Random set of the day: Star Wars Podracing Bucket
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7159 Star Wars Podracing Bucket, released in 2000. It's one of 19 Star Wars sets produced that year. It contains 292 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$25.
It's owned by 1298 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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19 comments on this article
It is an interesting set if for nothing more than how the bucket has metallic silver flecks embedded into the black plastic. Never saw that before or since.
Qui-Gon, Podracers, Darth Maul, Naboo Fighters - Episode I will always be my favourite, no matter what the haters say! That lightsaber duel at the end of the movie is the best out of any. People slag off Jar Jar, but I don't care.
I never got any of the podracing sets back in the day. I bought the re-release of Anakin's last year; still haven't opened it. Saving it. :)
Good graces that Anakin is adorable.
I'd love to see more Star Wars bucket or 3-in-1 sets like this these days. We get a few like that Droid builder for Boost but a big-ol bucket of speeders or Tatoonie homes would be nice.
A little crude, but this was 2000. One year after LEGO got the license. New parts, new building techniques, and TQI has really resulted in some better SW sets.
I don't see anything against licensed brick buckets. Been seeing roughly 100 piece Kreo Transformer brick boxes in my local Dollar Generals for ages. The same idea could apply--palettes, parts, and maybe a minifig or two relevant to the theme.
And the big thing--plastic buckets. Lego knew how to make 'em. I have several, and even if they aren't being used for LEGO, they still have something in them. Some are more than 20; so old their contents were Duplo.
Can't remember which of the podrace pilots that bent-over battle droid with a minifig head on top is supposed to represent, exactly, but that build looks absolutely nothing like him.
@PicnicBasketSam , this thing was supposed to be either Aldar Beedo or Gasgano, don't remember exactly, but looks very vaguely the latter one.
Not a bad set, but I believe it could be better, even on its time.
This set is best put like this: Delightfully Kitsch. It's so bad, it's kind of good.
From even 2000s standards, it's not particularly great, however this set is also very much intended to be for kids making their own podracers. However, you do get four pods: Anakin Skywalker, Aldar Beedo (who's minifig looks nothing like the character although it was originally intended to just be a generic alien but the 2009 Visual Dictionary and 2010 Character Encyclopedia retconned that it was meant to be Aldar Beedo), Clegg Holdfast (who has no minifigure), and Neeva Kee's unique TwinBlock Special where the pods are connected to the cockpit (Neeva is also not present).
You do get Jar Jar Binks, a popular character among the kids since he's just comic relief, but I've also never had a problem with him considering I was 5 in 1999. Fun Fact: Jar Jar Binks is George Lucas' favorite character in all of Star Wars, he even made it known in a video shared at Celebration Chicago 2019.
It's also worth mentioning that you do get a finish line, something not easily done with the larger scaled pods, nor would it really be worth it, and 4 tires to have some wheeled vehicles if you so chose. Again, this set is particularly aimed at kids who want to make their own podracers and other fun vehicles, and this set provides all the necessary parts.
As a display piece, it's not great, the pods won't look too good next to your other Podracers, but if you have Watto's Junkyard, you can use all the separate sections of the pods to beef up that set.
And just for the heck of it, if you want to see a 46 minute review of this set, me being an idiot, and the woes of what it took to acquire this set earlier this year, check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyW1Jw-o15k
That bucket actually has it's own color Code: 132 Black Glitter. According to Ryan H.'s Brickcolor Stream there are at least 2 different varaints of that bucket's color. I wonder if it's possible to figure out how many there are and where they were distributed?
It really took me a long time to accept that the'Hydronaut droid' was in fact meant to be Aldar Beedo. I know that the original Gasgano looks almost as inaccurate but still... The fact that we got a 'real' Aldar Beedo just a year later in the same style as the 1999 Sebulba did not make matters better :)
I had this one! Not a great set, lol
I always loved Neva Kee's podracer, because it MAKES NO SENSE - you think looking at all the other racers that there must be some rules in the sport that make it mandatory to use the 'two engine/tethered carriage' system, but then here's this one dude who has his seat positioned up front with the two engines connected directly BEHIND him.
