Star Wars at 40: The classic LEGO X-wing

As part of Brick Fanatics’ celebration of 40 years of Star Wars, here are Daniel Konstanski’s memories of a classic LEGO Star Wars set – 7140 X-Wing Fighter

I can distinctly remember the first time I saw LEGO Star Wars 7140 X-Wing Fighter. 1999 was a much simpler time. As the Internet was exploding around the world, the LEGO Group was a bit late to the game. The very first digital communication I received from them was an email newsletter informing us LEGO maniacs that something new was coming, something we had never seen before – a licensed theme. To my delight that theme was Star Wars. Now, several months later my mom was driving me to our local department store with $30 in my pocket to pick up what would become the first of many.

Almost two decades later, I will readily confess that 7140 X-Wing Starfighter is quite crude in comparison to its many, many brothers that have been produced since. However, back in 1999 the only comparison I had were the various versions of my favourite Star Wars vehicles that I had built myself over the course of my childhood. None of mine came close to this. It felt a bit like an out of body experience holding an official LEGO set of an X-Wing. Nowadays it is hard to imagine LEGO without Star Wars but back then… it is hard to undersell what a revelation it was.

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Surveying the other sets on the shelf there was no question what I was going home with. My favourite ship from my favourite scene (the trench run) became the first of what has grown to be quite a substantial Star Wars collection, although certainly not as big as some of the die-hard fans out there. My siblings and I played with it, then it took pride of place in my TFOL collection before being a treasured part of my AFOL collection.

That first LEGO X-wing may be long retired, but the latest iteration – 75149 Resistance X-Wing Fighter – is available to buy from shop.LEGO.comYou can help support Brick Fanatics’ work by using our affiliate links.

Author Profile

Daniel
When I was 3 years old my dad bought home 6659 TV Camera Crew as a gift — he had no idea what he had just unleashed. Three decades and no dark age later, I am still going strong. My love of LEGO led me to a career in Civil Engineering and I am now raising three budding LEGO lovers with my lovely wife who is, bless her, a huge supporter of my brick addiction. When not writing for Brick Fanatics or fulfilling my duties as the U.S. Editor of Blocks Magazine I enjoy collecting, MOCing, exhibiting, as well as running, climbing and home improvement.

Daniel

When I was 3 years old my dad bought home 6659 TV Camera Crew as a gift — he had no idea what he had just unleashed. Three decades and no dark age later, I am still going strong. My love of LEGO led me to a career in Civil Engineering and I am now raising three budding LEGO lovers with my lovely wife who is, bless her, a huge supporter of my brick addiction. When not writing for Brick Fanatics or fulfilling my duties as the U.S. Editor of Blocks Magazine I enjoy collecting, MOCing, exhibiting, as well as running, climbing and home improvement.

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