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all that talk about the importance of infantry blasters and you didn't even include it in your own spreadsheet. tisk tisk tisk. I guess we're going with droids after all...
Buying all those fighters and ships is great, but you also need to find the crews for them and that ain't cheap. You have to factor in pilots and crews. Not everyone who worked in the Rebellion was an idealist, they hired a lot of mercenaries to bring specific skills to the table. That, I think is where a lot of cash would go here.
I think most of the cash went towards buying off imperial checkpoints, bounty hunters, and guards to stay hidden and pass through imperial space unreported.
I feel the 80 million credits is a big win for an earlyish point in the rebellion. 80 million buys them tools they can use to gain even more credits. It's like the initial boost that could snowball out from there
@@justfantastic2877 "yeah definitely, I'm starting to think these rebel guys might actually win" Against a Galactic Empire with virtually unlimited funds, a bottomless supply of stormtroopers, two Dark Lords of the Sith and a space station that can destroy planets? Don't get your hopes up. ... Unless they get into a fight with some teddy-bears or something. Then they're toast.
Andor gave me Rouge One tones & Solo heist vibes. And I really enjoyed it. SW has finally found the best formula to make a story: Find a character, drop a camera in his life, and boom. you got a story. It's simple, but works so well
Well it is created, written and showrunner by the same guy who wrote Rouge One, The Bourne Series. So far Andor shows that their are Fans of Star wars who understand how to make a good show. Sadly Disney has some issues with creators and want corporate bots like JJ Abrams
@@GenerationTech My thoughts exactly. I think it comes down to the fact that many where still hot and upset over TLJ, me included to be honest; affecting the view of the movie. But I was happy about how Han's story was told
I dont understand why people thought this heist was about intel or money for Imperials. What I understood from Luthen saying payroll for an entire Imperial sector was simply stealing money that was supposed to be for an entire Imperial sector for the Rebellion
I mean, they're not mutually exclusive whatsoever; depriving resources from the Empire while simultaneously increasing them for the rebels, and severely bruising Imperial pride.
Yeah the definition of "payroll" is the LIST OF PEOPLE and how much money they get. I was super confused when they started showing those gold cylinders
I wouldn't have split the money with Skeen. He can't be trusted to not kill me or rat me out later. Also, both the empire and the rebels will be looking for me. Even with 80 million credits, the galaxy starts to become much smaller as I keep looking over my shoulders.
@@GenerationTech especially since they did not escape with all the credits. There were loads more still in the vault, which makes me wonder how much in total was in there.
@@GenerationTech It's probably because the sector is so amazingly backwater that a backwater planet is the most developed and fortified planet within it and thus the spot they chose as a forward logistical hub for payroll distribution. It's also likely that the loot is also proportional and that 80 million while a lot of credits is also pretty small for an imperial payroll vault but almost any other location would require an insane amount of infiltration and firepower to secure. They were planning on building this base up more so in the eyes of the Imperials the relative vulnerability of the vault was temporary but semi unavoidable. (they are also arrogant bastards as Andor noted, who would dare do this?)
A lot of sharp eyed viewers are noticing the discrepancies between star-fighter prices vs real life fighter prices. So we're going to explain where this is occurring, that video will be up this Sunday 10/23 so subscribe and stay tuned for that
Was just about to unload on how a y-wing is apparently less than a full size pickup truck in today's economy... I'm sure fuel would alter things a bit, going by the claims made in ssn 1 of the Mandalorian... but even so, those are some deals.
I assume it has to do with scale of manufacturing? Kinda like some computer chips, like IMUs, being used in cars today, identical to when their were first designed in the 90s, cost $1 today, when in 1996 they cost $260. The more you mass produce a thing, the cheaper that thing becomes individually. Earth is really limited by resources, labor, etc. so military fighters cost a great deal to make, but starfighters in the Star Wars universe could have production and raw resource procurement spread out over 100s of worlds and labor forces stretching into trillions of persons. This would drive the individual prices of everything from ships to speeders down significantly.
Figuring out the "worth" of a SW credit to Earth money is tricky. But saying the 80M credits could by X amount of fighters, or capital ships gives a proper perspective that it is a LOT. I think the battlegroup you put together really drives it home. Though your battlegroup only accounted for the procurement of vehicles (and a load of meat). Realistically, you'd need to reduce things a bit to devote money for equipment, personnel, supplies, maintenance, etc.
I wondered the same thing when I heard the estimate. The first thing I thought about was this channel's video about the cost of various ships. It's not enough to fund a whole rebellion but it's a big help.
What an incredible episode! Sadly Nemik died. 😓 I am wondering if these credits can be tracked. Money in the U.S. has serial numbers that would allow stolen money to be tracked, but only if it was stolen from a bank. Considering that we're talking about an extremely 'high-tech' society and it wouldn't be difficult to put a 'chip' in each credit. Of course this is a movie and a TV series that we're discussing, but it popped into my mind.
I believe this was something that was done for an episode in the Clone Wars series if memory serves right. If not, probably Rebels. Anyway, I do recall this being mentioned and being cannon, but it was not done on every chip. In fact, it would be excessive to do it on every chip. Money, or in this case, credits, are often spent in bulk. Now, unless you are being clever and checking credits for anything marked, most criminals go right to spending it all right after they get the cash. I watched several interviews from "retired" convics who told stories about their heist days and a very common theme they all shared was that right after they got the money, they spent the money. It is almost never packed away. Not in a bank account. Not buried in a secret cash. Spent. And the reasoning for this, to my understanding, was to avoid being figured out. If it can't be proven the money went into your account, its harder to prove you are guilty. So, in theory, the mentality in the SW universe would probably be the same. Get your credits, then spend your credits before it can be traced back to you or your crew. Then, you get the less common more soficicated mastermind who has links and a means to cover their tracks. Typically hiding their criminal antics with the ruse of a legal, taxable business; resulting in money laundering. That term always ammuses me, ngl. These folks know how to cover up and avoid detection standing right in the open under the very nose of the watchful government ruling over them. They are probably the only ones most often that can afford to hire someone to check cash for tracked credits or bills too. Anyway, my point was, I believe they existed. Just not that common. Really, the only time I think the Empire gave much though over a credit theft is if it was stolen from them directly or a useful entity such as the banking clan. Those would probably be tracked alongside local banks, but with less care given to anything that didn't effect Imperial Operations. Possibly to a point of just being dismissed and ignored as a bidding drop of water in a sea of credits they were already gaining. Apologies for the little spiral... I think I forgot the point of my response after the second paragraph lol
@@christopherpoet458 in TCW show Darth Maul and Savage did a raid to get "unmarked credits". I'm assuming they mark a credit so only the mark holder can spend legally.
Unmarked credits have been mentioned many times, though mostly in legends. With the rise of the empire came a simultaneous rise in black markets and I have no doubt it isn't difficult to quickly dump tracked credits for unmarked ones (though surely at some markup, but given the amount of nefarious activities happening during this period it's probably not that high). It's also worth mentioning the star wars universe in general doesn't have as advanced surveillance systems as you'd expect for such a technologically adept society, and with such a massive population to monitor tracking things like a few million stolen credits probably takes much longer than Imperial authorities would like. Rather than trying to track the credits the Imps are probably better off tapping informants in shady markets like Nar Shaddaa to keep a lookout.
@@christopherpoet458 I was just thinking about what kind of money laundering scheme these guys would need to pull. One thing I'm pretty sure about: the rebels DO NOT have the means to launder that amount of money so fast. Not even Luthen. If they want to get that money cleaned up fast, they would have to do it through a big crime syndicate that doesn't mind using imp credits. That's sure going to cost them AT LEAST 16 million (20%).
