The Star Wars universe, and movies in particular spawn a number of ‘top 10’ lists and with good reason too. Admittedly I’m biased and was tempted to follow suit and launch another generic ‘top 10 Star Wars bounty hunters’ list into this digital static we call the internet. However, I remembered my love for Lego and more importantly the years of enjoyment I got from recreating the epic space battles of Star Wars… one brick at a time.
So here is a top 10 for the unsung heroes of the Star Wars universe, for where would Luke be but living the rest of his life in an Imperial cell if it wasn’t for the Millennium Falcon.
10. Rebel Blockade Runner
Iconic in its own right, Minus a couple of moons and the curvature of Tatooine this is our first step into the Star Wars universe. Immediately painting the Rebels as the underdogs in this space opera with an Imperial Star Destroyer looming ever closer.
9. Naboo Starfighter
Some might see this as controversial, the inclusion of anything pre A New Hope could be construed as offensive. However, you can’t argue with the concept designer’s ability to design something that looks both fast and incredibly capable.
8. Tie Advance
Not your average Tie Fighter, this sees it’s inclusion into the top 10 because it’s Darth Vader’s. Forget Air Force One, imagine if government officials travelled via their own personal fighter jet.
7. Imperial Shuttle
Another one of Darth Vader’s myriad of personal transports, the Imperial Shuttle’s design is present across all three eras of the Star Wars movies and in any of its inceptions it never once lost the folding wing design.
6. B-Wing
Hardly featured in the movies, the B-Wing is a personal favourite. It harks back to an era where space combat games were popular. I’d often choose it because its profile made it incredibly difficult to hit.
5. Star Destroyer
The looming threat, we often see the Imperial Star Destroyer parked in orbit of planets within the Star Wars movies. Whether they are acting as blockades, or the looming Imperial fist poised to strike at the first sign of dissidence they set the precedence of authoritarian control.
4. Tie Fighter
Cheap, reliable and mass produced. If the Empire were ever involved in space combat, you’d find Tie Fighter’s present en masse. It wasn’t a case of how capable the fighters were but how overwhelming they became in numbers. Combine that with the iconic shape and sound and you have a craft worthy of position 4!
3. Slave 1
Is it the character or is it the ship? Whatever the topic I’d always try and get Boba Fett into a top ten. He’s relatively useless in the original saga however the character still managed to gain cult following and any number of spin offs or background stories only help to enforce the fact he was… is? Awesome.
2. Millenium Falcon
It made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. All clichés aside, the Millennium Falcon was a device and reason the original saga succeeded. It was a versatile, no questions asked vessel that was in the right place at the right time and it was crewed by some of the most likeable Star Wars characters… Ever.
1. X-Wing
“Lock S-Foils in attack position”. The Rebel’s secret weapon in many senses, the X-Wing is fully or partially to credit for the destruction of 2 Death Stars. Granted the Imperial structural engineers need some serious guidance, if it wasn’t for the versatility the X-Wing offers I doubt the rebels would have succeeded.
All of these were / are available as Star Wars Lego – Ultimate Collector Edition models. Some of which are no longer in production and sell on eBay upwards of £3000, in an era of mass production and limited collectability it’s nice to know newer Star Wars collectibles can be made, saved and sold within a decade for insane prices.