2012 Readers Choice Award - the Nominations

There are still a few days to go before voting for the Gimme LEGO Reader's Choice award for Best Set of 2012 closes. Well over 500 votes have already been placed, but the more the merrier - the greater the sample size, the more representative the result. 

If you're still on the fence, you can find a run-down of the nominations below to help you make up your mind, and if you've already voted and want to change your mind, click on "Change your vote". Oh, and don't delay - I had intended for the poll to close at midnight on the 31st December, but due to the vagaries of the poll plug-in it'll probably close prematurely...

If you're using a mobile device and struggling to see the poll on the right side of the page then scroll down to the bottom and click "View web version" 

*EDIT* Voting is now closed. Happy New Year to all, and I'll announce the scores on the doors in due course....


The Nominations (in alphabetical order)


1. Star Wars Set 10227 B-Wing Starfighter

The latest addition to the Star Wars Ultimate Collectors Series line of big, collectible Star Wars sets stretching back to 1999, the B-Wing pretty much nailed the subject matter. Even UCS MOCcer extraordinaire cavegod, he of the UCS AT-AT, declared the official version better than his own version of the B-Wing, which is a pretty good recommendation....



2. Lord of the Rings Set 9474 Battle of Helm's Deep

The showpiece set from the better-than-expected Lord of the Rings theme. It's big and impressive, can be tastefully expanded with army-builder Set 9471 Uruk-Hai Army, comes with a decent selection of minifigures, and includes the all-new 2012 LEGO horse. Definitely a contender.


3. Ninjago Set 9450 Epic Dragon Battle

The biggest of the 2012 Ninjago sets. This theme was evidently designed to appeal to small boys, but the quality of design was such that the appeal of many of the sets ended up going well beyond the target audience, and the Epic Dragon Battle was one of those sets. Made up of a collection of interesting models and some neat minifigures, this set definitely fell into the "surprisingly good" bracket.


4. City Set 4440 Forest Police Station

Many older LEGO fans have I think become more than a little jaded by the endless annual procession of samey Police and Fire sets making up the evergreen City theme. Credit therefore to LEGO for thinking outside the box in 2012 and coming up with a genuinely different spin on the emergency services sets. The forest location prompted a welcome change in architecture and minifigure design, not to mention some more original vehicle designs. And an excellent bear. I thought this set was hugely underrated, and hopefully it'll pick up some votes to vindicate that view.

5. Monster Fighters Set 10228 Haunted House

I think I probably covered most of the details during my last posting while declaring this set my favourite non-licensed set of 2012. Simultaneously a stunning display set and a wonderful play set, this cracker deserves to be successful. Definitely gets my vote.

6. Star Wars Set 9516 Jabba's Palace

Having panned the Star Wars theme last year for a lack of originality and inspiration, I was pleased to see some welcome signs of renewed life this year. Both UCS sets were good, the planet sets were interesting, and this welcome remake of Jabba's Palace also hit the mark. Admittedly it didn't have much to live up to - the last version was distinctly ordinary. Even so, this version looks pretty good, can be expanded with the addition of 2013's Rancor Pit set, and comes with a good selection of minifigures, including Jabba himself. A rather nice set, actually.


7. Kingdoms Set 10223 Joust

Somewhat bizarrely introduced just as the rest of the Kingdoms line was being retired, this set is nevertheless a cracker and well worth its inclusion in this list of the great and the good. Lots of lovely details, a ton of minifigures and designed to be expanded if you buy two of them.

8. Star Wars Set 10225 R2-D2

This almost perfect rendition of Artoo narrowly missed out on the gong for best licensed set; it was just a few design tweaks and some Power Functions short of being a classic in my eyes. As well as looking great, it's an enjoyable build, and unlike many of the Star Wars sets it even feels like reasonable value for money. Excellent.


9. Advanced Models Set 10226 Sopwith Camel

Wowed the audience at its unveiling at AFOLCON 2012, and didn't disappoint when it eventually hit the shelves. A genuinely elegant model, fun to assemble, and an excellent source of parts in relatively uncommon colours. Certainly one of my favourites of 2012.

