LEGO Star Wars Set Discussion 2025 - READ FIRST POST!!!

[TheScaryDoor]

I have the Rogue One U-Wing and I'm not sure if I need the new one (figures I can get via Bricklink).

But reading that the new one is one of the best sets 2025 here comes my question 🙂:

If you have both U-Wings, which one is better and why?

Edited August 19 by TheScaryDoor

[Mandalorianknight]

2 hours ago, TheScaryDoor said:

I have the older U-Wing already and I'm not sure if I need the new one (figures I can get via Bricklink).

But reading that the new one is one of the best sets 2025 here comes my question 🙂:

If you have both U-Wings, which one is better and why?

I don't have both, but I think I can answer that the 2016 one is almost unequivocally better simply due to the sizing- the new U-wing can't transport any troops, which is a bit of an issue for a troop transport. As Cassian's personal ship or simply a representation of the vehicle for a shelf, it's good, but I think the 2016 one is better in almost every respect, save the shaping around the cockpit. Normally the details are superior on newer versions of a set as a tradeoff for size, but the wings and greebles are about the same on both, and the engines are a bit worse IMO, with the pneumatic T creating inaccurate intakes compared to the 2016 model's ice pick intakes. With something like the 2010 vs 2016 turbo tanks, you might lose size but you gain detail, and retain enough size for a playset to fulfill the idea of carrying troopers. With the 2016 vs 2025 versions (of either ship), you lose both in places. That said, the U-wing's at least reasonably priced and wasn't constructed like a house of cards.

I believe that says a lot about this year as a whole, as well, if the best set is a downgrade from the previous version. Still a good set by all means, but I think people's favor of it has more to do with it being reasonably well-built, not overpriced, and, as our avenging green friend would say, "not cloneslop", than any sort of specific standout. You put the U-wing in last year's lineup and I don't think it commands the lead it currently does.

Edited August 19 by Mandalorianknight

[icm]

The U-wing is kind of strange in how it sucks out of the box, yet there are several no-extra-pieces rebuilds on Rebrickable that fix all its problems. With those rebuilds, you can fit as many minifigs in the troop bay of the new set as in the troop bay of the old set, while the troop bay is easier to access and the ship is easier to swoosh because of the smaller size and weight.

[Llewop]

2 hours ago, TheScaryDoor said:

I have the Rogue One U-Wing and I'm not sure if I need the new one (figures I can get via Bricklink).

But reading that the new one is one of the best sets 2025 here comes my question 🙂:

If you have both U-Wings, which one is better and why?

For display purposes only the new one is better as it’s small. Figures are great as it gives us another K2S0, a deadra and ISB guy. For playability and its actual function as a troop carrier the old one is better but I feel like there is a scale where they can keep the troop compartment and be functional but not have it as massive as it was. 

[Darth_Bane13]

4 hours ago, Llewop said:

Unfortunately don’t think there is room for it’s own theme. City, Duplo and Ninjago, Dreams only seem to be only original themes that can stand against all the licensed themes.

they could make like a weapons forge and so many other little castle builds but ninjago would have the same kind of thing. Castle is incorporated into all themes really, we’ve got the 3 in 1 Castle released now, few ideas sets with figures in and I MOC certain things to go with the castle out of other themes like Ninjago. Relying on BDP for the big sets or icons or just MOCs and rebrickable. It’s tough but more enjoyable than SW collecting atm

I wish they'd replace Ninjago or Dreams with a Fantasy era Castle reboot, idk if it would sell well though.

[Renny The Spaceman]

18 minutes ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

I wish they'd replace Ninjago or Dreams with a Fantasy era Castle reboot, idk if it would sell well though.

I really wish they'd do at least some smaller sets for it under Creator, if for no other reason than I think it's mad that Castle, which has now become such a factor in LEGO's 2020s non-licensed output, winds up needing to "fight" for a set in something like the Ideas twist of nostalgia contest. Castle is the only community other than Star Wars with that same insane army building culture LEGO plays into so much now so why doesn't it get pitted against the smaller fan favourite themes fighting for a second chance like Power Miners or Paradisa when it's clearly able to at least sustain the same adult market as all the Clone Bro sets. 

