A concern about LEGO Star Wars

Fewest playsets since 2006 which is wild for a theme as popular as Star Wars. How there are current installments without any mention from LEGO is completely wild. I wonder if this is something from Disney, but wouldn't they want more money?

Agreed 100% @CapnRex101 ....However, when I read 13/6/25 I had a mini panic attack thinking there was now a thirteenth month*. With the way things are in the world today, anything is possible...

*Yes, I now realize this is the European way or writing the date.

While yes minifigure playsets have decreased due to other 'sub-themes' (if you'd call them that) have come out I personally do not think it's a bad thing.. LEGO® is more than a minifigure. It's the builds, the elements and the techniques behind the build which a lot of these do amazing without needing figs!

I find many people (especially those here in other comment sections) get too caught up on figures if it's for collecting, reselling or general value! Take Rex for instance or a set which does not have an updated figure when it doesn't always need one. It comes with a huge "oh they suck" "this absolutely doesn't warrent me spending my money because of one fig"

Even take to the big name youtubers who new a days comlain and comment on minifigs than they do the actual builds they're spending like 95-98% of the money on in a set/..

Seems to be a general trend not only for Star Wars...

EDIT:
TBH I think the absurd frequency of minor figur updates is hurting Star Wars (from a "building" aspect) more than some other "random" licenced theme.

Back then in the early years of Lego SW, figure prints were used for rather long periods, making everything feel a bit more cohesive than today. If you want to build (or play with) a larger "world" diorama, rather than just put another isolated display piece on the shelf, this is somewhat annoying (not even mentioning how this has a very bad effect on army building).

Also the way how some figures are updated almost every year (seemingly only for the sake of updating), whilst other still linger around almost unchanged since the beginning isn't good either.

"I find many people (especially those here in other comment sections) get too caught up on figures if it's for collecting, reselling or general value! "
I'm more so thinking of kids who have significantly less sets that appeal to them and literally no sets from the new star wars stuff they are watching.

Think of the Children

I think LEGO does too many big sets at the same time now, and often some only last 1 to 1.5 year too....

Of course you don't have to get everything, but look at just a theme like Harry Potter, let's just say the 2024/2025 reboot wave for simplicty, even if you leave out the diagon alley stuff and display models, you still look at hundreds of euros/dollars of sets.

Of course some of those sets combine rooms from what would be multiple smaller sets before, but still, they even do the order of movies all over the place so you never know what's next.

Maybe Harry Potter is a bad example, as they have done hogwarts versions multiple times over , even far before 2018. But still it could be somewhat compared to Star Wars , as SW also covers a mix of movie eras , but SW gets actually more games/shows , yet produces a lot of display objects instead of playsets.

Think the reason is perhaps that Star Wars is not as popular with children as used to be, so not worth releasing as many play sets? There are barely any new media released, and the ones that were are quite bad. So makes sense to focus more on the captive adult market and milk the nostalgia.

On the contrary, we can see a large increase in video game and classic Disney based sets - seems like kids' attention shifted here, at least when it comes to branded content.

Star Wars is becoming more and more like LotR - nostalgia purchase for middle-aged adults. Lego is just following course.

Whatever happened to that new trend of cheaper, simpler, minifig-scale playsets starting with the X-Wing and TIE Fighter that came out in 2021? Did that fizzle out?

The balance isn't the only issue, the focus is all over the place and there's no cohesion except the brand name. Star Wars has dozens of sources for inspiration but we get seemingly random TCW and OT pulls and one measily set per new project at this point. The new TIE from Andor is as close to a surefire hit as you could get, but it's not a set. Mon Mothma's speeder or the Fondor? Not sets. Instead new Andor fans get the U-Wing and a pre-order page for a K2-SO figure and are left wondering why Lego is making a black millennium falcon. It's an absolute mess of a theme with so much wasted potential and that's without mentioning the prices.

"There are barely any new media released, and the ones that were are quite bad."
This comment is going to be funny when the mando movie reaches 1 billion.

@Broken_Cheese_Slope said:
"Fewest playsets since 2006 which is wild for a theme as popular as Star Wars. How there are current installments without any mention from LEGO is completely wild. I wonder if this is something from Disney, but wouldn't they want more money? "

I think the desire for more money is probably driving Lego's notably increased amount of large collector's sets for display. Lego is pivoting to the adult market and as such is making sets at adult prices; the sets are undeniably awesome but undeniably expensive, making it increasingly difficult for fans to get all of the figures or sets they want -- let alone the children that Lego was originally made to cater to! In my opinion, there are more $200 and $300 (or higher!) sets than necessary these days, but I don't think the number of those sets being produced will decrease anytime soon.

@SolidState said:
"The balance isn't the only issue, the focus is all over the place and there's no cohesion except the brand name. Star Wars has dozens of sources for inspiration but we get seemingly random TCW and OT pulls and one measily set per new project at this point. The new TIE from Andor is as close to a surefire hit as you could get, but it's not a set. Mon Mothma's speeder or the Fondor? Not sets. Instead new Andor fans get the U-Wing and a pre-order page for a K2-SO figure and are left wondering why Lego is making a black millennium falcon. It's an absolute mess of a theme with so much wasted potential and that's without mentioning the prices."

You have a good point -- where are the set waves like what Lego did for Rebels and Solo? -- but I will have to politely disagree regarding Rebuild the Galaxy and the Dark Falcon. I think it's cool that Lego is getting a chance to play around with the Star Wars concepts in this way and I have to say that the Dark Falcon is one of my favorite sets in years, both in terms of minifigures and the set itself. Jedi Vader? Peak.

@Darth_Savren said:
"Think of the Children "

Will no one think of the children?!

If not, what about us big babies? I want more minifig compatible things and cool minifigs with good printing and sweet accutrement, and I'm going to keep on them until I get them.

Thanks, Cap'n for sounding the Bell Forge of Ferrix.

I think Lego Star Wars needs to not make so many buildable characters/droids and maybe keep it at one or two a year (and keep it consistent like UCS sets), as for dioramas, the last one that was made was not a very popular set and having no dioramas this year mean Lego probably discontinued the sub franchise. This year is the 20th anniversary of ROTS, so the logical thing for Lego is to make a Battle on Mustafar diorama or a Palpatines arrest, but neither were made. The only explanation is that Lego discontinued dioramas. Also they need to cancel the mech theme and use the slot for another battle pack, that way there’s room for Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War battle packs in the same year

@yodaloop said:
" @Broken_Cheese_Slope said:
"Fewest playsets since 2006 which is wild for a theme as popular as Star Wars. How there are current installments without any mention from LEGO is completely wild. I wonder if this is something from Disney, but wouldn't they want more money? "

I think the desire for more money is probably driving Lego's notably increased amount of large collector's sets for display. Lego is pivoting to the adult market and as such is making sets at adult prices; the sets are undeniably awesome but undeniably expensive, making it increasingly difficult for fans to get all of the figures or sets they want -- let alone the children that Lego was originally made to cater to! In my opinion, there are more $200 and $300 (or higher!) sets than necessary these days, but I don't think the number of those sets being produced will decrease anytime soon."