10. Advanced Models Set 10224 Town Hall

The latest addition to the revered modular building line up, this set follows in the footsteps of some heavyweight predecessors and doesn't disappoint. Tons of detail both inside and out, bags of interesting parts in interesting colours for those inclined to cannibalise their sets, and another thoroughly enjoyable modular build

11. The Hobbit Set 79003 An Unexpected Gathering

Another set that I eulogised about last time out while awarding it my "Best Licensed Set" gong, this one surely needs no more introduction from me. Superb organic design, a genuinely interesting build, lots of great minifigures, and a faithful recreation of the subject matter, this set ticks all the boxes; on the basis of voting thus far it appears that many of you agree with me.

12. Seasonal Set 10229 Winter Village Cottage

Having just finished building this one I can enthusiastically vouch for it. I have all the other "Winter Village" sets, and enjoyed building this one just as much. The main building is great, the vehicle is lovely, the out-buildings are perfect, and the whole package is thoroughly enjoyable to build and display


'Other'

I had to draw the line somewhere, but there are many other sets I could have chosen to fill the 12 nominee slots; some that narrowly missed the cut include Creator Set 7347 Highway Pickup, Set 10230 Mini Modulars, Super Heroes Set 6862 Superman vs. Power Armor Lex, Friends Set 3061 City Park Cafe and a number of others.

If you have a favourite that isn't listed, vote for "Other" and either send me the name of the set via the "Contact me" button above or leave it in the comments section below and your vote for that set  will be registered.

So get voting, and I'll announce the winner in the new year !

The Gimme LEGO Awards 2012

Contrary to what some seem to think, I don't generally plan my blog postings far in advance - we're not on some carefully crafted journey here, it's more a case of me writing about whatever I fancy from week to week. Hopefully this helps to explain why I've been so lax in providing updates on my City layout, and why the AT-AT is taking so long to finish; while I start out with the best of intentions, it's easy to get distracted....

One posting which was always going to happen was this one, though - the Gimme LEGO Awards 2012. I enjoyed last year's trawl through the 2011 sets far too much not to repeat it with the 2012 sets, particularly as it"s been another vintage year to be a LEGO fan. OK, so maybe the line-up has arguably not been quite as stellar in 2012 as it was in 2011, but we've still been spoiled with a huge number of outstanding sets, and here's my own personal pick of the best of them.


1 . Best Theme

Last years winner : Alien Conquest 

2012 winner : Monster Fighters

If you'd told me when the first Monster Fighters publicity shots emerged that I'd be picking this theme as my favourite of 2012 then I'd have thought you had taken leave of your senses, to be honest. Right up until the moment that I first saw Set 9468 Vampyre Castle (below) in a display case at the London Westfield LEGO Brand Store I had absolutely no intention of buying even one of the sets. And then I saw them, and they immediately captured my imagination, got under my skin, and won me over. 

Set 9466 Crazy Scientist and his Monster (picture below, and reviewed by me here) is a typical example of the theme and illustrates nicely why Monster Fighters is so good - it has goofy B-movie charm, it's an interesting build, it has tons of play features and it features  loads of interesting and varied parts. And just to top it all, LEGO then went and brought out what was effectively a spectacular Monster Fighters modular building - Set 10228 Haunted House - thus assuring the theme's place in my annual affections right there and then.

I have to say I love pretty much all of the Monster Fighters sets, with the possible exception of the truly bizarre Set 9467 Ghost Train which is too peculiar even for me. We won't be seeing any more Monster Fighters sets in 2013 - like last year's Theme of the Year it's a 'one and done' - so farewell, thanks and and long may you be fondly remembered.....

Honourable mention : Lord of the Rings - LEGO could easily have got away with a "by the numbers" LotR cash-in, but the sets came out great - much better than I expected.

Honourable mention #2 : Dino - seemingly unloved by everybody except me, this theme was a solid and entertaining reboot of the dinosaur genre which LEGO seems to revisit every so often. The magnificant dinosaurs themselves were the stars of the show, and why nobody but me was seemingly drooling over these chunks of plastic perfection God only knows - what's wrong with you all ?!


2. Most Disappointing Theme

Last year's winner : Star Wars

2012 winner : Cars

Lordy, talk about a fall from grace. Having grabbed my "Better Than Expected" award last year, the Cars theme completely fizzled out in 2012. They might as well not have bothered at all, frankly. Mostly small, unimaginative sets with barely a half-decent one amongst them (I'll at least give Set 9486 Oil Rig Escape some credit for rising above the mediocrity) the words "half hearted" have seldom been more appropriate. In fact, given the lack of Cars-related activity this year on TV and at the cinema it was a mystery why they persisted with Cars sets in 2012 at all. Completely pointless.