[Mandalorianknight]

3 hours ago, icm said:

The U-wing is kind of strange in how it sucks out of the box, yet there are several no-extra-pieces rebuilds on Rebrickable that fix all its problems. With those rebuilds, you can fit as many minifigs in the troop bay of the new set as in the troop bay of the old set, while the troop bay is easier to access and the ship is easier to swoosh because of the smaller size and weight.

If those don't hurt stability, this is becoming a common problem with lego- both marvel "UCS" sets- the black panther statue and hulkbuster- have been completely upstaged in every category by Ransom Fern's alt-builds. Either there are design constraints we as consumers aren't aware of, or they need to hire some of these guys to check the designer's work because you shouldn't be able to alt-build a set into an objectively better version of the same subject matter.

2 hours ago, Llewop said:

For display purposes only the new one is better as it’s small. Figures are great as it gives us another K2S0, a deadra and ISB guy. For playability and its actual function as a troop carrier the old one is better but I feel like there is a scale where they can keep the troop compartment and be functional but not have it as massive as it was. 

It'd be tough without the compartment being oversized relative to the ship - that said, I don't feel the old one's too big. Accounting for inflation it'd only be about $107 today, which doesn't feel like an excessive price point for a U-wing.

34 minutes ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

I wish they'd replace Ninjago or Dreams with a Fantasy era Castle reboot, idk if it would sell well though.

Neither fill the same niche- Ninjago is not the reason we don't have a Castle theme- at least, not at this point where the average set is a supercar or gundam. We don't have a full castle reboot because lego doesn't seem to think kids are interested in a castle theme- it's the same reason Lord of the Rings is being restricted to adult display sets and massive modulars. Not that that really means anything for star wars, aside from the obligatory comment that it's why we get so many 18+ gimmicks and a lower number of playsets- lego thinks adults are more likely to buy 18+ gimmicks, and clearly wants to at least partially shift it's product lineup from kid-focused to collector-focused, as brands like Transformers, GI Joe, etc have done in recent years.

Edited August 19 by Mandalorianknight

[Darth_Bane13]

40 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Neither fill the same niche- Ninjago is not the reason we don't have a Castle theme- at least, not at this point where the average set is a supercar or gundam. We don't have a full castle reboot because lego doesn't seem to think kids are interested in a castle theme- it's the same reason Lord of the Rings is being restricted to adult display sets and massive modulars. Not that that really means anything for star wars, aside from the obligatory comment that it's why we get so many 18+ gimmicks and a lower number of playsets- lego thinks adults are more likely to buy 18+ gimmicks, and clearly wants to at least partially shift it's product lineup from kid-focused to collector-focused, as brands like Transformers, GI Joe, etc have done in recent years.

I wonder why kids are supposedly not interested in the Castle theme though, what changed from 15 years ago when it was popular? Castle pretty consistently got sets from 1978-2013, maybe kids just aren't as interested in Lego anymore. Or perhaps it's just more profitable to target adults, maybe a bit of both.

[Kit Figsto]

6 minutes ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

I wonder why kids are supposedly not interested in the Castle theme though, what changed from 15 years ago when it was popular? Castle pretty consistently got sets from 1978-2013, maybe kids just aren't as interested in Lego anymore. Or perhaps it's just more profitable to target adults, maybe a bit of both.

I've done a lot of LEGO bashing over the past few weeks, so I'll defend them on this - I think that the classic themes (other than City) just don't have the same attraction that they used to.  Castle stopped in the mid-late 90s, and then we got Knight's Kingdom in the early 2000s (which was a mix of some regular sets and some Bionicle-style figures), a couple of large castles in the mid-2000s, Fantasy Era in like 2007-08, the rebooted Castle in 2013, and then basically nothing since other than a couple of D2Cs.  Pirates has actually had even less representation - I think they stopped in the mid-90s, and then there was nothing until the 2009 line, then we got the line around 2015, and then nothing since, save for D2Cs.  Space is a bit more complicated, as most people say Classic Space ended in the mid-late 90s (most people seem to agree that UFO/Insectoids was the end of it), then we had Life on Mars a couple of years later, then Mars Mission, Space Police III, Alien Conquest, and Galaxy Squad, and then nothing since, until the City Space stuff and D2Cs.

