In 1999, Star Wars changed the world all over again with the start of the prequel trilogy in The Phantom Menace—and changed the toy world all over again too. Not just with its own action figures though: 1999 saw Lego reveal its very first licensed subset in Lego Star Wars, and has been pillaging our savings with awesome toys ever since. So, to mark the 25th birthday of it all, the company is... well, pillaging those savings all over again.
Today Lego confirmed the first details for a wave of special 25th anniversary Star Wars sets, due to begin releasing in March, drawing from across the Star Wars saga (but interestingly, nothing yet from The Phantom Menace, which formed a big part of Lego’s early Star Wars line coinciding with the movie’s launch). The new sets include playsets, a buildable R2-D2, and even the launch of a new subset of the company’s Star Wars diorama builds, focusing on starships from across the galaxy far, far away. No more dreading trying to find space for one of those massive Millennium Falcons!
Several of the kits will also include a bonus minifigure, highlighting a character that has never been made available in Lego form before, along with a little 25th anniversary stand to display them on. The first two figures revealed are ARC Trooper Fives from Clone Wars, who will be included in the small Tantive IV boarding set, and the other is the legendary Darth Malak from Knights of the Old Republic, who can be found in the R2-D2 set. Malak is only the second Lego Star Wars minifigure from KOTOR to be made—a decade ago Lego offered a special polybag of Malak’s accomplice/rival Darth Revan, as a special part of its Star Wars day sales in 2014, and then again in 2016, and is now an incredibly rare minifigure. Some KOTOR-era sets would be nice to go with them, alas—maybe if we ever get that remake—but it’s nice to see the venerable Star Wars gaming series get some recognition as part of the celebration.
All five sets are due to go live for preorder today through Lego’s official store, ahead of a release on March 1. Click through to see more pictures!