(Dis)honourable mention : Racers. So where are they, these Racers sets ? In years gone by we've been blessed with such splendid offerings as Set 8461 Williams F1 Team Racer and Set 8653 Enzo Ferrari 1 : 10. And then in 2012 we get four decidedly mediocre monster trucks and a few poly bags which thus far haven't been available outside of the Phillippines and Italy. Rubbish. Did people stop liking fast cars, or did LEGO just drop the ball on this one ? You decide....


3. The "Medieval Market Village" award for Best Non-Licensed Set

Last year's winner : Set 7066 Earth Defense HQ

2012 winner : Set 10228 Haunted House

Despite there being a fair few worthy candidates this year, this was for me one of the easiest winners to pick. What a bolt from the blue, though - who could have guessed that LEGO would chance their arm on such a big, expensive showpiece set for a brand new non-licensed theme ? I certainly couldn't see that coming. What a great set, though - over 2,000 pieces, and a design highly reminiscent of the revered range of Modular buildings. 

The level of detail is just spectacular. Outside there are boarded up windows, distressed brickwork and shutters hanging off their hinges, all complemented by a perfect sand green and light bley colour scheme, while inside the rooms are decorated to modern Modular standards, full of lovely little touches. Someone has clearly expended love and attention on the details to give us fans something to truly savour, and it's certainly hit the spot as far as I'm concerned.

From a business perspective it's hard to see LEGO shifting huge numbers of these, so if you're wavering then I'd urge you to take the plunge - the more they sell, the more likely we'll be to get more bold products like this from LEGO in the future. It's an absolute cracker and wins the gong at a canter.

Honourable mention : Set 10223 Kingdoms Joust (below). We've had a few jousting sets in the past, but really nothing on the scale of this beauty (pictured below). First revealed at STEAM 2011 prior to going on sale right at the beginning of 2012, I thought that this set sadly missed a trick by appearing at retail just as the rest of the Kindgoms theme, notably Set 7946 Kings Castle, was disappearing from the shelves. An attractive design borrowing from both the Kingdoms Castle and revered Medieval Market Village, loads of lovely little details and a ton of minifigures and horses make this one a winner and definitely worth picking up.

4. Best Licensed Set

Last year's winner : Set 10217 Diagon Alley

2012 winner : Set 79003 An Unexpected Gathering

Last year this award literally chose itself. The winning set was IMHO so far ahead of all the other contenders that there was really only one winner. This year was a different story, however - nothing stood out anything like as much. Also, I had a couple of issues to contend with. Firstly, I wasn't even sure if I should consider the Hobbit sets at all - they only appeared in December, and I initially assumed that they were actually 2013 sets which naughty retailers were releasing early. Their appearance in LEGO brand stores and on LEGO S@H finally convinced me that I should include them, however. I also had to contend with my almost irrational love of Set 6862 Superman and Power Armor Lex (see below). In the end, however, I just couldn't ignore the charms of Set 79003 An Unexpected Gathering, the standout Hobbit release, and a genuinely worthy winner. It grabbed me from the first publicity shots, and it really is beautifully conceived and designed, utilising a host of interesting building techniques. And of course it looks lovely when completed, nailing the tricky "organic" look and  managing to capture the essence of the subject matter. If that wasn't enough, it also comes with a generous sprinkling of six key minifigures, and to top it all it's very reasonably priced for a licensed set. Bravo !

(Very) Honourable mention : Set 6862 Superman vs. Power Armor Lex (below). I love, love, love this set - a truly underrated gem IMHO. I bought this one almost as soon as it was released, and indeed at RRP despite my intention not to pay full price for anything in 2012 if at all possible. It just....works, I guess. I absolutely love Lex's mech - the overall look, the neat ways you can pose it, the colour scheme, and the fantastic primary weapon which even contains a lump of Kryptonite. And then there's the thrill of finally owning a Superman minifigure after all these years of wishing that one existed, not to mention the presence of Wonder Woman which made my wife extremely happy. A superb set at a very nice price, then. I was a whisker away from awarding this set my "Best Licensed Set" gong, and while I suspect there might have been howls of protest from many, I really wouldn't have cared.