Anyway, my point here, I think that the main attraction of these sets lies in the adult market who are nostalgic for LEGO.  Adults that aren't AFOLs (who I'd consider the target market for a lot of the 18+, black box licensed stuff - they're fans of that IP and enjoy LEGO, but I wouldn't classify them the same as, say, someone who is posting on Eurobricks or getting excited over a Johnny Thunder Easter Egg in the haunted drop tower set) seem like they'd be way less likely to buy one of the Space or Castle D2Cs, which they don't have an attachment to, than spending that money on a licensed Ideas set or something.

Based on the sheer number of licensed themes and sets that exist (which is something that you see outside of LEGO or even toys in general too - if I go into the back to school aisle at Target, I would bet over 50% of notebooks or backpacks or lunchboxes have some sort of licensed character on them), I think it's safe to say that people are most interested in the licensed properties.  Technic has become mostly licensed now, after originally being an unlicensed theme.  City, which previously had no licensing, is now starting to add licensed sets (though in fairness, I'm not really sure why they didn't just put ALL of the F1 stuff out under the Speed Champions label, that would've made a lot more sense to me, they did it with Racers in the past).

I don't think it's an issue necessarily of "Harry Potter and Ninjago mean that they can't make Castle at all" or "Star Wars means that they can't make sci-fi space at all" but rather that, if given the choice, the average kid would choose a Ninjago playset or an X-Wing instead of comparable sets from Castle or Space.  

Long story short, I think it's a situation where if it was profitable to put out a whole theme of these again, they'd do it.  With the amount of sets that they pump out these days, I can pretty much guarantee that they'd find space in their product line for a 5-set wave of one of these.  I would also bet, with almost 100% certainty, that a lot of designers would want to work on a project like that.  As it stands now, it seems like small GWPs, D2Cs, and CMFs are all that they're convinced will sell. 

[Llewop]

48 minutes ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

I wonder why kids are supposedly not interested in the Castle theme though, what changed from 15 years ago when it was popular? Castle pretty consistently got sets from 1978-2013, maybe kids just aren't as interested in Lego anymore. Or perhaps it's just more profitable to target adults, maybe a bit of both.

I think kids are but I don’t think they are interested when you throw in the Ninjago, City theme and then all the marvel/dc/SW sets. Mechs must sell well otherwise they wouldn’t be thrown in everywhere and you can’t really do a castle mech. Every attempt to bring it back since the early 2000s just fails or doesn’t get enough support. Most get 2 years and few waves and then move on to the next rebrand. If I remember right the lion knights have had 4 maybe 5 recolours or rebranding since the classic red/blue days. But also just think what’s in the world that’s castle themed aimed at kids? GoT/HoTD 18+, Vikings and last kingdom again adult audience, every attempt at Robin Hood since Costner has been bit shite, LoTR/Hobbit. Castle/medieval barely gets a look in these days with all the superhero films/tv shows. 

you could definitely do a theme aimed for all ages. Small builds up to a big castle, battle packs, random buildings etc but suppose there’s only so many things you can do with Castle before your redoing it. Classic sets probably suffered from this which is why new factions were constantly bought in and that’s probably why the 00s they constantly rebranded as well.

it Sucks but all I can say is thank god for PAB at least the figures are on there and you won’t get shafted like buying off bricklink or eBay. 

[Mandalorianknight]

58 minutes ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

I wonder why kids are supposedly not interested in the Castle theme though, what changed from 15 years ago when it was popular? Castle pretty consistently got sets from 1978-2013, maybe kids just aren't as interested in Lego anymore. Or perhaps it's just more profitable to target adults, maybe a bit of both.

I'm struggling to relate this to the topic here, I don't want to attract rancors, but from what I remember, the 2013 castle line sold pretty poorly. I think sales were fairly low through a good chunk of those 2000s subthemes, hence the gappiness and sporadic nature of that era. Which goes to show, the thing that really matters to lego 90% of the time is sales. If people are buying these clone sets at $160/$150/$45/etc, they're gonna keep charging those prices, keep pumping out more legions, and keep... not investing in QC testing, I guess.

