The 2000 Star Wars Minifig Packs
The Sets That Almost Weren’t
Four LEGO-exclusive sets. Twelve minifigures. A licensing dispute that killed the format. And one figure that exists nowhere else.
In 2000, LEGO released four small boxed sets containing nothing but Star Wars minifigures, display stands, and collector cards. They were sold exclusively at LEGO brand stores and via the LEGO internet shop — never at general retail. They cost $5 each. They caused a legal dispute with Hasbro. And they were never made again.
The Sets
Each pack contained three minifigures, three display stands, and three collector cards — one per figure. The cards slotted into the backs of the display stands, creating a small diorama effect for each character. The packaging itself is a small box with a tab closure, measuring approximately 3.7 × 5.5 × 1.4 inches — closer to a trading card pack than a standard LEGO set.
The four packs:
- 3340 — Star Wars #1 (Sith Pack) — sw0003 Darth Maul with Cape and Hood, sw0004 Darth Vader, sw0041 Emperor Palpatine with Yellow Head and Hands. 32 pieces. The Darth Maul appears in 5 sets, Darth Vader in 6, and Emperor Palpatine in 3 — none are unique to this set, but the Palpatine is the rarest of the three.
- 3341 — Star Wars #2 (Rebels Pack) — sw0044 Luke Skywalker with Black Hood and Black Cape, sw0045 Han Solo with Brown Legs and Holster Pattern, sw0002 Boba Fett Classic Grays. 22 pieces. This is the most collector-significant of the four packs. sw0044 is unique to this set — the only Luke Skywalker variant with a black hood and cape, appearing nowhere else in the LEGO Star Wars lineup. Han Solo sw0045 appears in only 2 sets. Boba Fett sw0002 appears in 3 sets.
- 3342 — Star Wars #3 (Troopers Pack) — sw0005 Scout Trooper (×2), sw0011 Chewbacca. 22 pieces. The Scout Trooper appears in 3 sets and Chewbacca in 3 sets. The double Scout Trooper is a nice army-building detail — you get two for the price of one pack.
- 3343 — Star Wars #4 (Droids Pack) — sw0001a Battle Droid (×2), sw0048 Battle Droid Commander. 30 pieces. The sw0048 Battle Droid Commander appears in only 2 sets total — this and set 7204 — making it genuinely rare. The Battle Droid sw0001a is distinguished from the standard sw0001b only by a 1×2 plate on its back from the display stand assembly, which limits its standalone collector appeal. The cards for this set depict scenes from the battle on Naboo.
Distribution
The four packs were sold exclusively through LEGO brand retail stores, the LEGO Shop at Home catalog, and the LEGO website. They retailed for $4.99 each.
This limited distribution is why these sets remain relatively obscure even among serious collectors. Someone who bought LEGO Star Wars sets at Toys R Us or Walmart in 2000 would never have seen them. They were a reward for knowing where to look — or for stumbling across them at a LEGO store.
The Hasbro Problem
These four sets caused a significant licensing dispute. Hasbro — which held the Star Wars action figure license through its Kenner brand — complained that LEGO’s Star Wars license did not permit selling individual figures. Pure minifigure packs, without a meaningful build component, encroached on the action figure territory that Hasbro’s license covered.
LEGO’s response was pragmatic: if the sets needed a build component to qualify as building sets rather than action figures, they would add one. The result was the Jedi Defense and Final Duel sets — inexpensive sets pairing major characters with a small play environment, providing just enough build content to fall clearly within the LEGO license rather than Hasbro’s. The 3340-3343 minifig packs were quietly discontinued and never reprised.
This makes the four packs a genuinely unique artifact in LEGO Star Wars history — the only sets in the line’s history that sold minifigures as the primary product, before Hasbro’s objection permanently closed that door.
Twenty-two years later, in 2022, LEGO quietly returned to the format with the Minifigure Accessory Packs — 40557 Defence of Hoth and 40558 Clone Trooper Command Station. Each includes a small build alongside the minifigures, keeping the sets firmly in building-set territory. The Hasbro objection was never formally resolved — LEGO simply found a format that works within the constraints, and eventually made it official.
The Collector Cards
Each minifigure came with a collector card that slotted into the back of its display stand. The cards feature movie photography or character artwork on one side and presumably character information on the other — a format that predates the later Collectible Minifigure series by nearly a decade. There were 12 cards in total across the four sets, and a complete set of 12 is sometimes sold separately on eBay.
A complete example of any of these sets — minifigures, stands, and cards together in the original box — is significantly more valuable than the loose minifigures alone. The display stands are particularly prone to separation over time, and the cards even more so.
Current Values
All four packs command substantial premiums in sealed condition given their age, limited distribution, and the unique figures they contain:
- 3340 — approximately $125–170 new, $58–130 used
- 3341 — approximately $167–183 new, $80–135 used — the most valuable of the four due to the unique sw0044 Luke
- 3342 — approximately $100 new
- 3343 — approximately $50–80 new, $36 used — the lowest value of the four
Why They Matter
The 2000 Star Wars minifig packs are not promotional items — they were commercially available products, if only through limited channels. But they occupy a unique place in LEGO Star Wars collecting for several reasons: they are the only LEGO Star Wars sets that treated minifigures as the primary product; they contain the only version of Luke Skywalker in a black hood and cape; they were killed by a licensing dispute that permanently shaped how LEGO approached the Star Wars license; and they are now 25 years old and increasingly difficult to find complete and sealed.
A complete set of all four — sealed, with all cards intact — is a genuinely compelling collector acquisition that represents a specific and unrepeatable moment in the history of the line.
2000 Star Wars Minifig Packs (3340, 3341, 3342, 3343)
Released: 2000
Distribution: LEGO exclusive — LEGO brand stores and LEGO internet shop only
Price at release: $4.99 each
BrickLink: 3340 · 3341 · 3342 · 3343
Brickset: 3340 · 3341 · 3342 · 3343
