For over two decades, the LEGO and Star Wars partnership has endured and thrived. It is nothing if not consistent; the sets are geared toward every skill level, from beginner to advanced, and all of the sets—even the most rudimentary—are reliably high-quality. The massive ship and droid replicas get the most press. But even the more idiosyncratic sets—like the movie dioramas, for example—still capture the look, feel, and whimsy of their inspirations.
But LEGO is a costly hobby—one that requires a selective eye, so that only la crème de la crème makes it on your shopping list. To help you, we've updated last year's list by removing all the retired sets and adding the best of the new ones. Here are the 10 Best LEGO Star Wars sets that you can buy in 2024.
Take a look at our guide to the best Star Wars gifts and more Lego gift ideas for more options..
TL;DR: The Best Star Wars LEGO Sets
- TIE Bomber
- Emperor's Throne Room Diorama
- AT-TE Walker
- Millennium Falcon
- Chewbacca
- R2-D2
- X-Wing Starfighter
- Mos Eisley Cantina
- Millennium Falcon
- AT-AT Walker
10. TIE Bomber
The TIE Bomber is a sturdy little build with a good price for its piece count. It has two play mechanics—first, stud shooters in its front that allow you to shoot "lasers," and second, a hatch underneath the vehicle, which that allows you to drop a payload for four torpedoes onto unsuspecting rebel scum.
9. Emperor's Throne Room Diorama
Released in honor of Return of the Jedi's 40th anniversary, this diorama depicts the ending, climactic scene, where Luke and Vader do battle while the Emperor looks on, cackling evilly. The various Star Wars dioramas are all pretty detailed, but this one stands out due to its iconic symmetry.
8. AT-TE Walker
The new AT-TE Walker (from Revenge of the Sith) looks exactly like what it is: a heavy artillery unit with a massive cannon. The model has room to seat seven Clone Troopers as they take on the Separatist droid army. Its sturdy, bottom-heavy design makes it excellent for play or display.
7. Millennium Falcon
Don't get us wrong. If you're a die-hard Star Wars fans with $800 to spare, then the massive 7541-piece Collector's Edition Millennium Falcon (Set #7541) is the one for you. But for the average person, the 1353-piece Falcon is more than wonderful, and it contains most of the bigger version's detail on a smaller scale. You still get a gun turret, a dejarik table, and a trap door, and you'll still have some money to buy a second set.
Check out our list of the best LEGO sets for adults for more options like this.
6. Chewbacca
Bigger and cuter than you'd think, this massive Chewbacca build is appropriately imposing, and it comes with a signature bowcaster. We built this set back when it launched, and we were impressed by how it used alternatingly colored bricks to create the illusion of musculature and fur.
5. R2-D2
I previewed and photographed the LEGO R2-D2 set. It was one of the most challenging build experiences I've had since I started this hobby. The end result, however, is worth the effort. Just keep track of the front and the back of the model, and you'll be fine. R2-D2 has a retractable third leg, a fully rotatable helmet, and a flexible structure that allows it to jiggle back and forth, Kenny Baker-style.
4. X-Wing Starfighter
We built the X-Wing in celebration of Star Wars Day (2023). It is—by a considerable stretch—the most detailed, intensive model of an X-Wing ever built. It is for display only; make sure you have at least two feet of shelf space to do it justice. It was the most fun we'd had building a set in months, and it comes highly recommended.
3. Mos Eisley Cantina
A "wretched hive of scum and villainy" indeed. This recreation of an iconic movie scene—a testament to the power of practical special effects, costuming, and makeup—is wonderful and comes up a whopping 21 mini-figures, including three members of the Cantina band, Greedo, Ponda Baba, the iconic bar patrons, and a massive Dewback that's hunting for two droids.
2. Millennium Falcon
LEGO sets usually have a short production lifespan; the old sets get retired to make way for new ones. But the massive Millennium Falcon, which weighs in at 7541 pieces and launched in 2017, is still going strong. It's constantly on backorder, and for good reason; it's a modern classic amongst the LEGO faithful. It comes with two crews—the original crew, with Han, Luke, and Leia, and the sequel crew, with old Han Solo, Rey, and Finn. And it's got fully realized interiors in addition to its articulable exterior. In 2017, back when this set launched, adult sets were the exception and not the rule. This was a groundbreaking testament to what LEGO could be. Today, with so many other sets that reach its level of complexity, it's a fulfilled example of what LEGO has become.
1. AT-AT Walker
And lastly, here's the best of the prohibitively expensive sets: a massive, 2 foot tall LEGO AT-AT Walker. Open the main compartment, and there's room for 40 minifigures—a platoon big enough to take down the Rebel base. There's even a cockpit and gun turret in the head. The entire model is articulable, but the LEGO AT-AT is definitely an adult build for posing rather than play. It is extremely imposing in person, sure to dominate any dwelling space it occupies.
Why Star Wars and LEGO is a Perfect Fit
Lots of times, when LEGO creates a set, it is an uncanny approximation of something real. The artistry is in making these bricks, rods, pins, and gears fit together and do something that perhaps, they weren't originally meant to do. But when it comes to Star Wars LEGO sets—especially the more massive ones—the vehicles and droids look unusually "native"—as if LEGO itself was conceived with Star Wars in mind. It's why the 4784-piece Imperial Star Destroyer looks more like a genuine Star Destroyer rather than a "LEGO" Star Destroyer.
This is part auspiciousness; the Star Wars universe is very angular, with clean lines that lend themselves to the LEGO aesthetic, And this also part effort; the designers put an outsized amount of time into "greebling"— the attention to micro surface detail that makes a monochromatic surface look layered, technically functional and interesting.
LEGO Star Wars sets, in other words, are in a class of their own.
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
