Random set of the day: Speeder Bikes
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7128 Speeder Bikes, released in 1999. It's one of 13 Star Wars sets produced that year. It contains 93 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$10.
It's owned by 9515 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
Help me come to life! If you like the set I've chosen for you today, please pledge your support for me on LEGO Ideas so I have a chance of becoming an official LEGO set!
87 likes
40 comments on this article
I have this set, got it as a kid. I have only one of the speeder bikes assembled at the moment. Its nostalgic, but pretty simplistic compared to modern Star Wars sets.
The thing I miss the most is the old chrome they used to use on the lightsabers. The new chrome is better than the plain gray they introduced during the Revenge of the Sith era, but I miss how shiny the original chrome was. But it scratched so easily!
The late 90s is strong with these ones, isn't it?
Speeder bikes are my favorite Star Wars vehicle. These are the first ever LEGO versions, and they actually hold up pretty well.
Despite the inaccuracies, to this day, I maintain that these and the 2002 variants of the Speeder Bike to be the best designs. They're solid, sturdy, and they just look good. Not everything in Star Wars translates well into LEGO, and not that there weren't significant improvements over the years as far as accuracy is concerned, but I'm of the opinion that it's also okay to have your LEGO set still look like a LEGO set. The general shape and concept was very clearly defined to where you knew what it was (even if a couple parts were partially designed for them, those bar pieces were made for everything Star Wars in 1999, nearly every set had them), and the use of those forks and street signs; it's beautiful, I was sad to see they were no more on the speeder bike in the new AT-AT. Even the Scout Troopers for this and 2002 were slightly different and arguably better because they came with printed visors on the heads underneath. There's just something neat about those light streaks.
Also, this is the only set to come with Endor Camouflage Luke, and he looks great.
This was one of my first star wars sets :)
The world needs a UCS release of the Speederbike.
I wanted this set back in 1999, it was just with the Episode I hype train, I never got around to it. Sets like the Snowspeeder and Luke's Landspeeder were also delayed getting into my collection for similar reasons, but to this day, all I own of this set are the partial remains of the speeder bikes from a bulk LEGO purchase. I think I have both Scout Troopers but, sadly, no camouflage Luke.
@PurpleDave said:
"The world needs a UCS release of the Speederbike."
Technically, I think they did that with the Ultrabuild set:
https://brickset.com/sets/75532-1/Scout-Trooper-Speeder-Bike
Outside of greebling and a number of parts that would make the price skyrocket, it appears to be of a decent size and adequate detail.
@MCLegoboy:
The steering vanes on that are an embarrassment. It needs to be big enough that the vanes can be brick-built instead of just slapping the closest approximate shape on before heading to the bar for drinks.
Luke: Aww, I want to ride the speeder bikes but my scout trooper friends aren't letting me have a turn. Guess I'll wait by this palm tree in a deciduous forest.
Ah, the 74-Z speeder bike. One of my favorite Star wars vehicles. Did you know that these things can reach speeds of 500 km/h? Yeah. Glad to see them in the Mandalorian!
As to the Lego versions, the Ultrabuild technic version is the only one that does the speeder bike justice IMHO. Yet somehow, these very first editions (which I have) seem to get across the feel of these epic bikes better than the latest version. There's some excellent MOCs of this out there, and Lego really needs to do a proper minifig-scale rendition at some point, even if they have to introduce a new piece to do it.
@MCLegoboy we need to petition for a new Endor Luke! Missed opportunity they didn't have him in the 2015 Shuttle tydirium.
Look how blocky those are!
@MCLegoboy said:
"Also, this is the only set to come with Endor Camouflage Luke, and he looks great."
My Sig Fig has used the Endor Luke torso since 2002, and I still love the design. The unprinted gray on the back stands out in this modern era of printed backs, so I cover the back with a small plastic cape from the old-school Castle sets.
I’d love to see an updated version of Endor Luke.
@PurpleDave said:
"The world needs a UCS release of the Speederbike."
75532 isn’t exactly UCS, but it’s pretty big at least!
One of my favorite sets of all time
You know what’s great about having really long dark ages? You keep discovering awesome sets like this one you never knew existed!
You know what’s not great about having really long dark ages? You know you’ll never get your hands on that awesome set you just discovered from 20 years ago.
My first Star Wars set, one that set me on a path of love for the Scout Trooper. I love the Scout Trooper so much, and this set had a lot to do with it. Made it into the 501st with a Scout Trooper armour, and I can totally thank this set for it.
Possibly my favourite Minifig version of Luke. And the speeders hold up quite well. That tree though.....
These little speeders are so simple yet so beautiful. I got them almost on release date and kept them built to this day. I had lots of adventures with them. This is one of my favortie Lego sets. I keep building little speeders to keep the accompany.
I got to go to Legoland California the day it opened, and spent all my vacation money on this set and the OG Landspeeder. It was the first time I saw Lego Star Wars and from there, my life was changed. Also getting two speeder bikes was so good for play. Lots of fun.
