, The Clone Wars, The Old Republic, The Force Unleashed, Rebels, The Force Awakens, Battlefront, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, Solo, Resistance, The Mandalorian,     The Rise of Skywalker, The Bad Batch,  The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi,     Star Wars: Andor,  Ahsoka,   and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Sets based on Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Galaxy's Edge, The Freemaker Adventures, and Vader Immortal have also been produced.

In 2022, The Lego Group announced the Lego Star Wars theme will continue until 2032.

Ultimate Collector Series (UCS) sets
In addition to the regular Minifigure-scale sets, Lego has released 37 sets for the Ultimate Collector Series. These models are often considerably larger, more detailed, and meant more for display purposes than other sets. They often cost more than regular Lego sets as well. Many of them include an information plaque and often a display stand. The largest of these is 75192, the 2017 UCS version of the Millennium Falcon, complete with ten Minifigures. At 7541 pieces, it is the largest Lego Star Wars set ever released; and the fifth largest set of any collection ever commercially released. On June 5, 2015, a sealed box of the older 2007 Millennium Falcon Lego set (#10179) was auctioned at online auction house Catawiki for 5000 euros (US$5556.5 at the time) making it the most expensive Lego set ever. In 2021, AT-AT (set number: #75313) was released on November 26, 2021. In 2022, Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder (set number: #75341) was released on May 1, 2022. The Razor Crest (set number: #75331) was released on 3 October 2022. In 2023, X-wing Starfighter (set number: #75355) was released on 1 May 2023. In September 2023, Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser (set number: #75367) was released on 1 October 2023.

Master Builder Series (MBS) sets
With similar complexity to the Ultimate Collector Series sets, sets under the Master Builder Series are built with the purpose of playing, featuring numerous play features, functions, and interior details as compared to the UCS, which are meant more for display purposes. The first set of the MBS is the #75222 Betrayal at Cloud City, which was released in 2018. In 2020, #75290 Mos Eisley Cantina was released as the largest MBS set with over 3,000 pieces and 21 minifigures.

The Helmet Collection sets
In 2020, Lego released three brick-built helmets of selected iconic characters from the Star Wars universe. They are #75277 Boba Fett, #75276 Stormtrooper, and #75274 TIE Fighter Pilot. Meant to be displayed, name plaques of the helmets' characters are included. In March 2021, Lego announced that it will be releasing helmets #75304 Darth Vader and #75305 Scout Trooper on April 26, 2021.

In February 2022, Lego announced that it will be releasing helmets #75327 Luke Skywalker (Red Five), #75328 The Mandalorian and #75343 Dark Trooper on March 1, 2022.

In January 2023, Lego announced that it will be releasing helmets #75351 Princess Leia (Boushh), #75349 Captain Rex and #75350 Clone Commander Cody on March 1, 2023.

R2-D2
Lego design master Kurt Kristiansen had revealed the R2-D2 (set number: #75308). Kurt Kristiansen explained, "Well R2-D2 is a bit of a fun thing for me cause I've been revisiting the design for almost 10 years," and continued, "So it was quite a challenge to reinvent the model." Subsequently, in 2024, Lego released a smaller model of R2-D2 to coincide with products released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Lego Star Wars. As such, this model also included a minifigure of Darth Malak from the Knights of the Old Republic game series.

Imperial Probe Droid
The designer video for Imperial Probe Droid (set number: #75306) explains some of the challenges that went into making the robotic model. Lego designer Jan Neergaard Olesen explained, "It's the first model I made totally in 3D, we have a program that we use and this was the first model where I spent a lot of time building it in 3D at home," and continued, "But the thing is, in 3D programs you don't have gravity and with a model like this that have a very high pivot point, it's going to cause some challenges"

Diorama Collection
In 2022, Lego announced that it will be releasing three Diorama building sets from the Star Wars universe on 24 March 2022. They are sets #75329 Death Star Trench Run Diorama, #75330 Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama and #75339 Death Star Trash Compactor Diorama.

In 2023, Lego announced that it will be releasing two Diorama building sets from the Star Wars universe on 1 May 2023. They are set #75352 Emperor's Throne Room and set #75353 Endor Speeder Chase.