From a lore perspective, little things like that are fantastic - it makes me think of real world examples like the period in time in F1 when designs were allowed to push the envelope, which resulted in weird stuff like the 6 wheeled Tyrell P34; so Neva Kee's design being like this must have had some reason (whether it be clearer line of sight, more aerodynamics, etc) - while having a significant trade-off to explain why everyone else stayed traditional (I would think being separate from the engines was a little safer, and maybe allowed for more unconventional maneuvers).
I used to like the greater sense of control with piloting Neva Kee's podracer in Episode I: Racer back in the day. And yes, the brick-built Aldar Beedo is a curiosity considering a molded figure was released for him just a year later. But yeah, even me in 2000 could see this set as aimed squarely for kids under seven years of age, so as much as I was into podracers back then, I had no desire to obtain this bucket. Though I do remember seeing it in stores! Strangely, even the Watto's Junkyard set next year didn't make much of an impression on me, either. The lack of a Mawhonic figure (we need more Gran minifigures), the poor design execution of Aldar Beedo's podracer, and the overall sense of Episode I overload by early 2001 just put an end to my interest in the entire podracing concept, in LEGO or any other medium. Besides, a web documentary short released on StarWars.com in the spring of 2001 got me more excited for a new type of vehicle that would premiere in Episode II--the Jedi Starfighter!
I wish Lego would do licensed brick boxes again
Now THIS is pod racing!
Oh, I remember seeing this one on sale in Legoland Windsor in... I think 2001? I'd never seen it before then, but it was on display in one of the windows of the Big Lego Shop, and captured at least my curiosity, if not my actual interest. Though to be fair, a lot of that had to do with the fact that I had got the big Mos Espa Podrace set for my birthday that year, to which the designs in this set appeared inferior in every way.
Of course, in hindsight, I completely get why that is; completely different target age-ranges. But at the time, I just remember being like: it's kinda cool... and it's Star Wars (something that I was a complete newbie to at the time)... and it's got another Podracer character... but why would I want it when I've got these three massive podracers already?
Not something I'd ever have bought, granted. But an interesting idea, nonetheless ^^
I remember being so intrigued by this set as a kid, but never owned it unfortunately. I would absolutely LOVE to see Lego release some additional podracing sets down the line (other another Anakin or Sebulba's podracer).
I'd still consider collecting Star Wars if they had yellow faces.
@Mr_Dunlop:
Of the three prequels, Ep2 is my favorite, but I still prefer Ep1 over Ep3. In fact, I'm watching the end of Ep3 right now, and every time I watch it, I'm surprised by how much of it I don't remember. It just felt like something that was plugged in to fill the gap between Ep2 and Ep4, where the previous two movies had a lot more freedom in terms of where the story would lead.
But yes, Duel of the Fates is, by far, the best lightsaber fight ever filmed.
@cody6268:
It felt like a Creator set at the time. Also, what's "TQI"?
@lynels:
Gasgano was the third podrace pilot in the big Mos Espa Podrace set.
@Atuin:
If this was designed in whole or in part by the Creator design team, they have restrictions on molding new elements that very clearly don't apply to the Star Wars design team.
@Lego_Lord_Mayorca:
Watto's Junkyard was unusual in that the "junkyard" basically consisted of the non-tan chunks of a green podracer as the "junk" and the tan parts that hold it together as the "junkyard". As a junkyard, it was a pretty garbage set, but contrary to what was expected when the theme debuted, they abandoned making podracers very quickly, so Mos Espa Podrace and Watto's Junkyard were really the only two sources for decent designs, and this bucket was a tolerable source for filler.
@TomKazutara:
I don't think it'll happen. The prequels have pretty much been shoved to the side, and Ep1 gets the least love for the fact that it has the most potential. They can't really flood the market with podracers, or they'll cannibalize each others' sales, and it would take years to work through them all just one or two at a time.
Probably the most random Star Wars set in all of LEGO, highly appropriate for RSOTD selection...