@@cesarbernardogonzalez-neir7486 Well, I guess that would depend on how Credits are tracked. I know bills (the ones in banks at least) are all marked in our modern day as a deturant to bank theft. But if the Empire didn't mark the credits and we continue this image of the Empire being aragant and proud, it could be something that became an oversight they saw no need to consider. The planet doesn't offer any resistance. Security wasn't kept too high either. They defiantly made of show of not belivieing anyone would try and rob the volt. So if they aren't marked, and the only thing that they have to be concerned about is not showing up with 80 million credits out of the blue that conveniently went missing from this location, Mon Motha might have the means to launder that money through her own network to make it spendable without suspicion. Or, they could break it up and split it among different rebel cells, making it even harder for the Empire to locate the theft of the credits. We know from the show as is that organized strikes at the Empire have been emerging though in show cannon its more of a suspicion than a confirmation. On that I am willing to bed that Luthen and his gang are not the only group. We will have to wait and see tomorrow morning how the show continues. I would love to see a lot more details on the early establishment of the Rebel Alliance. Something else to consider is that Bale Organa is also a supporter of the Rebel Alliance. The funds could easily be laundered through a network of his design as long as they could get the credits transported safely. I think there are a couple other high end members of the alliance capable of making that money untraceable.
yep Disney just saved it's own ass...Andor made Star Wars relatable again and very EXCITING!!! I felt like as I was watching this that it was a real world secret rebel broadcast update about the Theft on Aldhani and how to use all those credits now lol (and thank you @GenerationTech for doing all this research!)
These quoted prices are very interesting. Civilian consumer goods have prices near equivalent to today's USD, but military equipment is priced like the 1950s (a modern F-16 is about $15-50 million depending on the model, but a Korean War F-86 Sabre would have been about $180,000 at the time).
Yeah, it's weird. You can't get a used Cessna for what a new X-Wing supposedly costs. And 80 million would not even be a down payment on most US Navy ships. But the price range of a rifle or a pistol is basically right, so it's like they start the same, but credits gain buying power at some threshold.
@@carlos_takeshi The writers just don't even bother being internally consistent. If you actually work through the costs of a Star Destroyer from sourcebooks, you get a 1 credit: $600,000 ratio. It's ludicrous.
@@Spudtron98 If it was economies of scale, the numbers would not just be low, the VALUE would be low...but they're not. Sourcebooks say that 150 million credit Star Destroyers represent multiple entire sectors' economic outputs. What's more, if it was economies of scale, that would make them affordable enough that the Empire having 25,000 would go from impressive to pathetic, and even minor planets (and the rebellion itself) would have been able to afford battleship/dreadnaught class capital ships, which was definitely not true. The answer is that Star Wars writers just didn't remain internally consistent.
Getting money is an issue that everyone has needs in order to live a better and luxurious life. Life was difficult for me until i began trading,and I'm now earning a lot of money even with the current crash happening in the trading market. I still make gains using a better strategies....
The only part of "The Last Jedi" I liked was at the Casino where is showed a class of people in universe who did not care who was in charge, as long as the profited off both sides. I think the Rebellion used the X-wing because it had the same cockpit controls as other space ships, like Luke's T-16. The Empire used Tie Fighters because they were cheap and Quantity has a quality of it's own.
I didn’t realize all this time I wasn’t subscribed but I didn’t think anything of it…then you broke out a spreadsheet and I had to kick myself for hitting that button sooner. 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
I like your buy list but I would allocate a very small portion of those funds towards droids as well. Some for combat, sure, but also for other things you commonly see droids doing, like general service/maintenance, medical needs, etc.
Part of the advantage of the 80 million heist credits over money from wealthy supporters like Bail Organa and Mon Mothma is likely that Organa and Mothma has to take measures to avoid the Empire picking up on them funnelling money to dissident causes, limiting how much money they can get to the Rebellion at any given time.
There was actually a Rebels episode that addressed this, in a roundabout way. The only "safe" way for Rebels to get equipment from people like the Organas was theft. (and even That could only be done a few times)
Great video and I think the breakdown you suggested for how you'd spend it is great. One thing I am not sure I think is right is the 1:1 Credit-$. When you look at the Eurofighter Typhoon which is one of the more modern fighter jet planes, that cost Germany 90 million Euros per plane in June of 2009. It costs about $33,000 per NLAW missile as well. I can't imagine that 80 million creds wouldn't even get you a modern jet but could buy you hundreds of X-wings. So maybe the ratio is off. I really enjoyed everything else however.
I didn't realise how much you could actually buy with 80 million Credits. That's quite a lot. I'd definitely be tempted to ask the Mon Calamari for a ship, hoping they'd be sympathetic, never doubt Mon Calamari ships. I wouldn't have thought about using the credits to bribe the security of a junk world though. Stealing a Lukerhulk is pretty smart, I'd maybe add a few Venator Star Destroyers too since they serve as good battleships and carriers, definitely a good starting fleet. If I had anything left of the credits I'd probably spend it on weapons and ships, along with supplies. I would also presume that with stealing the 80 million Credits and the word getting out about, people may think about joining the cause, plus within the Andor show, I would presume that there are other rebels out there, esspecially Saw Gerrera, though he'd maybe go with more extremist ideas. I also wouldn't mind have a perminant home base, at least not yet. Using the small fleet or band of ships we've collected or bought, most likely making upgrades as we go and stopping off at planets we'd know were safe to go to.
One thing people don’t realize is how most fighters and combat planes in real life have insane maintenance ratios.. the f14 is basically extinct because it has a nearly 60 hour per flight hour maintenance trade off! Not to mention the parts that wear and break incredibly fast! Those parts are basically consumables or disposable… Flying a single mission could mean hundreds of man hours of maintenance and tens of thousands in repairs, parts, fuel and ammo! Even if your mission is a success and every ship comes back without damage (nearly impossible) you’re still paying probably over a million in upkeep for the ships when they get back! That’s why it’s so hard for small nations to keep up these days. Money just wins unless you have space magic!
I just want to add for the Lucrehulk, don't use it in battle, use it for training and logistics. Think about it, the Lucrehulk is big enough for whole wings of starfighters, both active wings based out of it and training craft for pilots recruited by covert pipelines on oppressed worlds. But iit's real advantage is it's big enough for infantry training, which the Rebellion desperately needs. Get some of the VR rooms the Kaminoans used for the clones and some experienced NCOs pulled off the front and your cell gets a mobile to rest, train, repair and even do some light manufacturing at. Lucrehulks are basically mobile space stations, way underestimasted.
@@GenerationTech hang on though I'd they are cloning specialist's you could use that knowledge to gradually increase your manpower, and have a military that was unquestionably loyal to your objectives what ever they maybe. ?
I would say heist has more to do with supplying an army instead of ships. Based on the lore, multiple ship builder sympathizes with rebels to help build secret ships (fears of the imperial taking over all their profits). Once the rebel battle lines were drawn. The actual procurement of most capital ship was through planet diplomacy (as once they back the rebels they knew failure would mean death). Especially once Alderaan fell, anyone backing the rebels knew it was all or nothing.
Alan that was awesome video. Been falling for a awhile and always enjoy the amount of knowledge you have about Star Wars. Let’s just say I have learned a lot. Keep um coming. Take care God bless
Strongly agree that this is the best show on streaming this year. Remember that 80 million credits is what one (extremely untrustworthy) character estimates their haul to be.
According to Legends the economy of the Empire was rather stable and it was noted that inflation in the Galaxy was non-existent. Even prior to the Imperial Era the Old Republic used the services of the InterGalactic Banking Clan to act as guarantor to back the credits which was fixed to precious minerals of the Muun’s vault so inflation would have been controlled to the minimum following a peg system.
Allen I just got to say, I love you, your content is always delivered awes9mely, and this video in particular was super interesting right up my alley. Thank you! YOU are Generation Tech
The heist accomplishes three things: it sticks a thumb in the eye of an enemy who thinks it's unassailable; it drums up a bit of cash to support the barely-started rebellion; and it advertises said nascent rebellion to any and all who are done with the oppression and humiliation, which will end up turning into an actual movement.
In Star Wars, it's probably much, MUCH easier to build things. Places like Kuat or Fondor are so massive, they pump out ships like there's no tomorrow. Because supply/demand, the prices would be substantially lower than you would imagine they are on Earth.
@@ehbuckethead7562 Because it is comparatively cheaper to build something like an x-wing or a tie in the Star Wars universe than it is an F22 in ours. The F22 would be more comparable to something like the N1 starfighter, ultra-high performance, no expense spared.