Honourable mention 2 : Set 10225 R2-D2 (below). Agonisingly close, but not quite there... I was thrilled when this set was announced, and it was another one which I ran out and bought as soon as I could. It's an interesting set to build, looks great when it's finished, and, well, it's Artoo, isn't it, so what more is there to say ?! I guess this set suffered from unrealistic expectations however. While it's undoubtedly a loving homage, the completed model was perhaps just a little small and skinny to be perfect, and it's crying out for some Power Functions to make Artoo move, rotate his head and beep-a-beep-beep. I fully accept that this would have doubled the price, but for subject material as revered and iconic as this I just wish that LEGO had properly pushed the boat out. If LEGO had addressed my wish list above then this set would have been my set of the year, bar none. As it is, it's a worthy effort and well worth owning, but I do continue to wonder what could have been....

5. The "Phantom Menace" Award for Most Disappointing Set

Last year's winner : Set 7877 Naboo Starfighter

2012 winner : Set 21012 Sydney Opera House

The Architecture theme has been something of a mixed bag since its appearance in 2008. Nobody doubts the aesthetic merits of the glossy black boxes or plush information brochures, but the models themselves have been decidedly inconsistent, ranging from excellent to frankly shocking. And as frankly shocking goes, I think you really have to go some to out-do Set 21012 Sydney Opera House. Honestly, just look at it - ghastly. It's a miserable dog's dinner of a design, and all the glossy black boxes and plush information brochures on earth won't save this one from my derision. Just awful.

(Dis)honourable mention : Set 40026 Statue of Liberty - reviewed by me here, this mercifully small poly bag set was utterly dire. The only saving grace was that it was only available from a couple of retail outlets in New York City, so relatively few people were exposed to it's awfulness. Unlucky them, I say.


6. Best Minifigure

Last year's winner : Jack Sparrow with Tricorne

2012 winner : Queen Amidala

Like last year this was a real bastard to judge due to the high standards of LEGO minifigure design that we continue to be blessed with. Licensed themes such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Super Heroes have pumped out literally scores of excellent minifigures, and there have also been some outstanding minifigures emerging from within the ranks of the Collectible Minifigures and non-licensed themes such as Ninjago and Monster Fighters.

In the end, despite the stiff competition, the gong just had to go to the stunning Star Wars Queen Amidala figure which is unique to Set 9499 Gungan Sub. Fanboys have been crying out for a new Amidala minifigure for a decade now, and finally LEGO delivered, and how ! The figure is exquisitely detailed and beautiful, so much so that you can almost forgive LEGO for it's inclusion in a random set in which it has no business appearing....

Honourable mention : Lady Liberty, Swamp Creature, Friends. Lady Liberty, from the sixth series of Collectable Minifigures, is beautifully realised and I think my favourite of all the Collectable Minifigures to date, while the intricately detailed Swamp Creature, from the Monster Fighters set of the same name, is maybe the best of all the Monster Fighters figures. And as for the Friends Minidolls, well, let's just say that they won me over, which is quite a feat given how sceptical I was at first.

        

Honourable mention #2 : Dino. OK, so they're not exactly minifigures as such, but the beauty of hosting your own awards is that you can make up the rules as you go along.... If I was a millionaire then I'd buy up hundreds of Dino sets so I could assemble huge herds of these wonderful dinosaurs and have them roam around my house. Bloody awesome, they are. All that's missing is a stegosaurus and a diplodocus and I'd be in heaven.

7. The "Better than Expected" Award

Last year's winner : Cars

2012 winner : Lord of the Rings

OK, so once the excitement of last year's Lord of the Rings (LotR) announcement had died down, hands up if you were secretly a bit worried that the sets might actually turn out to be, you know, a bit crap....dumbed down for a younger audience, too simplistic, lazy, whatever.

Wrong, wrong, wrong - what a pleasant surprise ! All the first wave of sets have something to commend them, and a couple of them including Set 9474 The Battle of Helm's Deep (above) are actually pretty impressive. Even the smallest of them, Set 9469 Gandalf Arrives (below), is a cracker - perfectly formed and utterly charming. The minifigures are great, the new horses are great, and overall I think LEGO have done the theme justice. 

Also of note, the second wave of LotR sets, which consists of sets inspired by The Hobbit, has recently appeared on the shelves, and gratifyingly, they seem to be maintaining the level of quality established by the first wave of sets, with Set 79003 An Unexpected Gathering (below) the highlight as previously discussed.

Honourable mention : Friends. Having stuck the boot in here somewhat when I first saw images of the sets, particularly the minidolls, I had to eat some serious humble pie here when I laid my hands on a few sets and realised that the minidolls were actually delicate and quite beautiful, and the sets (or at least some of them) were quite neat....