It's a trend with most themes, LEGO just "casually" drops waves of sets with like 5+ sets easily over €80 in many themes.

Just an example of themes generally evergreen playthemes :

I take 2024+2025 as a basis as that's generally the longest sets last, 1-2.5 years. (exceptions exist like City 2018 Cargo train being available still)

I did a quick glance and count at brickset 2024/2025 year list (which has US dollar RRP)

Friends 2024 has 9 sets over $80 up to $200, 2025 has 7 sets over $80, up to $170.

City 2024 has 12 sets over $80 up to $135, 2025 has 9 sets over $80, 2 of those $210.

Ninjago 2024+2025 has 12 sets over $100, 3 of of those over $200.

This is not 18+ Icons, Creator Expert, UCS, Technic pro model stuff, just regular themes.

This is a great analysis, thank you for taking an interest in this topic. It's a difficult position; when you start to subdivide yourself too much and appear to too many groups with only a few products each. I agree it's necessary to focus in on minifig-scaled play sets going forward, but unfortunately it seems like that has to come at the cost of the other ranges that have their own target markets.

@TeriXeri said:
" @yodaloop said:
" @Broken_Cheese_Slope said:
"Fewest playsets since 2006 which is wild for a theme as popular as Star Wars. How there are current installments without any mention from LEGO is completely wild. I wonder if this is something from Disney, but wouldn't they want more money? "

I think the desire for more money is probably driving Lego's notably increased amount of large collector's sets for display. Lego is pivoting to the adult market and as such is making sets at adult prices; the sets are undeniably awesome but undeniably expensive, making it increasingly difficult for fans to get all of the figures or sets they want -- let alone the children that Lego was originally made to cater to! In my opinion, there are more $200 and $300 (or higher!) sets than necessary these days, but I don't think the number of those sets being produced will decrease anytime soon."

It's a trend with most themes, LEGO just "casually" drops waves of sets with like 5 sets easily over €80 in many themes. Friends 2024 has 9 sets over $80 up to $200."

Exactly. It's not always price gouging -- some of these sets have good price per part, and Friends has a decent track record from what I remember -- but the size of sets have all increased, prohibitively so.

@SolidState said:
"The balance isn't the only issue, the focus is all over the place and there's no cohesion except the brand name. Star Wars has dozens of sources for inspiration but we get seemingly random TCW and OT pulls and one measily set per new project at this point. The new TIE from Andor is as close to a surefire hit as you could get, but it's not a set. Mon Mothma's speeder or the Fondor? Not sets. Instead new Andor fans get the U-Wing and a pre-order page for a K2-SO figure and are left wondering why Lego is making a black millennium falcon. It's an absolute mess of a theme with so much wasted potential and that's without mentioning the prices."

No Fondor. Crazy.

I'm hoping the logos become a new sub-theme. I would like to own an Episode 1 logo and perhaps Episode 7 logo.

I mostly agree on the point that the Helmet collection has run its course; however, there are a few notable omissions that I’d love to see before it’s wrapped up:
- Imperial Royal Guard
- Snowtrooper
- Phase I/II Clone Troopers

@VaultDweller_197 said:
"While yes minifigure playsets have decreased due to other 'sub-themes' (if you'd call them that) have come out I personally do not think it's a bad thing.. LEGO® is more than a minifigure. It's the builds, the elements and the techniques behind the build which a lot of these do amazing without needing figs!

I find many people (especially those here in other comment sections) get too caught up on figures if it's for collecting, reselling or general value! Take Rex for instance or a set which does not have an updated figure when it doesn't always need one. It comes with a huge "oh they suck" "this absolutely doesn't warrant me spending my money because of one fig"

Even take to the big name youtubers who new a days complain and comment on minifigs than they do the actual builds they're spending like 95-98% of the money on in a set/.."

If I may be allowed to weigh in, I think the reason why minifigures are seen as more valuable than sets is because in many cases people can just build what they want themselves and they just need the minifigures to populate their builds. In some cases I would rather buy the minifigure separately and use the money that I would have used on the rest of the set to buy spare parts to assist me in my current builds. If you still really wanted the set, in some cases you may be able to just build the set yourself from instructions online and for cheaper using spare parts from Bricklink or some other source. If the set has new parts unique to the set (like the 40787 Blue Shell) then just wait a year or two and then build it; there will probably be more sets with that unique part, making it cheaper.

Of course, I do buy some sets because they are cool and not for the minifigures but the majority of the sets I buy have an inevitable future of being scrapped for parts, whether that be within a month or a few years -- or even from the get-go! And I understand what you're saying about minifigure price scalping being rather intense. But when it comes to Lego sets, the minifigures are usually the most exclusive part about them -- not the pieces that the set contains.

The problem with LEGO Star Wars is that it has become a theme dedicated to adult toy collectors and speculators rather than making toys that are accessible and appealing to children.

Seriously, so much discourse around the theme is how big and expensive it is or how much certain mininifgures can help pay for kid’s college. It’s kinda frustrating how much it feels focused on that element to the point it’s not fun.

@StyleCounselor said:
" @Darth_Savren said:
"Think of the Children "

Will no one think of the children?!

If not, what about us big babies? I want more minifig compatible things and cool minifigs with sweet accutrement, and I'm going to keep on them until I get them.

Thanks, Cap'n for sounding the Bell Forge of Ferrix."

Fine, I'll take care of the children. Order 66. Happy?

Imho, I think the division in sets can be made a lot simpler, I think maybe even boil it down to just 2 groups:

Play Sets:
- Minifig scale Sets
- 4+ sets
- Microfighters
- Minifig & Mechs
- Seasonal

Display Sets (mantlepiece sets):
- UCS
- Helmet collection
- Mini Starship collection
- Diorama collection
- SW Logo
- Big Droids

I think, looking at it like this, LEGO simply follows the market trends. SW fans are getting older, the new generation of fans is getting older too. No time to play, just buy nostalgia and put it in the bookcase.

The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch, Resistance all ended. Very little left to pull in the kids except Young Jedi Adventures.

@SolidState said:
"The balance isn't the only issue, the focus is all over the place and there's no cohesion except the brand name. Star Wars has dozens of sources for inspiration but we get seemingly random TCW and OT pulls and one measily set per new project at this point. The new TIE from Andor is as close to a surefire hit as you could get, but it's not a set. Mon Mothma's speeder or the Fondor? Not sets. Instead new Andor fans get the U-Wing and a pre-order page for a K2-SO figure and are left wondering why Lego is making a black millennium falcon. It's an absolute mess of a theme with so much wasted potential and that's without mentioning the prices."

The TV series came out at such a rapid-fire rate I am not surprised LEGO couldn't dedicate much to them all but still... Just two Andor and Bad Batch sets? One Skeleton Crew set? I know The Acolyte wasn't a beloved show, but really; ZERO sets?

Rebuild the Galaxy is fun and I like LEGO going zany, but it's wild that it has multiple sets for what it was while the canon Star Wars stuff is brushed aside.

Since the TV stuff seems to be slowing down now, LEGO should at least fill in the gaps in the back catalog a bit. Or at least give the upcoming Maul Shadow Lord some of the love it withheld from the other series.