Another reason this $80M heist is a huge deal - that's all cash! Nice and portable and hard to trace! Mon Mothma has lots of money, but she's having a hell of a time avoiding ISB auditors. She's been laundering money through her "charities", but they have to jump through a lot of hoops to turn that money into X-Wings.
That break down of materials cost was great! I might have done one wing of Y-Wings or something similar to give my cell an extra hammer instead of a ton of razor blades, but otherwise spot on!
100% knowing the way that head Imperial officer is running things like a hardass, this is a giant slap in the face to those guys. Not to mention with how hard someone like Tarkin was, this is how someone gets executed Mistakes were not accepted in the Empire.
its fascinating that in the star wars universe, you can purchase a military grade starfighter for the salary of an IT worker while a fighter jet in real life would cost you at least several million
Personally i would spend 80 million credits as follow: 1 million credits to research/bride and aquire 2 Venator Class star destroyers 24 million credits for 528 Z95 Headhunters 16 million for 240 BTL Y wings 5 million for 72 ARC-170 4 million for 80 LAAT Dropships 5 million for 48 AT-TE 12 million for 6000 Heavy plastoid armor 6 million for 6000 blasters 6 million for 2 Counselor Corvettes And with the last million to create my own mercenary company to bring in the rest of the credits to fill out the crew, troop, and pilots requirements to field both Venators at 100% efficiency, along with possible modifications and upgrades later down the line.
Loved the video, the stolen amount is more understandable this way. TY! By the way I believe those were gold covered metal (non digital) chips they stole, pure gold would give a soldier a button size or even less as a payment. :) (My assumption is based on the gold and silver covered metal ingots of Star Wars) On larger scale it is nothing, but it is a spark: you can defy the Empire. Also I might be wrong but Rebels (later) should have factories and shipyards so it is not market sale values but construction cost, you don't need to buy proton torpedoes if you can make it. Also many excisting ships/fleets (royal, etc.) can be maintained if they joined the cause, again, later. So as I'm writing this the timeline is very important. A full grown organised Rebellion is one thing, having a couple of idealist, freedom fighters who want to do something... for them it's a fortune. Simple things like giving encrypted radios for commandos, basic weaponry, safe houses, even having a payroll for some cruicial experts (like a forager, engineer, etc. to have him/her/it 24/7).... A couple of everyday spaceships with some modifications (fake beackon, etc.), a LOT of simple things.... Open question: how much might Luthen have? A rich artifact dealer? He might make a million credit in a year. And of course he might have other businesses, family wealth, etc. (EDIT: some typos removed.)
You make good points. A large star ship like a Lucrehulk is also a large target. While a fully-crewed and outfitted Lucrehulk probably could go toe-to-toe with a Star Destroyer, it would be a lot of ship to crew, maintain, and fuel.
@@jeffreycarman2185 And easy to spot (no allied planets yet, nor extensive network), and useless if dozen star destroyers jump at you. Currently they need network, transportation and tools for guerilla warfare, not army and fleet.
I am surprised that there have been no attempts to raid some of the Banking Clan's vaults yet after I realized how much the money the Rebels Alliance needed to arm themselves.
because in the criminal circles, they likely were also going after those juicy vault prizes also. groups like the black sun or hutt cartels would likely be quick to hit any banking clan vaults they could reach, while some elements of the banking clans would be hard at work with troubleshooter teams to reclaim those hidden funds to store else where. combine that with the empire also doing that and you realise there were likely a lot of movement and fighting going around any of those vaults and caches that were found. because money is money, and everyone wants it. especially rebellions, criminals, corperations, and autoritarian governments
and if you want a good review ask Cham syndulla of ryloth.he is there first customer and the bad Bach gave him a good deal on some leftover weapons from the clone war time line and those guys made sure that Mr syndulla had a great selection of fire arms and explosives that worked like a charm
Star Wars pricing makes no sense. The Y-wing, a spacefaring bomber costs 60,000 credits but an E-11 blaster rifle costs 1,000 credits. So a bomber costs the same as 60 arguably crappy rifles. Separately, an Imperial class Star Destroyer is said to cost 150 million credits whereas a Ford class super carrier costs in the neighborhood of $9 billion not including R&D. Any nation would gladly trade one Ford carrier for 60 Imperial Star Destroyers, assuming a 1 credit to $1 exchange rate.
A friend of mine worked as a purchasing officer for the Air Force and he said they really did pay huge prices for toilet seats and hammers or whatever, if they did not spend the entire yearly budget then the amount they didn't spend would be deducted from the next years budget.
I seriously doubt that there really is a one-to-one ratio of galactic credits versus US dollars It was estimated in 2016 that it would cost something like $600 billion dollars to build an imperial class star destroyer But supposedly they only cost like $150 million credits in Star wars, so that would imply to me that either things are just really cheap in their Galaxy, or the credit is worth a lot more than a US dollar. Really comes down to inconsistency in writing.
Yeah if it was 1 to 1 80m credits could buy 2/3 of an F22 Raptor or that huge list of what he rattled off. It’s probably closer to 4,000 to 1. The problem is they don’t ever do things of super small fractions of credits so none of it makes sense. Either a cup of blue milk is $12,000 or buying a 900ft long space ship is the same cost as buying a Lexus.
Sadly the only thing that’s left of what I like of Star Wars are RUclips videos like these. They are often better quality than the current shows/movies…
You've put in a lot more thought about the Imperial economy and the value of credits than Disney. The writers were just making up impressive sounding figures. A better question is why is the Empire still paying its staff in cash?
Interesting breakdown. Thank you for making this. I would add to that exercise the costs needed to set up and man at least one base or even a supply depot. Logistics is everything in war, and if you can't refuel, rearm, and resupply your capitol ships or fighters (such as the base on Yavin), then you've just acquired a bunch of wargear that won't last very long. That then asks the question: what would you think such a base would cost the Rebellion to establish in both credits and resources, given that they did not have world governments openly backing them?
With that 80 million credits the Rebellion could have easily bought a singular venator class Star Destroyer and would have had 30 million credits left over
I doubt there are any Venators in the galaxy at that point in time that would be serviceable for the rebels. And the ones that are, would probably need to undergo a lot of retrofitting to be satisfactory enough to engage in open battle, basically depleting the leftover 30 million credits on labour and parts. Not worth it
and then the Empire rolls out one or two ISDs and voila, Venator turns into scrap and wasted money not to mention all the other problems guy above described it's just not worth buying for the Rebels. Only if salvaged basically for free as an emergence measure or backup tool then it would serve a good deal to Alliance
Your plan with the money is to acquire, equip, and staff the Fortressa....it would be awesome if we can get her encounter with the Death Star on screen
Reckon the rebellion should have invested some of their money in to convert CCTV. Its a much missed aspect of the Star Wars universe that could have had eyes on pretty much the most important empire schemes then used it online (or galactic network) and solved a lot of their problems quite cheaply and easily. Imagine a CCTV system in Palpatine's office when the Jedi came to arrest him. Seeing him go full Darth Sidious and convert Anakin to the dark side.Thats saying if they hadn't put one in hos office beforehand while he was scheming. Shame something that exists in RL could have solved so many probs for both sides had they used it.
This was a fun video and well explained using the spreadsheet. I wonder if it would be possible to do a year-over-year budget/expense/loss report for every year of the Empire/Rebellion war. Thinking of the Battle of Scarif alone, the loss of two SD's to the loss of the Rebel fleet ships (at the time) would make it a loss for the Empire economically. Add in the fighters loss and a fortress world, I would very much like to see the numbers every year. With the availability of the Legends EU, I'm sure there is enough information to make this happen, or at least hypothesize as to the numbers therein. Granted, the war didn't end on the economic front, such as Soviets in Afghanistan, but just how much was lost on both sides would be fascinating.
I think you will have a very effective rebel cell with that selection. Weapons for ground troops could be initially provided by recruits bringing their own followed by material stolen from Imperials, later on later on after having some success and being recognized by the greater rebellion you would probably be offered what you needed which would be small arms.
