Microfighters - A Great Collection or Waste of Money?

AdeelZubair · February 2015

The AT-AT is the best of the bunch, you can get so many different emotions from a very small model. I think the concept of the Star Wars Microfighters is great but it's those impulse models I try and avoid because they are quick cash grabs. I had a couple on my wanted list but I will definitely not be purchasing any of them at RRP.

MugenPower · February 2015

I plan on getting the OT models from the latest release but still wish they proceeded with the planets series (or at least brought series 4 to the US) instead of the Microfighters.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

Just built #75030 & I would have to say, I can't understand the hate on these sets. The Falcon was a fun build, I can't wait for the others to arrive. Personally, I hope this series continues & I would have no issue if they add Marvel variants to the range (well they sort of already have with Rocket's Warbird). My only issue now is finding the cash to buy the exclusive ones done for ComicCons, etc...

77ncaachamps · March 2015

Who cares if they're not to scale.

They are fun and introduce Lego builders to micro-scaling models.

mr_skinny · March 2015

Got all 6 of Series 1. Only 2 left to get and I'll have all of Series 2. Haven't paid anywhere full price for them though. It's 50/50 with the minifigures, some are already in other sets and some are exclusives.

The OT sets from Series 1 go really well with the Death Star, you can actually dock the Millennium Falcon in the Death Star hanger!

Realy want the Microfighter sets from the toy fairs and Comic Cons but they're too pricey

Solarious · March 2015

I like the concept a lot actually, even though I totally cut my Star Wars project and am trying to get rid of my figs

They arnt trying to be the larger, more detailed sets that they are already sitting next to on the shelves. They are just fun little builds that don't cost a ton of loot. I don't know what could be wrong with that.

Plus they come with a good selection of smaller parts and go on super discount almost immediately. I bought 2 Star Destroyers and a TIE for $2.50 each barely 6 months after release

VorpalRyu · March 2015

@mr_skinny, I keep checking around for the exclusives too, between the exclusive Microfighters (including Rocket's Warbird) & the Marvel exclusive minifigures, I need a lottery win....that or a good paying job... :(

leetshoe · March 2015

l like the microfighters. I took a couple to work to sit on my desk

Drmnez · March 2015

@mr_skinny try to find them for trade. Totally worth having.

weaselking · March 2015

My kids love 'em. That said, we have them all minus the exclusives.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

So far, built the Falcon, X-Wing & Star Destroyer sets, the first two with assistance from our 5 year old, had almost as much fun as he did. Have to wait until tomorrow to build the TIE Interceptor with the little man, a reward for his current behaviour at school. Hoping the order with the last two from series 1 turn up tomorrow, because I want complete it before we move onto series 2. I'm finding these a lot of fun, hoping series 3 (or 4, if it goes that far) might even see some expanded universe ships (maybe even variants of SDCC exclusives). On my list for future hopeful inclusion are;

•AT-ST
•A-Wing Starfighter
•B-Wing Starfighter
•Dash Rendar's Outrider
•Obi-Wan's Jedi Interceptor (prefer it to Anakin's)
•Nico Okarr's Redshifter
•Republic Defender-class Corvette
•Sith Empire Fury-class Cruiser
•the Ebon Hawk
•TIE Bomber

I'm also hopeful we might see Marvel Microfighters if the SW ones continue (cause the SDCC Rocket's Warbird was so much a Microfighter), would love to see the following;

•Coulson's Lola
•S.H.I.E.L.D Quinjet
•the Avenger Quinjet
•the Bus
•the Helicarrier
•the Milano
•the X-Men Blackbird/X-Jet

TarDomo · March 2015

^ Great suggestions! Maybe I´ll add a few more:

Darth Vader´s TIE Advanced with Darth Vader

TIE Defender with TIE Defender pilot

MTT with battle droid pilot

Flash Speeder with Naboo officer

Hailfire droid with standard battle droid, That would be really interesting.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

@TarDomo, can't believe I missed the TIE Defender off my list... :( Probably the one TIE I'd be 99% likely to get if TLG did a new set.

