The Missing Minifigures of LEGO Star Wars
/For nearly 25 years, The LEGO Group has been releasing minifigures based on the Star Wars Original Trilogy (OT). But despite the already extensive range, there are still several characters from Episodes IV, V, and VI that have not yet been produced in minifigure form—which is great news for collectors.
Today, with the help of the original line-up of Kenner Star Wars action figures and characters from The Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG), I’m going to identify around 70 characters that could be immortalised as LEGO minifigures in the future… with some candidates more likely than others!
Kenner Action Figures (1977 to 1985) with no equivalent Minifigure. Nien Numb, Squid Head (Tessek), Klaatu, and Prune Face (Orrimaarko) Photograph by Christopher Clarke.
Acknowledgments
But first, this article would not have been possible without the support of Rebelscum and the Star Wars Customizable Card Game Committee who have allowed me to use a selection of images from their comprehensive archives. As well as passing on my gratitude, I would highly recommend a visit to both sites, which hold a treasure trove of Star Wars lore.
Contents of a Saga
Because this is a longer article and deep dive, we’ve created handy jump links to help you navigate.
Luke Skywalker (SW0778) from 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina. Photo by Christopher Clarke.
Additionally, all of the the lists referenced in this article can be found in this PDF.
Part 1 - The Original Trilogy
The Core of the Franchise
Star Wars is a big franchise. No, scrub that—Star Wars is a gargantuan franchise. Since The Force Awakens was released in 2015, the amount of Star Wars content has exploded with films, TV shows, animation, and a host of merchandise and collectables to go with it.
But it’s sometimes easy to forget that between 1977 and 1999 (around half its history), Star Wars consisted of just six hours of live-action content from the three original movies (excluding the Holiday Special obviously). During that time, those precious 360 minutes never once left our collective consciousness. The Expanded Universe (now ‘Legends’) partly satisfied the demand from insatiable fans, but the best indicator of how the popularity of the Original Trilogy had endured came with the release of The Phantom Menace in 1999.
The clamour to see the new Star Wars film reached a fever pitch, fans queued outside cinemas a month before the release, companies closed on opening day, and box office records were smashed… all for a franchise that had only six hours of live-action content from 20 years before.
Star Wars Cumulative Live Action Content (1977 to 2022)
Characters Per Minute
For me, the most stunning aspect of the Original Trilogy, and what sets it apart from all other films, is the attention to detail that has been given to every second of footage. I can’t think of another 360 minutes of media content that has been so thoroughly explored.
There are 102 original Kenner figures (remember that name, they are the company that was licensed to make official Star Wars action figures), which represent a character for every 3½ minutes of the Original Trilogy. The 181 LEGO minifigures improve on this frequency with a character for every 2 minutes. But astonishingly, the 590 OT character cards from the Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG) represent a character for every 37 seconds. Outstanding! (Don’t worry, I’ll let you know how I got to those numbers in a bit).
The Expanding Minifigure Galaxy
As you may be able to tell, my three favourite Star Wars collectables are the Kenner action figures, the SW:CCG and of course, LEGO Star Wars minifigures. But Kenner and the SW:CCG ceased production in 1985 and 2001 respectively, leaving only LEGO the opportunity to create new ‘unique characters’.
But what do I mean by ‘unique character’, and how many has The LEGO Group delivered to date? Let’s look at the numbers…
Part 2 - LEGO Star Wars Minifigures
The Numbers
At the end of 2022, there were 1,300 Star Wars minifigures listed on BrickLink. 530 (41%) were from the Original Trilogy, and I have categorised these into 181 ‘unique characters’.
LEGO Star Wars Minifigures by Category
Since 1999, an average of 22 Original Trilogy minifigures have been released each year, and the OT is the only part of the Star Wars franchise that has received at least one new figure every year, as you can see in the mountainous graph below.
Timeline of LEGO Star Wars Minifigures
What Counts As An Original Trilogy Minifigure?
I’ve made some adjustments to the BrickLink minifigure categories to come to the number of 530 OT minifigures. For completeness, the adjustments were as follows:
Figures included in both Original Trilogy (OT) and Prequel Trilogy (PT) sets have been included as OT, for example, Yoda (sw0051).
