Despite advances in design, printing and production, some classic LEGO Star Wars minifigures from the past 25 years still hold up well today.
LEGO Star Wars has been celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with new sets, events, GWPs and minifigures. The latter have continued to evolve and improve over the last quarter of a century, with many minifigures now boasting a level of detail and accuracy that simply wasn’t achievable in 1999.
However, with that in mind, there are still plenty of classic LEGO Star Wars minifigures from yesteryear that still hold up surprisingly well to this very day. We’ve taken a look back over the years and selected 10 such characters from a galaxy far, far away that remain minifigure highlights and deserve a place in every fan’s collection.
1 – R2-D2
Appearing in the very first LEGO Star Wars sets in 1999, R2-D2 has seen only incremental changes over the years. This version of the plucky astromech was included in a total of 16 models up to 2010, which is impressive when considering how minifigure design has improved during that period.
Since then the size of Artoo’s dome element has been reduced considerably, while new printing techniques have enhanced the overall look of the droid. The only parts of the character that have remained exactly the same since 1999 are its two white leg pieces.
2 – Darth Maul
Still an imposing LEGO Star Wars minifigure to this day, the first-ever version of Darth Maul came with 7151 Sith Infiltrator in 1999. Early iterations of the character have regular LEGO heads printed with Nightbrother tattoos and yellow eyes, but this variant has black pupils and different facial patterns.
The look of this version of the Sith apprentice continues to remain strong, with the recently-released
3 – Battle Droid
As covered in our feature here, the humble Battle Droid has remained fairly reliable over the past 25 years. Those LEGO Star Wars fans who have been army building with the character will have only spotted a few visual changes between the minifigures during that time, other than colour variations.
First appearing in 7141 Naboo Fighter in 1999, the Battle Droid was slightly upgraded in 2007’s 7662 Trade Federation MTT, with a straight-armed version whose hands both face the front, allowing it to hold a blaster vertically.
4 – Zam Wesell
Only one minifigure of Zam Wesell has been released to date, with the Clawdite shapeshifter included in 7133 Bounty Hunter Pursuit in 2002. With LEGO Star Wars minifigures still boasting primarily yellow faces at the time, the character was unique in that it had a double-sided head with both human and alien appearances.
However, the recently-released LEGO Star Wars: The Force of Creativity book does include development art for an unreleased and updated version of Zam Wesell from 2020. Whether a new iteration of the bounty hunter will be available in a future set is unknown at this point.
5 – Jedi Bob
Fans of obscure LEGO Star Wars characters celebrated this year when the mysterious Jedi Bob finally reappeared. One of the stars of the animated LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy on Disney+, the elusive character had only previously popped up in one set in 25 years, 2002’s 7163 Republic Gunship.
While a slightly tweaked and updated minifigure of the character does come with
6 – Super Battle Droid
As with standard Battle Droids, their bulkier Trade Federation cousins remain relatively unchanged over more than two decades. Making their debut in 7163 Republic Gunship alongside Jedi Bob, Super Battle Droid minifigures were metal-blue in colour, with a solid connection between their two feet.
The Super Battle Droid would go on to receive a unique blaster arm piece in 2009, while this year’s
7 – Boba Fett
Despite having appeared in 7144 Slave I in 2000, it would be three more years before a truly distinctive and impressive variant of Boba Fett was released. 10123 Cloud City came with a unique version of the fan-favourite bounty hunter that was the first to boast both arm and leg printing.
The character would go on to be tweaked and enhanced many times, culminating in
8 – EV-9D9
Exclusive to 4480 Jabba’s Palace released in 2003, EV-9D9 is a red and grey minifigure in charge of torturing droids for the pleasure of the Hutt crime lord. This is the only version of the Return of the Jedi character that’s been available since that LEGO Star Wars set was launched.
EV-9D9 boasted a unique printed head piece, which was actually attached upside down onto the droid’s body, a pair of dark grey legs that only appeared in that colour in the set and a dark red torso also sported by the Security Battle Droid in 7877 Naboo Starfighter.
9 – Siege Battalion trooper
Our list is rounded out by two Revenge of the Sith-era minifigures, both of which were released in LEGO Star Wars sets in 2005. The first of these is the Siege Battalion trooper, a specialised Phase 2 clone that featured distinctive white, green and black armour.
Available in 7260 Wookiee Catamaran, the minifigure came with a then-standard two-piece loudhailer blaster, a plain black head than can be seen through its open visor and printed markings denoting the character as belonging to the 42nd Siege Battalion.
10 – 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps trooper
We conclude our look back over 25 years of classic LEGO Star Wars characters with the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps trooper, the only minifigure included with 7250 Clone Scout Walker. The clone minifigure arrived in 2005 and also came with a loudhailer blaster and black head.
Thanks to a one-of-a-kind printed emblem and dark red and black colouring on the minifigures’ helmet and torso, the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps trooper has remained an impressive and desirable character since it was launched nearly 20 years ago.
Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO using our affiliate links. Thanks!
Comments
Be the first to comment!