I can’t help but feel like I’ve had an endless parade of LEGO Star Wars 2014 sets to talk about over the last few weeks, but with this preview I will finally be at the end of the long new 2014 LEGO Star Wars sets list! Don’t get too excited, though–the final set to be shown off for the January 2014 LEGO Star Wars wave is a remake of an older set with a weird assortment of minifigures. It’s the LEGO Star Wars Droid Tri-Fighter 75044!

You have to feel bad for LEGO–they planned their whole 2013-2014 LEGO Star Wars stratagem around the planned release of Star Wars Attack of the Clones 3D and Star Wars Revenge of the Sith 3D, only to have Disney dash both films off the table. As a result, we’re getting a ton of Star Wars Episode II and Star Wars Episode III LEGO sets released this year and next that otherwise probably wouldn’t be getting repeat treatment from LEGO.

Case in point is the third LEGO release of the Droid Tri Fighter. We’ve previously had the LEGO 7252 Droid Tri-Fighter in 2005 and LEGO 8086 Droid Tri-Fighter in 2010, so this new-for-2014 LEGO Star Wars Droid Tri-Fighter 75044 will complete the hat trick. Other than the new spring-loaded missile feature, however, I don’t see a whole lot of new improvements to this set at all over the 2010 version. Even the decals look exactly the same as the last Droid Tri-Fighter LEGO set! For me, this release is just sort of “Ehn”.

The set includes four minifigures, but only one of which really worth mentioning. The four LEGO Star Wars figures included are a Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (with handcuffs), Buzz Droid, Battle Droid, and Security Battle Droid. I feel like there should be a Pilot Battle Droid in this set if anything, but certainly not a Security Battle Droid minifigure. The LEGO Palpatine minifigure also seems out of place here, despite being the best figure in the set–is Chancellor Palpatine supposed to pilot the Droid Tri-Fighter or fight it with his bare fists…?

The LEGO Star Wars Droid Tri-Fighter 75044 will be released in January 2014 and is expected to be a retailer exclusive set to an as-yet undisclosed retail store chain. I’ll send out an update to followers of the Bricks and Bloks Facebook Page once I get confirmation on the release location and pricing details on this set.

What do you think of the new and (maybe?) improved 75044 LEGO Droid Tri-Fighter, LEGO Star Wars fans? Is there enough of a change to this ship to make you buy it again, or does this ship feel too stale to you to warrant another purchase?