Figures that are included in OT sets but were not seen on screen have been excluded, for example, Vice Admiral Sloane (sw1250) from 75347 TIE Bomber.
Characters from the OT that haven’t yet been included in an OT set have been excluded. For example, Gamorrean Guard (sw1196) and Bib Fortuna (sw1193) from 75326 Boba Fett’s Throne Room (more on that in Part 5).
OT characters in costumes that did not appear on-screen have been excluded, for example, Darth Vader Holidaying in Mauritius (sw1239).
Images via BrickLink.
Grouping Minifigures into ‘Unique Characters’
Some of the 530 OT Minifigures are different versions of the same character. For example, Luke Skywalker (Stormtrooper Disguise) is one character, but between 2008 and 2022 three versions of the character have been released.
In total, there are 14 unique ‘characters’ from the 50 Luke Skywalker minifigures (30625 Blue Milk Luke is not one of them!). And yes, there are 11 versions of Luke in his X-wing pilot outfit!
Images via BrickLink.
Across the whole Original Trilogy, I grouped the 530 OT minifigures into 181 unique characters but, as you may expect, this is a subjective process. 95% of the categorisations are pretty straightforward, but others may want to split the remaining 5% a different way. There is no right or wrong answer here, so whatever works best for you. You can peruse the data in this list of the 181 unique characters in PDF form.
Part 3 - Kenner
‘Chase is on the Case’
Image © rebelscum.com. Kenner Yak Face Action Figure with no Minifigure equivalent.
In 1977, Kenner, a small toy company from Cincinnati, Ohio, won the rights to produce Star Wars action figures. ‘Won’ is perhaps not quite the right word to describe the process, as during the production of Star Wars, all the major toy companies had turned Lucasfilm down.
This was partly due to the risk of taking on an unknown franchise but also because of the short production times Lucas had given the toy companies. But Kenner was up for the task and quickly realised the spaceships would form a core part of the product line. Action figures at the time were large, usually between 6 and 12 inches, a scale that would have made it impossible to produce ships that could house the action figures.
At that point, a legendary decision was made by Bernie Loomis, Kenner President. His team needed to set the standard height for the figures, and Bernie opened his thumb and forefinger and said, ‘make them that big’. The 3¾ inch-scale action figure was born.
Early Bird
The deal with Lucasfilm was too close to the movie’s release in May 1977 to get toys on the shelves for Christmas that year. This led to the famous Early Bird Gift Certificate, essentially a promise to be the first to receive the figures when they were released in 1978.
The Netflix show The Toys That Made Us gives us a fascinating history of the Kenner Star Wars toy line, and I would highly recommend a watch if you find this story of interest. (They’ve also done an episode on LEGO.)
Image © rebelscum.com. Kenner Early Bird Gift Certificate.
The Card Back System
Image © tjcollecting Visit their Flickr page Here. 92-Back Kenner Action Figure.
Despite the Early Bird compromise, the first 12 figures were delivered to fans in 1978 to huge acclaim. A picture of each figure was shown on the reverse of the packaging, and this led to the first wave of figures referred to as ’12-backs’. As new figures were produced during the run of the Original Trilogy, the number of figures pictured on the reverse gradually expanded until it finally reached 92, and of course, these figures are called ’92-backs’.
92 is the figure often quoted as the number of original Kenner figures, but as is usual with these things, it was not that straightforward. Additional figures were produced and, to varying degrees, are included by collectors in their count of total figures. The 10 additional figures I would like to highlight are:
Kenner’s Additional Figures not on the 92 Card Back
A full list of all 102 Kenner figures is available in the PDF.
Hasbro
Hasbro acquired Kenner, and in 1995, Star Wars action figures returned to toy shelves, expanding the number of characters far beyond the original 102 produced by Kenner.
Original Trilogy Star Wars figures have been a permanent fixture in stores ever since, and again, are unprecedented given the content is based on three films made over 40 years ago.
Image © rebelscum.com. Hasbro Death Star Briefing (2006). Left to Right – Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Admiral Motti, Colonel Wulf Yularen, General Tagge, Chief Bast and Officer Cass.