35 minutes ago, Kit Figsto said:

I don't think it's an issue necessarily of "Harry Potter and Ninjago mean that they can't make Castle at all" or "Star Wars means that they can't make sci-fi space at all" but rather that, if given the choice, the average kid would choose a Ninjago playset or an X-Wing instead of comparable sets from Castle or Space.  

Again to avoid the trapdoor beneath me activating and dropping me into the Rancor Pit, I'll keep this short, but I think your line here is spot on. Especially with Ninjago-castle. That line is closer to a competitor for Star Wars than it is a traditional Castle theme. I'm not a historian of Feudal Japan, but if we're acting like Ninjago is a representation of that era it makes the last Assassin's Creed look realistic in comparison.

The only real way a theme blocks another here is shelf/manufacturing space. Which can happen within themes as well, as we're seeing with the overrun of 18+ sets eating our loadout of system sets. Retailers can only fit so many products on a shelf, lego can only have so many lines active, and as such we can only produce so many different sets a year. Lego already gets two full aisles at most retailers I go to, which is anywhere from 1/4-1/2 the shelf space for toys at your local Target or Walmart. To make more of any subline, others have to suffer. So it'd be nice if lego would stop making a new 18+ gimmick every 18 months. Are the helmets going away now that busts are here? Dioramas appear to be dead, but so did helmets for awhile before returning in 2025. The midi-scale ships appear to be roughly the same amount in 2026 as 2025, but I've seen absurd sales for almost all of those sets- are they doomed as well?

8 minutes ago, Llewop said:

you can’t really do a castle mech.

Oh, my naive friend, they absolutely can. We suffered three years of them.

[brimbolet]

21 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

So it'd be nice if lego would stop making a new 18+ gimmick every 18 months. Are the helmets going away now that busts are here? Dioramas appear to be dead, but so did helmets for awhile before returning in 2025. The midi-scale ships appear to be roughly the same amount in 2026 as 2025, but I've seen absurd sales for almost all of those sets- are they doomed as well?

So true, Lego should focus again on sets with well made minifigs .

I really would welcome a few sets that are not connected with the current Disney+ shows, maybe something from the old Sith wars that would lead to Dart Bane and the establishment of the rule of two.

[Darth_Bane13]

1 hour ago, Kit Figsto said:

I don't think it's an issue necessarily of "Harry Potter and Ninjago mean that they can't make Castle at all" or "Star Wars means that they can't make sci-fi space at all" but rather that, if given the choice, the average kid would choose a Ninjago playset or an X-Wing instead of comparable sets from Castle or Space.  

Why is Ninjago more popular than castle though? If they made good castle sets and had a TV show based on it like Ninjago, it would probably sell well. Space I understand because when I was a kid, Star Wars beat out space sets for me.

29 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I'm struggling to relate this to the topic here, I don't want to attract rancors, but from what I remember, the 2013 castle line sold pretty poorly. I think sales were fairly low through a good chunk of those 2000s subthemes, hence the gappiness and sporadic nature of that era. Which goes to show, the thing that really matters to lego 90% of the time is sales. If people are buying these clone sets at $160/$150/$45/etc, they're gonna keep charging those prices, keep pumping out more legions, and keep... not investing in QC testing, I guess.

I do remember 2013 castle being pretty unpopular, that year seems to be when Lego started shifting away from unlicensed themes. I feel like castle from 2007-2012 was pretty popular, it felt pretty common to go to a friends house and they had a castle set.

[Llewop]

2 minutes ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

Why is Ninjago more popular than castle though? If they made good castle sets and had a TV show based on it like Ninjago, it would probably sell well. Space I understand because when I was a kid, Star Wars beat out space sets for me.

I do remember 2013 castle being pretty unpopular, that year seems to be when Lego started shifting away from unlicensed themes. I feel like castle from 2007-2012 was pretty popular, it felt pretty common to go to a friends house and they had a castle set.