There is also story about fledgling Rebellion hiting Ylesia in books. There is no amount of credits set, but with all i think it was bigger hit than Andor 80 milion credits.
I always wondered why the Empire never went after the arms manufacturers for the rebellion. It wouldn't be hard to pinpoint what factories were pumping out X-Wings or blaster rifles.
It's always difficult to do an economic comparison between different tech levels as the relative cost of different items change with technology. Lumens of light per unit of daily labor for example varies wildly over history as we get more and more efficient ways to make light. Cloth prices over human history remained extremely high making cloth one of the most valuable things you could buy until automation suddenly made cloth stupidly cheap. Computation famously got cheaper at an exponential rate during the period referred to as "Moore's Law" but is stabilizing as we reach the limits of known technology and in particular hit minimum amounts of electrical power per computation with current technology (as seen with example BitCoins). All price is ultimately labor, so hand crafted goods tend to maintain near constant prices over time. Where I'm going with this is that by my calculations credits probably have more effective purchasing power than the 1:1 value with the US dollar that the OP calculates. My guess is that they probably are more like 1 credit = 10 dollars of effective purchasing power, and in some cases maybe a lot more owing to the advanced automation and unfathomably cheap electrical power in the Star Wars universe. Eighty million is probably closer to 800 million US dollars in terms of what it can buy in manufactured goods and how it relates to the daily wage of an average galactic citizen.
@@celebrim1 think of it like how a third word person would. 150 $ a month in many third world countries is livable wage. That translates to 1800$ a year. It would take 160 years of savings for such citizen to just afford an x-wing. Wage could be better in core worlds but so will costs, hence why the empire would prefer exploiting poor sectors for general production and core worlds for sophisticated things
I think you need to drop a few ships for fuel, food for the crew, amino and paying your crew and fighters. Employee need to be payed. One of the main reasons Major General Benedict Arnold switch to the British side was because he was not payed what he was owed.
Ten Frigates could easily take two ISDs with a good commander, I've done that kind of thing in the various Star Wars table top RPGs and PC Strategy games many times. I would buy four or five frigates mixing Nebulon-Bs, MC30Cs, and a CC-7700. put ten million on fighters, invest ten million in either building rebel production capacity or the stock marker, and spilt the rest between small arms and supplies
Before watching, just dropping this comment here so I can feel cool if it's addressed. Don't forget that it wasn't just to get Money for the Rebels. It was also to deny the Imperial Payroll for an 'Entire Sector'. Discontent Soldiers means more lax security which means easier operations in future, because the Imperials will be forced to adjust their defensive strategy. They can't be everywhere at once.
Quite a bit. It can be a down payment to shipyards and corporations that are willing to illegally supply the alliance with weapon systems. The big break for the alliance was getting corporations on their side, and convincing suppliers who were fed up with Imperial corruption and Imperial atrocities to ideologically align with the Alliance and throw their lot in with them. Rebellions built on hope is great marketing, but the reality is rebellions are built on money.
Skip the A wings, Pay the crews, Other things like Fuel and Clothes; Air and Docking. Honestly, probably should keep 10% in a war chest for supplies, repairs, bribes, etc.
I remember an Economics Professor and Star Wars fan who'd researched all the price quotes in SW Lore for Vehicles based on such as the Falcon costing 22,500 direct from the shipyard, Star Destroyer costing 110 million credits. Considering the latter's size, volume, mass, the engines necessary for Hyperdrive and sub-light as well as metal alloys for structural stress, withstanding collisions with debris, shields, firepower, life support, and so forth, he determined the Imp Destroyer costing three years of the US GNP or ten trillion dollars. According to him, one credit is worth 100,000 dollars This makes more since when one considers the Falcon's cost at only 22K
1:01 if you think that SW credits is roughly the equivalent of a 1:1 ratio of the US dollar, just remember that the current US fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, costs $120m just to purchase That's *ONE* fighter jet $80m suddenly doesn't seem so much to fund an intergalactic rebellion
If you are caluclating an ~1:1 credit to dollar ratio, (1:00) star wars ships are insainly cheap. A f35 costs 80M up front irl. Starwars starfighters seem closer in cost to a car than a plane.
Use Code "OCT100F" for $100 off! ⏩ ownasaber.com/collections/proffie2-2-neopixel-lightsabers
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How long does this code last
I don’t know honestly could be until the end of Oct could be sooner? I know they have a new promotion beginning next week so.
@@GenerationTech oh
all that talk about the importance of infantry blasters and you didn't even include it in your own spreadsheet. tisk tisk tisk. I guess we're going with droids after all...
@@GenerationTech also love your vids. Been watching for as long as I can remember.
Buying all those fighters and ships is great, but you also need to find the crews for them and that ain't cheap. You have to factor in pilots and crews. Not everyone who worked in the Rebellion was an idealist, they hired a lot of mercenaries to bring specific skills to the table. That, I think is where a lot of cash would go here.
never underestimate the cost of providing food, medicine and tools either
Eh if you just provide it to existing cells and they make out on more profitable missions because of it it’s not really something you factor in
Not to mention upkeep, replacement parts, fuel, etc.
Supply chains are expensive.
Amateurs talk tactics professionals talk logistics
I think most of the cash went towards buying off imperial checkpoints, bounty hunters, and guards to stay hidden and pass through imperial space unreported.
I feel the 80 million credits is a big win for an earlyish point in the rebellion. 80 million buys them tools they can use to gain even more credits. It's like the initial boost that could snowball out from there
yeah definitely, I'm starting to think these rebel guys might actually win
That sounds like the start of a really cool movie!
@@justfantastic2877 "yeah definitely, I'm starting to think these rebel guys might actually win"
Against a Galactic Empire with virtually unlimited funds, a bottomless supply of stormtroopers, two Dark Lords of the Sith and a space station that can destroy planets? Don't get your hopes up.
... Unless they get into a fight with some teddy-bears or something. Then they're toast.
I don't think they actually got 80 million though. I think they ran out of time before even leaving with half of the payday.
@@superdave8248 nah there was more money in the vault I believe, 80 million was what they managed to get
Andor gave me Rouge One tones & Solo heist vibes. And I really enjoyed it. SW has finally found the best formula to make a story: Find a character, drop a camera in his life, and boom. you got a story. It's simple, but works so well
Well it is created, written and showrunner by the same guy who wrote Rouge One, The Bourne Series. So far Andor shows that their are Fans of Star wars who understand how to make a good show. Sadly Disney has some issues with creators and want corporate bots like JJ Abrams
Yea I always had a soft spot for solo, always thought that film wasn't given a fair shot
@@GenerationTech My thoughts exactly. I think it comes down to the fact that many where still hot and upset over TLJ, me included to be honest; affecting the view of the movie. But I was happy about how Han's story was told
Star wars is sad joke. Disney destroyed one of the greatest series ever.
@@GenerationTech oh it was given a fiar shot. Ppl don't like it cuz it's garbage.
I dont understand why people thought this heist was about intel or money for Imperials. What I understood from Luthen saying payroll for an entire Imperial sector was simply stealing money that was supposed to be for an entire Imperial sector for the Rebellion
I mean, they're not mutually exclusive whatsoever; depriving resources from the Empire while simultaneously increasing them for the rebels, and severely bruising Imperial pride.
You are right it was completely clear what was meant. Too many people creating strange theories.
I thought it was like the data for where the money is so they can siphon it away. But a heist is fine too.
Yeah the definition of "payroll" is the LIST OF PEOPLE and how much money they get. I was super confused when they started showing those gold cylinders
@@MarcoCarag thats the point, theres nothing for the Imperials, why would there be?
I personally really enjoyed the spreadsheet segment
haha glad you did
Me too, except that REAL spreadsheet users create the total cell BEFORE adding the data rows ;)
I was really hoping that the space AK would be a slug thrower
you and me both
Should've been. A ridiculous missed opportunity. If they would've went to the lore god filoni for one thing I would want it to be this
yea me three
Designed by Space Soviets too
@@GenerationTech me 4
I wouldn't have split the money with Skeen. He can't be trusted to not kill me or rat me out later. Also, both the empire and the rebels will be looking for me. Even with 80 million credits, the galaxy starts to become much smaller as I keep looking over my shoulders.
