Citations › Citation ID: 134

C134. BOOK: Daniel Konstanski, The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks: The Inside Story of a Design Icon (Unbound, 2022).

Concurrent with the rise of LEGO Star Wars was the transition in LEGO Technic from bricks to beams. Prior to the early 2000s, designers of LEGO System sets had used LEGO Technic elements sparingly, preferring to make their structures and frames exclusively of studs and tubes. As LEGO Star Wars models grew bigger, however, they demanded greater strength, which only LEGO Technic bricks could provide, with their ability to incorporate pinned as well as stud construction.

Slowly, the interior structures of LEGO Star Wars sets became increasingly reliant on LEGO Technic bricks until the methodology became almost universal. LEGO Star Wars rescued many such elements from retirement, including one whose future hung in the balance after the cancellation of the set it was originally designed for.

LEGO Star Wars was responsible for the increased use of Technic bricks within brick-based sets to increase strength of larger models.