77ncaachamps · March 2015

Since they have the ghost, I'd like to see the other SW Rebels line:

advanced tie
at-ap
Wookie gunship

TarDomo · March 2015

^ Yep. Wookiee gunship would be pretty nice. And maybe some CW microfighters as well.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

Just built the TIE Interceptor with my little boy, have to say I enjoyed it as much as the Falcon. My only issue is the way they attached the windscreen/viewpoint, if they release any more TIEs or similar vehicles, I hope they come up with an alternative design for this...

Still waiting for the delivery of the AAT #75029 & Clone Turbo Tank #75028, hopefully they'll beat the SDCC Ghost & Warbird, now I just need the other four.

TarDomo · March 2015

^ AAT and Turbo Tank were my favorites from series 1. I have all microfighters exept the promotional ones and snowspeeder and homing spider droid. Looking forward getting them all but the exclusives are quite pricey.

BrickDancer · March 2015

The SDCC Microfighters are some of the most worthy Bricklink projects you can choose to do. Costs like $20 each to do the 66' Batmobile, Warbird and Ghost. And the figs are all cheaply obtainable.

TarDomo · March 2015

^ That's a good point. Though, it wouldn't feel the same.

snowhitie · March 2015

I was of two minds about these but we got them all (except the exlusives) and really enjoy these. My son can build them on his own, they are mega-swooshable and good to recreate some fights. My husband really does not like the minifigure at the top which is not in scale, but I think it is great playability and they managed to stay true to the charachter of the original vehicile. And this way, my son can run around with the microfighter milennium falcon and mummy's big one can just be admired and played with on the table, much safer!

VorpalRyu · March 2015

@BrickDancer really? Hmmm... Might have remember that if I need any of the parts for MOCs. Still, I want the original sets, partially because I want the instruction books, but also, because personally I wouldn't feel right ticking the boxes on Brickset as they aren't the actual exclusive sets. Plan to scan them in & convert them to pdf files, nice, clean pdf files. Do you guys think the Admin team would like to have TLG quality pdf copies of the instructions on Brickset? I plan to do the same for all my older sets that I still have pristine instructions.

juddtaylor · March 2015

I love them, just about my fav SW sets right now.

novicebuilder101 · March 2015

I'm thinking about collecting all of the OT Microfighters for myself. I see that the Star Destroyer is hard to find now.

sharky · March 2015

I always chuckle when people gripe about the accuracy and proportions of a Lego set when pretty much every Lego set in existence is not very accurate and/or has proportion issues so you should really just not buy any Lego set modeled after a real or movie vehicle ever. I mean, really, this is Lego we are talking about, not fine scale modeling. The resolution one gets out of building with Lego is part of the charm that I have come to love.

The wacky proportions of the MF sets is on purpose since they are going for a super deformed or chibi style, so you can't really critize the set for not being accurate when they are not trying to be. The super deformed style is popular in Japanese anime merchandise which is enjoyed and collected by many adults not just kids.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

Personally, I feel they a great representation of Lego, these set are all about fun, from building to playing. I not only want to see the them continue past the series 2, but add Marvel into the Microfighters range (they sort have already with the Rocket SDCC set).

I'd have to agree with you @sharky, they definitely have a chibi style vibe to them, makes me wonder how well the range has sold in Japan & other Asian markets. I do find the 'its so out of proportion' arguments hilarious, guessing those people don't collect Pop Vinyl figures either.

I've completed all of the series 1 sets now, & thing that impresses me the most, build wise, is how solid these sets are. Our 5 year old when playing with Dad's Marvel & Ultra Agents sets, sometimes need repairs afterward, #76018 is a particularly bad one, the build is so flimsy, I've broken it just moving it. Our boy has played with them quite a bit, but I have yet to need to make repairs.

This idea could be utilised to bring more people into the Lego community, with the current price point (or maybe a little cheaper). If TLG gets a few more IPs into the range, non-Lego fans would consider it, as its not 'one of those expensive sets,' & ease of the build, after having fun with it, "hmmm, set XXX70 looked interesting, might grab that on the way home tonight." Just imagine the possibilities, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, etc, etc. Heck, even a few older IPs gathering dust like Babylon 5, Farscape, could grab non Lego fans attentions.

Drmnez · March 2015

If you live in Yuba/sutter county, the TRU in Yuba city has at least one of each microfighter from 1 & 2

VorpalRyu · March 2015

Looking forward to later, the little man has been a good boy today, so we'll be building the Snowspeeder & the AT-AT. Just annoyed that LDD doesn't have one of the parts used in a few of the series 2 sets, so I can't build them on that for now, I have to wait until he gets the reward of helping to build them.