In September 2023, Millennium Falcon Holiday Diorama (set number: 40658) will be released in October 2023. The set consists of 282 pieces with 5 minifigures. The set included Lego minifigures of Rey, Finn, Chewbacca, BB-8 and Porg.

Lego Art sets
On August 1, 2020, Lego released set #31200 Star Wars The Sith under the Lego Art theme. This consists of 3,406 pieces and offers builders the option to recreate any one of the three Star Wars villains (Darth Maul, Kylo Ren, and Darth Vader) in a mosaic-like format using Lego 1x1 studs.

Lego BrickHeadz sets
Lego has since released 22 Star Wars themed sets under the Lego BrickHeadz theme. They include characters from the sequel trilogy, the original trilogy, the Clone Wars, and The Mandalorian.

Lego Brick Sketches sets
Sets #40391 First Order Stormtrooper and set #40431 BB-8 were released as a part of Lego Brick Sketches theme.

Lego Mech sets
On August 1, 2023, Lego released sets #75368 Darth Vader Mech, #75369 Boba Fett Mech, and #75370 Stormtrooper Mech.

Video games
Traveller's Tales president Jon Burton stated in a July 2008 interview with Variety that the series had collectively sold 15 million copies. As of February 13, 2009, Lego Star Wars: The Video Game has sold over 6.8 million copies worldwide, Lego Star Wars II has sold over 8.3 million, The Complete Saga has sold over 4.1 million, and the three combined have sold over 21 million. In May 2009, Wired reported combined sales of 20 million. As of 2012, all Lego Star Wars video games had collectively sold more than 30 million copies. As of 2016, more than 36 million games were sold. As of 2019, the series has sold more than 50 million copies of Lego Star Wars video games. In April 2022, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was listed as one of the UK boxed chart top 10 by Eurogamer. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has sold more than three million copies.

Several films and videos based on Lego Star Wars have been produced; additionally, Lego Star Wars characters cameo in The Lego Movie (2014).

Short films

 * Lego Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick is the first computer-animated Lego Star Wars short film. It premiered on Cartoon Network in mid-2005, in conjunction with the theatrical release of Revenge of the Sith.
 * Lego Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 is a short movie which aired on Cartoon Network in August 2009, and was uploaded to the Lego Star Wars website, in order to celebrate 10 years of Lego Star Wars,
 * Lego Star Wars: Bombad Bounty, is another CGI Lego short film, it was released in 2010. In it, Vader hires Boba Fett to track down the Gungan Jar Jar Binks for an accident he caused to Vader. The film also takes place at the same time as the original movies showing that Jar Jar was responsible for the destruction of the first Death Star and was with Boba Fett on Jabba's Barge during the events of Return of the Jedi.
 * 36 web shorts have been released on YouTube for the theme, several of which previously released elsewhere:

Television specials

 * Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace released on July 7, 2011, is a 30-minute, exclusive TV special written by Michael Price is about a Jedi Academy field trip. When Master Yoda leads a group of rambunctious Jedi younglings through Senate chambers when he senses a disturbance in the Force. Summoned to help save the Republic, he discovers that a young boy pretending to be a Jedi youngling secretly boarded his ship... and has a taste for adventure. Meanwhile, C-3PO and R2-D2 are put in charge of the boisterous group and find themselves in over their heads. Yoda and the droids proceed to save the younglings from the Separatists as well as the vile Jabba the Hutt. The special premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on July 22, 2011, at 7 p.m. and in the United Kingdom on October 17 at 5:30. The DVD and Blu-ray include several special features such as The Quest for R2-D2 and Bombad Bounty as well as other short films.
 * Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out released on September 26, 2012, airing on Cartoon Network in the United States, and would be one of the last Star Wars productions to be made before Lucasfilm was sold to The Walt Disney Company a month later. In this special, Luke Skywalker embarks on a mission to find and destroy an Imperial base on Naboo, but is relentlessly chased by a group of fanatic fangirls, who think of him as a celebrity for destroying the Death Star. Meanwhile, Darth Vader engages a "sithling" rivalry with Darth Maul, in order to prove he's the best Sith Lord to Emperor Palpatine, who is constructing a second Death Star. The special was dedicated to Ralph McQuarrie, who worked on the original Star Wars trilogy who died before it was released.
 * The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special was released on November 17, 2020, on Disney+, a spiritual successor to and satirisation of the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). In the special, set after Episode IX, Rey begins to doubt her abilities as a teacher to Finn. She travels to a temple and finds a time key, which allows her to travel to different moments in time throughout the Star Wars saga to observe past Jedi Masters and their students. However, she loses the key to Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, who use it to go to the future, meeting Kylo Ren. After learning from him about his demise at Vader's hands, Palpatine seeks to make Kylo his new apprentice and ensure he will rule the galaxy forever. Meanwhile, Finn, Rose and Poe try to organize the perfect Life Day party, but chaos ensues at every step.
 * Lego Star Wars: Terrifying Tales was released on October 1, 2021, exclusively on Disney+. In the special, set after Episode IX, Poe Dameron and BB-8 make an emergency landing on the volcanic planet Mustafar, where they meet Graballa the Hutt (Jabba's cousin). The crime boss has purchased Darth Vader's castle and is renovating it into the galaxy's first all-inclusive Sith-inspired luxury hotel. While waiting for his X-Wing to be fixed, Poe, BB-8, Graballa, and Dean (a plucky and courageous young boy who works as Graballa's mechanic) venture deep into the mysterious castle with Vader's servant, Vaneé. Along the way, Vaneé shares three creepy stories linked to ancient artifacts and iconic villains from across all eras of Star Wars. As Vaneé spins his tales and lures our heroes deeper into the shadowy underbelly of the castle, a villainous plan emerges. With the help of Dean, Poe and BB-8 will have to face their fears, stop an ancient evil from rising, and escape to make it back to their friends.
 * Lego Star Wars: Summer Vacation was released on August 5, 2022, exclusively on Disney+.    The story is set after Episode IX where Finn plans a summer cruise for the rest of his friends before they take their separate ways, eventually Finn is visited by the spirits of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Leia to tell him stories to teach him to cherish the memories he shared with his friends.


 *  consists of two seasons of half-hour episodes, released in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The first season is a three-episode Clone Wars-era story about a specialized clone trooper whom both the Sith and Jedi want on their side; he also appears in the four-episode second season, The New Yoda Chronicles, which focuses on Luke Skywalker and a showdown between him and Darth Vader before The Empire Strikes Back. The final episode also has an alternate-ending version on Disney+.
 * Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales aired on Disney XD between July and November 2015, as a 5-part animated mini-series. The series serves as a comedic re-telling of the first six Star Wars films from C-3PO's point of view.
 * Lego Star Wars: The Resistance Rises aired on Disney XD between February and May 2016, as a 5-part animated mini-series. The series serves as a comedic prequel to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
 * Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures aired on Disney XD for two seasons between June 2016 and August 2017. Set between Episode V and Episode VI, it tells the story of the Freemakers, a family of scavengers that find themselves pulled into the conflict between the Rebels and the Empire.
 *  premiered on Disney XD on October 29, 2018. It consists of five half-hour episodes, the first of which is a compilation of eight separately-released short films. Set during multiple Star Wars eras, it tells the story of other relatives of the Freemaker family, including their parents Pace and Lena during the time of Solo, and Zander's daughter Moxie during Episode VII and Episode VIII.
 * Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy is a four part miniseries set for release on September 13, 2024, on Disney+. The series follows Sig Greebling, who accidentally activates a powerful Jedi relic that rewrites reality, forcing him to restore things to normal.

Multiple Lego Star Wars reference books, short stories and coloring books have been released. Additionally multiple Lego Star Wars magazines release monthly.

Other merchandise
The Lego Star Wars brand has also produced plush toys, alarm clocks in the design of minifigures and minifigures with keychain rings and magnets. They also released minifigures integrated into pens as part of Lego Writing.

Reception
In 2015, The Lego Group has seen its first half results jump 18 percent for 2015, fuelled by the popularity of Lego Star Wars, Lego Jurassic World and Lego Technic.

In 2018, the Toy Retailers Association listed BB-8 (set number: 75187) and Millennium Falcon (set number: 75192) on its official list of 2018 Toy of the Year Awards.