Part 4 - The Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG)
The Best of Both Worlds
In November 1994, Decipher Inc., a card company from Norfolk, Virginia, launched the Star Trek Customisable Card Game (ST:CCG). (Yes, we are mentioning Star Trek for a brief moment.) Initially, the game covered Star Trek: The Next Generation, but would also go on to cover The Original Series, the movies, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise. It was a big success, and Decipher quickly purchased the rights to Star Wars, and in December 1995, the Star Wars Customisable Card Game (SW:CCG) was launched.
Card images provided for use by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee. Imperial Officers from the Death Star Briefing scene. Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Admiral Motti, Colonel Wulf Yularen, General Tagge, and Chief Bast Premier Edition Card List.
The first edition consisted of 324 cards, and on release, it was clear Decipher had struck upon another success. 11 expansion sets followed covering Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Phantom Menace, and the Special Editions. In 2001, Lucasfilm did not renew Decipher’s licence, sadly ending production of the SW:CCG. But, the game has lived on for over 20 years under the custodianship of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game Players Committee.
As well as maintaining an extensive database of all the original cards, they are custodians of the rules, run tournaments, and produce new virtual cards from other areas of the Star Wars franchise. Even if you didn’t extravagantly spend your hard-earned cash back on the SW:CCG back in the 1990s like me, the site is a must-visit for any Star Wars fan.
Encyclopedia
The most captivating aspect of the SW:CCG is its sheer depth. It is such a comprehensive record of the Original Trilogy, and because of this, was even responsible for creating new Star Wars Cannon in the form of names and biographies for some of the lesser-known characters. The game has 2,518 unique cards covering ships, characters, planets, locations, and more, and approximately 590 of these cards come in the form of Original Trilogy characters.
Different Types of SW:CCG Cards
Card images provided for use by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee. Decipher Set List.
With all that background covered, it’s now time to move onto the ‘meat’ of the article and answer the questions… which Original Trilogy LEGO minifigures are missing from the line-up, and what new minifigures might we expect from The LEGO Group in the coming years?
Part 5 - LEGO’s Missing Main Cast Figures
Familiar Territory
Image © Lucasfilm. Leia Organa Bespin Escape.
The LEGO Group has thoroughly covered minifigures of the main cast, however, before we return to Kenner and the SW:CCG, I want to take a quick look to see if there are any gaps in the line-up.
The biggest omission to date is Leia’s escape from Cloud City, where she traded her red Bespin dress for an all-action white boiler suit with tied-back braided hair.
Some less likely contenders, also from the end of Empire Strikes Back, include Lando Calrissian wearing a Han Solo-style waistcoat, Princess Leia looking out across the galaxy wearing a dress with a gigantic hood, and Luke Skywalker in the same scene wearing what I can only describe as his ‘Comfies’.
Image © Lucasfilm. Lando Calrissian with Waist Coast.
Image © Lucasfilm. Leia and Luke in Comfy Clothes.
Leia (Bespin Escape) is a no-brainer. It has already been released as a Hasbro figure and it would not come as a surprise if a minifigure was released. Luke Skywalker (Comfies) is also a no-brainer, but for precisely the opposite reasons! (While a new set or themed LEGO Advent Calendar would be great avenues for these characters, we’ve also looked into LEGO’s proclivity of ignoring Leia in their holiday offerings, so don’t get your hopes up.)
Force Ghosts and Force Lightening
The technology of plastic manufacturing is beyond me, and I can’t speak with any authority on the difficulties of creating minifigures of Force ghosts or the unfortunate victims of the Emperor’s Force lightning. But technology aside, these figures represent iconic moments from the movies and would be a significant addition to the OT minifigure line-up.
Image © Lucasfilm. Darth Vader receives a dose of Force Lightning from his former best mate, Emperor Palpatine.
I expect the Force ghosts of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Anakin Skywalker would be a ‘Holy Grail’ for The LEGO Group given their importance to the films, and presumably, only the science of plastics is preventing their imminent arrival. In 2021, we saw the release of Transparent Light Blue and Transparent Dark Pink minifigure legs. However, looking at online prototypes of fully transparent minifigures, you can start to see how the joints between the parts produce an aesthetic result that would likely not be up to the high standards required by The LEGO Group (even though LEGO fans would be over the moon).
