25 of the Best Lego Star Wars Sets From 25 Years of Lego Star Wars
This year is a very important one for Star Wars, as it looks to its future in shows like The Acolyte and its plans to return to the big screen, and as it reflects on its past with the anniversary of prequel trilogy kickoff The Phantom Menace. But 2024 is also important for one of Star Wars’ other great loves: the history of its merchandise, and in one particular case, arguably one of the most important Star Wars toylines ever made.
That is, of course, not the action figures this time, but Lego Star Wars. The first licensed range for the brick-building toy company launched in 1999, anchored in a series of sets inspired by the original movies and The Phantom Menace, and immediately changed both Lego and Star Wars alike for the next 25 years. From the smallest set to the wildest, big-ticket models of our dreams, there have been so many incredible playsets and models recreating iconic ships, characters, and moments, over and over—and Lego shows no signs of slowing down, with dozens of new sets this year that both celebrate the anniversary and just keep on bringing us new things to build from across the whole Star Wars franchise.
To celebrate the occasion, here’s our pick of 25 of some of the best sets that Lego’s ever made for Star Wars, from historically important points in the line’s evolution, to the best model-making and engineering the company has to offer, to imaginative playsets and more—and some of our own nostalgic favorites along the way.
Millennium Falcon (2000)
There have been many, many Millennium Falcons across 25 years of Lego Star Wars. Is this the best looking one? No. Definitely not. But it’s proof that even from the early days—well before we were really into the realm of unique pieces or advanced building techniques that are now common in Lego’s kits as they’ve grown increasingly more technical—Lego was still managing to nail the core elements of Star Wars’ designs with the limited framework it had. She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.
BB-8 (2017)
Lego’s gotten better and better at character models in recent years, especially for droids. But while R2s are a dime a dozen, there’s perhaps few more charming than its take on BB-8 for a wave accompanying the release of TheLast Jedi. Having to take one of the hardest shapes to make effectively in Lego—a sphere—and have that be basically the whole character was rough, but the company nailed it here, in a very cute and fun display piece.
The Ghost and Phantom II (2023)
It may not have the excellent minifigure selection of the original Ghost released to hype up Rebels in 2014, but the advancements in engineering—and the fact it actually came with a detachable version of the Phantom II—make this a worthy successor to celebrate the animated series as well as Ahsoka.
Jedi Defender-Class Cruiser (2013)
Sets based on what is now the non-canonical Expanded Universe are few and far between, but somehow, for a brief, fleeting moment, we managed to get a bunch of Star Wars: The Old Republic sets inspired by Bioware’s MMO continuation of the beloved world established in Knights of the Old Republic. From starfighters to battle packs, to ships for some of the main classes in the game, the Defender-Class Cruiser is definitely a highlight—and has figures inspired by one of the coolest cinematic trailers for SWTOR.
TIE Fighter and Y-Wing (1999)
Lego Star Wars loves a fighter duel set—a legacy that began right here with the first TIE and Y-Wing models, bundled together for maximum play value. They might be harder to come by in a modern Lego world where parts counts and prices make even putting one ship in a box a bit tough sometimes, but that legacy still persists in things like the Ahsoka E-Wing and Shin Hati fighter set from last year.
Imperial Star Destroyer (2006)
The iconic designs of Star Wars are as such that they crop up again and again in Lego’s line—the constant desire to do new versions, new scales, experiment to improve on what came before. The Star Destroyer is a daunting prospect, because do you go for sheer size, like the UCS version, do you go for something smaller but more playable as a model (like the upcoming set releasing as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations this summer), or do you go for a playset vibe?
The 2006 Star Destroyer is kind of a mix of all three, and really works quite well—it’s big, it’s a great model, and it opens up to give you a bunch of play opportunities.
Republic Dropship With AT-OT (2009)
An absolutely bonkers set that defied a whole heap of engineering nightmares just to exist, this has to be one of the boldest Clone Wars era sets Lego did—a complete dropship that could pick up a walker and, well, drop it off. Pray for a peaceful landing that doesn’t dislodge too many bricks along the way.
Anakin and Sebulba’s Podracers (2011)
Launching alongside the run up to Phantom Menace meant that we got to see a bunch of kits inspired by the first prequel film early on with Lego Star Wars... and then it took a little while for Lego to go back and revisit. This two-pack of podracers is a fantastic update to the Mos Espa Podrace set from 1999, even if it did lose Gasgano’s racer along the way to give us better versions of Anakin and Sebulba’s pods.
Ultimate Collector Series Imperial Shuttle (2010)
Nailing a ship with such a stark design is always a challenge in Lego, and it’s no wonder it took a bump up to UCS status to give us one that best reflected the smooth, sharp lines and the bright white of the Imperial shuttle. The minifigure-scaled versions of the Tyderium we’ve had over the years have been solid in fits and starts, but this still remains the gold standard.
Jabba’s Palace (and the Rancor Pit) (2012, 2013)
Is it cheating to put two sets in one spot? Maybe. Is it cheeky of Lego to release two individual sets to get the most out of one full display piece? Also maybe. Is this still the coolest version of Jabba’s palace that you can make, through two sets that are still great playsets on their own even before you stack them on top of one another? Absolutely.
Trade Federation MTT (2007)
Phantom Menace’s shots of row after row of folded Battle Droids emerging from troop transports is iconic—and as cute as the spindly Lego Battle Droid minifigures are, practically unchanged since their first appearance 25 years ago—faithfully recreating that crunched up form is a challenge. But it’s still a sight to see them all whenever Lego takes a crack at the MTT.