I don’t really understand Ninjagos success but then again I wasn’t a kid when they came out I was a kid when castle was out hence why I like the castle sets but from what I’ve seen kids like ninjas, and they have new themes/enemies every year from the traditional to like video gamey cyberpunk waves to random ice samurais which looked pretty cool. Lego have tried replicating ninjago with other tv series for Lego themes I saw a city one on TV when I was channel surfing one day so there is a market for it but I suppose if Lego are going to risk it they probably would have to go all in. But in these days Lego have there heart set on licensed themes as that’s where the adult big money profit comes from, and sales don’t lie, Lego nearly when bankrupt when all the classic themes were out and now they are one of it’s not the most profitable “toy” company out there. Lego knows adults want more castle every time there is a vote for a big set (LKC was after all the 90th anniversary Lego set which was voted for by fans) castle and pirates are always the top 2. 

 

56 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

So it'd be nice if lego would stop making a new 18+ gimmick every 18 months. Are the helmets going away now that busts are here? Dioramas appear to be dead, but so did helmets for awhile before returning in 2025. The midi-scale ships appear to be roughly the same amount in 2026 as 2025, but I've seen absurd sales for almost all of those sets- are they doomed as well?

Oh, my naive friend, they absolutely can. We suffered three years of them.

I forgot about Nexo Knights 

I think all 2025 sets have been on some sort of sale even the August wave has already had some near 20% off in a couple of places. The only set from the past few years that I haven’t seen on a mega sale is the ISD (Amazon refuse to go below 15%) and the fleet trooper/stormie bp because they are Lego exclusive. I do find maybe it’s just me sets are retiring quicker is that because we are all fools and buy everything straight away so then Lego retire early for more shelf space for the new. 

I’ve never bought a helmet or diorama. Had some gifted as a present on sale do think more and more of us are waiting for the inevitable sale on SW sets

[Mandalorianknight]

1 hour ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

Why is Ninjago more popular than castle though? If they made good castle sets and had a TV show based on it like Ninjago, it would probably sell well.

I can FEEL the rancor breathing down my neck here but your error is assuming Ninjago is in any way a castle theme. It was for, like, half of it's first year, but it almost immediately moved into mechs and trucks and cars and spaceships and jet planes and robots and anything else that an 8 year old would think is cool. The titular ninjas are basically just superheroes. One of them IS A ROBOT, and I think one of the new ones has a robot arm like the winter soldier? Ninjago has no more to do with castle than any other unlicensed lego theme. The reason ninjago is more popular is because it's sole focus for system sets is appealing to 6-12 year old boys.

Next time you're in the lego aisle, look at the ninjago sets. At best, the most you could fit into a castle setting is the occasional dragon. If the next Castle theme stayed a bit more realistic than Fantasy Era, I think Ninjago would be closer to Star Wars than to that theme.

1 hour ago, brimbolet said:

So true, Lego should focus again on sets with well made minifigs .

I really would welcome a few sets that are not connected with the current Disney+ shows, maybe something from the old Sith wars that would lead to Dart Bane and the establishment of the rule of two.

We don't tend to get much based on the legends continuity, but it's always possible. Revan did show up in the trailer for the new lego miniseries.

And as everyone always points out, given lego's weird fascination with Yoda's starfighter he used in two episodes of the clone wars, it's always possible we get another one of those with Dart Bane in a few years.

1 hour ago, Llewop said:

I think all 2025 sets have been on some sort of sale even the August wave has already had some near 20% off in a couple of places. The only set from the past few years that I haven’t seen on a mega sale is the ISD (Amazon refuse to go below 15%) and the fleet trooper/stormie bp because they are Lego exclusive. I do find maybe it’s just me sets are retiring quicker is that because we are all fools and buy everything straight away so then Lego retire early for more shelf space for the new. 

While I hope the august wave hits huge discounts (and not even to buy them myself), 20% off at or near release in a number of places is very standard. As for sets retiring quicker, I don't think that's true? I think for at least a decade your standard system set lasts 1.5-2 years. And you of course still have plenty of outliers whenever something sells well- I STILL see Obi-wan's starfighter at a number of retailers, and not even at more than 20% off.

Edited August 19 by Mandalorianknight

[CloneCommando99]

Day #118 of politely requesting for Lego to fabricate a Tie Avenger set as soon as feasibly possible.