Part 6 - LEGO’s Missing Kenner Minifigures
Prunes, Yaks and Squid
Image © rebelscum.com. Kenner Squid Head (Tessek) Action Figure with no Minifigure equivalent.
Comparing 98 (of 102) Kenner figures to the 181 LEGO characters, we find that 80 have been produced as minifigures leaving 18 to still be produced.
At least one new Kenner character has been produced in minifigure form every year between 1999 and 2020. However, for the first time, there were no new characters in either 2021 or 2022.
The last five ‘Kenner’ Minifigures produced were:
Timeline of 'Kenner Minifigure Releases
18 Kenner Figures Without a LEGO Minifigure Equivalent
I expected that there would be about five to ten missing figures, so to have 18 means The LEGO Group still has a lot of ground to cover—which is good news for fans. Even more surprising is the fact that 17 of the 18 figures are from Return of the Jedi (ROTJ) with 10 of those being from Jabba’s Palace. The only Minifigure not from ROTJ is Red Snaggletooth from the Cantina.
Of all the figures on the list, Nien Numb is the most famous omission. The colloquial named Pruneface (Orrimaarko), Yak Face (Saelt-Marae) and Squid Head (Tessek) have quite pronounced features, and would also make distinctive minifigures.
List of the 18 Missing Kenner Minifigures
Selected Missing Kenner Minifigures
IMAGE © rebelscum.com. Kenner Nien Numb, Anakin Skywalker, Barada and Imperial Dignitary All with no Minifigure equivalent.
But the main story is the ten missing characters from Act 1 of Return of the Jedi in Jabba’s Palace and Sail Barge. I’m not making any predictions, but a minifigure-heavy set like 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina would be an excellent way to address some of these gaps, and perhaps there are clues as to its likeliness? A future Jabba’s Palace set or UCS Sail Barge would certainly provide an opportunity for LEGO to fill in the gaps.
MAGE © rebelscum.com. Kenner Klaatu, Sy Snootles and Droopy McCool all with no Minifigure Equivalent.
Mould Predictions
Is a minifigure-heavy LEGO set based on Jabba’s Palace and/or Sail Barge likely in the near future? Here are some observations:
Of the Kenner figures without a minifigure counterpart, 10 of the 18 are from Jabba’s scenes in Return of the Jedi. Their inclusion within the Kenner line-up also adds to the characters’ popularity with fans and would almost certainly be well received as minifigures.
We have not yet had a minifigure-heavy Master Builder set from Return of the Jedi. 75222 Betrayal at Cloud City (2018) and 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina (2020) each have 21 minifigures covering scenes from Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope.
10 alien minifigures from Jabba’s Palace have been produced by The LEGO Group, including Bib Fortuna, Gamorrean Guard and Jabba the Hutt. However, 9 of the 10 figures are a decade old, meaning some updates may be on the cards (although looking at them, they still hold up very well).
10 Alien Minifigures that have been produced from Jabba’s Palace
Finally, back to 75326 Boba Fett’s Throne Room which contained the first head mould for a member of the Quarren species—that is the same species that Squid Head (Tessek) belongs to. It would be a shame not to see this mould reused for Jabba’s favourite accountant (seriously, the guy knew US GAAP). That set also contained a new Gamorrean Guard Minifigure (sw1196), and despite lacking the bookkeeping proficiency of his tentacled friend, would also be extremely welcome in a future Return of the Jedi set.
However, despite the evidence presented above, I’m going to take the approach of Danish physicist Niels Bohr who said “prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future” and put these into the basket of ‘observations’, not predictions, as I sit here on top my very comfortable fence.
A full list of the 102 Kenner figures is available in this PDF.
Part 7 - LEGO’s Missing Star Wars CCG Minifigures
Journey to the Outer Rim
To take our search further, we’re going to need a level of detail that can only be provided by the Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG). In particular, there are four areas of the Original Trilogy I want to look at:
Imperial Leadership
Rebels
The Cantina
Droids
Imperial Leadership
To date, The LEGO Group has produced just five unique Imperial Officers: Grand Moff Tarkin, Colonel Yularen, Admiral Piett, General Veers in Battle Armour, and General Veers in the standard Imperial uniform.