Honourable mention #2 : Ninjago. More cohesive, interesting designs this year and a big improvement on the 2011 sets I reckon. I'm almost disappointed that the theme will be bowing out after its last hurrah in 2013, although on balance I'm glad LEGO are wrapping up the theme while it's at the top of its game rather than flogging it to death and then some - Star Wars, I'm looking at you....


8. Most Welcome LEGO-Related Announcement

Last year's winner : LEGO Lord of the Rings sets on the way

2012 Winner : Watford LEGO Brand Store

OK, OK - apologies for being so tediously parochial, but what do you expect me to say when LEGO announces it's going to open a new LEGO Brand Store just a few miles from my house ? I mean, how would YOU feel ?! Living on the outskirts of London, I already considered myself pretty lucky having three of the UK's eight LEGO Brand Stores within a hour's travelling distance and a couple more within two hours drive, but the new Watford store is really the icing on the cake. As I write, the store opened less than 2 weeks ago and I'm preparing for my first visit this coming weekend - can't wait !


9. Gimme LEGO Reader's Choice Award

Last year's winner : Set 10217 Diagon Alley

2012 Winner : You Decide !

Can you believe that a few miserable curmudgeons actually chided me for going all populist and including a vote last year ? Grumpy sods - you know you you are.... Enough people actually voted to encourage me do it again, however, so here it is !

The 2011 Winner - Set 10217 Diagon Alley

You'll have seen a poll on the right side of the page - another 12 sets this year, some licensed and some unlicensed, which I consider to be some of the highlights of 2012. Cast your votes - one person, one vote - and at midnight on 31st December the poll will close and we'll have our winner.... I've also included a "None of the above" option - choose this if you feel strongly about a set that isn't listed, and drop me an e-mail via the contact button on the top right of the screen or leave a comment below to let me know your unlisted choice; if enough people go for a specific, unlisted set then that set will, of course, be the winner.

Before I go, I'd just like to thank you all for reading, and wish you all a wonderful Christmas - have good one !

*EDIT* I can't see the poll on my iPad or smartphone - thanks Blogger - so if you're in the same boat you'll probably need to click "view web version" at the bottom of the page in order to see the nominations and vote. Sorry about that....

"They're for sale if you want them"

As discussed last week, my quest for a 100% complete (as defined by moi, of course....) LEGO Star Wars collection is all well and good, but it's not the whole story. There are also those "ancilliary items" which I alluded to - those rare, exotic trinkets which we curse LEGO for producing, unless of course we're fortunate enough to manage to get them for ourselves..... Despite my focus on the Star Wars retail sets, I do have to confess to keeping an eye out for some of the harder-to-find exotica, and when such items do occasionally present themselves I'm not averse to adding them to the collection if the price isn't too exhorbitant.

One such item which I was recently lucky enough to get hold of without having to remortgage the house or sell my family into slavery for is Set COMCON024 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder. This is one of those infernal LEGO exclusives which you can only get if you attend a particular event, in this case the 2012 New York Comic Con (NYCC), or know someone who's attending and willing to get up early and stand in a queue. Even after all that, attendees didn't get them for free - they had to cough up $40 for the privilege. Ouch.

You can see some pictures of the sealed set below (click pictures to enlarge). Unusually, it comes in a metal tin with a twist-off lid. The lid is secured with a couple of tape seals and festooned with a nice cartoony representation of Luke Skywalker's face; there's also text around the circumference confirming that the set is indeed a NYCC exclusive. The side of the tin is covered all the way round with a large sticker showing a representation of the set contents against a backdrop of what looks like Mos Eisley spaceport. Overall, the packaging is really rather nice - slick and desirable, and certainly not the kind of half-hearted effort that you might perhaps have expected LEGO to cobble together given that this set is a one-off.

Per the close-up shot below, only 1,000 of these sets were made, of which mine is number 777. I guess that makes them moderately rare in the great scheme of LEGO collectables; to put this number into perspective, there are 10,000 of the much coveted chrome gold C-3PO minifigures in circulation.

When I looked closely I realised that the black section of the seals was in fact perforated; I carefully cut along the perforations and twisted off the lid in order to inspect the contents, which you can see laid out in the picture below (click to enlarge).

