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Star Wars Reboots: Good or Bad?
I just want to go out and say that I really like Lego's recent trend of rebooting older SW sets. The updated Slave I is absolutley incredible and the last iteration of the AT-AT did the vehicle justice. Even the Juggernaut (Turbo Tank for those not into SW) looks better. The updated Scimitar (Maul's ship) looks even better than the 2007 version and a parsec (haha, see what i did there?) better than the 1999 version. However, I do see the negative in this trend, as Lego is cutting the originality factor and appealing more to the younger crowd who weren't around to see the first versions of these sets. This, though, cuts creativity and halts the production of completely new vehicles each time a wave hits.
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Maybe in the future, we'll see a book that shows the evolution of these vehicles in detail. The pictures in the current visual dictionary are too small to be well appreciated by any reader IMO. But it gives us a glimpse of all those past sets.
I actually blogged about this a while back; if you're interested you can read the posting at http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2010/09/deja-vu.html
So, in my opinion, the re-makes are cool, but just don't have that "old school" feel to them. But on the other hand (I'm running out of hands here!), all you AAFOLs probably look at the 1990s sets as the "old school" stuff, so we would probably disagree on the definition of "old school". Sorry, I was only 6 when the Star Wars line showed up in '99, so I can't really feel nostalgic for the early sets :)
1 – The models now are so much better that earlier ‘classic’ ones. The X-Wing is a great example. The 1999 original was great but the colours were quite dull and it was light on detailing. But the scale and complexity of the current (albeit a few years old now) model (6212) blows it away, the same for the Millennium Falcon and the Slave One, in fact I almost challenge anyone to find an example where the updated version is worse than the original, which must be a good thing.
2 – The re-issues give new fans of Lego and SW who emerge each year (and those that didn’t by them the first time round, like me… sooo buying the new Falcon and Republic Cruiser later in the year) the chance to buy core models without having to visit the dreaded eBay to buy discontinued ones and that is a great thing.
3 – I am guessing a little here (and am doing so based on my understanding of how other companies such as Hasbro work with their SW licences) but I suspect the popularity of these reissues coupled with their current pricing models act as a sound financial platform allowing Lego to produce some of the smaller or more quirky SW Lego models (the current V Wing for example or the upcoming Dathomir Speeder (or even Advent Calendar)) or the exclusive models (those that are subsidised by third party company’s) so their continued presence and popularity allow for and in part subsidise other models that might not otherwise get made or financially stand on their own two feet.
For balance the only real negative about these re-issues is the price. As the sets have gotten more complex (and better) the prices have shot up. For example I think the original X-Wing was about £20 the current is £45 and by the end of the year there will be at least 8 SW Lego sets over £100 (Turbo Tank, Venator Class Republic Ship, Millennium Falcon, Republic Cruiser, UC Super Star Destroyer, Death Star, Tantive IV & Republic Dropship) of which 4 are re-issues, but no one is forcing me to buy them… I just want to.
So price aside I think the re-issue aren’t just a good think but an essential part of the whole SW Lego line continuing.