Star Wars competition winners
Posted by Huw,
It's time to announce the winners of the Star Wars 'What's Missing?' competition! Once again we had a good number of entries on Flickr and Instagram and the panel of eight judges, including Star Wars designer Hans Burkhard Schlömer, had a difficult task evaluating them all.
Having totted up the scores, I can now reveal the results.
In first place, winner of a set of your choice up to a value of $150, is...
1st: TIE Bomber by Mike Fifer
There were a number of TIE bombers submitted but ths one was nominated for shortlisting by the most judges. It was also awarded top marks by Hans, who stated "The TIE Bomber is definitely a fan favourite.
"This one looks like a solid and not overly complicated build with all the expected play functions. A focus point for the designer in the set development process would most likely be the connection of the wings.
"Fan-built models are almost never up to LEGO quality standards and require major modifications to get rid of the weak points, often triggering a cascade of changes. Always remember, we are making TOYS for kids. Designers spend most of their time on refining models and fixing stability/functionality quality issues, rather than building cool new stuff. That being said, I can very well see this as an official LEGO Star Wars set. Well done!"
The other judges commented:
- This is a great build of a classic Star Wars Ship. It's well thought out, especially to include the missile launcher and the bomb drop mechanism in the space available.
- The TIE Bomber last appeared in 2003 and set design has advanced enormously since then. This model captures every detail which I would expect of a TIE Bomber from angled wings and a curved cockpit module to the bombing chute which hangs from the underside. The design also looks very sturdy so would be ideal for play.
- A nice semi-studless design which captures the look of the ship much better than the only official System scale version (4479 from back in 2003). - doesn't stray into UCS territory in terms of size or complexity so wouldn't be prohibitively expensive. - includes the obligatory opening canopy and flick-fire missile, plus nicely integrated bomb dropping mechanism
- It's a vehicle that doesn't appear too much, but that would make it a very desirable set and the model itself looks very much like an official one.
- The TIE Bomber is long overdue for a remake from LEGO, especially since the last one was produced was in 2003. This would be what an ideal design if another one was made. The landing gear is perfect, it has may play features, and is highly accurate. However, one reason this set did not achieve my top spot is the cockpit. The newer cockpit design would have been much better, but besides this minor gripe it's still a great set.
- An excellent update to an iconic ship - fits very nicely with the other newly updated TIE Fighter and Advanced models, some good little play features that don't detract from the overall model, and a very sturdy looking model that I'd be comfortable hanging from the ceiling!
2nd: Droid Foundry Escape by Okay Yaramanoglu
Winner of a set of your choice up to a value of $80
There's a lot going on in this set and it's packed with playability! It's a scene that LEGO has never attempted. Hans commented "This model seems to offer a lot of fun and action and details, as well as an impressive height.
"One thing we designers have to keep in mind when developing a set is: how should it be positioned on the front of the box? Does it even FIT any box size/shape we have available? There’s definitely a challenge here for our box layout artists!
"I’m also looking with doubts at the tower considering it’s stability, or lack thereof. But that can certainly be fixed! On the plus-side we get a flying R2. Also, it’s an Ep.II set, and I personally would love to see more products from the prequels."
Comments from other judges:
- The droid foundry on Geonosis has the potential to yield an excellent play set and this effort is outstanding. The greebling looks great and I love the modular design of the model but the play value stands out in particular, with lots of moving parts to give the impression of a working factory full of dangerous machinery to be avoided by our heroes.
- One scene that has yet to be produce by LEGO is the Droid Foundry seen on Geonosis. It offered us many action scenes, and many of them were well represented here. The playability in this MOC is outstanding! So many features that I would love to see in a set from LEGO.
- This model looks good because it gives a good sense that stuff is happening and moving - I really like the design with the moving conveyor and the swinging robot arm. I'd have placed this one higher had it not been for the slightly unnecessary tower - I can't completely recall if this is crucial to the scene in the film, but it's just a little too bland here to fit in with the rest of this well detailed model.
- Interesting modular design; this entry deserves a lot of credit for trying to do something different. - I'm really impressed by the various mechanisms that have been included, and this design offers and tons of play value
- What a wonderful representation of an iconic scene from the prequel trilogy!
- This caught my eye as soon as I saw it, it's so well laid out and follows the film story well. Really liked the built in mechanisms for the belts and tools to be moved about to recreate the peril the heroes are in. The Minifigure selection was well chosen (although a couple more enemies would be nice) and the inclusion of the head swap moment for 3PO was a nice finishing touch.The build is well put together and looks just the right amount of industrial without being messy.
- Great use of height to add more layers of action and detail to the model. Lots of features and would be easy to expand with multiple sets. Flying R2-D2 nicely added.
3rd: Mission to Dagobah by Matt McCartney
Winner of a set of your choice up to $50.
