Random set of the day: TIE Fighter and Y-wing
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7262 TIE Fighter and Y-wing, released during 2004. It's one of 15 Star Wars sets produced that year. It contains 412 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$50.
It's owned by 1,652 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $243.40, or eBay.
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26 comments on this article
The models look old fashioned, but this was an iconic double set pairing. Always wanted it as a kid, never got it.
It's a rerelease of 7150 and 7152, but with a few tweaks and being in the bluish grays despite using the same exact photo from the other two releases. I'm amazed the set was popular enough to release 3 times, but hey, I'm not complaining, it's a pretty fun set.
Also this now just leaves 7152 to get Random Set of the Day to complete the collection.
7150: https://brickset.com/article/100352
Still better than the smart play Tie Advanced.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"The models look old fashioned, but this was an iconic double set pairing. Always wanted it as a kid, never got it."
Agreed. This is easily one of the most iconic Lego Star Wars sets.
Double Star Wars!
@WolfpackBricks63 said:
"Double Star Wars!"
This is the way.
Huwbots having a Star Wars Day I see
mad to see that a model like this only cost 50 bucks back in the day...
youd be lucky to get it under 120 if it was realised today, and of course smart bricks creeping in- so thats at least another 60+
@WolfpackBricks63 said:
"Double Star Wars!"
That takes on a whole new meaning with this set! ;)
This was one of a number of sets released with Original Trilogy Edition boxes. To coincidence with the DVD release of the Original Trilogy. Some sets that year started off with the previous Episode II inspired blue box, then switched to this box later in the year.
@Worrissey said:
"mad to see that a model like this only cost 50 bucks back in the day...
youd be lucky to get it under 120 if it was realised today, and of course smart bricks creeping in- so thats at least another 60+"
Funny thing is, people couldn't stop complaining about the fact that this set paired a generic Y-Wing with a very specific one-of-a-kind TIE, because people wanted to army-build the Y-Wing and didn't want to keep paying for a pile of TIEs that they couldn't really use. Yeah, you could always mod the wings into either a regular TIE or an Advanced, but they'd still all be piloted by Vader. That's not the Clone Wars he fought in, dammit!
@Worrissey said:
"mad to see that a model like this only cost 50 bucks back in the day..."
US$50 in 2004 equates to about US$85 today. So in today's prices, this 412 piece set is over 20c per piece.
May 4th is early this year on brickset
Yeah they’re probably very inaccurate and Lego has made better versions of both but damn there’s so much charm in Lego that’s still so clearly Lego. Especially those strut pieces used as cannons for the Y-Wings turret, been so long since I’ve seen those used as weaponry
I missed out on the original (and the first re-release) but got this.
Seems this was a Toys'R'us exclusive in the US? In Europe it was exclusive to Shop at Home.
I really like that "Original Trilogy" box design; those "relief" like images were probably not seen before 2004. Also the Black/Silver design had a nice feel to it, compared with some of the messier Star Wars box designs.
I still like the set a lot, but the way they handled this was a bit strange... Change one model quite a bit, but keep the other exactly the same? It certainly wasn't about discontinued pieces (like the "Legends" sets often suffered from) but seemingly an open desire to update the design. I assume they designed the new TIE Advanced primarily for the "TIE Collection" set of the same year and then put out this set as a sort of "bonus".
If you can ignore the new-vs-old greys, this still kinda leaves us with 1 of 2 problems, depending what you prefer:
Not getting a complete re-release of the original - or - getting a somewhat dated Y-wing.
Now that I have an original 1999 TIE Advanced I have to say, it's not a perfect "one is better" situation either; they did improve the outer look quite a bit, but sacrificed all interior for it. Also the hinge for the top hatch sticks out quite a bit, being the only tan piece there (it also feels less sturdy than on the old one).
What is funny about the Y-wing is the change of colors - not only did they update all greys (as was expected by the time) but also the majority of prints. This is most noticable in Dutch Vander's head, giving us the only instance of the Space Police II head with Reddish Brown hair instead of the usual dark reddish color. His helmet's print didn't just change the color to the newer grey but also slightly altered the proportions of some details. The "mailbox" with Rebel Alliance print was also exclusive to this with the new print colors.