The Five Named Imperial Leadership Minifigures
If we turn back to the Death Star briefing room scene (or Imperial Senior Leadership Team Away Day that got out of control), there are three more officers that could be added to LEGO’s line-up…
Admiral Motti – Hubristic victim of the Vader’s force choke.
General Tagge – Conservative in nature, very concerned about the Rebel threat.
Chief Bast – A man of wisdom and foresight who tried to persuade Tarkin to leave the Death Star just before it exploded... I imagine he sprinted straight to the shuttle bay right after that tête-à-tête with the Grand Moff.
Image © Lucasfilm. Darth Vader Leading a group activity at the Imperial Senior LEadership Team Away Day, probably including trust falls and Force chokes.
The problem with Imperial Officers as LEGO minifigures is that because of the standard uniform, it is difficult to create highly differentiated figures—and might be the reason we only have five to date.
Tarkin was obviously a ‘must have’ in the line-up, Veers can be differentiated with battle armour, and Yularen has that distinctive white tunic. But the standard General Veers and Admiral Piett look almost interchangeable, and this would be a hurdle that Motti, Tagge and Bast would need to overcome to complete the briefing room scene.
Minifigure Versions of Death Star Briefing Scene characters
That said, both Admiral Motti and General Tagge were not wearing hats in the scene, meaning hair moulds could be used as an additional form of differentiation... add to that the impressive 1970s English sideburns on display from the pair, and there’s potentially quite a bit to work with.
Officers from Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
Differentiation remains an issue for the other main Imperial officers: Admiral Ozzel, Captain Needa and Moff Jerjerrod.
Card images provided for use by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee. Admiral Ozzel, Captain Needa and Moff Jerjerrod. Hoth Expansion Card List, Dagobah Expansion Card List and Death Star II Expansion Card List.
Ozzel and Needa were famously dispatched by Vader for varying levels of incompetence, while Jerjerrod has my complete sympathies for the position he finds himself in being responsible for the construction of the second Death Star, a gigantic mega project measuring 160 km wide and high, roughly the size of Belgium. His labour and construction budgets have been slashed, he’s working under Vader, the toughest boss in corporate history…and to cap it all off, the demonic Company CEO could decide to sizzle him on a whim at any time. (Good look with that pal, let us know how you get on!)
Given the size of their roles, all three clearly have the stature to be turned into LEGO minifigures, but again, the issue of differentiation needs to be overcome.
Rebels
Rebel pilots are again difficult to differentiate and are often minor background characters. But if you ever doubted The LEGO Group’s appetite for treading on this distant ground, you only need to look at Theron Nett (sw0544) from the 2014 set 75032 X-Wing Fighter. He was the pilot of Red 10 at the Battle of Yavin, and had a few lines in the film.
Rebels from The Battle of Yavin
There were 20 pilots who took on the Death Star that fateful day… or night, piloting 12 X-Wing Fighters and 8 Y-Wing Fighter-Bombers. Only three pilots survived the encounter (‘Lucky’ indeed).
Now, before you write a pointed comment or a sternly written Letter to the Editor, Star Wars canon has changed quite a bit since Disney took over Lucasfilm, with the old canon being downgraded to legends. (I think) I have stuck mostly with the old canon, mainly because it more closely resembles the SW:CCG card line-up and the Star Wars I knew… but if there are any canon experts who can decode this tangled web, I’d be grateful to hear from them… and help me understand how there were actually 10 Green Squadron X-Wing’s there as well!?
Six of the 20 pilots (30 if you include Green Squadron!) have been represented as LEGO minifigures, leaving 14 future contenders. The SW:CCG has cards for 9 of these 14 pilots.
SW:CCG Cards for Rebel Pilots from the Battle of Yavin
The biggest omission to date is Garven Dreis (Red Leader) who had extensive dialogue in the first movie. Archival footage of the actor, Drewe Henley, was used in Rogue One as he led Red Squadron at the battle of Scarif. Sadly, Star Wars was Henley’s last film role as he went on to suffer from bipolar disorder and later, vascular dementia before passing away in 2016.