Speaking on my previous point, again this afternoon, showed off the Falcon, X-Wing & TIE to another friend who is not a Lego fan, & when they were leaving our place, they asked us where abouts the near TRU & Target stores were. That makes three & counting potential new AFOLs... :)

bobabricks · March 2015

I only have the Falcon, mostly because I wanted the new Solo at the time but I have to say it's pretty cute and a set I thought would be tossed in my Lego bin still sits on my shelf a year later.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

@bobabricks, if you enjoyed the build for the Falcon, I would recommend grabbing the rest, at the very least, the X-Wing. The greatest thing about the X-Wing is swap over over the Astromech dome for a spare Artoo dome & its now Red Five...

bobabricks · March 2015

@VorpalRyu Yes, I have also been hearing good things about the AT-AT as well which would be pretty cute to put up beside my #10178. XD I guess I will have to take another glance at the theme (your as bad as @Istokg ;) ).

saturncoupe1999 · March 2015

Well, this topic caught my eye. Then I turned from my computer screen to look at my collection of 12 Microfighter sets. I tend to build them in numerical order, by item number, and I remember thinking as I assembled the last one "I hope this series continues".

These are, more or less, caricatures of the actual sets and, as such, possess a cute yet interesting style. Most importantly, as everyone knows, they are small. Anyone reading this who has the room to display the entire Star Wars collection ( ever growing ), well, you have a much larger house than I do and you also have unlimited wealth :).

Fact is, there was a time when I had nearly every Star Wars set made, mostly unbuilt. I soon realized that I had no place to display them. Also, I was discouraged by the fact that some of the sets came with the very bad stickers that dried up and removed themselves after a time. So I thought I would concentrate on small, affordable, sticker-free miniature sets. All I needed to do was to collect the planet sets and I would have all of the small ships available. Well, I'm drifting off topic here. So...........

Yes, I like the Microfighter line. With only 12 sets so far, there is much room to grow. My main problem now is waiting to see what 2016 brings. Anyway, if you are a collector, you collect. That's how it goes. And I am a collector. So bring 'em on, boys. I need something to build!

Leg Godt!

VorpalRyu · March 2015

@saturncoupe1999, with already having the Ultra Agents & Marvel Super Heroes ranges to collect, plus all the stuff we want for the kids, I quickly realised that SW would have be selected sets only (so far I'm planning on #9500 & #75025), mostly due to space limitations.

If they do continue the range past series 2, one of the advantages of the Microfighters is that they can't just release rehash after rehash of the same vehicles, TLG will have to dip into vast pool of expanded universe vehicles to keep the series alive. After all, if series 3 were to have a B-Wing & TIE Bomber, they won't be able to release those again in series 4, or series 5 without likelihood of collectors deciding not to bother with further series in the range. Keeping the Microfighters range going means more ships, tanks & other vehicles, between OT & PT, there are quite a few, but with six vehicles per series, TLG will need to draw on EU material to go further than a few more series.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

Well, as of tonight, the last of the series 2 Microfighters were completed, hoping we see a series 3, these have been fun little builds. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to build while I wait for all the exclusives to arrive (plus Rocket's Warbird).

Drmnez · March 2015

^^ the batmobile was a fun build too.

I really hope the microfighters don't go the way of planets and stop after series 4

binaryeye · March 2015

Drmnez said:
I really hope the microfighters don't go the way of planets and stop after series 4

It would be interesting to know how well they're selling vs. the planet series. My own anecdotal evidence suggests they're selling better, but it's difficult to tell because they don't seem to be stocked in the quantities that the planet series was.

If the series were to end, I'd be excited to see what LEGO would come up with to replace it. I'd love to see a series of realistic vehicles without minifigures, but I don't expect that would happen.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

@binaryeye, I'm hoping that series continues long enough to do at least do the majority of OT vehicles, the better PT vehicles & some of the more interesting EU vehicles. I mentioned earlier in the thread of the ones I hope to see get brought out.

If the Microfighters were to end, I probably wouldn't be collecting what follows, since it would probably be a rehash of the vehicles like in the planets series, which I passed on.

