The 2007 Star Wars Celebration IV Exclusive
500 Made, $49.99, and You Had to Win a Raffle First
Five Imperial minifigures in a clear acrylic cube. Individually numbered out of 500. Only available if your raffle ticket was called. And then you still had to pay for it.
Star Wars Celebration IV was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 24–28, 2007, marking the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope. Attendance exceeded 35,000 people — the largest Star Wars Celebration to that point. LEGO had a booth on the show floor and, on each of the five days, randomly selected 100 raffle winners from the crowd. If your number was called, you were given the opportunity to walk to the LEGO stand and purchase a small acrylic display cube containing five Imperial minifigures for $49.99. 500 cubes were produced. They sold out immediately.
This is PROMOSW004-1 — the Star Wars Celebration IV Exclusive. It is widely cited as one of the first LEGO Star Wars promotional Celebration exclusives ever produced, and it remains one of the rarest items in the LEGO Star Wars catalog.
The Raffle
The distribution mechanism is worth understanding clearly. This was not a free gift, not a GWP, and not available for general purchase at the LEGO stand. It was a raffle-based purchase exclusive — the raffle determined who was eligible to buy, and then you still had to pay $49.99. One hundred winners were selected each day across the five-day event, producing exactly 500 sales. No additional units were produced or sold through any other channel.
May 24 was exclusively for Hyperspace fan club members. The remaining four days were open to general event attendees. The set sold out completely — there is no documented case of unsold units remaining after the event.
The Display Cube
The set is a 4″ × 4″ × 4″ clear acrylic cube with a removable front face that functions as a lid. The exterior is clean and unadorned — no printed text or logos on the outer acrylic surfaces. The front face carries a sticker on its outward-facing surface showing the LEGO and Star Wars logos, visible to the viewer when the cube is closed and displayed.
On the side of the cube, the edition number is handwritten in black fine-tip marker in the format “Exclusive [number] of 500.” This collection holds examples numbered 196 and 369. Hand numbering rather than printing or stamping is consistent with other LEGO promotional items of this era — a human touch that makes each of the 500 cubes individually identifiable.
The Interior
Inside the cube is a cleverly constructed cardboard diorama — a single sheet of cardboard printed on one side only, folded into a multi-surface display environment. The construction works as follows:
The back wall stands vertically, printed with a Death Star window cutout design. Two side wings are attached to the back wall and fold forward at 90 degrees, then fold back over themselves at approximately 45 degrees to create angled slope panels that taper from the front edge of the cube to the height of the back wall. The base section folds to form the floor of the display, printed side facing up, with three folded support rectangles underneath that raise the floor above the bottom of the cube and create a precisely sized cutout that fits the 8×8 lattice plate exactly. The LEGO plate drops into this cutout flush with the cardboard floor surface, integrating the brick-built platform seamlessly into the cardboard diorama. By folding the single printed sheet in this way, LEGO ensured every visible surface — back, sides, floor — shows the printed design without needing to print on both sides of the cardboard.
The left angled panel is printed in red on white with “07” — the year. The right angled panel carries the Galactic Empire seal, also in red on white. The unprinted reverse side of the cardboard is visible on interior surfaces and at the back when the lid is removed — a small tell that reveals the economical single-sheet construction, but invisible when the cube is closed and displayed normally.
The display platform itself is built from two 2×2 corner bricks topped with 2×2 corner plates, which elevate a Plate, Modified 8×8 Lattice with Hole in Center (part 4151b) to approximately ¼” below the level of the cardboard floor — slightly recessed rather than flush, creating a shallow step down from the cardboard surface to the lattice plate where the three main minifigures stand. The color of these structural components varies between known examples — at least one example uses black corner bricks and plates, while another uses light gray. This variation almost certainly indicates a rebuild by a previous owner rather than a production variant, as LEGO would not produce two color configurations for a 500-unit promotional item. If you are evaluating an example, black corners are consistent with the Imperial aesthetic and likely original; light gray corners suggest the internal structure may have been disassembled and rebuilt at some point.
The Backing Card
A separate backing card is included with each set — 4 inches wide and 7¾ inches tall, with three adhesive strips on the front bottom designed to attach it to the rear interior wall of the cube with the printed image extending above the top of the cube. The front of the card features the Darth Vader torso minifigure as the main graphic, with two Imperial Royal Guards over his shoulders. Inside the chest area of the torso graphic is a small scene from the movie showing Darth Vader seated and flanked by his two guards — the scene contained within the chest, as if looking through a window into the diorama. The LEGO Star Wars triangular logo appears in the lower left corner with the words “CELEBRATION IV / EXCLUSIVE” at its base. The back of the card is plain white.
Neither of the examples in this collection has the backing card attached — both cards remain loose with the adhesive strips unapplied and in mint condition. Whether to attach the card is a choice each owner makes. Leaving it detached protects it from accidental bends and dings that could occur if the cube is handled or moved. A complete display as intended would have the card adhered to the rear interior wall with the image extending above the top of the cube.
The Minifigures
Five minifigures are included, all pre-assembled and arranged in a fixed Imperial diorama:
- Darth Vader (sw0386) — front and center, glued to the lattice plate by one foot. No lightsaber included — empty handed.
- 2× Imperial Royal Guard (sw0040) — positioned behind Vader side by side. Each carries a pike/spear (part 4497, Black Minifigure Weapon Pike/Spear with Round End).
- 2× Stormtrooper (sw0036b) — positioned behind the guards, glued to the cardboard floor. Each carries a standard blaster (part 58247). The cardboard adhesion on the Stormtroopers is notably weak — they come loose easily on handled examples.
Note that several online databases incorrectly describe the Darth Vader as the sw0117 light-up lightsaber variant. This is wrong — sw0117 is a 2005 figure that appeared only in set 7263 and the Nuremberg Toy Fair polybag. The figure in PROMOSW004 is sw0386, confirmed from firsthand examination of two examples.
Current Value
BrickEconomy estimates the current value at approximately $5,465. The set is extremely rarely offered for sale — with only 500 examples ever produced and no secondary market channel at the time of distribution, surviving examples are held by serious collectors who know exactly what they have. The combination of low production quantity, event-exclusive distribution, and the individually numbered format makes this one of the most significant LEGO Star Wars Celebration items ever produced.
In This Collection
This collection holds two examples — #196 of 500 and #369 of 500. The physical documentation above is drawn from firsthand examination of both. The color variation in the internal corner pieces between the two examples is noted above as a likely rebuild indicator rather than a production variant.
What We Don’t Know
- The original corner color — black or light gray? Without a third confirmed unmodified example the original specification cannot be definitively established. Black is the more likely original given the Imperial theme.
- The backing card attachment rate — how many of the 500 examples have the backing card attached vs loose? Is it common for the card to remain unattached?
- Provenance — which day of the event was each example purchased? Was any documentation — a receipt, raffle ticket stub, or certificate of authenticity — included with the purchase at the LEGO stand? If you have documentation from the original transaction please get in touch.
PROMOSW004-1 — Star Wars Celebration IV Exclusive
BrickLink: promosw004-1
Distributed: May 24–28, 2007 | Event: Star Wars Celebration IV, Los Angeles
Distribution: Raffle purchase — 100 winners per day × 5 days × $49.99
Minifigures: sw0386 Darth Vader, 2× sw0040 Imperial Royal Guard, 2× sw0036b Stormtrooper
Quantity: 500 individually numbered
Current value: ~$5,465
Status: Owned — #196 of 500 and #369 of 500