Card images provided for use by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee. Rebel Guard Premier Edition Card List.
As well as Red Leader, Tiree (Gold 2) and Davish ‘Pops’ Krail (Gold 5) have a decent amount of dialogue in the battle scenes, and given we’ve only had one Y-Wing Fighter pilot, sw0932 Jon ‘Dutch’ Vander (Gold Leader), all are likely contenders for future minifigures.
Finally, on the ground at Yavin is a Rebel Honour Guard that has similar headwear to Rebel Fleet Trooper (sw0995), but instead of a black waistcoat and grey trousers, they wear a dark green (or Olive Green?) formal dress uniform.
Although the Rebel Honour Guard is most definitely a background character, it’s distinctive uniform and appearance as a Hasbro action figure indicates that we may see a minifigure version in the future.
Rebels from Hoth
From the Battle of Hoth, Derek ‘Hobbie’ Kilivian, pilot of Rogue 4 is the highest profile name yet to be made a minifigure, known for the line “Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?” in the pre-battle briefing by Leia Organa.
Hoth Rebel Troopers have been extensively covered by The LEGO Group with 26 minifigures covering 7 unique characters—honestly, it is one of the few areas that doesn’t need any more minifigures any time soon. Those 26 Hoth Rebel minifigures represent 5% of all the Original Trilogy minifigures.
This was the hardest area for me to determine the number of unique characters as they could be grouped in numerous different ways. I’m not saying this is right, but this is what I went with based on seniority and uniform style.
Hoth Rebels - Unique Characters
Card images provided for use by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee Major Ben Derlin Hoth Expansion Card List.
That said, Hoth Officer Major Bren Derlin who delivered the line “Your Highness, there's nothing more we can do tonight. The shield doors must be closed” would still be a nice choice. Played by John Ratzenberger of Cheers and Toy Story fame, the SW:CCG incorporates him into their universe with one of its many Easter Eggs, inserting the line “At the Mos Eisley Cantina, everyone knows his name” in his biography… very nice.
It is likely that Hoth Rebel Officer (sw0728) was likely based on our illustrious Major, with the moustache and insignia rank, but was officially only described as ‘ Rebel Officer’ so I’ll keep him on our list for now. I’ve also classed sw0646 ‘Commander Rex’ as just a humble ‘Endor Rebel Trooper’ for similar reasons… and if you were thinking about buying that Rex minifigure, sooner might be better than later…
Rebels from The Battle of Endor
There’s not too much to go on here. The LEGO Group has already produced a quality Grey squadron fighter pilot (sw0558) from the Battle of Endor, but if a named character is to follow, Gureni Telsij, famous for uttering the line “there’s too many of them” would be the best contender.
The B-Wing pilot Ten Numb has already been produced both in white (sw0153) and red (sw0556), and although I have no additional named B-Wing pilots to propose, the 2013 standard B-Wing pilot (sw0455) is perhaps overdue for an upgrade.
The Cantina
image © The LEGO Group.
Now back to Major Derlin’s favourite drinking den. In 2020, The LEGO Group released 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina containing 7 new unique characters:
Photo by Christopher Clarke. Garindan (sw1127).
Mos Eisley Cantina Mark II
The new Cantina set provided a big haul of new minifigures, but astonishingly, The LEGO Group could re-release this set tomorrow with a completely different set of new characters—which is impressive for a scene that lasted only 6 minutes. Here are some of those future possibilities using the Star Wars Customizable Card Game as reference:
Card images provided for use by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee. BoShek, Talz, Wioslea, Shistavanen Wolfman and Dice Ibegon. Premier Edition Card List and A NEW Hope Expansion Card List.
BoSheck and Wioslea have roles in the storyline, with the former introducing Obi-Wan Kenobi to Chewbacca, and the latter purchasing Luke’s Landspeeder to finance their ride on the Millennium Falcon.
Card images provided for use by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee. Defel, Hem Dazon, Feltpern Trevagg, M’iiyoom Onith, Tonnika Sisters and Dannok Jerriko. Premier Edition Card List and A NEW Hope Expansion Card List.