16 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

as our avenging green friend would say, "not cloneslop",

You got that damn right!

(I personally think the U-Wing would have been great and a top 5 last year as well, but yeah it probably wouldn’t have been as much of a standout because last year was very solid)

9 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

.We don't tend to get much based on the legends continuity, but it's always possible. Revan did show up in the trailer for the new lego miniseries.

I sure hope it is. For it would be the road that leads to MARA JADE!!!

[TeddytheSpoon]

23 hours ago, TheScaryDoor said:

I have the Rogue One U-Wing and I'm not sure if I need the new one (figures I can get via Bricklink).

But reading that the new one is one of the best sets 2025 here comes my question 🙂:

If you have both U-Wings, which one is better and why?

I personally prefer the new one, but only with @mcphatty's excellent mod to create some more room inside. I was never a fan of the way the underside was done on the 2016 one, and the design somehow looks a bit sleeker with the new U wing. Just need someone to figure out the sliding door now...

[Darth_Bane13]

16 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I can FEEL the rancor breathing down my neck here but your error is assuming Ninjago is in any way a castle theme. It was for, like, half of it's first year, but it almost immediately moved into mechs and trucks and cars and spaceships and jet planes and robots and anything else that an 8 year old would think is cool. The titular ninjas are basically just superheroes. One of them IS A ROBOT, and I think one of the new ones has a robot arm like the winter soldier? Ninjago has no more to do with castle than any other unlicensed lego theme. The reason ninjago is more popular is because it's sole focus for system sets is appealing to 6-12 year old boys.

No I'm just comparing Castle and Ninjago as Lego original themes, I know ninjago is not a castle theme. My point being why are Ninja's supposedly more popular than Castle, Castle was one of the big 3 themes and used to be very popular with kids. Also funny enough the original 90s Ninja sets were a castle subtheme.

[TeddytheSpoon]

1 hour ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

No I'm just comparing Castle and Ninjago as Lego original themes, I know ninjago is not a castle theme. My point being why are Ninja's supposedly more popular than Castle, Castle was one of the big 3 themes and used to be very popular with kids. Also funny enough the original 90s Ninja sets were a castle subtheme.

Thing is, Ninjago isn't just a theme - right from the start it's had a big push in other forms of media, be that online, in comics, TV series, video games, movies etc. It basically set the standard for how in-house LEGO themes should be marketed to kids in the 21st century (Bionicle also did this to an extent). Nowadays, TLG have probably figured they can make more money marketing such sets for nostalgia value rather than creating an entire new theme and all the associated baggage.

[Kaijumeister]

4 hours ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

I personally prefer the new one, but only with @mcphatty's excellent mod to create some more room inside. I was never a fan of the way the underside was done on the 2016 one, and the design somehow looks a bit sleeker with the new U wing. Just need someone to figure out the sliding door now...

The old one is a more fun Lego playset, the new one is sleeker and easier to play with (obviously at the expense of a proper interior and Cassian needing to take a nap whilst piloting it). The 2026 May UCS set being a U-Wing would be absolutely perfect.

It’s a small touch and as much as I dislike giving any sort of praise to the Juggernaut, I do quite like how both the U-Wing and Juggernaut actually provide transparent viewports. 

1 hour ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

No I'm just comparing Castle and Ninjago as Lego original themes, I know ninjago is not a castle theme. My point being why are Ninja's supposedly more popular than Castle, Castle was one of the big 3 themes and used to be very popular with kids. Also funny enough the original 90s Ninja sets were a castle subtheme.

Not to go off topic, but the way I see it as that it’s easier and less risky to do a soft launch of a subtheme within an evergreen theme than it is to produce a whole new theme entirely. Ninjago has used elements of castle and D&D (2020 for the latter), Islanders (2021), Atlantis (summer 2021) etc. It makes sense using a well known and established theme to incorporate elements that would have probably been their own original themes in the early 2000s and 2010s. There’s definitely more aversion to Lego producing more in-house IP with the with the ever-increasing number of licensed themes too.