Skeen would've killed you as soon as you let your guard down and taken your other half. Andor did the right thing.
Yeah Cassian did the right thing
My thoughts as well. He also has proven to the rebels that he is at least honest. They just might hire him back.
So you would have not done it just because you’re a decent person? Lol.
@@hoover728 He doesn't want to do it because he doesn't want to get backstabbed.
Speaking of money and episode six of Andor, I'm interested in the amount of pay for the Imperial military...
Yea like why is there so many credits in such a random location?
@@GenerationTech especially since they did not escape with all the credits. There were loads more still in the vault, which makes me wonder how much in total was in there.
@@GenerationTech That was probably the point tbf. They didn't expect anyone to know they had a bank on some mid rim tribal world.
@@GenerationTech It's probably because the sector is so amazingly backwater that a backwater planet is the most developed and fortified planet within it and thus the spot they chose as a forward logistical hub for payroll distribution. It's also likely that the loot is also proportional and that 80 million while a lot of credits is also pretty small for an imperial payroll vault but almost any other location would require an insane amount of infiltration and firepower to secure. They were planning on building this base up more so in the eyes of the Imperials the relative vulnerability of the vault was temporary but semi unavoidable. (they are also arrogant bastards as Andor noted, who would dare do this?)
@@GenerationTech Money to develop the local system. Invest in corporations to move in and exploit the sector. Or pay for local troops stationed there.
It's not just about the money, it's about sending a message.
Also greasing palms so that said thefts and salvaged stay off the record
That was literally half the point of the heist lol
Point break be like
A lot of sharp eyed viewers are noticing the discrepancies between star-fighter prices vs real life fighter prices. So we're going to explain where this is occurring, that video will be up this Sunday 10/23 so subscribe and stay tuned for that
Was just about to unload on how a y-wing is apparently less than a full size pickup truck in today's economy... I'm sure fuel would alter things a bit, going by the claims made in ssn 1 of the Mandalorian... but even so, those are some deals.
I assume it has to do with scale of manufacturing? Kinda like some computer chips, like IMUs, being used in cars today, identical to when their were first designed in the 90s, cost $1 today, when in 1996 they cost $260. The more you mass produce a thing, the cheaper that thing becomes individually.
Earth is really limited by resources, labor, etc. so military fighters cost a great deal to make, but starfighters in the Star Wars universe could have production and raw resource procurement spread out over 100s of worlds and labor forces stretching into trillions of persons. This would drive the individual prices of everything from ships to speeders down significantly.
They should have valued it at 800 Million Credits. Those Stacks were huge.
yeah i thought it was gonna be a lot more too but again tho they are not paper thin either...a million anythings is a LOT!
Yes agree
"waving hands for a jedimindtrick" these 800 m is just 80 m ..... then stash the 720m for a rainy day and take the 80m to make the rebellion happy...
Remember they weren't able to get all of it.
I hope they explore how the rebellion got the x-wings. I know the comics already explained this but it would be cool to see it play out on the screen.
Something people always forget is the cost if ownership. That's the money you have to spend on fuel, maintaining, and crew saleries.
Not all the rebellion were getting paid, they were there for the cause. But they needed to be fed and clothed.
@@lamarravery4094 if they had families to feed idealism alone would not cut it for motivation
Figuring out the "worth" of a SW credit to Earth money is tricky. But saying the 80M credits could by X amount of fighters, or capital ships gives a proper perspective that it is a LOT. I think the battlegroup you put together really drives it home. Though your battlegroup only accounted for the procurement of vehicles (and a load of meat). Realistically, you'd need to reduce things a bit to devote money for equipment, personnel, supplies, maintenance, etc.
I wondered the same thing when I heard the estimate. The first thing I thought about was this channel's video about the cost of various ships. It's not enough to fund a whole rebellion but it's a big help.
Not enough to fund a whole GALACTIC rebellion, but certainly enough for a planetary one.
What an incredible episode! Sadly Nemik died. 😓
I am wondering if these credits can be tracked. Money in the U.S. has serial numbers that would allow stolen money to be tracked, but only if it was stolen from a bank. Considering that we're talking about an extremely 'high-tech' society and it wouldn't be difficult to put a 'chip' in each credit.
Of course this is a movie and a TV series that we're discussing, but it popped into my mind.
I believe this was something that was done for an episode in the Clone Wars series if memory serves right. If not, probably Rebels. Anyway, I do recall this being mentioned and being cannon, but it was not done on every chip. In fact, it would be excessive to do it on every chip. Money, or in this case, credits, are often spent in bulk. Now, unless you are being clever and checking credits for anything marked, most criminals go right to spending it all right after they get the cash. I watched several interviews from "retired" convics who told stories about their heist days and a very common theme they all shared was that right after they got the money, they spent the money. It is almost never packed away. Not in a bank account. Not buried in a secret cash. Spent. And the reasoning for this, to my understanding, was to avoid being figured out. If it can't be proven the money went into your account, its harder to prove you are guilty.
So, in theory, the mentality in the SW universe would probably be the same. Get your credits, then spend your credits before it can be traced back to you or your crew. Then, you get the less common more soficicated mastermind who has links and a means to cover their tracks. Typically hiding their criminal antics with the ruse of a legal, taxable business; resulting in money laundering. That term always ammuses me, ngl. These folks know how to cover up and avoid detection standing right in the open under the very nose of the watchful government ruling over them. They are probably the only ones most often that can afford to hire someone to check cash for tracked credits or bills too.
Anyway, my point was, I believe they existed. Just not that common. Really, the only time I think the Empire gave much though over a credit theft is if it was stolen from them directly or a useful entity such as the banking clan. Those would probably be tracked alongside local banks, but with less care given to anything that didn't effect Imperial Operations. Possibly to a point of just being dismissed and ignored as a bidding drop of water in a sea of credits they were already gaining. Apologies for the little spiral... I think I forgot the point of my response after the second paragraph lol
@@christopherpoet458 in TCW show Darth Maul and Savage did a raid to get "unmarked credits". I'm assuming they mark a credit so only the mark holder can spend legally.
Unmarked credits have been mentioned many times, though mostly in legends. With the rise of the empire came a simultaneous rise in black markets and I have no doubt it isn't difficult to quickly dump tracked credits for unmarked ones (though surely at some markup, but given the amount of nefarious activities happening during this period it's probably not that high). It's also worth mentioning the star wars universe in general doesn't have as advanced surveillance systems as you'd expect for such a technologically adept society, and with such a massive population to monitor tracking things like a few million stolen credits probably takes much longer than Imperial authorities would like.
Rather than trying to track the credits the Imps are probably better off tapping informants in shady markets like Nar Shaddaa to keep a lookout.
@@christopherpoet458 I was just thinking about what kind of money laundering scheme these guys would need to pull. One thing I'm pretty sure about: the rebels DO NOT have the means to launder that amount of money so fast. Not even Luthen. If they want to get that money cleaned up fast, they would have to do it through a big crime syndicate that doesn't mind using imp credits. That's sure going to cost them AT LEAST 16 million (20%).
@@cesarbernardogonzalez-neir7486 Well, I guess that would depend on how Credits are tracked. I know bills (the ones in banks at least) are all marked in our modern day as a deturant to bank theft. But if the Empire didn't mark the credits and we continue this image of the Empire being aragant and proud, it could be something that became an oversight they saw no need to consider. The planet doesn't offer any resistance. Security wasn't kept too high either. They defiantly made of show of not belivieing anyone would try and rob the volt.
So if they aren't marked, and the only thing that they have to be concerned about is not showing up with 80 million credits out of the blue that conveniently went missing from this location, Mon Motha might have the means to launder that money through her own network to make it spendable without suspicion. Or, they could break it up and split it among different rebel cells, making it even harder for the Empire to locate the theft of the credits. We know from the show as is that organized strikes at the Empire have been emerging though in show cannon its more of a suspicion than a confirmation. On that I am willing to bed that Luthen and his gang are not the only group. We will have to wait and see tomorrow morning how the show continues. I would love to see a lot more details on the early establishment of the Rebel Alliance.
