25 years of Lego Star Wars: check out the new ships, R2-D2 and a rampaging Darth Vader

The toy industry once had a choke hold on Lego of the kind that would meet with Darth Vader’s approval. Years of bad decisions had left Lego on the cusp of winking out of existence. And then Star Wars Lego arrived. The company‘s fortunes turned around, and the rest is history. History Lego’s now celebrating with sets marking 25 years of Lego Star Wars.

Anyone hoping for reissues of 1999’s sets is out of luck. Lego rarely gets on the reissue train. But we are getting three new midi-scale ships that won’t take a lightsaber to your bank account. And there’s also a new 1050-piece R2-D2, and a diorama featuring Darth Vader ‘boarding’ Tantive IV in a manner that would almost certainly get him kicked off an easyJet flight to Malaga.

• Check out all the current Star Wars Lego sets at Lego US or at Lego UK

All we need is his ship

Those ships first. The new 921-piece 24cm long Millennium Falcon ($84.99/£74.99) lacks the scale of the UCS model, but has the advantage it won’t take up half of your home. There are also similarly shelf-friendly takes on Tantive IV (654 pieces, $79.99/£69.99) and Invisible Hand (557 pieces, $49.99/£46.99). Each ship comes on a stand – which can easily be detached for swooshing action and dogfights when no-one’s looking.

Heading to a larger scale, we get a distinctly different take on Tantive IV – a bit of corridor. Fortunately, Boarding the Tantive IV (502 pieces, $54.99/£49.99) has a bunch of minifigs, so you can recreate what happens when Darth Vader rings the doorbell and no-one answers in time. Collectors will also love/hate the inclusion of ARC Trooper Fives. Expect to see a lot of this set minus said trooper on eBay…

The droid you’re looking for

If you don’t fancy spending north of two hundred bucks on a Lego R2-D2, you’re luck’s in, because the latest set costs about half of that ($99.99/£89.99). 1050 pieces nets you a still-detailed take on the famous droid, along with minifig R2-D2 and the debut of minifig Darth Malak. Much fun to be had in having minifig Malak chase minifig R2-D2 around a corner, only to face GIANT Artoo, we’re sure.

• Check out all the current Star Wars Lego sets at Lego US or at Lego UK

Although if you want to see really giant Artoo, you’ll need to head to Spielwarenmesse – the Nuremberg Toy Fair. There, you can gawp at a gigantic R2-D2 comprising 27,797 Lego elements. Can’t make it? Lego tells us it’s set to travel across Europe and the US throughout the year. Albeit probably not under its own steam. Also, giant Artoo isn’t for sale either – although that’s probably for the best. It’d cost as much as a car, and yet be absolutely useless for commuting to work.

The new sets celebrating 25 years of Lego Star Wars will be available from 1 March. 

• Related: The best large Lego sets: the top enormous Lego sets you should buy