I feel like that bar chart would be far more helpful without the 2025 information. Having only half a year's data leaves it lacking in a way that really exaggerates a downward trend that doesn't really exist. Without that year, we can see there was a sharp drop in 2020-2021, but a slight general rise after that point.

To me, this is a case of "be careful what you wish for". Adult fans begged for attention and more "collectible" items. They asked for midi-scale back. They asked for more detail. They asked for display sets. They aske for a larger variety of characters. Lego has done all of those things.

Now, sets are too big and expensive. There are too many things to keep up. Too much focus on adults, and not enough play sets. The figures aren't detailed enough.

It seems to me, to some extent Lego can't win with AFOLs, especially in the Star Wars line.

@Froggage said:
"To me, this is a case of "be careful what you wish for". Adult fans begged for attention and more "collectible" items. They asked for midi-scale back. They asked for more detail. They asked for display sets. They aske for a larger variety of characters. Lego has done all of those things.

Now, sets are too big and expensive. There are too many things to keep up. Too much focus on adults, and not enough play sets. The figures aren't detailed enough.

It seems to me, to some extent Lego can't win with AFOLs, especially in the Star Wars line."

Monkey's Paw LEGO curse.

@mtpelepele said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @Darth_Savren said:
"Think of the Children "

Will no one think of the children?!

If not, what about us big babies? I want more minifig compatible things and cool minifigs with sweet accutrement, and I'm going to keep on them until I get them.

Thanks, Cap'n for sounding the Bell Forge of Ferrix."

Fine, I'll take care of the children. Order 66. Happy?"

But...but, Master Mtpelepele, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?

Just stop with Star Wars. Spaceballs 2 has just been announced, how about some Lego sets from that?

I can only speak with regard to sales in my retails shops, but Lego SW has taken a tumble (as well as regular Disney and Marvel as well as Technic), while other licensed sets such as Speed Champions, Fortnite and Minecraft are flying, and Harry Potter has had a resurgence with decently priced sets in the last year.
The best selling lines are Botanicals and Speed Champions F1

@Atuin said:
"Seems to be a general trend not only for Star Wars...

EDIT:
TBH I think the absurd frequency of minor figur updates is hurting Star Wars (from a "building" aspect) more than some other "random" licenced theme.

Back then in the early years of Lego SW, figure prints were used for rather long periods, making everything feel a bit more cohesive than today. If you want to build (or play with) a larger "world" diorama, rather than just put another isolated display piece on the shelf, this is somewhat annoying (not even mentioning how this has a very bad effect on army building).

Also the way how some figures are updated almost every year (seemingly only for the sake of updating), whilst other still linger around almost unchanged since the beginning isn't good either."

Keep in mind that LSW was popular in 1999, 2002, and 2005, but interest waned considerably during the gap years. And they had trouble during the first decade with minifigs feeling too repetitive, so buyers sometimes looked at the sets available and passed on a lot of them because they already had a pile of identical named characters at home. Two things that really helped keep the theme from fizzling out were the release of new content every year since 2008, and the surge in unique minifigs. While there are people like me who prioritize stuff like the mid-scale ships, there are absolutely those who focus exclusively on keeping up with the new minifigs.

It has more to do with the content Star Wars is producing and who that content is aimed at.

How much kid Star Wars content is there? Not much.

Mandalorian, Boba Fett, Ashoka, Obi-Wan, Acolyte, Andor --- all adult aimed content

Skeleton Crew and that Jedi cartoon are the only really kid-centric content being created

So the LEGO sets reflect that

Without more kid content, there aren't as many kids looking to buy Star Wars themed LEGO so it's all associated with where the buying market is.

When Star Wars produces more kid-centric/kid-appealing content, LEGO will produce more as well

@WizardOfOss said:
"Just stop with Star Wars. Spaceballs 2 has just been announced, how about some Lego sets from that?"

This.

I see your Schwatrz is as big as mine!

Knowing Lego they'll probably make a Death Star set costing $1000,

I have this feeling that TLG is just following the demographic of the Star Wars lovers. I was 2 years old when A New Hope came out (so yes I am that old and no I did not see it in cinemas unfortunately) and I guess I, like many others, am now becoming the target group for TLG and hence their, in my opinion, poor decision to focus more on the older Star Wars fans seeing as that is where the money is for them. And I have this feeling TLG think that because we are older and probably have more disposable income floating around, we want bigger and more expensive sets. I, for one, don't! Love the play sets as they are way easier to display then a full UCS Alphabet Squadron, Slave One, Millenium Falcon or Imperial Shuttle. I have at least one of evey ship, but nowhere to put them, so they go on rotation displaying them.

Honestly I love the UCS series and I also have the Diorama collection (minus the Podrace one) and even have C-3PO and R2, but I don't understand why TLG just can't seem to spread these kinds of sets out over more years. It's almost as if they are running out of ideas of what to make, which should be impossible seeing all the content (good are bad, other discussion) that ahs been out for several years.

The Trench Run and the Podrace diorama are the odd ones out of the Diorama collection for me, due to the absence of minifigs. The Trench run was iconic but the latter isn't as as iconic as the other ones we got from the original trilolgy. Then TLG should have gone for, as someone else already mentioned, the Duel on Mustafar or the Duel of the Fates or even Palpatine's Arrest. There are plenty of other scenes that would have been a better option than the one TLG chose to do.

I do in part agree that with @VaultDweller_197 that too many people are hung up on minifigs, but I also think that is a huge part of LEGO. I would never buy a €600,- set to get that one figure and then claiming that TLG shouldn't have put one of the most requested figs behind such a high paywall. No you are buying that Venetor, because you like the ship...Rex is just an added bonus. To me the UCS sets are just that, they are about the ship. The figs that come with them are extras. It is weird though then, that TLG chooses to add figs to the UCS line and not the Starship line, and although I can't say I miss them there, a lot of fans are complaining that there should be at least one.

With Diorama series I think that is where TLG should excel and try to give us the best rendition of a character that was in that specific scene as possible.

But let me come to an end. I guess if we can have only 2 UCS sets in a year, why not do that for the buildable figs (2) helmet (1), starship (1) or diorama collection (1) as well, and save the other spots for just (affordable) playsets. Spread it out and we can enjoy a particular series for a lot longer

MTFBWY

@MegaBlocks said:
"Knowing Lego they'll probably make a Death Star set costing $1000,"

With no minifigs. ;(

I've seen a few other people comment about this, but I think it's worth noting that Star Wars toys as a whole don't seem to sell as well as they used to. Even Hasbro has pivoted more towards products for adult collectors. I think this is partially because newer Star Wars media hasn't been a hit with kids--but also partially because kids don't play with physical toys as much as they used to (whereas digital free-play games like Minecraft and Roblox are super successful).

Everything has a shelf life, and unfortunately I think LEGO Star Wars might be feeling this. I don't think the line is ever going to be permanently retired--but I wouldn't be surprised if the trends outlined in this article continue, and we see fewer and fewer "normal" playsets.