The instruction booklet (pictures below - click to enlarge) is surprisingly sturdy. I was half expecting to find a photocopied sheet of A4 inside the tin, but I really couldn't have been more wrong. The pages actually feel thicker than those you'd find inside a regular retail instruction booklet, and the printing is absolutely top notch. The booklet is made up of a total of 34 pages not including the front and back covers, all of which are taken up by the building instructions apart from the last two which show an inventory of parts. The building instructions themselves are extremely clear and easy to follow, with no colour discrimination issues evident.

All 110 parts are contained in a single bag. The bag isn't sealed; instead it's closed by way of a sticky flap along one side which can be non-destructively pulled open, and indeed subsequently re-closed if desired. You can see a few of the more interesting parts below. Pride of place goes to the dark red mud guard-type piece which I've never seen before; at time of writing the draft Bricklink set inventory, which is pending approval, doesn't even show this piece, and I'm betting it's brand new. This is obviously a bit of a blow if you're planning on Bricklinking the parts rather than shelling out for the set. The set also contains, amongst other things, 7 light bluish grey 1 x 2 masonry bricks which are as yet only available in this and 4 other sets, and 14 tan 1 x 2 x 2/3 slopes (a.k.a. double cheese slopes) which is more than you'll find in any other set. Unusually, there are no extra parts.

The set contains one minifigure, described by Bricklink as Luke Skywalker (Tatooine, Smiling). To my great surprise, it appears that this version of Luke Skywalker has never appeared elsewhere and is unique to this set. His tousled blonde hair has certainly appeared previously, for instance in the minifigure version of Luke Skywalker included in Set 7965 Millennium Falcon, as has his torso and rather nice printed legs. The minifigure head is however unique, meaning that for the time being this figure can't be recreated 100% accurately from parts obtained from other sets. Neither his torso nor his legs feature any back-printing, and the head isn't reversible (unless entirely blank flesh-coloured minifig heads are your thing) but the figure is nevertheless a nice representation of Tatooine Luke and I guess potentially destined to be somewhat in demand among minifigure collecting completists.

The landspeeder build itself is extremely quick and simple, and the finished model can be seen below. In general, 1 x 2 masonry bricks have predictably been employed to represent brickwork in official sets where they've appeared to date; here however the 'back' of the brick is exposed instead of the 'front' in order to approximate a horizontal line running around the side of the landspeeder. Spoked wheels form the front of the engines, and metallic silver 1 x 1  round plates and 1 x 2 tiles modified with grille are used to provide some subtle detailing. Although it's not clear from the photographs, the landspeeder appears to 'float' thanks to the use of six transparent boat studs attached to the underside of the model. At the back, printed round 2 x 2 tiles form the back of the engines - no stickers in this set - and if you look closely you can see the new dark red mud-guard piece wrapped round the support structure for the central upper engine.

While the model is immediately recognisable as a landspeeder, it'd be an uphill battle to try and argue that it's in any way an accurate representation of the source material - it's far too short and stubby. It'll also only hold one minifigure, making any recreation of the iconic scene below something of a challenge....

"These aren't the droids you're looking for" (from Tumblr)

If you're not a fan of the chibi stylings of this set and would prefer something a little more movie-accurate, LEGO has previously produced three other landspeeders, not including the glued 2008 Landspeeder Bag Charm. Set 7110 Landspeeder holds a special place in my heart as it's the first LEGO Star Wars set I ever owned, bought for me as a present back in 1999 when I was well and truly lost in my Dark Ages; it would be almost a decade before I'd rediscover the joys of LEGO and embark upon my Star Wars collecting spree. Set 8092 Luke's Landspeeder can still be found at retail and is probably my favourite of all the landspeeders; as well as being a fairly decent rendition of the subject matter, it also comes with a prodigious number of minifigures for such a relatively small set. The landspeeder found in Set 4501 Mos Eisley Cantina is arguably the most 'realistic' by virtue of it's unusual sand red colour, although it's also by far the most expensive at current prices thanks to the presence of four rare and exclusive minifigures in the set including Greedo.

Set 7110 Landspeeder (1999)

Set 4501 Mos Eisley Cantina (2004)

Set 8092 Luke's Landspeeder (2010)

If I'm being completely honest, nobody except dyed-in-the-wool collectors really need bother with the NYCC Landspeeder. Sure, it's undoubtedly cute, and yes it contains an exclusive minifigure, but it's hardly worth the £80+ / $129+ that people are asking for it on Bricklink..... I was lucky and managed to pick mine up for less, but even I would have found it hard to justify coughing up Bricklink prices for this one.