Podracing

Another month has gone by and I've not had much time for Lego.  A trip to Scotland to see family, a night away with the better half and a week in Singapore with work has left me with less time than ideal.  Still, I have managed to do find some brick time... and this month cleared out my podracing sets.

Lego has delivered podracers in 3 and a half distinct styles: initially, way back in 1999 some of the very first SWL was the Mos Espa Podrace set (7171) with Anakin's podracer released as a standalone set (7131).  This was followed up in 2001 with Watto's junk yard (7186) which added another two podracers, albeit one of them in junk parts.  These sets share a - to modern eyes - somewhat clunky tan stand but are otherwise excellent examples of early design with the brick selection available at the time.  Good use of printed parts enhances the design.  These are a great addition to any Lego collection and there are some rare minifigs in there (Watto, Sebulba, Aldar Beedo)

Just a year later in 2000, the Podracing bucket (7159) landed.  I'm not 100% convinced I know how this got the "bucket" sobriquet but it was clearly aimed at younger builders and features some pretty basic designs.  Not Lego at its finest.

The third phase was 2011 with the release of Anakin and Sebulba's podracers (7962).  This is a very nicely crafted set with some great design, especially on Sebulba's podracer which, quite honestly, outshines Anakin's in every way.  The big advance is a clear technic beam chassis with a handle that can either be held or inserted into a nice little stand which shows off the perfect balance. I really like these two and the set narrowly misses my top 10 non-UCS sets.

The final half phase was the 2019 "20th anniversary" Anakin's podracer (75258).  This is a slightly improved version of the 2011 set but doesn't add much for me - much better to get the 2011 set with Sebulba's monster included.