@MegaBlocks said:
"Knowing Lego they'll probably make a Death Star set costing $1000,"

You know something that you didn't write. So do I

There's a phenomenon in commerce called "circling the drain" where a company starts making fewer and fewer products, and they're aimed at a much more expensive audience. Eventually you're making exceedingly expensive items marketed at the one person who can afford it, and usually that guy wants it because it's one of a kind and the scarcity is its own value.

Anyway, I'd have to see LSW turn into that. On the other hand, Star Wars is decreasingly in the public eye and it's not what kids are into right now. Star Wars was a "turnkey operation" between 1983 and 1998--it had a loyal fanbase willing to keep it alive through the novels and other media, but it wasn't mass-market like it was during the prequel years. I don't think Disney has a good idea of how to turn a franchise into a turnkey product.

Anyway, I guess I'll be worried when the Advent Calendars stop. (I've bought every one since 2011.)

You want to make the trend even more obvious? Graph it out all the way back to 1999 when it was ONLY playsets and then one UCS in 2000. ‘9 sub categories’?! I mean the issue is apparent right there before the article even really gets started. Jesus Christ, Lego is bloated these days, possibly beyond repair. Lego is somehow simultaneously the most arrogant and insecure company I’ve ever seen. Arrogant to charge the prices they do and to think themselves a luxury product on the lines of Apple and the like. Insecure to rely more and more on other companies IP because they don’t believe in their own stuff anymore and then WITHIN those IP to not just have the confidence to rely on their tried and true playsets, but to muddle the offerings with these subcategories, because ultimately they don’t know what to do and are just throwing stuff at the wall out of desperation.

In no particular order:

1. Lego has progressively discovered that there's a ton of profit to be had from AFOLs. The trend graph basically follows the timeline o that discovery perfectly, including the turbocharging of adult interest in Lego from the pandemic.

2. As has been noted by others already, the Star Wars demographic has aged - in an important sense, Lego is just following those folks up the age ladder.

3. Related to the previous item, I would speculate that even in today's world, there's only so much that animated streaming shows and video games can do to sustain super-high levels of kids' interest in new Star Wars properties, characters, and shows. Therefore the merchandise, including Lego, is increasingly going to be weighted towards adult nostalgia over current-day characters and themes targeted to children.

4. A related but I think distinct factor is that even if we're talking about spin-off media, a lot of the most prominent properties like the Mandalorian and Andor are significantly or almost entirely targeted to adults.

5. Finally, I am not sure about this, but I wonder how this trend compares with the Lego Harry Potter trend. I have often wondered if HP stays a little more "evergreen" for each new generation of pre-teen kids because it's fundamentally based on books whereas SW is fundamentally based on movies. Reading is a solitary activity, whereas a movie - even one streamed casually at home with family or friends - is more of a scheduled social activity (especially for younger kids); and a book doesn't seem "old" or outdated the same way a 20 year-old Star Wars movie might. Not to mention that the HP books are generally much better than the the most recent SW trilogy of movies.

I feel sorry for kids and older collectors in any hobby of diminishing returns.

I see these issues as a broader problem of licensed ranges- the disjointed set types mentioned in the article: kids can’t as easily form a play or landscape collection while being frequently barred from more of or bigger licensed sets because of a higher price tag.

Equally I believe older collectors were quite happy buying good quality children’s toys. They all know that ‘18+’ sets have come with less prints, some cheaper crumbling plastics, more stickers and poorer stickers again costing vastly more.
Then there is an incomplete feeling to many sub ranges that leaves loose characters and stories while increasing display piece releases gather dust.

The disparity in quality between what’s hot and what’s nostalgic means someone always loses out or on a tight budget has to choose between ranges so the poorer products sell less potentially increasing the cancellation of their range.

@StyleCounselor said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
"Just stop with Star Wars. Spaceballs 2 has just been announced, how about some Lego sets from that?"

This.

I see your Schwatrz is as big as mine!"
Say goodbye to your two best friends, and I don't mean your pals in the Winnebago.

I can't even afford food, let alone anything Lego Star Wars related these days

This just seems the natural outcome of 2 factors: first, all those kids who bought play sets 10+ years ago are now grown up - it's been over 40 years since Return of the Jedi, after all. Second, LEGO is getting more and more expensive. Add in the Disney tax and the only demographic that can afford Star Wars sets any more are adults.

I'm selling most of my unopened Star Wars sets. I feel like I'm losing my enthusiasm, and I think Lego's obsessive focus on expensive sets for adults is the reason for my lack of interest. Lego is a children's toy that adults also play with, not the other way around.

Another disconcerting trend I've noticed about this year for LSW: unless I'm mistaken, this is the first year in LEGO Star Wars' history (with the possible exception of 2008) without a single OT playset; and this includes rumors of upcoming releases.

Entirely not the main topic, but thank you for making the chart a stacked column and consistently ordered the categories -- lets you still both see the trend in overall set count and trace one category across the years as easily as could be expected.

In fact, it would be intriguing if Brickset had a "simple" (yes, yes, I know every request sounds simpler than it ends up being) web graphing solution that would sit on top of the filters you already have accessible when searching for sets. Display price for theme Star Wars and sub-theme helmet. Display count for themes Star Wars and Marvel. And so on.

As vaguely pointed out by other users: It’s becoming increasingly hard to consider Lego as a childrens toy company anymore. It feels like Lego’s need and greed for money has excluded a huge part of the community - unfortunately seemingly most kids.

So far this year I’ve bought zero 2025 sets. Last year I bought maybe four - at the very most.

Sets that, adjusted for inflation, should have costed like 100$ today, are easily 130-150$. Add another 20-60%, and you have the Scandinavian prices :) 60471 is 150-160$ here for example. That’s not taking into consideration that Lego is a far more financially strong and profitable company compared to 10-20 years ago.

What I’ve enjoyed with the Lego hobby as an adult is that I, as well, can enjoy products intended for kids - not getting a little more detailed, though charm- and soulless, sets for absurd prices packed in even less charming boxes.

For the last year, I’ve bought probably around 30 sets from 2007 - 2013. Even the rare and expensive ones from the time, gives me the feel of having an actual premium product worth the money sparked with more charm, details and joy than what any product from the current selection could ever do.

I think Lego, even though at the top financially now, are doing themselves a (gigantic) disservice by potentially ruining every possibility for adult nostalgia for the kids growing up now - and thereby - losing potential life long fans, unfortunately.

I appreciate the thoughtful and substantial article though, with many nice views.

@Darth_Savren said:
"Think of the Children "

Not just the children, but the men and women too!

@weirdbricks said:
"What I’ve enjoyed with the Lego hobby as an adult is that I, as well, can enjoy products intended for kids - not getting a little more detailed, though charm- and soulless, sets for absurd prices packed in even less charming boxes. "

I completely agree with this sentiment, even though I recognize that not everyone in the collecting community will feel the same way.

Part of what makes LEGO so charming is that the products encourage creativity and imagination. Who cares if the scale isn't 100% screen-accurate, or if Every. Single. Detail. from the film/series makes it into the finished product. With few exceptions, I will take a $60 playset that suggests a sequence from the series over a $300 UCS set that has all of the bells and whistles and will barely fit on my shelf.