@Worrissey said:
"mad to see that a model like this only cost 50 bucks back in the day...
youd be lucky to get it under 120 if it was realised today, and of course smart bricks creeping in- so thats at least another 60+"
$50 is around $85 dollars today taking inflation into account. That's pretty atrocious price per piece.
@Worrissey said:
"mad to see that a model like this only cost 50 bucks back in the day...
youd be lucky to get it under 120 if it was realised today, and of course smart bricks creeping in- so thats at least another 60+"
$50 for a toy packaged in a very thin cardboard box in 2004 was still expensive to most people. Do people on this site think inflation only affects LEGO? But even if it were $120, you'd still get people buying 5 boxes of this each.
"Stay on target... stay on target... stay on target!"
*gets blows up by enemy for flying too rigidly*
I think this was one of the first examples of the "battle in a box" format that now is ubiquitous.
This was the set that semi-ended my “dark ages.” I didn’t really fully embrace getting back into collecting until I discovered the Minifigure packs at a Ben Franklin in Grand Marais circa ~2008, but this set was one of the few that started my slow return.
Quite a charming set. I like the storage in the back, the container with rebel emblem that can be lifted out and of course that it seats both a pilot and R2 unit. It was quite nice for 1999, but by 2004 the theme was changing for the first time (we got a second edition snowspeeder and X-wing, for starts). Still, the sets were still easy to place together, such as with the AT-AT and the AT-ST of three years prior.
@GorillaYeti said:
"This was the set that semi-ended my “dark ages.” I didn’t really fully embrace getting back into collecting until I discovered the Minifigure packs at a Ben Franklin in Grand Marais circa ~2008, but this set was one of the few that started my slow return."
So this was the foot in the door.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Still better than the smart play Tie Advanced."
Different generation and different demographic.
Trying to get younger kids into Star Wars and using Smart Play as the lure...kids these days have been raised on tech with, sadly, very early introductions to smart devices. Unfortunate to think that LEGO has to follow this trend in making toys interactive versus one's own imagination.
Certainly not meant for the older and more mature fans. If LEGO released this 1999/2004 TIE Advanced today there would be an equivalent uproar as we've been spoiled by increasingly better incarnations.
@MCLegoboy said:
"I'm amazed the set was popular enough to release 3 times, but hey, I'm not complaining, it's a pretty fun set."
I'm of the opinion there should always be a minifig-scale X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and Millennium Falcon on shelves at all times, and this isn't far off from that, so I don't really mind. (Dark Falcon and Smart Play X-wing kinda irk me ngl but I'm not the target audience so whatever)
Although my opinion is clouded by my soft spot for the bright blue TIE fighters, even though I wish more than just the 2003 mini line (4484, 6965, 3219) used the more screen accurate sand blue
The S on STAR WARS being extended around the whole box is goofy
@WhileyFox said:
" @Worrissey said:
"mad to see that a model like this only cost 50 bucks back in the day...
youd be lucky to get it under 120 if it was realised today, and of course smart bricks creeping in- so thats at least another 60+"
$50 for a toy packaged in a very thin cardboard box in 2004 was still expensive to most people. Do people on this site think inflation only affects LEGO? But even if it were $120, you'd still get people buying 5 boxes of this each. "
No, they think inflation _shouldn’t_ affect LEGO sets. And in truth, they’ve done a rather remarkable job of improving their manufacturing process to the point that inflation really hasn’t had much of an impact on LEGO sets. Minifigs started with sets that cost $0.10/pc, and you can still buy sets for $0.10/pc with minifigs included, even though labor/transportation/energy/materials costs have all gone up in that same timeframe.
@tne328:
They don’t seem to be as common as I thought. Bricklink only lists twelve “Starfighter Twin Packs”:
https://brickset.com/sets/tag-Starfighter-Twin-Pack
Of those, the first three are basically this same set. Of the next two, the contents of one are included in the other. And one of the most recent combined the Ghost with the Phantom II, so basically that’s like the Enterprise and one of its assigned shuttle craft. But the earliest version of this set, 7150, came out 02/99, which beat 7171 (not included in that list because it contains no “starfighters”) by two months.
Also, that list doesn’t include any of the Microfighters sets, which I think had at least one 2-pack that was a pair of starfighters. I know there were 2-packs involving a bantha, an AT-AT, and a dewback, none of which seems likely to even jump an inch off the ground, much less travel into space unassisted.