Something else to consider is that Bale Organa is also a supporter of the Rebel Alliance. The funds could easily be laundered through a network of his design as long as they could get the credits transported safely. I think there are a couple other high end members of the alliance capable of making that money untraceable.
yep Disney just saved it's own ass...Andor made Star Wars relatable again and very EXCITING!!! I felt like as I was watching this that it was a real world secret rebel broadcast update about the Theft on Aldhani and how to use all those credits now lol (and thank you @GenerationTech for doing all this research!)
These quoted prices are very interesting. Civilian consumer goods have prices near equivalent to today's USD, but military equipment is priced like the 1950s (a modern F-16 is about $15-50 million depending on the model, but a Korean War F-86 Sabre would have been about $180,000 at the time).
Yeah, it's weird. You can't get a used Cessna for what a new X-Wing supposedly costs. And 80 million would not even be a down payment on most US Navy ships.
But the price range of a rifle or a pistol is basically right, so it's like they start the same, but credits gain buying power at some threshold.
@@carlos_takeshi The writers just don't even bother being internally consistent. If you actually work through the costs of a Star Destroyer from sourcebooks, you get a 1 credit: $600,000 ratio. It's ludicrous.
Economies of scale. It's a big galaxy, and shipbuilders can turn out vessels at a huge pace.
@@Spudtron98 If it was economies of scale, the numbers would not just be low, the VALUE would be low...but they're not. Sourcebooks say that 150 million credit Star Destroyers represent multiple entire sectors' economic outputs. What's more, if it was economies of scale, that would make them affordable enough that the Empire having 25,000 would go from impressive to pathetic, and even minor planets (and the rebellion itself) would have been able to afford battleship/dreadnaught class capital ships, which was definitely not true.
The answer is that Star Wars writers just didn't remain internally consistent.
Allen..the only host this channel should use
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Getting money is an issue that everyone has needs in order to live a better and luxurious life. Life was difficult for me until i began trading,and I'm now earning a lot of money even with the current crash happening in the trading market. I still make gains using a better strategies....
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this shows the rebellion is having a harder time than we thought
The only part of "The Last Jedi" I liked was at the Casino where is showed a class of people in universe who did not care who was in charge, as long as the profited off both sides. I think the Rebellion used the X-wing because it had the same cockpit controls as other space ships, like Luke's T-16. The Empire used Tie Fighters because they were cheap and Quantity has a quality of it's own.
I like the idea of having a space version of ikea in Star Wars like there’s plenty of destroyed republic/imperial ships/ground.
I didn’t realize all this time I wasn’t subscribed but I didn’t think anything of it…then you broke out a spreadsheet and I had to kick myself for hitting that button sooner. 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
One thing I did not see was rebel payroll, Cassian got 200k for the heist so there should be some way of estimating.
I like your buy list but I would allocate a very small portion of those funds towards droids as well.
Some for combat, sure, but also for other things you commonly see droids doing, like general service/maintenance, medical needs, etc.
Part of the advantage of the 80 million heist credits over money from wealthy supporters like Bail Organa and Mon Mothma is likely that Organa and Mothma has to take measures to avoid the Empire picking up on them funnelling money to dissident causes, limiting how much money they can get to the Rebellion at any given time.
There was actually a Rebels episode that addressed this, in a roundabout way.
The only "safe" way for Rebels to get equipment from people like the Organas was theft. (and even That could only be done a few times)
Yup, stolen money doesn't leave a paper trail.
Great video and I think the breakdown you suggested for how you'd spend it is great. One thing I am not sure I think is right is the 1:1 Credit-$. When you look at the Eurofighter Typhoon which is one of the more modern fighter jet planes, that cost Germany 90 million Euros per plane in June of 2009. It costs about $33,000 per NLAW missile as well. I can't imagine that 80 million creds wouldn't even get you a modern jet but could buy you hundreds of X-wings. So maybe the ratio is off. I really enjoyed everything else however.
I didn't realise how much you could actually buy with 80 million Credits. That's quite a lot. I'd definitely be tempted to ask the Mon Calamari for a ship, hoping they'd be sympathetic, never doubt Mon Calamari ships.
I wouldn't have thought about using the credits to bribe the security of a junk world though. Stealing a Lukerhulk is pretty smart, I'd maybe add a few Venator Star Destroyers too since they serve as good battleships and carriers, definitely a good starting fleet. If I had anything left of the credits I'd probably spend it on weapons and ships, along with supplies. I would also presume that with stealing the 80 million Credits and the word getting out about, people may think about joining the cause, plus within the Andor show, I would presume that there are other rebels out there, esspecially Saw Gerrera, though he'd maybe go with more extremist ideas.
I also wouldn't mind have a perminant home base, at least not yet. Using the small fleet or band of ships we've collected or bought, most likely making upgrades as we go and stopping off at planets we'd know were safe to go to.
One thing people don’t realize is how most fighters and combat planes in real life have insane maintenance ratios.. the f14 is basically extinct because it has a nearly 60 hour per flight hour maintenance trade off! Not to mention the parts that wear and break incredibly fast! Those parts are basically consumables or disposable…
Flying a single mission could mean hundreds of man hours of maintenance and tens of thousands in repairs, parts, fuel and ammo! Even if your mission is a success and every ship comes back without damage (nearly impossible) you’re still paying probably over a million in upkeep for the ships when they get back!
That’s why it’s so hard for small nations to keep up these days. Money just wins unless you have space magic!
I just want to add for the Lucrehulk, don't use it in battle, use it for training and logistics. Think about it, the Lucrehulk is big enough for whole wings of starfighters, both active wings based out of it and training craft for pilots recruited by covert pipelines on oppressed worlds. But iit's real advantage is it's big enough for infantry training, which the Rebellion desperately needs. Get some of the VR rooms the Kaminoans used for the clones and some experienced NCOs pulled off the front and your cell gets a mobile to rest, train, repair and even do some light manufacturing at. Lucrehulks are basically mobile space stations, way underestimasted.
Yeah for sure like hera syndulla did with that acclamator. As long as there’s no kaminoans on the actual ship I’m cool with the vr 😂
@@GenerationTech Kaminoans? But I didn't order any sushi...
After all eveyone knows Kaminoan fillet makes the best sashimi.
@@GenerationTech hang on though I'd they are cloning specialist's you could use that knowledge to gradually increase your manpower, and have a military that was unquestionably loyal to your objectives what ever they maybe. ?
Loved all the price breakdowns, especially the ending! Subscribed!
Makes a whole lot of sense why Luthen was sweating over this raid . . . 80 million credits buys a whole lot of rebellion!
I would say heist has more to do with supplying an army instead of ships. Based on the lore, multiple ship builder sympathizes with rebels to help build secret ships (fears of the imperial taking over all their profits). Once the rebel battle lines were drawn. The actual procurement of most capital ship was through planet diplomacy (as once they back the rebels they knew failure would mean death). Especially once Alderaan fell, anyone backing the rebels knew it was all or nothing.
Alan that was awesome video. Been falling for a awhile and always enjoy the amount of knowledge you have about Star Wars. Let’s just say I have learned a lot. Keep um coming. Take care God bless
Strongly agree that this is the best show on streaming this year. Remember that 80 million credits is what one (extremely untrustworthy) character estimates their haul to be.
I was actually wondering the same thing. Thanks for the video.
According to Legends the economy of the Empire was rather stable and it was noted that inflation in the Galaxy was non-existent. Even prior to the Imperial Era the Old Republic used the services of the InterGalactic Banking Clan to act as guarantor to back the credits which was fixed to precious minerals of the Muun’s vault so inflation would have been controlled to the minimum following a peg system.
Allen I just got to say, I love you, your content is always delivered awes9mely, and this video in particular was super interesting right up my alley. Thank you!
