The storied history of LEGO Star Wars remakes

Remakes are part and parcel of the LEGO Star Wars theme, so journey back to the very beginning of them more than two decades ago.

25 years is a long time to be creating unique LEGO sets, even for a franchise as varied as Star Wars. Plus, some of the most popular ships deserve to be revisited, especially once their original brick-built variants have retired from shelves.

LEGO Star Wars has a long history of re-releasing and remaking sets, returning to some time and again (ahem, X-Wing). In honour of LEGO Star Wars celebrating 25 years this year, we’ve rewound all the way back to the start to see when the LEGO Group started remakes – and how it’s gone since then.

LEGO Star Wars sets so good they released them twice

LEGO Star Wars dipped a toe into the water of revisiting sets by straight up re-releasing 1999’s 7140 X-wing Fighter and 7150 TIE Fighter & Y-wing as 2002’s 7142 X-wing Fighter and 7152 TIE Fighter & Y-wing. As the names suggest, there are no differences between these two sets, from the brick-built ships to the minifigures, even down to the artwork on the boxes.

The originals, 7140 X-wing Fighter and 7150 TIE Fighter & Y-wing, had only retired from shelves nine months earlier but, clearly, the demand was there for the ships – and quite rightly. At the time, these were the most detailed versions of some of the most iconic ships from the original trilogy (Falcon aside). This was before the era of huge, multi-thousand-piece UCS models and having a LEGO X-wing was a must-have when building up your LEGO Star Wars collection.

The start of a long-lived tradition of remakes

2006 is generally agreed to be the beginning of the remake era in earnest, with a number of LEGO Star Wars remakes of original trilogy ships. One example is Boba Fett’s starship, first released in 2000 with 7144 Slave I and returned to six years later with 6209 Slave I. The remake saw a pretty significant piece count jump from 166 to 537, providing a lot more detail in the ship itself. There are also more minifigures included, with Boba getting back-up from Dengar, a Bespin guard, and IG-88. A carbonite Han Solo remains in the hold, cementing the starship in the original trilogy time period.

Naturally, the X-wing was also in line for a remake, as one of the most prolific LEGO Star Wars sets. There are truly too many to mention them all, but the first iteration also came in 2006, with 6212 X-wing Fighter. The piece count almost doubled, highlighting the growing preference for larger, more detailed ships. Over the years, different versions of the X-wing would come out all the time. Being so heavily used by the Rebel forces, there’s plenty of scope to return to the iconic vehicle in its different versions, ranging from the hyper-specific, like 75301 Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing Fighter, to the weird and wonderful, like the upcoming release 75393 TIE Fighter & X-Wing Mash-up.

What’s the point of remakes?

The long line of X-wings is perhaps the best example of what can be achieved with remakes. It might be just one ship but it’s flown by different people and in different liveries, offering some variations on how it can be displayed. There’s also been every size and price imaginable over the years, meaning any Star Wars fan can add at least one X-wing to their collection.

The trend of remakes might have started all the way back in 2006 but it’s still firmly entrenched in the LEGO Star Wars theme today. June 1 saw the release of 75381 Droideka and 75380 Mos Espa Podrace Diorama, revisiting 2000’s 8002 Destroyer Droid and 1999’s 7171 Mos Espa Podrace. Both highlight the influence of modern trends on remakes.

With a greater focus than ever on midiscale, display-ready models, both are geared towards looks rather than play. 75381 Droideka features an information plaque and stand, while 75380 Mos Espa Podrace Diorama is built on a blocky base, complete with the quote plaque that we’ve come to associate with movie dioramas.

Another reason for remakes is revisiting a specific ship from another time period. For example, 75325 The Mandalorian’s N-1 Starfighter finds its roots years earlier in 7141 Naboo Fighter. While the latter was set firmly in the Clone Wars era (the battle droids are a giveaway), Disney’s The Mandalorian paid homage to the past when Din Djarin buys and refits an old N-1. As such it makes perfect sense to remake an old set, this time with new characters and a new ‘paint job’ to reflect its progression in-universe as well.

Not every LEGO Star Wars set gets a remake

Of course, not every set can – or should – get a remake. Some would argue that X-wings are overdone but you can see the logic of always having at least one iteration of the beloved vehicle on shelves.

In other cases, the demand simply isn’t there, meaning some sets are worth picking up while they’re still around. LEGO Star Wars models based on the sequel trilogy, for example, are unlikely to be revisited due to a simple lack of demand, at least until the kids watching those movies grow up and provide the nostalgia revival that we’re currently seeing for the prequel trilogy.

Others are simply too niche. Are we likely to see LEGO Star Wars designers return to products like the limited-edition 7752 Count Dooku’s Solar Sailer or 9525 Pre Vizsla’s Mandalorian Fighter? Probably not, unless there’s a logical entry point, as with the N-1 above.

Never say never, of course, but remakes tend to stay with the most beloved and popular ships. That’s not to say that the unexpected can’t happen (just look at some of the Rebuild the Galaxy sets released this year for your answer on that), so who knows what the future of remakes could look like in another 25 years.

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