20 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

So it'd be nice if lego would stop making a new 18+ gimmick every 18 months. Are the helmets going away now that busts are here? Dioramas appear to be dead, but so did helmets for awhile before returning in 2025. The midi-scale ships appear to be roughly the same amount in 2026 as 2025, but I've seen absurd sales for almost all of those sets- are they doomed as well?

Of all the 18+ subthemes Lego has experimented with in LSW, the Starship Collection is the only one where I struggle to see the value proposition in terms of the build experience and complexity. Last year’s sets were pretty great (the Falcon especially), but this year the simplicity of sets like Kylo’s Shuttle just highlights that you’re paying for the fancy 18+ boxes and overdeveloped instruction manuals than for the actual models themselves. As much as the dioramas have been hit or miss in terms of their value for money, I can at least see why they and the helmets were popular. Maybe I’m just being harsh though.

[Mandalorianknight]

9 hours ago, CloneCommando99 said:

You got that damn right!

(I personally think the U-Wing would have been great and a top 5 last year as well, but yeah it probably wouldn’t have been as much of a standout because last year was very solid)

I sure hope it is. For it would be the road that leads to MARA JADE!!!

Maybe top 5, but not unequivocally top 2 like it is this year- as you say, last year was more solid, it'd be hard to put it above the star destroyer and hard to gauge it against stuff like the X-wing vs TIE fighter, or tantive hallway, or the myriad of other great sets. Unlike this year where the only real contenders are starfighters in the same rough price range.

Praise be. Rereading the Thrawn Trilogy and her character work is immaculate. Insane on it's face that Zahn could get you to root for someone who's defining trait is pure and somewhat unreasonable hatred for the main hero. She's a James Doakes/Reverse Flash level hater who you as a reader somehow aren't made to dislike for constantly being on the edge of killing Luke for stuff like "being calm" or "offering to help". It should never have worked, but it does, and exceedingly well.

2 hours ago, Darth_Bane13 said:

No I'm just comparing Castle and Ninjago as Lego original themes, I know ninjago is not a castle theme. My point being why are Ninja's supposedly more popular than Castle, Castle was one of the big 3 themes and used to be very popular with kids. Also funny enough the original 90s Ninja sets were a castle subtheme.

I'm shocked the rancor hasn't come for us yet, but suffice it to say- Yes, but, again, the 90s ninja sets are about as similar to Ninjago as they are to Star Wars. Ninjago specifically really has nothing to do with castle- it was running at the same time as the last few castle themes. And as I said, it's more popular (not supposedly, objectively) because it's less a unified theme and more an amalgamation of things kids in the target age range find cool. Other themes aren't to blame for castle dying out, and it's not as if lego isn't doing everything it could to keep it going, beyond the failed 2013 traditional line, the modernization attempt with nexo knights, the icons sets to keep adult collectors happy, etc. The whole medieval era as a whole hasn't had much family-friendly popularity in pop culture since the Lord of the Rings movies. Kids just aren't as into stock medieval stuff anymore, in the same way kids aren't as into scuba divers, or cowboys...

...and it seems like lego has some research implying they aren't as in to star wars either, seeing the decrease in system sets and uptick in 18+ gimmicks, and even the focus on adult clone bro army builders for system sets.

36 minutes ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

(Bionicle also did this to an extent)

I'd argue ninjago exists as the first truly successful replica of Bionicle's success. You've got the six elemental heroes in bright colors (with the water one always being a woman and the green one being commonly associated with plantlife/nature and yet not having it as his element), the multimedia push, and most importantly, the fact that while there's occasional stylistic rebrands, it's one interconnected story over the entire run. We also know that the story specifically is a big part of what made bionicle work, as G2 produced some of the best designs and sets, but with a paper-thin story it failed to find a new audience or draw in the old one. And as you say with lego now heavily marketing to nostalgia, unless they swing for the fences and go all-out for G3, it's likely the best shot at more bionicles would just be an Icons set of brick-built Toa Mata.

Not that this discussion on what does or doesn't get an icons theme to succeed is particularly relevant here, beyond the ever-present reminder that limited shelf space means we have a finite number of sets, and the 18+ gimmicks' constant encroaching on system territory. 

