Top 10 Retired Lego Sets I’d Love To Own

10. Droid Escape

This is a very small set that is actually pretty reasonable to pick-up. And it is over 20 years old. Lego only had it out for a single year, but it wasn’t an expensive set then so it isn’t too expensive now. I am sure with it being Star Wars that a good number of them sold.

What is it about this set that I like? It is an iconic scene for me from Star Wars. You start out A New Hope with that great scene on the spaceship, but you quickly go to the droids on Tatooine. And this is just the escape pod and the two droids. But I think that is enough for the set because it just shows you what you want from that scene. Everyone is going to know where this is from in Star Wars by just looking at it.

9. The SHIELD Helicarrier

This is a huge set so definitely not one I will track down. But I really like the set. The Helicarrier looks great, and it is an iconic element of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I wonder if Lego will every make one again? Maybe, I guess, if it shows up again in another movie. But the set is now $425. That is a lot, though, it started out at $350, so it isn’t a set that has gone up a ton in price.

I suspect that people like the set, but it is one where the minifigs are a bit more limited. And I believe that sets often times go up more in price if they have a rare minifig to go with them. But for a big set, it just looks cool and it is very detailed which is important for me as a nerdy Marvel and Lego fan. Though, it is hard to find Lego sets that I really want for Marvel because so many of them just kind of feel normal.

8. Iron Man Hall of Armor

This is an interesting one to have on the list. But it is one that feels less normal when it comes to Marvel Lego sets. It is not the biggest set, but for Iron Man it is pretty iconic. You get a number of different Iron Man armors, and you get the base that Tony Stark uses to get in and out of some of the armors I believe in Iron Man 3.

This set is one that is reasonable to get. It is more reasonable than a lot on the list for two reasons. Firstly, it is not super expensive. Used it is $43. In fact, the price is lower for it now even new than when it came out. But also it is reasonable because it is not a massive set. As much as I like the Helicarrier on the list, that is hard to display. This is going to be easy to display if I get it.

7. Kylo Ren’s Shuttle

The only Lego set from the sequels that I found to put on the list. This is one that I do think I want to try and track down. We own Poe’s black X-Wing, found a good deal on that. So if I can find a good deal on Kylo Ren’s Shuffle, that would be great. The detail is nice on it, and it comes with a good number of minifigs.

I don’t think it is the hardest to find as well. So while it is a not a super cheap set, it is not super expensive either as compared to some of the other sets on the list. I did a good job of not picking too many expensive sets, I think, this time around. Though, there are definitely some that are a long ways up there.

6. The Black Pearl

I think this one is pretty easy to say why I’d like it. This is from The Pirates of the Caribbean, a series of films that I’ve enjoyed really for the most part. Though, I think I’ve only seen four, are there five now, I don’t know. But The Black Pearl is an major part of those films. And this is a nice looking version of it and very black.

There are so many different pirate ships out there to pick as well. I know there are a lot of classic ones which could make the list. But not having a pirate ship Lego set growing up, it is something that I don’t have as much nostalgia for. So The Black Pearl is more fun for me than some of the other older ones.

5. Ahsoka’s Starfighter and Vulture Droid

I like Star Wars Lego sets. I think that much is obvious by this point. This one i like because it gives you that Clone Wars feel with it with an iconic character is Ahsoka. Yes, there are a lot of new sets with her from the Ahsoka show, but I need to watch that still. I’ve been watching the Clone Wars because my kid has been, and she is great in that.

This is a set that is expensive, though. Some of it is because she’s a popular character and Star Wars. Some also because this is apparently a Wal-Mart exclusive that was out for a single year. So it is going to be more limited in how many people picked it up, I’d think. Still, a set that I’d love to get my hands on, especially if I can find a nice used copy of it.

4. The Battle of Helms Deep

This is a massive castle set in a lot of ways. And it is not cheap to pick up used. I think that it goes for about $400 used and only about $100 more new. I’m sure if you get lucky you can find it cheaper used, but you would need to get lucky. But this set just looks great. And it really is a big set with so much going on in it and so many characters that we like. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas all are part of the set.

And if you read my other list, you know that I like the Lord of the Rings sets a lot. So this is one that feels even more of a bummer to have missed on. It is such an iconic scene and probably my favorite scene from the movies, I love the battle at Helm’s Deep, that it is a set that I would just love to own.

3. The Upside Down

There has only been one Stranger Things Lego set. I am not too shocked by that. It is something that people love, but is it going to give us a ton of iconic locations? No. It is just the US in the 1980’s. And while people love the 80’s, they aren’t going to buy Lego sets for it.

This set, however, I like because it combines not only the house from season one but also the upside down. So you get to see both elements that are pretty iconic for the show. And you need the upside down in there, I think, to really make it feel different than just being a normal house set of some sort.

