2025 Lego Arc-170

Exciting times, the start of 2025 as many of you know will see the return of the Arc-170 Star Fighter. Standing for Aggressive ReConnaissance-170, the third addition of this Star-fighter in play scale. I was incredibly excited when I heard this rumour, I was a big fan of the original 2005 version. I remember on the release day I was on the beach at home, and I had given my grandparents £29.99 to pick one up for me, as they happened to be out that day. It was waiting for me at home and it is still a wonderful memory. So I am very much looking forward to this remake, I missed the second edition of the Arc-170 due being in my so called Lego dark age...

Looking At The Source Material

The in universe design as we can see here is quite large. The Arc-170 was originally designed to fly dangerous missions that involved breaking through into enemy controlled space, raiding facilities or gathering intel. For this it was well equipped with a heavy weapons payload and powerful 1.5 class hyperdrive.

A lot to take in here, visually, and some tricky lines to transfer into Lego. It is no secret that there is endless complaining and crying when a new Lego Star Wars set is unveiled. However there is no sense in sitting and moaning about something you don't like. It is a real shame that so many AFOL's (Adult Fans Of Lego) are unable to accept when something isn't for them. For me that is part of the joy when collecting, refining your own tastes in Lego sets, and surrounding yourself with only the ones that bring you joy. There is no right or wrong way to collect and enjoy Lego. However be mindful and remember that Lego are trying to cater to all kinds of people, not every set is aimed specifically at you and it is important to recognise this.

My personal tastes at this point in time are quite refined, I enjoy minifigure scale (or as close to it). Items that can be slightly customisable, the latest At-TE being a good example of this, stay tuned for a write up on that. Certainly sets with unique and interesting minifigures turn my head also. So that all being said here is the new set that will be available on January 1st 2025...

The Lego Set

I have to say I am quite excited about what we see here. I really enjoy looking at new sets and taking it all in for myself. I think there is too much of a tendency within the Lego Star Wars community to jump onto Youtube, and see what certain influencers think of leaks and sets. It is so important to form your own opinions on sets, rather than to just take the side of certain personalities on Youtube or Instagram. Those of whom frankly are often overly critical and complain too much. A lot of the time not possessing good enough Star Wars lore knowledge, to understand what it is that they are reviewing.

That all being said, when comparing this set to the source material I think it does quite a good job of capturing the essence of the Arc-170. The proportions are slightly out around the engine intake area, they seem to be quite a lot larger in universe. However the wing mechanism looks great compared to the older rubber band building technique, and not to mention the Clone pilots. They look simply brilliant. While this set has endured Lego's new downscaling approach I think it hasn't suffered too much. As much as fans complain about this I personally believe the sets are becoming more accurate in terms of their scale, the 2021 Tie Fighter and X-Wing are prime examples of this. Previous versions of the Arc-170 felt a little on the edge in terms of the playability, quite a bit of flex in the build, particularly in the wing area. This set doesn't look like it will suffer in this way and I look forward to having it in the hand.

The Smart Buyer

Lastly I just wanted to add, it is no secret that Lego is getting quite costly. But there are things you can do to make your money go further. I myself am quite fortunate and I'm grateful for that however I still like to maximise what I can get out of Lego purchasing. For example I do like what I see with the Arc-170, and I have decided I would like to pick up two for my GAR (Grand Army Of The Republic). However I won't be picking them up day one (even though I can afford to), in fact I plan to wait for May 4th, I do this with all January waves. This often results in double Lego Insiders Points (Formally known as VIP points), and will contribute to meeting the threshold for the gifts with purchase. It is all about the patience when it comes to buying Lego. I try not to buy Lego from third party vendors, unless the discount is major, I do not recommend this. The rewards are far greater if you save the Insider/VIP points over time, and bundle your purchases 2 or 3 times a year. This is where that patience will really pay off, this way of building a collection has resulted in one free UCS set (Ultimate Collector Series) for me so far, and it didn't take as long as I had imagined especially when making the most of those double or more points. Hope this helps, and thanks for reading. May the force be with you all.