Six LEGO Star Wars elements that have found new life in other themes
Over 25 years, LEGO Star Wars has debuted pieces that have found life in dozens of other themes, from NINJAGO to Sonic the Hedgehog.
LEGO Star Wars is already one of the most celebrated and long-running themes in the LEGO Group’s portfolio and as much as it is known for its minifigures, LEGO Star Wars’ array of theme-specific pieces is just as notable.
Despite the initially-specific nature of these elements, the LEGO designers across the decades have managed to find other uses for these elements and there’s one you’ll almost certainly have dozens of from just as many themes. To celebrate 25 years of this classic theme, here are six LEGO Star Wars pieces that have gone on to find new life in other themes.
6 – The lightsaber hilt
Possibly the most obvious pick for this list is the classic lightsaber hilt. This surprisingly diverse element may have started as a lightsaber hilt in 1999 but in the many years since, it has been used for all kinds of tools, equipment and more.
While it has been featured in dozens of themes since its debut, one of its most common non-Star Wars uses is as weapon hilts, specifically in NINJAGO where it has been a crucial component of many collectable weapons such as the Fang Blades in 2012.
5 – Engines
Engines are also unsurprisingly common in LEGO Star Wars and one of the theme’s first-used engine elements was a debut for the theme. 7110 Landspeeder featured three tan engine elements that wouldn’t find much outside of the theme, but it did find some life beyond LEGO Star Wars.
Six years after its 1999 debut and after a short stint in Jack Stone, LEGO City’s 7244 Speedboat used these engines in one of their last appearances, blending in nicely with some other huge elements at the back of the build.
4 – Cannons
Ship-based weaponry is similarly huge in LEGO Star Wars and some of its massive cannon elements have found life in other themes. Most notably, we’ll focus on those of 7130 Snowspeeder from 1999.
The eight-stud-long cannon appeared in 25 other sets, many of which were 1999 LEGO Star Wars sets. Some were not of the Lucasfilm theme though including Life on Mars’ 7303 Jet Scooter from 2001.
3 – Windscreens
As much as weaponry is required for LEGO Star Wars ships, it’s also worth noting that they don’t function well without windscreens either and LEGO Star Wars has been a source for quite a few specialised windscreen pieces for various LEGO spaceships.
Specifically, 7141 Naboo Fighter from 1999 has a shaped windshield with three sections and a triangular tip that would go on to be used in everything from LEGO Batman to Exo-Force including 8114 Chameleon Hunter.
2 – R2-D2’s leg
The unique proportions of R2-D2 meant that the LEGO Star Wars design team of 1999 needed to debut a new kind of figure for LEGO Star Wars to recreate the astromech best. Since then, one element of these droids has found some surprising life in other themes.
Most recently, white astromech legs have been used as decoration and detailing in 21330 Home Alone as part of the home’s fireplace. Hopefully, the architect and builders didn’t need to dismantle an astromech for this design feature though.
1 – Battle droid arms
You might have spotted Battle Droids in several sets on this list and the iconic characters debuted multiple pieces in LEGO Star Wars, one of which has gone on to become just as common as lightsaber hilts in other themes.
To list the many places that droid arms have appeared outside of LEGO Star Wars would take hours, so instead we’ll highlight one of the most outlandish themes for the limb to recently feature in – 76996 Knuckles’ Guardian Mech from LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog. Rest assured though, look closely at your collection and you’re certain to spot a few beyond LEGO Star Wars models.
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