Motorized Walking AT-AT (2007)
A wild idea done once and never again in any of Lego’s takes on the AT-AT—not even the UCS version—one of the rare motorized Star Wars sets let this legendary walker actually stomp about. Very, very slowly and carefully.
Death Star Final Duel (2020)
It was a little wild that Lego released two very similar versions of Return of the Jedi’s climactic lightsaber fight relatively close to each other (five years counts as that, right?), but the latter is definitely the nicer of the two sets, refining details and even including things like the then-new upgrade to Darth Vader minifigures, giving him a helmet you could actually split into two pieces to more faithfully recreate how he’s unmasked in the film.
Y-Wing (2017)
Again, the Y-Wing has been a part of Lego Star Wars from the beginning. But sometimes the innocuous, smaller versions of a classic fighter are closer to your heart than the big, pricey fancy model versions. That’s definitely the case for this version of the Rebel bomber, made as part of the Rogue One line, but it keeps everything you want out of a Y-Wing set in minifigure scale, without sacrificing too much.
Battle of Endor (2009)
We’ve gotten plenty of individual slices of the Battle for Endor in Lego form over the years—individual Ewok gliders or play sets, speeder bikes, AT-STs, and so on. But this version, made for Lego Star Wars’ 10th anniversary, brings them all together around an actual replica of the Endor bunker to give you a full on playset recreation of Return of the Jed’s ground battle.
Death Star Trench Run Diorama (2022)
It took over two decades to get here, but Lego made an important new addition to the world of its Lego Star Wars toys in 2022 starting with the legendary Death Star Trench Run—Lego sets that weren’t quite playsets, weren’t quite full-on replicas, but micro-scaled diorama recreations of important moments from the films. It’s a great way to do big set pieces, or even really hone in on a specific scene in minifigure-scale form without making it a full elaborate playset. The trench run is a great one right out the gate, but it being so good is what makes us want to see more and more of these.
Ultimate Collector’s Series Slave I (2015)
Slave 1—or Boba Fett’s Starship, depending on who you ask—is another set that’s been a guiding force across all of Lego Star Wars. From bigger scaled, to microfighters, to Jango’s rendition of the legendary ship, and of course, playset version after playset version, the scale of the UCS release lets it really capture the smooth curves of the Firespray-class that smaller versions have to sacrifice in parts counts. It definitely adds a lot to the final model!
Republic Gunship (2013)
The more recent UCS version might be a bigger, better model, but this is still arguably the best minifigure-scaled take on the Republic’s most iconic vessel—even if it doesn’t come with Jedi Bob.
Ewok Village (2013)
This easily could’ve been a smaller playset, but Lego went all out for Return of the Jedi’s 30th anniversary, and gave us a jam-packed model of the Ewoks’ home bursting at the seams with amazing little details.
Palpatine’s Arrest (2012)
The fact it took this long to get a version of this Revenge of the Sith scene, and we haven’t had one since? It’s treason, then. It’s not just a great model of Palpatine’s offices, but you get everything you’d want—all the minifigures, even a cute little recreation of the ship Anakin takes to make his fateful decision, it’s an iconic moment, perfectly recreated.
Ah well, maybe next year for Revenge of the Sith’s 20th anniversary.
Ultimate Collector Series X-Wing (2000)
The progenitor of the Ultimate Collector Series alongside the TIE Interceptor (which just got an amazing update this month), for many this, and the smaller model that was one of the first Lego Star Wars kits, still remain aesthetically defined as the version of the Lego X-Wing that pops into your head. The combination of the looks and the engineering for the time, when Lego had barely started diving into Star Wars, is remarkable, and it still holds up against more contemporary takes.
Cloud City (2003)
Sure, the 2018 version is nicer. It’s got more parts, more minifigures, more detail, more things going on. But it’s hard to articulate how wild this was in 2003—there wasn’t a Lego set that was basically a massive diorama recreating multiple scenes from the movies all in one model like this yet. Little individual playsets, sure, but this had all the highlights of ESB’s Bespin scenes—Luke vs. Vader, the dining room, Han being frozen—all in one cohesive model.
Luke’s Landspeeder (2020)
If the X-Wing is the iconic Lego spaceship, then the Landspeeder is perhaps the iconic Lego vehicle outright. One of the first ever sets in the line, the Landspeeder has rightfully seen plenty of updates over the last 25 years thanks to its nostalgic importance to Lego—all the way up to the amazing UCS set. It’s the rare iterative design for Lego that’s gotten better with practically every entry, to boot.
Ultimate Collector Series Death Star (2016)
Once again, Lego has done Death Stars a few times, in a few forms—but this is the ultimate playset version of station, and its ability to recreate what is essentially a spherical play-by-play of the middle act of A New Hope is nothing short of remarkable.
Plus, it’s responsible for the best Lego Star Wars cameo in a movie (not about Lego).
Ultimate Collector Series Millennium Falcon (2017)
And here we are, back where we started. Even at almost seven years old now, to many this will still forever be the apex of Lego Star Wars: the biggest, boldest, most wallet-busting version of one of the all-time classic ships from the series. It’s a masterful piece of engineering, and the fascinating context of its release allowing Lego to bridge this Falcon across both the original and sequel trilogies makes for a fantastic celebration of Star Wars.