What a cool set! My brother owned this one, and it was fun to play with. I think the bike’s design was pretty good, even to this day. The minifigs were great—really excellent Endor Luke for back then. I should have bought my own set. I regret not doing that.
Wow, these sure do look nice. I picked up about half of the 99 Star Wars sets at a garage sale, but unfortunately not this one. I may want to piece this together on Bricklink as I assume there isn’t anything to special parts wise in this set. Plus I really need a place for my scout trooper from the Razor Crest to sit while he punches Baby Yoda.
Ah...My first 'Star Wars' set...and first step 'back':) Funny, looking back at this era w/the new licensing agreements (Star Wars, Indy, Harry Potter...), it was like a beginning of a new 'Golden Age'...which is a funny/ironic term considering: no 'skin tones'...until Lando, but I digress:).
Of course; I really didn't 'get back' until 'Batman', but I look at things this way:
Star Wars helped save Lego...But Lego also helped save Star Wars (Well: them Timothy Zhan's 'Heir to The Empire' trilogy, and of course WEG's fantastic SW:RPG...)
This is THE set that broke my dark ages, picked it up to have something on my desk at work... 1100 plus sets later and I have this beauty to thank!
Love this set! This and the Star Wars minifig triple-packs helped to bring me out from my Dark Age.
later they create the ever present brown quad body which seems to come in every other mixed lot our store buys.
Endor Luke!!
This is my first ever Star Wars set. Wow what memories it brings to me ! I was 9 years old when my parents offered me that one... =)
I remember being asked to supply prizes for a charity raffle. My girlfriend at the time picked out something and I got one of these from Argos - then got so much stick for it for days!
I just said if a guy gets drawn first in the raffle, I guarantee it'll be the first thing taken. And it was!
Aw, I still have this set, and treasure it too! It's the only one of the original Lego Star Wars sets that I ever got. The build is simple, and the models not nearly so detailed as modern versions, but it's still brilliant fun.
My first Star Wars set. The start of a 2 decade hobby.
Ah yes! After picking up that first X-Wing, I had to track down the rest. I remember being shocked at how detailed the minifigs were compared to what I had as a kid in the 80s.
But then, it’s amazing to see how much farther we’ve come since then!
I’ve always loved this vehicle. It stood out even amongst other iconic craft in the series. Enjoyed this set back in the day.
On of scant few LEGO sets I has a lot time ago.
Very 90' feel in it, but for that time it was a quite good rendition of SW scene...
Three minifigs, some terrain, two speeder-bikes - and near reasonable price...
set i bought during my dark ages, that and one with a droideka? liked it but not enough to pull me out of that period, alas
Solid little set.
This more about the plant parts. Those round cylinder leaves don't hold up to well, those leaves have a tendency to break off. I have a couple of sets that this has happened to. Plus the "spiky bush" has a similar problem with its multiple "leaves". I guess it is annoying when I take something out that I haven't messed with in some time and I find broken parts (like I have with this set).
My first ever Star Wars! Fun memories of wanting to take these outside and playing with them in the garden but being afraid of losing it all. :)
HELLO, set that's still low-key on my wishlist twenty years later! You're looking just as good as you did back in the day, when you were tempting to even a Star-Wars-ignorant kid like myself (and just became even more so once I actually fell into the fandom!)
That said, I don't recall ever seeing this one on shelves: because I'm 100% certain that I would have bought it, if I had. Maybe I just missed it; I didn't really get deep into Star Wars until... 2000, 2001? I guess such a cool set as this wouldn't have lingered on shelves that long xD
I confess that I still like the classic Lego Scout Troopers better than the new versions. There was something about having the visor printed on the head, and showing through the gap in the helmet, that just made these figures so much cooler to me than having the helmet as a single solid piece. But I'm sure I've gone into detail about my personal bias there, already!
The only thing this set is missing is Leia as well; since, you know, she stole the speeder bike first. But she wouldn't show up in Lego form for another year yet... I wonder, kinda, if Lego was just waiting to debut her until they got a set where she could be wearing her traditional 'danish bun' hairdo, since that's the one everyone remembers.
One of my first Lego Star Wats sets.
Loved it then, and still love it today.
A great little set.
@samuraiturtle said:
"This more about the plant parts. Those round cylinder leaves don't hold up to well, those leaves have a tendency to break off. I have a couple of sets that this has happened to. Plus the "spiky bush" has a similar problem with its multiple "leaves". I guess it is annoying when I take something out that I haven't messed with in some time and I find broken parts (like I have with this set). "
That's really interesting. I've never had the leaves break off on the cylinder plants, although I've never tried to bend them either. I have plenty of that bush though with broken tines, although they are from other families and not necessarily parts I've had their whole lives. I'm always scared of illegal connection in MOCs because plenty of clips break on me all the time when just using them regularly while plenty of other people say they've never had that problem, which then only leads me to assume that it must be partly due to living in Florida despite never allowing my bricks to get into sunlight, like there's something in the atmosphere with the humidity or just the general heat of the weather throughout the year. I don't know, strange things happen to LEGO parts over time.