Hans commented: "Yoda’s hut is certainly another under-represented fan favorite! This one looks particularly well-designed in LEGO set-style, opening up and all. And it even comes with the dark side-tree/cave which is so far missing from our product history. What is also missing is a snake, at least I don’t see one. Add a snake, and I believe this could easily fill an attractive lower-price point slot!"
The other judges said:
- After all the rumours of Yoda's Hut coming in 2017, when it was revealed to be Yoda's interceptor I was left underwhelmed. This set however satisfies all the main plot points that occur on Dagobah. A very nice build and colour scheme used to great effect.
- Luke's training on Dagobah has been conspicuously absent from the LEGO Star Wars range for over a decade and this set occupies that gap perfectly. The minifigure selection is excellent and I love the subtle integration of the features which provide plenty of playability but do not compromise the display value of the model.
- A good model - everything is looking suitably foresty and swampy - particularly Yoda's hut and the way it opens up, also incorporating a light up brick inside - but also enjoying the other details, such as Luke's little campsite and the wooded Darth Vader ambush bit too.
- A nicely realised scene with an authentic and impressive 'organic' feel - has an impressively modest parts count given the impressive level of detail - looks like a real LEGO set - beautifully designed
- An iconic place only reproduced in microscale recently. Good use of detail with foliage etc to add to the sets atmosphere. Plenty of areas to increase imaginative play through role play with the figures for younger fans of LEGO.
Honorable mentions
Hans commented on a couple more entries:
Mos Espa Street Scene by jbrentill:
"With play sets becoming more and more popular (after a decade or more of neglect), this could be a good candidate in the run for a product slot. It’s a solid build with a couple of interesting details and definitely a valid “what’s-missing” candidate.
"Unfortunately there is always a lot of competition for product slots, and especially prequel trilogy sets experience a rough time. With not that much action going on in this street scene, at the very least I would mix in one of Darth Maul’s spy droids, maybe even Maul himself peeking around a corner somewhere."
Blade Wing Starfighter by O0ger:
"Let’s face it, it’s a B-wing and as such not exactly missing from LEGO’s portfolio history. Also, B-Wings have proven to be not the most popular products in stores, to say the least. Still, this one is RED and a new design, right? Yeah well, our big customers are not particularly keen on selling anything from REBELS, red or not.
"As such this model would be very low on the list of potential new sets. Other than that, it is a new variant of a classic trilogy Starfighter in a popping color scheme. A bit on the expensive side maybe, but I like the way it’s made!"
Once again thanks to everyone who entered, to Hans for taking time out of his undoubtedly busy schedule to provide such interesting insights and the judges for evaluating the submissions and providing their comments. It's been great fun and we'll do it again soon for our Bionicle art book competition.
I'll be in touch with the winners via flickr mail shortly.
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42 comments on this article
Congratulations to the winners!
Well done winners, some spectacular set designs. Happy building! :)
Very creative and interesting submissions! Well deserved winners!
Awesome to get Hans' feedback. Great article and great MOCs!
Congrats to all the winners
That TIE is something else. Kudos.
Thanks to Huw and the Brickset team for running and to Hans and the other judges for giving their time and feedback.
Stoked to have got a prize, especially given how strong the entries were, some great designs and representations. my kids will get a kick out this and hopefully it encourages my daughter to keep going with her friends Lego build for the big competition being run for that theme right now.
Congratulations to the other winners – great stuff.
Congrats to the winners! When is the next contest, held by brickset, going to be?
I loved having feedback for the official Lego Star Wars designers as it gives a look at how Lego SW sets are both made and approved when taking considerations of both price and relevancy as well as how the previous incarnations of sets have sold.
Very interesting comments from Hans. I really appreciate this aspect of the write up.
Great builds!!
Congratulations to all winners! Awesome stuff!
I'm happy for the winners, and so excited that I got an honorable mention! Thanks a ton for the feedback and for hosting this awesome contest! All of the entries were amazing!
Imho great from Hans Burkhard Schlömer to have given his comments which helps us to better understand how an official LSW designer thinks/has to think.
And even greater are the entries! Often very impressive. Thanks to the authors of those entries!
Personally I would approve if Brickset runs such a competition again. Even if I wouldn't participate, it'd a joy for my eyes. :-)
@lingonfil, we stated "you may find my suggested set descriptions useful, although the features described need not appear in your design." so it was deliberately left vague. If there's any cause for concern it could be with regards the price constraints that were specified but that was just one of four judging criteria and not meeting that would not disqualify an entry.
So there was a contest called "What's Missing?!" and yet two of the three winners was of sets we already had, thus not missing. So I'm a little confused.
Very interesting to read Hans' comments on how "big customers" view Rebels sets. Makes the Phantom II price seem even more ill-advised.
Well, I certainly was not expecting that! It's great to get feedback from a LEGO Star Wars designer.