2. Mos Espa Podrace

I know that people don’t love Episode 1 of Star Wars. Want to know something, it is my favorite of the prequels, even with Jar-Jar Binks playing such a major role in the film. And the podracing scene is awesome. I own the diorama set that they came out for adults not too long ago, and it is great. But this one is the podracers themselves all big and awesome looking. And it has Sebulba and Anakin’s podracers.

This is a set I think I could see myself getting. It has gone up in value, but it is not a crazy price used. Yes, it is more expensive than it was on release, but only by fifty more dollars. I know that I won’t buy this one used, though because that is about $400.

1. Gandalf Arrives

Why is this one at the top of my list? I’m not 100% sure. There are amazing bigger sets, but this one is just that starting moment of The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf is arriving and it’s going to be time for Bilbo’s 111th birthday. The set is simple but it looks great. And it has Frodo and Gandalf in the set along with some great looking fireworks in the back of the wagon.

I think this is also high on the list because it’s slightly more accessible. It is small so that point of being good value isn’t there, but it’s only around $50 used for a really nice looking set. And while you can grab it new, it almost doubles in price to get it in the box. This is really one where I wish I’d been more into collection Lego when it came out.

Final Thoughts

One of the great things about Lego is all the sets that they have put out before. And you can try and track them down. And you see my list, I do plan on tracking some of them down at some point in time. Especially #10 and #1 I think I might try and find both of them.

But Lego is always coming out with so many new sets that are amazing. So if you miss a set, I don’t think it is that big a deal. Yes, you might never be able to get another one of Kylo Ren’s Shuttles. That might be gone forever, but there is going to be new Star Wars sets. In fact, we are a few days away from May the 4th, and Lego is going to announce and drop more sets then. So you always are able to find new awesome sets, and I know I will find more that I would love to get.

What is a set that you are really glad you have because it’s old and hard to find? Or is there a set that you wish you had?

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Numbers

A’s – B’s – C’s – D’s – E and F’s – G and H’s

I, J and K’s

ICECOOL (and ICECOOL 2)

Yes, that is how the name is listed on Board Game Geek, so I’m going with that. ICECOOL was a flicking game, that I forget where I stumbled across it, probably the Dice Tower, and what was interesting about the game is that not only were you flicking the penguins, not something that I had done before, but the box formed the penguin high school that you were flicking the penguins around. Just how the different parts of the box formed the board and stuck to together was cool. Add in ICECOOL 2, now you can play with up to 8 people, you can either do the normal way with hall monitors trying to catch the students ducking out of class or race around the board if you want another mode to play. The game is a ton of fun, and has always been a smashing success at game nights.

Status: Played

InBetween

Another game that I know I learned about on the Dice Tower, this is a two player only game that has a theme that reminded me of Stranger Things when Sam Healey would talk about it. This game has one person playing the InBetween or basically the upside-down nd the other person playing the real world. There are a group of people, and you are trying to put your influence on them and make it so that the people go to your side and not your opponents, So it’s an interesting tug of war sort of game as you try and figure out through card play how to influence that. That concept really drew me to the game, and the them, because playing a Stranger Things game, basically, sounded like a lot of fun.

Status: To Be Played

The Isle of Cats

This game has cats, that’s a selling point, but it also has your drafting cards and playing down polyominoes, think Tetris sort of pieces, which are the cats onto your ship, all the while trying to create “families” of like colored cats to score points. Plus you have objective cards, and there are sections on the boat that you need to fill up. But you have to be able to pay for this call, so you get baskets to pick up the cats you have to pay for, you have to pay for the cats with fish, because fish lure cats into baskets, and you have to pay fish for the cards that you draft that you decide to keep. There’s a lot going on in the game but all of it seems to flow together quite well.

Status: To Be Played

Just One

Party games can be hit or miss for me, but Just One is a really good game. Firstly, it’s cooperative, which I think can be an issue with other party games. I get that something like Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples are supposed to have the in jokes created, but it eventually just becomes people playing those in jokes because they are funny versus because they are trying that hard to win, even games like Stipulations, which I also like, eventually has people starting to put down the same jokes. Just One, however, since it is cooperative, has people focused on helping the group by coming up with a good one word clue that hopefully no one else will have. I also like how those clues work so well, one word, if it’s duplicated by someone else, you can’t see either clue. That really ups the ante for people putting out unique clues which makes guessing the right thing harder, but maybe with all the clues together a more obscure clue will make more sense.

Status: Played

King of Tokyo

My only K game as well, King of Tokyo was one of the earlier games I got. You’ll find that a lot of the earlier games are one’s that I saw on Wil Wheaton’s TableTop show. This was one that looked like a lot of fun, and still gets played probably a couple of times per year. The game works well because it is a nice simple step up from other games. You are rolling dice Yahtzee style and either getting numbers for points Farkle style, getting punches, getting energy (think currency), or healing up. Now there are more rules, but for the most part the punches and the points are what you really care about because you can either win by knocking everyone else out or by getting enough points. That’s one thing that I really enjoyed about the game is that you have two options to win as well, that wasn’t super common or possibly even a thing, in the games that I’d played before.

Status: Played

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