YOU are Generation Tech
The heist accomplishes three things: it sticks a thumb in the eye of an enemy who thinks it's unassailable; it drums up a bit of cash to support the barely-started rebellion; and it advertises said nascent rebellion to any and all who are done with the oppression and humiliation, which will end up turning into an actual movement.
If you can buy an Xwing for under a million credits, I'd say their purchasing power is greater than a dollar.
In Star Wars, it's probably much, MUCH easier to build things. Places like Kuat or Fondor are so massive, they pump out ships like there's no tomorrow. Because supply/demand, the prices would be substantially lower than you would imagine they are on Earth.
Ye you need like 120millon for an f22 on earth I don’t know how the f you could get 120 frigates for the same price as a fighter jet.
The lore is very inconsistent.
@@ehbuckethead7562 Because it is comparatively cheaper to build something like an x-wing or a tie in the Star Wars universe than it is an F22 in ours. The F22 would be more comparable to something like the N1 starfighter, ultra-high performance, no expense spared.
Another reason this $80M heist is a huge deal - that's all cash! Nice and portable and hard to trace!
Mon Mothma has lots of money, but she's having a hell of a time avoiding ISB auditors. She's been laundering money through her "charities", but they have to jump through a lot of hoops to turn that money into X-Wings.
Considering 10,000 can almost buy a whole ship (assuming that’s the currency Han was after in ANH) I imagine 80,000,000 can buy quite a bit,
That break down of materials cost was great! I might have done one wing of Y-Wings or something similar to give my cell an extra hammer instead of a ton of razor blades, but otherwise spot on!
I think it’s more of a symbolic hit in this story than anything else.
100% knowing the way that head Imperial officer is running things like a hardass, this is a giant slap in the face to those guys. Not to mention with how hard someone like Tarkin was, this is how someone gets executed Mistakes were not accepted in the Empire.
its fascinating that in the star wars universe, you can purchase a military grade starfighter for the salary of an IT worker while a fighter jet in real life would cost you at least several million
Yes I'm sure the Empire would be a big fan of Common Sense Blaster Control
Personally i would spend 80 million credits as follow:
1 million credits to research/bride and aquire 2 Venator Class star destroyers
24 million credits for 528 Z95 Headhunters
16 million for 240 BTL Y wings
5 million for 72 ARC-170
4 million for 80 LAAT Dropships
5 million for 48 AT-TE
12 million for 6000 Heavy plastoid armor
6 million for 6000 blasters
6 million for 2 Counselor Corvettes
And with the last million to create my own mercenary company to bring in the rest of the credits to fill out the crew, troop, and pilots requirements to field both Venators at 100% efficiency, along with possible modifications and upgrades later down the line.
Loved the video, the stolen amount is more understandable this way. TY!
By the way I believe those were gold covered metal (non digital) chips they stole, pure gold would give a soldier a button size or even less as a payment. :)
(My assumption is based on the gold and silver covered metal ingots of Star Wars)
On larger scale it is nothing, but it is a spark: you can defy the Empire.
Also I might be wrong but Rebels (later) should have factories and shipyards so it is not market sale values but construction cost, you don't need to buy proton torpedoes if you can make it.
Also many excisting ships/fleets (royal, etc.) can be maintained if they joined the cause, again, later.
So as I'm writing this the timeline is very important. A full grown organised Rebellion is one thing, having a couple of idealist, freedom fighters who want to do something... for them it's a fortune.
Simple things like giving encrypted radios for commandos, basic weaponry, safe houses, even having a payroll for some cruicial experts (like a forager, engineer, etc. to have him/her/it 24/7)....
A couple of everyday spaceships with some modifications (fake beackon, etc.), a LOT of simple things....
Open question: how much might Luthen have? A rich artifact dealer? He might make a million credit in a year. And of course he might have other businesses, family wealth, etc.
(EDIT: some typos removed.)
You make good points. A large star ship like a Lucrehulk is also a large target. While a fully-crewed and outfitted Lucrehulk probably could go toe-to-toe with a Star Destroyer, it would be a lot of ship to crew, maintain, and fuel.
@@jeffreycarman2185 And easy to spot (no allied planets yet, nor extensive network), and useless if dozen star destroyers jump at you. Currently they need network, transportation and tools for guerilla warfare, not army and fleet.
The Lucrehulk is an awesome idea, I would sub out a few fighters en lieu of a dozen or so Gozanti-class cruisers.
Thanks for crunching the numbers. I was definitely wondering about the value added here. Well done.
I am surprised that there have been no attempts to raid some of the Banking Clan's vaults yet after I realized how much the money the Rebels Alliance needed to arm themselves.
because in the criminal circles, they likely were also going after those juicy vault prizes also. groups like the black sun or hutt cartels would likely be quick to hit any banking clan vaults they could reach, while some elements of the banking clans would be hard at work with troubleshooter teams to reclaim those hidden funds to store else where. combine that with the empire also doing that and you realise there were likely a lot of movement and fighting going around any of those vaults and caches that were found.
because money is money, and everyone wants it. especially rebellions, criminals, corperations, and autoritarian governments
Probably because banking clans banks are more secured
and if you want a good review ask Cham syndulla of ryloth.he is there first customer and the bad Bach gave him a good deal on some leftover weapons from the clone war time line and those guys made sure that Mr syndulla had a great selection of fire arms and explosives that worked like a charm
Star Wars pricing makes no sense. The Y-wing, a spacefaring bomber costs 60,000 credits but an E-11 blaster rifle costs 1,000 credits. So a bomber costs the same as 60 arguably crappy rifles.
Separately, an Imperial class Star Destroyer is said to cost 150 million credits whereas a Ford class super carrier costs in the neighborhood of $9 billion not including R&D. Any nation would gladly trade one Ford carrier for 60 Imperial Star Destroyers, assuming a 1 credit to $1 exchange rate.
A friend of mine worked as a purchasing officer for the Air Force and he said they really did pay huge prices for toilet seats and hammers or whatever, if they did not spend the entire yearly budget then the amount they didn't spend would be deducted from the next years budget.
I seriously doubt that there really is a one-to-one ratio of galactic credits versus US dollars
It was estimated in 2016 that it would cost something like $600 billion dollars to build an imperial class star destroyer
But supposedly they only cost like $150 million credits in Star wars, so that would imply to me that either things are just really cheap in their Galaxy, or the credit is worth a lot more than a US dollar.
Really comes down to inconsistency in writing.
Yeah if it was 1 to 1 80m credits could buy 2/3 of an F22 Raptor or that huge list of what he rattled off. It’s probably closer to 4,000 to 1. The problem is they don’t ever do things of super small fractions of credits so none of it makes sense. Either a cup of blue milk is $12,000 or buying a 900ft long space ship is the same cost as buying a Lexus.
@@jon10388 The ratio is about 1 credit : $600,000
"That'll buy you one heck of a pumpkin, Cotton!" ~ Pepper Brooks
Nemik's navigation tech looks like the classic Polaroid film cameras that would collapse into a case lol
That's because it is, they just slapped some random bits on a polaroid camera and called it a prop.
Sadly the only thing that’s left of what I like of Star Wars are RUclips videos like these. They are often better quality than the current shows/movies…
You've put in a lot more thought about the Imperial economy and the value of credits than Disney. The writers were just making up impressive sounding figures.
A better question is why is the Empire still paying its staff in cash?
Cause retrofuturism
Interesting breakdown. Thank you for making this. I would add to that exercise the costs needed to set up and man at least one base or even a supply depot. Logistics is everything in war, and if you can't refuel, rearm, and resupply your capitol ships or fighters (such as the base on Yavin), then you've just acquired a bunch of wargear that won't last very long. That then asks the question: what would you think such a base would cost the Rebellion to establish in both credits and resources, given that they did not have world governments openly backing them?
I would assume Imperial credits are vastly more valuable than any local currencies.
Great video. Thank you. It’s crazy this information is even available.
With that 80 million credits the Rebellion could have easily bought a singular venator class Star Destroyer and would have had 30 million credits left over
Who is Gonna Sell it to them
I doubt there are any Venators in the galaxy at that point in time that would be serviceable for the rebels. And the ones that are, would probably need to undergo a lot of retrofitting to be satisfactory enough to engage in open battle, basically depleting the leftover 30 million credits on labour and parts.