Hem Dazon is well known for popping his head up at the very beginning of the Cantina scene, but perhaps less likely are the prominent Tonnika Sisters and the ‘snooty looking’ Dannok Jerriko given their affection for tobacco-based products.
Droids
This is our very final stop on the quest to discover potential new Star Wars Original Trilogy LEGO minifigures, and despite their names being difficult to remember, and their roles often in the background, droids still have some characters left to offer.
Card images provided for use by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee. CZ-3, R2-X2, R5-M2, BG-J38, R3-T6, E-3PO and CZ-4. Decipher Set List.
I don’t have really much to add to the list as presented. I guess it’s always nice to get new Protocol and Astromech Droids—and CZ-3 lurking in the background of Mos Eisley was portrayed Anthony Daniels which might be a nice touch to add.
We’ve covered a tremendous amount of ground and identified numerous excellent candidates that could be future Original Trilogy LEGO minifigures. So let’s draw a line there and bring it all together to summarise the findings.
Part 8 - The Full List
Despite the wide coverage of the 181 LEGO minifigure characters, we’ve identified a further 67 that could possibly come our way. Although we’ve been quite thorough, this is still an incomplete list, and I’m sure more characters could be added. I’ve selected the Top 25 I would personally most like to see (technical issues notwithstanding).
A full list of the 67 missing LEGO Star Wars minifigures is available in the PDF.
Missing Star Wars LEGO Minifigures - Top 25
Image © rebelscum.com. Kenner Yak Face Action Figure with no Minifigure equivalent
I think the Top 25 has some strong contenders throughout, and it would be no surprise if LEGO produces any of these as minifigures.
This Top 25 list is purely my personal preference and is heavily influenced by my love for the original Kenner figures—I understand that may be less of a priority for others.
So what is the answer if I were asked the inevitable question “If you could only have one new Star Wars minifigure, which would it be?” Knowing my love of Kener figures, the answer would be…
Yak Face… every single time.
Part 9 - Reflections
Not the End of the Line
I think the number of potential Original Trilogy LEGO minifigure candidates is both a little surprising and also represents great news for collectors, especially those from Generations X&Y who grew up with those three movies, and their six hours of screen time.
It is difficult to predict how quickly we may see some of these characters, but to set expectations, The LEGO Group has created 25 new unique OT characters in the last five years, working out at an average of five per year. So we will have to wait and see what the rest of 2023 has in store for us.
The Original Trilogy… Six Hours of Perfection
My special thanks again to Rebelscum and the Star Wars Customizable Card Game Players Committee. If you are a fan of the Original Trilogy or just Star Wars in general, I highly recommend a visit to their sites.
It has been a pleasure to bring together Kenner, the SW:CCG and LEGO into one Original Trilogy article. Although it has provided some nice information about the potential future of LEGO minifigures, this article is really a homage to the six hours of near-perfect cinema—a homage to the depth of that universe explored by fans, and most of all, a homage to the cultural impact those three films had not just on my generation, but the ones that follow too. When it comes to the Star Wars franchise, the OT is simply the GOAT.
The End of the Line
About six months ago, our son reached the age where he swapped PJ Masks, Mr. Blippi and PAW Patrol (Chase is off the case!) for Star Wars. He wasn’t coerced by me—it was actually LEGO that became his ‘gateway drug’ into a galaxy far, far away. I took enormous joy in being able to give him my old Kenner figures, and despite the play wear, missing accessories, and a bit of a weird smell, he was delighted.
Photo by Christopher Clarke. Vintage Star Wars Kenner Action Figures.
That moment represented both the start and end of something. The start of his journey through one of the most exciting and impressionable times in childhood, and perhaps the end of my need to nostalgically recall my own. And maybe that’s where this article came from, a final, self-indulgent deep dive into the Star Wars Original Trilogy before moving on to a new phase of life.
Irrespective, the most important thing is that those Kenner toys, a tangible piece of the 1980s are now in the hands of a child of the 2020s, and the LEGO minifigures are doing what they do best. Kenner lives on, the Original Trilogy lives on, and one final word to the new custodian of those figures…
… “Best of luck son, things are about to get very special.”
Questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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