The dark side of the brick

With some regret, I finally took apart one of my favourite sets: the 2018 Betrayal At Cloud City ( 75222 ).  For me, this is a game-changer from Lego: the move into making sets aimed squarely at adults, complete with a "master builder" theme.  Arguably, the Ewok Village and possibly the rightly-maligned Assault on Hoth are precursors in this theme but both of them are primarily play sets.  This one has elements of play to satisfy any 10 yr old but the overwhelming aim is to make a set which looks amazing. Firstly, it rocks in at 2812 parts and 21 minifigs (was this a record up to this point? I think it was).  You get a super-cool mid-sized Slave I and the only proper twin-pod cloud car since 2002(!).   But that's just where it starts: you get so much detail, faithfully recreating the art deco vibe of Cloud City.  All the key scenes are captured in a really compact space. I have to briefly mention the original Cloud City, which was a pretty cool set for...

I've been trying to clear some shelves on one side of the cupboard of Lego because I need the space for my wedge plates, which are currently in a whole range of places.  Yesterday I took apart the Saturn V rocket ( 21309 ) which had been sat at the back of said shelf for some years (probably nearly 5 at a guess) as I think it's the set that has been made up for the longest.  In front of that was my collection of Slave I sets. By my reckoning, excluding the UCS edition, there are 4 "large" versions and 3 smaller ones.  The oldest is 7144 from way back in 2000.  Dating from the days of limited brick pallettes (both types cand colours), this one rocks a green and brown vibe.  It's actually a pretty similar size to the latest version ( 75312 ) which is now renamed "Boba Fett's Starship" presumably in an attempt to be politically correct and the version that came with Betrayal at Cloud City ( 75222 ).  And the old 2000 edition only has a tiny 166 bricks!...