Really quick, addressing the comment on my TIE Bomber's cockpit, I agree that the new piece is far superior. I actually started out with that. However, with each pod being only 6 studs wide at this scale and the piece itself being 6 studs wide, it looked far too flat to me with no room to slope backward nicely. While this is an older piece, I thought it rounded out the front section a bit nicer.
Anyway, thank you so much for the comments and for organizing this competition. I had a blast, and congrats to the other winners and honorable mentions!
Congratulations to all the winners!
Congrats to the winners! All the judges comments were interesting to read. However including Hans available and willing to judge was a really great idea.
2016 UCS designers....this is how to do it
Congrats to all, those are some great looking models. I was wanting to enter the contest and build the Blade Wing from Rebels, but after seeing O0ger's model, I was certain we had a winner, that was stunning and I saw no way to improve upon it. The TIE Bomber was equally impressive and I would most certainly purchase that model in a heartbeat.
@The Green Brick Giant: Excellent point! haha!
Congrats to the winners! Now some of these really need to be produced!
Congratulations to the winners!
Come on lego..."Lego Star Wars Ideas"....I'd buy some of these sets!
I would want to own these three winners. Such excellent work!
Congratz to the winners!
@Huw I don't think you interpreted the points stated by @lingonfil right. He does have a valid point. It was not about the functions, but about the set ideas. It seemed from reading the contest article that every set would have equal probability of winning, and the design + play functions were more important. However, this idea seems to have been completely disgarded, and it *seems* the judges chose the best set ideas first and then after picked the best design.
And in your reply you said technically that not meeting one of the criteria, the part count (which could get you the biggest advantage on others) would not have been a problem ("will not disqualify"), this surprises me even further.
Nevertheless, I think it's great you're doing these kinds of contest. However, it would be fair if you would state the *actual* requirements first, and not make new ones for judging. That or inform the judges clearly which are the requirements they should pay attention to.
I was going to summit the hammer head Star cruiser
I am kinda confused. These sets were just a fun little completion right? Will these sets be made official Lego sets or is it just for looking at?
I fully agree with @lingonfil and @TWP.
I don't really care too much about the debated theory behind the judging because the top 3 builds were probably my selected top 3! Perhaps I would put the Dagobah design above the Droid Factory but the latter is the one I feel like I need in my Lego Star Wars life! Episode II's good elements need some attention in Lego.
I'm slightly shocked to hear that Rebels is a 'non-seller' to retailers - in the UK you can only get the Phantom II in one toy chain - Smyths... Actually maybe they have a point. I think the killer (in the bad sense) Rebels set was the Imperial Assault Carrier - I've not noticed any get sold or the stock levels ever go down in my local stores so it just won't shift for £100 it would seem. Is there just not enough people with access to Disney XD because that seems likely?
The bias away from Prequel sets doesn't particularly surprise me - I always experience a constant backlash against the Prequels from anyone I talk to born before the 1990s - however, the 'target audience' could have watched the saga from Episode I, or backtracked after seeing Episode VII.
Great article and great set designs! Congratulations to the winners. Those models are impressive.
Does anyone else feel like these contest winner announcements should start with the runner ups and build up to the 1st place for dramatic effect?
Congrats winners! And for those who didn't win, a lot of great designs were submitted too!
Now let's hope these set ideas are secretly read by lego now. This contast must have cought their attention now, right?
Well done Winners ! Congratulations. Awesome Sets
I was one of the judges for this and these were indeed my top 5 (though in rather a different order)! Fascinating to hear Hans' comments on it - consideration of wing connectivity for the TIE Bomber, having to think about something as mundane as a box display for the droid factory, even fine details as a snake for the Yoda Hut set. Comments about the Blade wing are especially interesting too - I am going to guess that the B-Wing is one of the lower-selling starships (not as iconic as the X-Wing, not as inexpensive as the A-Wing USED TO BE BUT NOT ANYMORE) and so the thought of another one being in the shops - and not a well-known version at that - is not a good prospect for them! (Execution was good though!)
The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
I hope Brickset decides to do a Ninjago contest at some point, especially since the movie is going to be released later on this year.
Great job by all those who took the time to build and submit something so I could just sit here and marvel. Cool contest.
These all look like something Lego would release officially. Great work! I especially like that Luke in Mission to Dagobah is in his full Cloud City jumpsuit. Even though he was more often stripped down to his undershirt in the film, this is a better way to get the Cloud City Luke minifig we've not had since 2003.
The complaining is embarrassing.
The comments from TLG are a great treat to read. It's an insight into an aspect of the product design process (like the contest itself) that one does not get afforded often. Thanks for the opportunity to enjoy it!
I'm not sure if I've missed the point of this competition as I thought it was for 'what's missing' from the Star Wars collection. A TIE Bomber kit was (and is from eBay) available. Lego no longer sell it but the kit exists.
Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick.