Column: LEGO Star Wars needs to take a page out of Hasbro’s book

The success of the LEGO BrickLink Designer Program proves that it’s time for LEGO Star Wars to take a page out of Hasbro’s book and Haslab. 

The LEGO Group celebrates all things Star Wars every year via the annual array of highly detailed vehicles and location sets known as the Ultimate Collector Series, or UCS for short. Avid LEGO Star Wars enthusiasts may feel satisfied with the LEGO Star Wars UCS sets but Star Wars collectors with passions beyond the LEGO Group’s products will know that more can be done with these collectable items. 

For instance, Hasbro approaches these adult-focused, high-value collectables in a much different way. As part of their Star Wars: The Vintage Collection line of action figures and playsets with a retro aesthetic, Hasbro launched Haslab in 2018 to let fans determine just how detailed and collectable the next product will be. To the unaccustomed, it works via crowdfunding like the BrickLink Designer Program where the final item is only released if enough funding is raised via pre-orders. 

Some recent examples – and successes– of this initiative include a recreation of The Ghost from Star Wars: Rebels. This project is where you could fund the ship with a fully detailed interior and with enough supporters, additional figures could be accessed and added to the final product. Every single additional goal was met for The Ghost. Now, the Mos Eisley Cantina is being funded with only one more goal left to fund at 17,000 backers. It’s currently at 14,737 with a price of $399.99 – comparable to the LEGO Star Wars UCS sets. 

The continued release of more crowdfunded products and expansion to IPs beyond Star Wars proves that Haslab has been a success for Hasbro and it’s not like the LEGO Group has a bad history with crowdfunding either. 

The LEGO Group’s most notable record of crowdfunding has been via the BrickLink Designer Program and the invitational rounds that preceded it. Currently, the LEGO BrickLink Designer Program is confirmed to continue into 2026 through a sixth series and there’s no doubt that it’s been a major success for the LEGO Group, pleasing older enthusiasts hoping for more detailed models that don’t quite have the same wide appeal – or prices – as standard LEGO sets. 

Some items prove more popular than others in the BrickLink Designer Program, with trains and Castle-adjacent models consistently becoming fully funded. Something such as Star Wars with a legacy of nostalgia behind it likely wouldn’t have an issue finding an audience.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t come with any additional tiers with upgrades to incentivise potential backers. To be fair, this would be a lot to ask of every fan designer and it’s not something that the BrickLink Designer Program is envisioned to feature or built to include. 

It still stands as a testament to the success of crowdfunding to adult hobby collectors though and it’s something the LEGO Group shouldn’t be afraid to explore further. An upgrade to the LEGO Star Wars UCS models in the future could be worth exploring. They could open a new section on LEGO.com or LEGO Ideas to gain insight into what could be most popular and allow them to increase the budget of the build for extra minifigures. Using LEGO Ideas to influence UCS sets is something the LEGO Group has a track record of doing too. 

75309 Republic Gunship was announced far in advance, but at the time of reveal it wasn’t known what form it would take. The contents of the 2021 UCS model were revealed to be determined through a fan vote on LEGO Ideas, letting us choose what would be next in the collection. Some 30,000 people, or roughly 58% of all voters, chose the Republic Gunship back in February 2020. 

While the final design wasn’t to everyone’s tastes, it is a recent example that the LEGO Group and Lucasfilm are willing to experiment with the Ultimate Collector Series and now, the two companies have noteworthy examples of this strategy that have worked time and time again.

You could even combine this with the idea of a fan vote to determine what the tiers would be – from a minifigure to a new and exclusive piece and more – without giving away what the model would be years in advance. This would keep some secrecy and surprise while still letting enthusiasts have some say in the contents of the next collectable. 

There’s just one potential problem with this strategy for the LEGO Group – Haslab models are entirely crowdfunded via pre-orders while LEGO Star Wars UCS sets can be bought by anyone even after release. 

In practice, additional tiers could work either as gifts-with-purchase logistically, granted via a unique code given to each backer. Alternatively, each backer could be promised a copy of the set (with any adjustments made to planned stock available at launch accordingly) and whatever bonuses they fund. They’d just be pre-ordering a copy a long way in advance, which the LEGO Group is similarly accustomed to. All additional tiers (even new pieces and printed minifigure parts) could be offered as upgrades on top of the main model with separate instructions detailing when and where to add them in. 

An example of an additional tier for an existing LEGO Star Wars UCS set could be an AT-ST to pair with 75313 AT-AT, designed with the same level of detail as the main model but at a much smaller, scaled size. Alternatively, a new and specifically designed piece for Luke’s lightsaber hilt could prove popular as could guaranteed side-leg printing on Luke Skywalker. 

Hasbro’s Haslab initiative and the LEGO Group’s BrickLink Designer Program have proven without a doubt that crowdfunding has a promising future in the toy-collecting hobby, especially since older fans have more disposable income than children. The LEGO Group shouldn’t be afraid to upgrade the UCS models or at least experiment further in the future.  

Given the popularity of LEGO Star Wars over the past 25 years, we’re confident that they would find an audience without alienating older fans who either aren’t aware of or have the funds to back additional tiers of items since the set would be sold as normal.

Dedicated enthusiasts would simply be getting bonuses that anyone had the opportunity to fund. For now, we can only hope that the BrickLink Designer Program continues to be a success to show the LEGO Group that there’s more potential in crowdfunding.

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