@PurpleDave said:
"Ah, the one original SW set I chose to skip, since the entire model is repeated exactly in 7171."
Nooooo, I got inb4'd!

Why does Padme look so... disgruntled?

@PurpleDave said:
" @MCLegoboy :
Wow. Yeah, seems 7159 and 7186 are still the only two sets to feature any other podracers. And ironically both include Aldar Beedo’s. I’d be most interested in seeing Teemto Pagalies’ as a set, with that odd, visually-obstructing cockpit design."
I own both of those, and I love them dearly. Mos Espa Podrace really ignited my love for podracers though, that tan stand, the modularity of the pods, it showed a lot of potential for expansion, which was kind of done with Watto's Junkyard. If it weren't for the fact that the pods were so many different colors, I'd love to see a big version of the Podracing Bucket, maybe even just have them be midi scale to get the other pods in more accurate detail since you can't make 20 different sets and they all sell well.

I remember seeing 7962 in my first issue of LEGO Club back in 2011. Really wish they did more podracers.

Never owned this one, but always wanted it. Seeing it here reminds me of the catalogue at the time; very nostalgic warm-fuzzies.

I also only have 7171. But pod racers are fun sets.

I got this one back when it first came out. I always liked the parts and look of this set. I love the build of the pit droid. My only Episode I set until 2019, lol.

And, yes, pod racers are fun sets!

I got 7171 and spent a lot of my childhood hanging in the scrap yard of `star wars racer` PC game trying to build other podracers, never had the parts though to make any of them look decent. Also, recently there was an amazing model of Bozzie Baranta's Podracer on Lugbrasil but it looks like the forum is down (yes, podracer from the only circuit you couldn't beat in 2000). Making this game work on Win10 was such a pain.

Hey look, it's actual Lego pieces.

I was hoping for another key chain.

Just got back from playing Skywalker Saga with my brother. Nice

@Vladtheb said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
" Featured as its own set and as part of 7171 Mos Espa Podrace. Maybe some will see that as lazy, but it did offer a lot of people to have a Podracer without having to buy three. Although now I would love any other Podracer that wasn't Anakin's or Sebulba's.

And while gigantic, I love the Pit Droid. If they ever remake them (I want to say I did see a potential redesign in a let's play of the Skywalker Saga), I will be sad because these guys have a certain charm with their gigantic feet and massive height compared to the source material."

There was a redesigned pit droid in a recent Star Wars advent calendar!
"

Good recall. I had forgotten about that. I have all the old pod racers displayed on a MOC of the starting gate.

I used to detach the cockpit pod from this and use it as its own little airspeeder.

I miss this set so much :(

I had this as part of 7171, which I got two years later as the main gift for my birthday in 2001 when it was on massive clearance. I was only juuuuuust testing the waters of Star Wars at the time, because I was a nervous kid about committing to any fandom far enough to actually watch the movies (though I think by that point I had watched Jedi, Empire and Menace... and *yes*, in that order!); so I was getting invested in it at just the right time to catch all the huge reductions on Episode I excess stock. So that was a fun time :D

On a side note, I remember reading somewhere that Episode I had both the *most* and *least* successful run of Star Wars merchandising ever recorded: most successful because of the sheer volume of merchandise sold, in the initial hype wave, was greater than that for any other SW movie; least successful because despite that Lucasfilm had STILL massively over-catered for demand, leaving huge amounts of product left unsold afterwards as well. Episode I merchandise of all kinds (the Lego sets more rarely, but still on occasion) was on deep discount for *years* afterwards, at least in my part of the world, as toy stores struggled to clear their shelves of it!

But yeah, fun set! Though I wasn't the biggest fan of the brick-built frames that supported each podracer; I found them too fragile, especially on the bigger racers, and they would fall apart too easily under rough play. Forever frustrated me as a kid... though I still loved the two bigger racers, regardless ^^

The technic constructed supports on the more recent sets look much more stable; I've kind of thought of picking up 75258 at some point, just to see how far the improvement has come since this version. Haven't actually done that thing so far, though.

I just remembered, writing about the fragility up there, about one time when I accidentally dropped Sebulba's podracer down the stairs, and it just blew apart in all directions when it hit the bottom. Still kind of amazed that I actually managed to find all the pieces after that!

I remember not realising that it wasn’t supposed to have that ‘body’ in the middle until I saw the film; I thought it was supposed to be this rickety from with a couple of engines and a cockpit, never occurred to me it that was just how Lego could best portray a space-chariot

@ThatBionicleGuy:
That was from me. I read it in an article several years ago. An entire warehouse full of leftover Darth Maul and Jar Jar Binks _neckties_. Lucasfilm licensed pretty much anything that showed up at their door, short of weapons, sex toys, and drugs/alcohol. I remember going to the midnight TRU merch launch with a bunch of my friends, and people were lined up like they were for tickets to see the original SW movie. Everyone was freaked out about not being able to get their hands on every new action figure that first day, and it turned out that most of us realized we simply didn’t have enough money on hand to afford them all. There were pallets of cases of product on the floor, and they had employees opening them as fast as people would snatch up the toys from the opened cases. About a month later, nobody cared about the launch wave because there was just
_so_much_ of it that nobody missed out unless they were too broke to afford food. This compared to other waves of Hasbro SW action figures that I only saw in one store on one day (there was a Bib Fortuna wave, and an Ep1 wave that had a chrome TC-14 and a blue astromech from Amidala’s ship).

@Brickalili:
Yeah, it was intended to blend into “sand”, but nobody stopped to think that they never made a set to build the entire course, so you’d see the tan frame against whatever color floor you had at home. Later versions switched to clear Technic beams, which was easier to interpret.

I got two of these at my 9th birthday party. somewhere in my tub of childhood pieces is an absolute STACK of those yellow flaps.

That pit droid is about to become an ex-pit droid.

This set, along with 7106 , were two separate gifts from my wife that collectively broke the dam on my "Dark Age." I had been aware of LEGO Star Wars, and it certainly appealed, but I couldn't justify the cost in those days. After the Mrs. brought these two sets into our home, though, it was all over. 20+ years later worth of LEGO accumulation, I wonder if she regrets ever bringing them home. Truth be told, she's been more patient with and supportive of my hobby than most other people would've been.

Fond memories! I remember buying all of these when they came.

I would love to see more minifig-scale pit droids in modern day sets. The only LEGO pit droid I own at all is set 8000.

I had this set twice as a kid--one of the first (and few ever!) where I sold off LEGO once I owned it: to a younger brother you ALSO had the set, but really wanted to have pod races. One copy was enough.

Looking back, I liked it enough to go all in on the 20th Anniversary version, which hit all my nostalgia buttons for this set, while being a huge leap forward in design. The original is still a bit superior on the margins, though: a superior hair mould for Padmé, a pit droid (no matter how big), and I always liked that it included the flag.

@PurpleDave said:
"That was from me. I read it in an article several years ago. An entire warehouse full of leftover Darth Maul and Jar Jar Binks _neckties_."
Oh right, that makes sense! I did wonder if it might have been here on Brickset that I read it, but couldn't place it for certain; thanks for clarifying! ^^

That also reminds me that I had a teacher in primary school, in the same year I was just starting to get interested in the fandom in fact, who had several Star Wars ties just like those that he'd sometimes wear to class...

The exact same model was included in 7171 from the same year.

7171 had it's submodels divided into 3 differently sized boxes inside the main box, with this model's box being the same size as this single set version! The only difference would have been the lack of instructions and other paper work and therefor the inclusion of Qui-Gon, Jar Jar and R2-D2 minifigures. Oh, and of cause the outer printing being more simplistic (it only featured a colored photograph of the assembled model on a dark-blue background.

I liked those brick-built Pit-Droids as well though they really cause a lot of confusion towards the definition of 'minifigure'! The brown Classic Space robot arms were kind of cool back then...

Also note there were classic car doors in blue with Anakin's pod racing Insignia printed on them.

@ThatBionicleGuy:
I’m sure the neckties hit cheap enough clearance prices that people could have worn them to family cookouts with the intention of using them as wearable napkins, in case they got ketchup, mustard, or BBQ sauce all over their faces.

@ThatBionicleGuy : When Sebulba's podracer smashed, did the Sebulba figure exclaim, "Poodoo?"

@Draykov said:
"This set, along with 7106 , were two separate gifts from my wife that collectively broke the dam on my "Dark Age." I had been aware of LEGO Star Wars, and it certainly appealed, but I couldn't justify the cost in those days. After the Mrs. brought these two sets into our home, though, it was all over. 20+ years later worth of LEGO accumulation, I wonder if she regrets ever bringing them home. Truth be told, she's been more patient with and supportive of my hobby than most other people would've been. "

There should really be a support group for our fine ladies: AFOL-WAGs.

My brother is responsible for my Dark Age SW toy reinfection. He kept giving SW Lego sets to my son as gifts. I resisted as long as humanly possible.... and then went overboard.

Edit: Show her your Brickset listing of curent set values. That usually helps them to be a 'bit' more supportive. ;)

Not too bad for the time. I wish we can get more Podracers one day.

I liked the yellow figures in SW better, but without going in the whole skin color discussion , the reasons for change after the Lando figure make sense 100%.