In 2020, Lego Star Wars theme became the Top-selling themes for the year.

In 2021, the Toy Retailers Association listed The Razor Crest (set number: 75292) on its official list of 2021 Toy of The Year Awards.

In June 2021, R2-D2 (set number: 75308) was listed as the "Top 20 Lego Sets List" by Lego fansite Brick Fanatics.

In 2020, The Lego Group reported that the Lego Technic, Lego Star Wars, Lego Classic, Lego Disney Princess, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Speed Champions, "The strong results are due to our incredible team," and that these themes had helped to push revenue for the first half of 2020 grow 7% to DKK 15.7 billion compared with the same period in 2019.

In 2021, Darth Vader Helmet (set number: 75304) was listed as one of the "Top 10 toys for Christmas 2021" by Tesco.

In March 2022, The Lego Group reported that the Lego City, Lego Technic, Lego Creator Expert, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Star Wars themes had earned for the full year of 2021. Revenue for the year grew 27 percent versus 2020 to DKK 55.3 billion and consumer sales grew 22 percent over the same period, outpacing the toy industry and driving market share growth globally and in largest markets.

On 28 September 2022, The Lego Group reported that the Lego Star Wars, Lego Technic, Lego Icons (formerly Creator Expert), Lego City, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Friends themes had earned for the six months ending 30 June 2022. Revenue for the period grew 17 percent to DKK 27.0 billion compared with the same period in 2021, driven by strong demand. Consumer sales grew 13 percent, significantly ahead of the toy industry, contributing to global market share growth.

In February 2023, Millennium Falcon (set number: 75192) and The Razor Crest (set number: 75331) were listed on "The biggest Lego sets of all time" by Lego fansite Brick Fanatics.

In March 2023, The Lego Group reported that the Lego City, Lego Technic, Lego Icons, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Star Wars themes had earned for the full year of 2022. Revenue for the year grew 17 percent to DKK 64.6 billion and consumer sales grew 12 percent in 2022, achieving growth in all major market groups with especially strong performance in the Americas and Western Europe.

In August 2023, The Lego Group reported that the Lego Icons, Lego Star Wars, Lego Technic and Lego City themes had earned for the first six months of 2023. Revenue was DKK 27.4 billion, a growth of 1% compared with H1 2022. Consumer sales grew 3% outperforming a declining toy market and contributing to strong market share growth.

Awards and nominations
In 2006, Lego Star Wars was awarded "Toy of the Year" and also "Activity Toy of the Year" by the Toy Association.

In 2009, Darth Vader's TIE Fighter (set number: 8017) and Echo Base (set number: 7749) were awarded "DreamToys" in the Construction category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2010, Hoth Wampa Cave (set number: 8089) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Boys category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2011, Millennium Falcon (set number: 7965) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Construction category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2012, Desert Skiff (set number: 9496) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Construction category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2015, Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle (set number: 75104) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Build It And They Will Thrive category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2016, U-Wing Fighter (set number: 75155) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Action Station category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2017, BB-8 (set number: 75187) and First Order Heavy Assault Walker (set number: 75189) were awarded "DreamToys" in the Licensed To Thrill category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2018, BB-8 (set number: 75187) was awarded "Toy of the Year" and also "Construction Toy of the Year" by the Toy Association. Also Millennium Falcon (set number: 75192) was awarded "Toy of the Year" and also "Specialty Toy of the Year" by the Toy Association.

In 2019, Yoda (set number: 75255) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Movie Magic category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2020, 501st Legion Clone Troopers (set number: 75280) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Licensed To Thrill category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2020, Droid Commander (set number: 75253) was awarded "Toy of the Year" and also "STEM/STEAM Toy of the Year" by the Toy Association.

In 2021, Boba Fett's Starship (set number: 75312) (set number: 75280) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Licensed To Thrill category by the Toy Retailers Association.

In 2022, Hoth AT-ST (set number: 75322) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Film & TV Favourites and The Top 12 Toys for Christmas 2022 categories by the Toy Retailers Association. Dark Trooper Attack (set number: 75324) was awarded "DreamToys" in the Film & TV Favourites category by the Toy Retailers Association.