@inversion said:
" @Broken_Cheese_Slope said:
""There are barely any new media released, and the ones that were are quite bad."
This comment is going to be funny when the mando movie reaches 1 billion. "

Not out yet though? And that's it, there has been only Mando since the new trilogy that was half decent (last season whatever though), maybe Ahsoka. No movies since."

Did you skip Andor?

Personally, not a fan of Mandalorian. BoBF was interesting until it turned into Mandalorian.

@BabuBrick said:
"Another disconcerting trend I've noticed about this year for LSW: unless I'm mistaken, this is the first year in LEGO Star Wars' history (with the possible exception of 2008) without a single OT playset; and this includes rumors of upcoming releases."

Even 2008 had some OT playsets if you count the rebel and imperial battle packs. I actually went through every year of LEGO Star Wars because the same thought occurred to me, and this is the first year ever where there is not a single LEGO OT playset. This is supposed to show that the tide is finally turning for prequel sets. I actually have no objection to this because the clone wars era is my absolute favorite in all of Star Wars (with the rogue one period being my second favorite).

@gsom7 said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"Knowing Lego they'll probably make a Death Star set costing $1000,"

You know something that you didn't write. So do I"

Sir, we're detecting a massive object emerging from hyperspace.

Shall we begin targeting their minifigures?
No, Lord Vader will handle that. Target their wallet, single reactor ignition.

@inversion said:
" @Broken_Cheese_Slope said:
""There are barely any new media released, and the ones that were are quite bad."
This comment is going to be funny when the mando movie reaches 1 billion. "

Not out yet though? And that's it, there has been only Mando since the new trilogy that was half decent (last season whatever though), maybe Ahsoka. No movies since."

Only Mando that was half decent??

Andor would like a word.

Also Skeleton Crew was fun as an 80s kiddie adventure.

There's a lot of focus on minifig scale, because it tends to provide vehicles of a swooshable size, playsets of practical tabletop extent, and minifigs that are cute abstractions of favored characters. But given the variations across the source material, no single set paradigm is universally applicable -- there are ships too large for minifigs, characters who are too skinny for BrickHeadz proportions, etc. As soon as TLG has more than one paradigm, the product line fragments.

An opportunity TLG has not explored: Creator-type generic sets for Star Wars-style architecture, to build "soundstages" for those minifigs. Lots of panels printed with Imperial stripe-lights, corridor ribs, pipes and grilled floors in shades of rust, sandy terrain. They're akin to playsets, but not of any specific scene, and wouldn't need expensive minifigs or large structural molds.

@mitra said:
" @CapnRex101 said:
"Thank you everyone for your thoughtful comments so far.

I just wanted to address the changing demographics of people interested in Star Wars. From all the available information, it is absolutely true that teenagers and adults have become a more important market for Star Wars products and the dominant market, in some cases. However, I am not convinced that teenagers and adults are only interested in sets designed explicitly for them.

Data from Brickset only covers a small sample of LEGO fans, I admit, but looking at the number of people who own Star Wars sets released in 2024, which I use because all those sets have now been available for a while, play sets perform strongly. Excluding promotional sets and polybags, six of the top ten are conventional play sets or Microfighters. You can take a look here and sort by 'most owned': https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Star-Wars/year-2024

There are clearly many factors beyond set type involved, including prices and what the sets actually are, but if anything, I would expect Brickset members to lean more towards adult-oriented sets than the average.

I could be wrong, I just think there should be as much adult interest in minifigure-scale sets as any other kind. Perhaps the marketing of those sets should account for that."

My favorites are almost always the minifigure-scale sets (though this also includes MBS and most minifigure-scale dioramas)"

And, for me, the minifigure scale/compatible UCS sets (AT-AT, Barge, Mos Eisley, Ewok Village).

@Murdoch17 said:
"Agreed 100% @CapnRex101 ....However, when I read 13/6/25 I had a mini panic attack thinking there was now a thirteenth month*. With the way things are in the world today, anything is possible...

*Yes, I now realize this is the European way or writing the date."

The *correct* way of writing the date.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8PlvQOlmflw/UyIVEhs-MJI/AAAAAAAAA_0/l9i9f4Mqtws/s1600/Date+Format+Comparison.png

@water_jedi_17 said:
"I would like to see a follow up article on the current state of Star Wars minifigs too. I feel like their designs have stagnated or in some cases even gone backwards in terms of accuracy. For example, just look at the snow troopers in 75054 vs the ones in 75288 : we lost both backpacks and kamas.

Similarly, we've only gotten one version of Han with dual and side leg printing in 75222 and nothing else since. I suppose I'm just surprised that since then we've only gotten one other figure with the same treatment in C-3PO ( 75341 )

Anyway, maybe its just me seeing as how we have been getting more SW figs with arm printing as well...."

I'm glad someone else agrees with me there. I don't like the newer Snowtroopers, and have always seen the 2014 ones as the best.

This is more or less what I was describing when you asked about my dissatisfaction with LEGO Star Wars a few weeks back, @CapnRex101 - the disjointed-ness of the product line, which to me points to a lack of direction for the theme (which is on-brand for Star Wars under Disney, at least, but still).

Honestly, while you can break the lineup into exact subthemes, I wouldn't even go that far; I'd just split it (much as @VictorvanSchagen did) between playsets (4+, Microfighters, normal minifig-scale, etc.), UCS (the legacy adults line), and the post-2020 18+ sets (Helmets, Starships, Dioramas, etc.). Besides the drop in overall number of sets since 2019 (due to no new movies coming out), the shifting proportion of playsets to 18+ sets is the most concerning.

There are a number of reasons for this, as people above have mentioned: the shifting fanbase demographic (Star Wars is gaining fewer - not none, but fewer - young fans, so the overall age is skewing older), LEGO's company-wide move to cater more to adults and AFOLs, the absence of new widely popular and marketable Star Wars content to base sets on (Disney+ shows are nowhere near as marketable as movies), and as noted a lack of direction for the franchise from Disney/Lucasfilm itself (with D+ shows popping up at random times of the year, flung all over the SW timeline and completely unrelated to each other, and movies about to go the same way), among undoubtedly other issues. All of these factors culminate in a dying enthusiasm for Star Wars in general, and the feeling that the LEGO product line has stalled and gotten stale, which feeds into the negativity generated by rising prices.

Even if LEGO wants to continue making 18+ sets (and business-wise I'm sure they should), I still think that LEGO should return to making a consistent theme of minifig-scale sets with a singular focus each year (specific battles, films, etc.), allowing designers to revisit and improve long-lost models and work in some new ones. I suspect that will appeal to collectors and kids alike.

@troynos said:
"How much kid Star Wars content is there? Not much.
Mandalorian, Boba Fett, Ashoka, Obi-Wan, Acolyte, Andor --- all adult aimed content"

Ahsoka was basically Rebels Season 5; it was definitely aimed more at kids. Acolyte and Obi-Wan were aimed at people with 2 braincells or less. Andor was the only show explicitly aimed at adults.