Drmnez · March 2015

I am hoping for at least series 6. That should be enough to cover most of the cool veh

VorpalRyu · March 2015

As long as TLG get an A-Wing, a B-Wing, Obi-Wan's Jedi Interceptor, & a TIE Bomber in there I would be happy, although I really want to see some EU vehicles added to the range.

TarDomo · March 2015

^ They made two of those in the planet series. They made the snowspeeder again (first in Planet series and then in Microfighters) so maybe we still have hope anyways.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

Would be cool, currently messing around in LDD making my own Microfighters. Will be curious to see, provided they do the vehicles I'm doing, how close to the mark I get. :) Will share pics when I'm done if you guys like (& LDD files if they don't make more).

novicebuilder101 · March 2015

I think the microfighter series sets are doing well. I'd be shocked if they don't put out a-b-y wings, imperial shuttle, landspeeder, etc. I'm only collecting the OT ones so these are all must haves for me.

Milcheax · March 2015

I like them.
They're a fun little build that I use as a stress reliever at work ;)

I wish that they did it for other lines as well.
It's a great mid-step between polybags and the 20 dollar boxes.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

@Milcheax, hopefully we'll see some Marvel & DC Microfighters soon, could be that TLG are using the SW Microfighters to test the waters. Technically, they've already brought out one with Rocket's Warbird SDCC exclusive for Marvel & others have pointed out that the '60's Batmobile SDCC exclusive is also technically a Microfighter.

Drmnez · March 2015

I would like to see super heroes microfighters, but I'm trying to think about the sustainability of the line. Milano, blackbird, quinjet, javelin, invisible jet, various batman veh,....

novicebuilder101 · March 2015

^Not gonna happen. There would have to be like 15 Batman vehicles and 5 for everyone else unless they started making stuff up. Black Lightning's pimped out Cadillac anyone?

VorpalRyu · March 2015

While DC & Marvel may not have the same degree of vehicles, both could have a small range of Microfighters. Lets face facts, SW is a sci-fi story, with a large amount travel between worlds, & with a good amount of the fighting occurring in space, so it has a larger pool of vehicles to do a theme like the Microfighter

Of course how big the SW range of Microfighters gets will depend partially on if TLG is allowed to incorporate EU vehicles & wants to. They may only have the ok to do OT & PT vehicles, or want to focus on vehicles.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

^ meant focus on those vehicles (OT & PT).

Solarious · March 2015

Here's my list of Marvel Microfighters
Why not right?
I don't really see it happening but it would be fun

1) Quinjet (Wasp- Because she is the only founding Avenger without a fig)

2) Blackbird (I'd say Prof. X but in reality he'd be a super boring fig. I'd rather go with either Collosus, Nightcrawler, or Beast)

3) Fantasticar (Mr. Fantastic- Why does someone with a dozen advanced degrees go by Mr.?)

4) Milano (maybe an alternate costume Starlord?)

5) Galactus' Ship (obviously needs to include a micro-scale (normal fig scale) Galactus)

6) Punisher's Battle Van (Punisher)-
but obviously this may be way too dark so I'll go with another one...

7) The Bus (Coulson)

Someone else is going to have to do DC

VorpalRyu · March 2015

@Solarious, not bad, the list I put together goes like this:

•Avengers Quinjet with Wasp or Ms Marvel
•Blade's car
•Galactus' ship
•Ghost Rider's motorcycle
•Hulkbuster tank with General Ross
•Hydra tank with Baron Zemo or Arnim Zola
•Lola with Phil Coulson
•Kang the Conqueror's timeship
•S.H.I.E.L.D Quinjet with S.H.I.E.L.D agent
•the Blackbird with Jean Grey
•the Bus with Melinda May
•the FantastiCar Mk I with Mr Fantastic
•the Helicarrier with classic Nick Fury (they can model him off the Hoff)
•the Milano with Star-Lord
•the Punisher's car
•the X-Jet with Beast, Gambit or Rogue

Could also throw a Shiar, Kree & Skrull ship in there.

VorpalRyu · March 2015

One of my friends just gave a suggestion for the S.H.I.E.L.D Quinjet pilot, Agent Stan Lee!!! :smiley: He said that or TLG make a Stanmobile!!!

Microfighters - A Great Collection or Waste of Money?

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