31 minutes ago, Kaijumeister said:

Of all the 18+ subthemes Lego has experimented with in LSW, the Starship Collection is the only one where I struggle to see the value proposition in terms of the build experience and complexity. Last year’s sets were pretty great (the Falcon especially), but this year the simplicity of sets like Kylo’s Shuttle just highlights that you’re paying for the fancy 18+ boxes and overdeveloped instruction manuals than for the actual models themselves. As much as the dioramas have been hit or miss in terms of their value for money, I can at least see why they and the helmets were popular. Maybe I’m just being harsh though.

I've had this suspicion for awhile- the clone army sets seem more egregious because we have better comparisons for what a reasonably priced version would look like, but those starship collection sets have to be dirt cheap to produce. I wonder if these later ones have been designed with the idea of still being able to turn a profit while on significant discount.

Edited August 20 by Mandalorianknight

[icm]

1 hour ago, Kaijumeister said:

Of all the 18+ subthemes Lego has experimented with in LSW, the Starship Collection is the only one where I struggle to see the value proposition in terms of the build experience and complexity. Last year’s sets were pretty great (the Falcon especially), but this year the simplicity of sets like Kylo’s Shuttle just highlights that you’re paying for the fancy 18+ boxes and overdeveloped instruction manuals than for the actual models themselves. As much as the dioramas have been hit or miss in terms of their value for money, I can at least see why they and the helmets were popular. Maybe I’m just being harsh though.

In principle, I like the Starship Collection better than any of the other 18+ LSW concepts. A line of capital ships in a small, affordable size is great for desktop fleet battles, which is a genuinely fun and plainly obvious play concept that LSW hasn't done before. Besides helping the ships look good on the display shelf, the stands are genuinely useful for moving the ships around on the tabletop as you have a Mon Cal cruiser slugging it out with a Super Star Destroyer, or whatever. I really am all in on the concept. It brings to LSW what Bluebrixx was already doing so well for Star Trek with their midsize starship models. But like usual, LSW stumbles in the execution. Why must these be pitched/sold as 18+ sets with boring black 18+ boxes? Knock the age rating down to 10+, throw in a couple of minifigures, give it lively box art that shows sets interacting with each other (meaning shooting the living daylights out of each other, because this is LSW), and let kids have fleet battles too. Second, get the prices under control! The midsize Acclamator is priced at $50, has 450 smallish parts so by PPP it should be at $40, and has the same weight of plastic as the $30 Ferrari pit stop from City - but that has five minifigures and a much greater variety of parts that are larger and more expensive to manufacture. The Acclamator should be $35. And of course similar arguments could be made for the other Starship Collection sets. This is a subtheme that I really like in concept, and I really want it to continue, but all the sets in it are so overpriced that I've counted myself lucky to get them used for a liittle over half price.

[TheScaryDoor]

On 8/19/2025 at 2:22 PM, TheScaryDoor said:

I have the Rogue One U-Wing and I'm not sure if I need the new one (figures I can get via Bricklink).

But reading that the new one is one of the best sets 2025 here comes my question 🙂:

If you have both U-Wings, which one is better and why?

Thanks to all for your answer. I just looked at my RO U-Wing and thought that this one looks great (in the past I modified the underside to make it less bulky). But time will tell what I will buy in the end.

Edited August 20 by TheScaryDoor

[Sucram]

This is really random, but does anyone else feel like windshields on ships should pretty much always be trans-black instead of trans-clear? Especially on the Millennium Falcon, I feel like it would make them look more like the real life models.

[AD_Bricks]

1 hour ago, Sucram said:

This is really random, but does anyone else feel like windshields on ships should pretty much always be trans-black instead of trans-clear? Especially on the Millennium Falcon, I feel like it would make them look more like the real life models.

I agree in principle, but in many cases, I do really like seeing the character on the inside more clearly, and trans-black is even worse at that than the old trans-brown, so I do prefer trans-clear a lot of the time. Also, on sets like the recent ARC-170, the new trans-clear ones look way better since the trans-black stood out way too much imo. However, in cases like the new playscale Jango's Slave I and the pirate snubfighter, trans-black was definitely the right choice.