@Brick_Belt said:
"Now I'm not sure Andor or the Acolyte or even anything from the games have anything worth doing entire waves off of. Each season is deserving of maybe one or two playsets. "

I think the demand at least from adult fans is there for Andor sets, but when I think about it realistically I actually don't know what the show can provide to fill a full wave. I do think there are some obvious sets of course, the Fondor Haulcraft and the TIE Avenger both. But then it gets, dicey... I love Andor, it is my favorite Star Wars show but so much of it is spent in quiet offices; backroom alleys, parties and weddings. The biggest action pieces are the massacres on Ferrix and Ghorman; and that isn't exactly the type of scene LEGO would want to base a playset on. Maybe a new take on the Yavin Base with a focus on Andor instead of A New Hope characters? Beyond that the opportunities start to slim down.

With that said, if we got the TIE Avenger, the Haulcraft and maybe some smaller sets just to sneak in Mon Mothma, Bix, Brasso and Kino Loy somehow; I would be down for it. Maybe just make it part of a normal summer release schedule; have the TIE Avenger and the Haulcraft both as the dueling sets for the wave; and do a Narkina V thing as a polybag to include Kino; and a battlepack for the ISB Tactical Troopers; and that really would in just four or five sets cover everything else Andor has that is really LEGO ready. Unless they want to have the Harry Potter theme's Diagon Alley designers come over to Star Wars for a moment and give us big Ferrix or Ghorman plazas; although at the scale they need and the dark subject matter of those locations they would end up as massive 18+ sets.

Ultimately while I gripe about LEGO's lack of representation for the TV shows; some of that is on Disney as well. They pumped out a lot all at once; and considering how LEGO was stuck with a ton of Solo and Rebels sets that became shelf warmers; I am not surprised that LEGO would be cautious and sort of "play the hits" by Original Trilogy nostalgia and Prequel/Clones stuff for people my age. But I wish LEGO if they didn't want to stick to following the TV releases to much would at least try something new; there's some weird Star Wars ships worth visiting from all corners of the saga that could be fun (me and five people here wanting our Starspeeder 3000 set still).

This is an interesting topic, but without sales data, we're just making guesses weighed by our own biases. There are also a few presumptions at the core of this article without any data to back them up.

Some important context was ignored -- there was a new family-friendly Star Wars film in theaters every single year from 2015-2019. That created a built-in cohesion as each film would focus on characters, ships, and locations that made sense for a line of toys. (And there was a long-running Star Wars animated TV show on basic cable for kids before that.)

Step outside of the Lego world for a moment and think back to how huge the mainstream marketing was for Star Wars back when the films were coming out. Remember Force Fridays? They were at least an order of magnitude larger than Lego's annual May the Fourth deals. (Which can only do so much in terms of marketing.) Star Wars marketing was everywhere, and Lego benefited from that.

Streaming shows on Disney+ reach a much, *much* smaller market. The TV shows don't receive anything remotely close to the marketing reach of a blockbuster film, and as many other commenters have pointed out, the shows tend to be less kid-friendly than the films. And a show that only lasts one or two seasons doesn't support a line of toys the same way that a show that ran for seven seasons does.

Yes, the Skeleton Crew is very kid friendly, and as a 50-something adult, I also enjoyed the show. It was fun. And Lego made a nice set of the primary ship in the show, with minifigs of most of the main characters.

But none of us know how well that set sold. Or how sales changed over the course of the show (the set preceded the show). Lego has a ton of relevant sales data that probably tells a story that we don't know.

So how many kids nowadays are Star Wars fans? If you're a 10-year-old child, you were born around the time that The Force Awakens was released, and you were about 4 years old when the Rise of Skywalker came out. You probably didn't see any of those films in the theaters. And your parents probably didn't go out of their way to show them to you because they aren't as blatantly kid-friendly as something like Harry Potter. Those 10-year-old kids may have watched The Skeleton Crew, but they're not watching Andor. And even if they loved Skeleton Crew, that's pretty much a standalone show that doesn't interact story-wise in any meaningful way with most of the rest of Star Wars.

Finally, I agree with some other commenters that separating each individual subtheme is over-complicating. Broadly speaking, there are minifig-scale playsets, and display sets. Kids have no problem playing with a Microfighter alongside a mech alongside a playscale X-Wing. Even back in the days of Classic Space, my friends and I played with differently sized sets (from large sets to tiny ships with only a dozen pieces), as long as they fit minifigs. Kids generally don't play by recreating scenes from the films exactly as they happened on screen, and they don't mind that Plo Koon's ship isn't in the correct scale. It's a fun, little swooshable ship with a cool minifig.

Lego Microfighters have survived in that crucial $10-$15 price point for more than a decade. I think it's safe to deduce that a lot of kids are buying them and playing with them.

It's an interesting topic to think about, but without sales data, we can only theorize. Lego knows what sells and what doesn't, and Lego has a much better picture of the current demographics for each theme.

I'm very much in the middle of the Star Wars fan demographic that LEGO seem to be focusing on; late 40s-50s, and probably having more money than sense!

I've been collecting this theme for 15+ years and have owned most of the UCS sets in my time, mainly purchased as soon as they were released and I was happy with the cycle of a couple of sets between £170 - £350 per year, with the occasional outlier! However, it just got ridiculous when they released the UCS AT-AT, and although I could easily afford it, I just couldn't convince myself to spend that amount on a retail set. I still collect, but it's at a much lower level these days.

It's really sad to see how expensive LEGO has become - and I think LEGO could be in trouble in the long-term if they continue on their current path.

@BJNemeth said:
"Some important context was ignored -- there was a new family-friendly Star Wars film in theaters every single year from 2015-2019."

Whoa. There's no cause for this, no matter how heated the topic is. The Last Jedi was neither family-friendly nor Star Wars nor a film. :o)

@SearchlightRG said:
" @tmtomh said:
"5. Finally, I am not sure about this, but I wonder how this trend compares with the Lego Harry Potter trend. I have often wondered if HP stays a little more "evergreen" for each new generation of pre-teen kids because it's fundamentally based on books whereas SW is fundamentally based on movies. Reading is a solitary activity, whereas a movie - even one streamed casually at home with family or friends - is more of a scheduled social activity (especially for younger kids); and a book doesn't seem "old" or outdated the same way a 20 year-old Star Wars movie might. Not to mention that the HP books are generally much better than the the most recent SW trilogy of movies."

Which is funny considering how similar much of the story of Harry Potter is to that of the original trilogy.

Of course, then Disney turned around and made the Darksaber Star Wars’ answer to the Elder Wand."

To be fair that’s because both are drawing on storytelling tropes that have existed for literal centuries. I’m sure Joseph Campbell could write a whole dissertation on how similar Luke and Harry’s stories are to King Arthur and probably even before that

@Pitmonster said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"Agreed 100% @CapnRex101 ....However, when I read 13/6/25 I had a mini panic attack thinking there was now a thirteenth month*. With the way things are in the world today, anything is possible...

*Yes, I now realize this is the European way or writing the date."