Not worth it
and then the Empire rolls out one or two ISDs and voila, Venator turns into scrap and wasted money
not to mention all the other problems guy above described
it's just not worth buying for the Rebels. Only if salvaged basically for free as an emergence measure or backup tool then it would serve a good deal to Alliance
Your plan with the money is to acquire, equip, and staff the Fortressa....it would be awesome if we can get her encounter with the Death Star on screen
Reckon the rebellion should have invested some of their money in to convert CCTV. Its a much missed aspect of the Star Wars universe that could have had eyes on pretty much the most important empire schemes then used it online (or galactic network) and solved a lot of their problems quite cheaply and easily. Imagine a CCTV system in Palpatine's office when the Jedi came to arrest him. Seeing him go full Darth Sidious and convert Anakin to the dark side.Thats saying if they hadn't put one in hos office beforehand while he was scheming. Shame something that exists in RL could have solved so many probs for both sides had they used it.
This was a fun video and well explained using the spreadsheet. I wonder if it would be possible to do a year-over-year budget/expense/loss report for every year of the Empire/Rebellion war. Thinking of the Battle of Scarif alone, the loss of two SD's to the loss of the Rebel fleet ships (at the time) would make it a loss for the Empire economically. Add in the fighters loss and a fortress world, I would very much like to see the numbers every year.
With the availability of the Legends EU, I'm sure there is enough information to make this happen, or at least hypothesize as to the numbers therein. Granted, the war didn't end on the economic front, such as Soviets in Afghanistan, but just how much was lost on both sides would be fascinating.
"Seventeen thousand?! We could practically buy our own ship for that!"
It was 10,000 for buying their own ship, Obi-Wan offered 17,000 to buy passage on the Millennium Falcon
@@jamespesetsky yeah...
I think you will have a very effective rebel cell with that selection. Weapons for ground troops could be initially provided by recruits bringing their own followed by material stolen from Imperials, later on later on after having some success and being recognized by the greater rebellion you would probably be offered what you needed which would be small arms.
There is also story about fledgling Rebellion hiting Ylesia in books. There is no amount of credits set, but with all i think it was bigger hit than Andor 80 milion credits.
Didnt Vader and his Roge space archeologist rob a imperial ship transporting impounded credits from a sezure?
I love clerks when Randal and Dante are talking the 2nd deathstar contractors lol
Fun time at the Star Wars Brothel 🤣🔥 ❤️
Unlimited space poontang lol
I prefer the Twi'lek baths
Maybe a Gamorrean woman concubine for every Rebel soldier?
🔥🔥🔥🥃
I always wondered why the Empire never went after the arms manufacturers for the rebellion. It wouldn't be hard to pinpoint what factories were pumping out X-Wings or blaster rifles.
like the guilds armory master, Chentu Chek, said: "Para-Wings are made by the militqary, so you cannot afford them."
my bro Allen, keep doing these Andor vids love it.
well Andor has kyber crystal worth 30,000cr and he offered to buy a used spaceship in ep 6 for around 30,000cr so 80mCr might be a lot of money.
It's always difficult to do an economic comparison between different tech levels as the relative cost of different items change with technology. Lumens of light per unit of daily labor for example varies wildly over history as we get more and more efficient ways to make light. Cloth prices over human history remained extremely high making cloth one of the most valuable things you could buy until automation suddenly made cloth stupidly cheap. Computation famously got cheaper at an exponential rate during the period referred to as "Moore's Law" but is stabilizing as we reach the limits of known technology and in particular hit minimum amounts of electrical power per computation with current technology (as seen with example BitCoins). All price is ultimately labor, so hand crafted goods tend to maintain near constant prices over time.
Where I'm going with this is that by my calculations credits probably have more effective purchasing power than the 1:1 value with the US dollar that the OP calculates. My guess is that they probably are more like 1 credit = 10 dollars of effective purchasing power, and in some cases maybe a lot more owing to the advanced automation and unfathomably cheap electrical power in the Star Wars universe.
Eighty million is probably closer to 800 million US dollars in terms of what it can buy in manufactured goods and how it relates to the daily wage of an average galactic citizen.
@@celebrim1 yeah
@@celebrim1 think of it like how a third word person would. 150 $ a month in many third world countries is livable wage. That translates to 1800$ a year. It would take 160 years of savings for such citizen to just afford an x-wing. Wage could be better in core worlds but so will costs, hence why the empire would prefer exploiting poor sectors for general production and core worlds for sophisticated things
Should have included battle droid costs. Some commando droids for some hit and run spec ops would be nice
Cassian has become my favorite star wars character.
Sweet video and interesting idea! Why not some CIS frigates to keep your crew costs down and do some raiding for more credits?
I was hoping you'd do this video!
Imagine if you can steal 80m from the Russian military payrolll
I think you need to drop a few ships for fuel, food for the crew, amino and paying your crew and fighters. Employee need to be payed. One of the main reasons Major General Benedict Arnold switch to the British side was because he was not payed what he was owed.
A lucrehulk would have made a great mobile base instead of caves like echo base but caves in the rim are stealthier maybe. Theres pros and cons
The purchase breakdown at the end was great
9:00- "I'm sure it gonna have to ask for a promo code"😂🤣😭
Ten Frigates could easily take two ISDs with a good commander, I've done that kind of thing in the various Star Wars table top RPGs and PC Strategy games many times.
I would buy four or five frigates mixing Nebulon-Bs, MC30Cs, and a CC-7700. put ten million on fighters, invest ten million in either building rebel production capacity or the stock marker, and spilt the rest between small arms and supplies
Before watching, just dropping this comment here so I can feel cool if it's addressed.
Don't forget that it wasn't just to get Money for the Rebels. It was also to deny the Imperial Payroll for an 'Entire Sector'.
Discontent Soldiers means more lax security which means easier operations in future, because the Imperials will be forced to adjust their defensive strategy. They can't be everywhere at once.
I never thought I’d hear a reference to that tuxedo commercial, in a RUclips video
The older i get the more I appreciate the politics and logistics of Star Wars
I would buy also weapon and warship licenses from corupt Imperial Officers.
Great Vid, engaged the whole time, loved the spreadsheet at the end coz it was a little different
Thumbs up on the light saber marketing strategy, by the way.
Quite a bit. It can be a down payment to shipyards and corporations that are willing to illegally supply the alliance with weapon systems. The big break for the alliance was getting corporations on their side, and convincing suppliers who were fed up with Imperial corruption and Imperial atrocities to ideologically align with the Alliance and throw their lot in with them.
Rebellions built on hope is great marketing, but the reality is rebellions are built on money.
Skip the A wings, Pay the crews, Other things like Fuel and Clothes; Air and Docking. Honestly, probably should keep 10% in a war chest for supplies, repairs, bribes, etc.
I remember an Economics Professor and Star Wars fan who'd researched all the price quotes in SW Lore for Vehicles based on such as the Falcon costing 22,500 direct from the shipyard, Star Destroyer costing 110 million credits. Considering the latter's size, volume, mass, the engines necessary for Hyperdrive and sub-light as well as metal alloys for structural stress, withstanding collisions with debris, shields, firepower, life support, and so forth, he determined the Imp Destroyer costing three years of the US GNP or ten trillion dollars. According to him, one credit is worth 100,000 dollars
This makes more since when one considers the Falcon's cost at only 22K
1:01 if you think that SW credits is roughly the equivalent of a 1:1 ratio of the US dollar, just remember that the current US fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, costs $120m just to purchase
That's *ONE* fighter jet
$80m suddenly doesn't seem so much to fund an intergalactic rebellion
9:40 😎 I’m fighting with you, my guy!, lol
I'm getting myself an Imperial Light Cruiser, no matter what. Them things are gorgeous little space stations with the famous ISD look
If you are caluclating an ~1:1 credit to dollar ratio, (1:00) star wars ships are insainly cheap. A f35 costs 80M up front irl. Starwars starfighters seem closer in cost to a car than a plane.