The dark side of the brick

Back in 2007, Lego started something new with the release of two "battle packs".  The first was the Droids BP ( 7654 ) which came with a mini tank and an STAP and 7 minifigs.  And I have a soft spot for this one as my girlfriend (now wife) bought it for me for Christmas that year.  This one didn't quite set the mould but the next one, the Clone Troopers BP ( 7655 ) had what is now the standard 4 figs.   Two a year were pretty common but there was a brief increase to 3 and then 4 around 2015/16/17.  It's worth noting that at this point, the "battle pack" label was dropped for a few years and the sets I think conform to the BP mould are starred (they were generally called "troopers").  In total I think there are 36... though none for 2021 as yet! The BP sets range from 58 parts (the Clone Troopers one) up to 125 parts (Bounty Hunters BP from 2017) with an average that looks to be around 100 parts.  You now typically get 4 minifigs and some sort of s...

After a couple more nights' work on 10179, I got distracted again.  Today, another Ebay purchase arrived, which I think is the last of the battle packs I need to complete the collection.  Back in the early days of courtship with my wife, she bought me the very first battle pack as a birthday present - 7654 Droids Battle Pack.  It came in at significantly fewer pieces than the UCS sets which were the only other things I owned at the time so was, if I'm very honest, a bit of a disappointment.   As a rule, I still find the Battle Packs to be an oddity.  Apart from the very first of them, they all conform to a strict rule of 4 minifigs (7654 had no less than 7!) along with a small vehicle/gun.  In many cases, the minifigs are a bit unimaginative - you get 3 or sometimes even 4 of the same one and, for a set where these are clearly the focus, they're often not unique.   However, today's delivery is a near mint copy (for a really good price of £20!...