The *correct* way of writing the date.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8PlvQOlmflw/UyIVEhs-MJI/AAAAAAAAA_0/l9i9f4Mqtws/s1600/Date+Format+Comparison.png"

Oh, this garbage again? There is no "correct" way for something like this. There is the common way in particular places. That's all.

@xboxtravis7992 said:
" I think the demand at least from adult fans is there for Andor sets, but when I think about it realistically I actually don't know what the show can provide to fill a full wave. I do think there are some obvious sets of course, the Fondor Haulcraft and the TIE Avenger both. But then it gets, dicey... I love Andor, it is my favorite Star Wars show but so much of it is spent in quiet offices; backroom alleys, parties and weddings. The biggest action pieces are the massacres on Ferrix and Ghorman; and that isn't exactly the type of scene LEGO would want to base a playset on. Maybe a new take on the Yavin Base with a focus on Andor instead of A New Hope characters? Beyond that the opportunities start to slim down. "

I'd say the Fondor Haulcraft and the TIE Avenger for sure. Also:
-"Escape from Aldhani" set with the vault, Rono Trawler and maybe a new Tie Fighter
-"Escape from the Senate" with Mon's car and Kloris and maybe Jung's ISB agent
-Some kind of small Chandrilla wedding set, for Perrin, Davo, etc.
-"Wheat field inspection" or something with Brasso's speederbike and some Mina Rau residents
-"Ghorman raid" with the scene from S2 Ep. 6 where the Ghorman Front and Vel raid the transport
-"K-2SO's Awakening" with a small piece of Yavin and a cheap way to get K2
-"Luthen's Shop Encounter" with Dedra, Luthen, Kleya
There are enough small scenes to work the major characters into sets, except Lonni and Partagaz, while still avoiding the darker scenes. We just need a new Krennic minifig... maybe a UCS Kalkite with exclusive Krennic? ;)

@Trigger said:
" Between religious conservatism and parents overestimating how scary the films are (I had the latter), I'm dumbfounded at the prospect of more kids being allowed to watch Harry Potter than Star Wars. I was allowed to watch Revenge of the Sith (with excessive fast-forwarding through intense scenes) at 6, but I wasn't allowed to watch Harry Potter after the first three until I was 11. "

Huh, my parents wanted me to read the Harry Potter books before I was 11, I just had no interest in them. I got dragged into it when I was 11-12, and read the books 6 times each or something, but then I picked up The Hobbit and never looked back. Harry Potter is very much a kids' book series - the writing is very simple, and the whole world falls apart if you apply more than 4 braincells to it.

@tmtomh said:
" So in brief, I would ask how much profit Lego makes from all those adult-oriented sets vs how much profit they make from the microfighters and playsets. "

One thing you also have to consider is long-term profit. LEGO wants to at least draw in enough kids now so that they will buy the adult-oriented stuff later and keep the business going. So no doubt LEGO is trying to strike a balance here - and if Star Wars truly is still one of their best-selling lines, there's a chance it's working, even if it doesn't seem like it to us.

@yellowcastle Hold up, I'm pretty sure The Last Jedi was a film. Wasn't it a spoof of the Jurassic Park franchise?

@Eagle84 For Ninjago's case, at least, that theme is starting to release the bigger display sets because its core audience is now 15 years older than when the show started and are becoming adults, so LEGO is producing something for those long-time fans who may not be as interested in the little bike/car sets as they used to be.

Didn’t even notice we’ve gotten no OT playsets this year, how strange. I mean, LEGO still obviously hates prequel fans right? Not giving them their UCS sets *cough* or clones *cough* or any love at all *cough cough*

By the way, recently started working LEGO retail, and we had it pushed hard at orientation that the best marketing tool is nostalgia. Which is true. And factors a lot into the push at larger sets for adults.

@VaultDweller_197 said:
"While yes minifigure playsets have decreased due to other 'sub-themes' (if you'd call them that) have come out I personally do not think it's a bad thing.. LEGO® is more than a minifigure. It's the builds, the elements and the techniques behind the build which a lot of these do amazing without needing figs!

I find many people (especially those here in other comment sections) get too caught up on figures if it's for collecting, reselling or general value! Take Rex for instance or a set which does not have an updated figure when it doesn't always need one. It comes with a huge "oh they suck" "this absolutely doesn't warrent me spending my money because of one fig"

Even take to the big name youtubers who new a days comlain and comment on minifigs than they do the actual builds they're spending like 95-98% of the money on in a set/.."

Disagree. As I’m sure MANY people would. It wasn’t just “the build” that has made LEGO a powerful and long lasting company. I’m pretty sure most people would say it was the special blend of the clever connecting ability of the LEGO brick, inspiring imaginations all around the world…ANNNDDD the charming and unique little minifigures that helped bring those builds to life. It certainly wasn't just one or the other. It’s a little selfish to claim that minifigures aren’t as important as the build. You may not care about them, but there’s a massive army of minifigure collectors who would disagree. IMHO, the minifigure is just as important as the build. I enjoy buying an amazing set and building it as much as the next LEGO fan, but I will say that when it’s a set without any minifigures, I feel a little sad. A little empty. A little incomplete. I feel that way because in my 30 years of LEGO building, it’s always been the complete experience of a fun and exciting build accompanied by one or more minifigures that has made LEGO a fun and enduring hobby for me. Not just “the build,” and not just the minifigure…BOTH! Gotta have a balance.

@jjr_2009 said:
" @weirdbricks said:
"What I’ve enjoyed with the Lego hobby as an adult is that I, as well, can enjoy products intended for kids - not getting a little more detailed, though charm- and soulless, sets for absurd prices packed in even less charming boxes. "

I completely agree with this sentiment, even though I recognize that not everyone in the collecting community will feel the same way.

Part of what makes LEGO so charming is that the products encourage creativity and imagination. Who cares if the scale isn't 100% screen-accurate, or if Every. Single. Detail. from the film/series makes it into the finished product. With few exceptions, I will take a $60 playset that suggests a sequence from the series over a $300 UCS set that has all of the bells and whistles and will barely fit on my shelf.
"

*encouraged. Back of the box builds have been dead for almost 20 years. Few sets are designed for rebuilding. Modern sets - and yes even the ones that are playsets for kids - are sometimes so well designed they are hard to take apart. Hyper-specialization of pieces, inflated parts counts (e.g. including a ton of 1x1 whatevers as detail) also make rebuilding a set a lost dream.

@Pitmonster said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"Agreed 100% @CapnRex101 ....However, when I read 13/6/25 I had a mini panic attack thinking there was now a thirteenth month*. With the way things are in the world today, anything is possible...

*Yes, I now realize this is the European way or writing the date."

The *correct* way of writing the date.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8PlvQOlmflw/UyIVEhs-MJI/AAAAAAAAA_0/l9i9f4Mqtws/s1600/Date+Format+Comparison.png"

The only correct format is year-month-day.

Day-month-year and month-day-year are both equally wrong.

I'm of the opinion that TLG needs to seriously re-evaluate their priorities. The focus on (boring, IMO) static display sets made only for adults may result in kids today having zero nostalgia for Lego sets in the future. They're digging their own grave by not focusing on their core market. The reason any of us have nostalgia for Lego in the first place is specifically because of all of the wonderful playsets they used to make in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. A kid today can't really have that when most things aren't made for them anymore. Anything they do make is drastically overpriced to the point where I'd be surprised if parents are even willing to buy it anymore.

On a personal note, even as an AFOL I vastly prefer playsets that actually DO something as opposed to corporate soulless nonsense like the Star Wars logo.

I think with Star Wars Lego is dealing with a situation that it hasn't had to face before - managing a long-running IP for a fanbase that is ageing and doesn't include a lot of children anymore. The prequel trilogy wrapped up 20 years ago now, meaning the largest group of young Star Wars fans are likely to be coming into their 30s now, while those old enough to remember the original movies when they came out will be well over 50 at this point. While I'm sure there are some younger fans around, the reality is that Star Wars hasn't done much in the last 20 years to add fans who weren't already fans (yes the Clone Wars was great, but did it really attract a lot of people into Star Wars who weren't already fans?)

At the same time, there's clearly still a lot of money in Star Wars products, so Lego will want to keep making sets, but what do you do to appeal to an ageing fanbase? If you're Lego, you release more large sets, and focus more on sets for display rather than play, and try different things to see what sells.

Comparisons with other themes can be instructive here. Harry Potter is another long-running theme based on a series of successful movies, where the last movie in the core series was released in 2011 (I can't speak to the success or otherwise of the movies that have followed since). Given this Harry Potter has a younger fanbase though this will also be ageing, Harry Potter is still getting more playsets for now, but we can also see Lego gradually moving into sets with larger builds, brick-build characters and objects that are more for display than play reflecting changes in the audience. I'd expect this to continue unless Warner Brothers brings in a new generation of younger fans with their television reboot coming up.

At the other end of the age range we can see themes that are almost entirely about play - often oriented around video games and clearly targeting a younger audience, though sometimes with one or two bigger sets for the adults where the IP has been around for a long time (looking at you Nintendo).

If we compare with the new One-Piece theme (based on an IP that has been around since the 1990s but which has seen a recent resurgence) we see Lego trying to figure out where the market is for this, by releasing a wave of sets intended to appeal to people at a range of ages. I would imagine that depending on what sells well, we will see Lego pivot to respond to that demographic with the make up of future waves.

Of all of the IPs that Lego seeks to cover Star Wars is the oldest meaning that a company which historically focused on the needs of children is now needing to figure out what works for a much older demographic.

Incidentally, if you're wondering why Lego still does 4+ sets for Star Wars (one per year) I'm pretty sure they have a requirement as part of their IP partnership with Disney to produce a certain number of sets for younger audiences. This would reflect Disney trying to capture these (largely imaginary) young fans. You can see this in the 4+ sets they also do for the Marvel theme, though there might actually be a few young fans there.

@KingLego said:
"I think... the Clone Wars was great, but did it really attract a lot of people into Star Wars who weren't already fans?..."

Yes, My son is 18 and headed off to a major research university. He's a honors student and multiple sport athlete. He prides himself on his appearance and his knowledge of contemporary hip-hop as much as his nerd status.

The Clone Wars was the major impetus for his entry into SW fandom- and he is a fanatic. He's seen everything except Caravan of Courage and Ewoks: Battle for Endor.

As a non-collector of Star Wars but someone who follows LEGO releases every year, I've long felt that the problems with the theme are the overabundance of redundant releases (the Millennium Falcon, for example), a lack of cohesion between releases each year (there doesn't really seem to be any) and the increasing emphasis on non-play / storytelling sets.

The main appeal of LEGO is its modular capabilities and the ability to build and create large dioramas that tell a story, like the ones in the old LEGO product catalogs. This is undeniably what drives the popularity of the modular building sets and many classic themes like castle, space and pirates among adults.

The idea of a whole half-baked collection of helmets, character busts or brick built figures that you spend an hour or two assembling and then place on a shelf to collect dust represents LEGO at its worst, in my opinion. I'm inclined to think that more than half of sales for those sets are only made for exclusive mini-figures that LEGO shoehorns in to coerce or exploit people, or for parts, not the set.

I also think that the overemphasis on set exclusive mini-figure releases with only minor changes also really hurts. I can only imagine that it makes people feel increasingly jaded--eventually even apathetic toward continually chasing that carrot on the stick, especially when you consider the prices many of those mini-figures demand on the secondary market.

Some might argue otherwise and proclaim that it keeps people invested in the theme, but I'm not so sure. I think it drives people to focus their spending on just buying mini-figures, which ultimately comes at the expense of building an epic diorama or scene like mentioned above. My own enjoyment from LEGO is firmly grounded in that sort of thing, not from completing spreadsheet checklists, but that's just me.

@bmerigan said:
"This article is simply a personal complaint about a reduction in Minifigure set releases.
Not everyone cares about "play" and Minifigures, me being one."

Yeah cool you dont care, most people do. Youre dismissing criticism about a childrens toy increasing becoming not only less focused on children but increasingly with no play value because you personally dont care about play is bizarre. Youre also missing the point about how often sets are released with nothing to go with them. Obvious example being the last 2 AT-ATs were released without a snowspeeder to go with them (and likewise the various snowspeeders released without an AT-AT) Those two vehicles exist to interact with each other, one without the other is kinda useless.

It took me a while to realise, but I just like cool ships... The UCS ones are too big, too expensive and can't really be played with, while playscale sets have minifigs, can be played with, are perfectly displayable (in a small house) and are fun to rebuild. Most of the time I don't know what movie the ship was in, let alone which scene and I don't really care.

So for me personally, Lego needs to make nice looking ships with accompanying figs and I'll be perfectly happy. The Fondor? Yes please! That four winged transport ship? Yes, I'd like that.
So whatever they pump out besides that, fine. I just won't buy those. As long as they don't quit making fun sets like the Onyx Cinder.

@Nokturn said:
"I'm of the opinion that TLG needs to seriously re-evaluate their priorities. The focus on (boring, IMO) static display sets made only for adults may result in kids today having zero nostalgia for Lego sets in the future. They're digging their own grave by not focusing on their core market. The reason any of us have nostalgia for Lego in the first place is specifically because of all of the wonderful playsets they used to make in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. A kid today can't really have that when most things aren't made for them anymore. Anything they do make is drastically overpriced to the point where I'd be surprised if parents are even willing to buy it anymore.

On a personal note, even as an AFOL I vastly prefer playsets that actually DO something as opposed to corporate soulless nonsense like the Star Wars logo."

LEGO produces 100s of sets every year aimed at kids. Most LEGO sets are still aimed at kids, especially those that are generally stocked in toy stores.

You could do an article about the sky being blue and then have a ton of AFOLs arguing over it.

Too many posts are just a denial of reality. There is still a lot of new content being produced, ALL of it can be watched by children, children are actually able to watch and be fans of stuff made decades ago, you had an adult collectors market before Lego even got the SW licence, Hasbro has been making for the adult market before Lego got into the game etc.

You may not like the helmet collection, that doesn't mean everyone thinks the same. The helmet collection has been running for years now, clearly it's popular for Lego to keep producing sets.