Mandalorianknight Posted March 6 Posted March 6 25 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said: Looks like the minifig selection of the Imperial Shuttle is slightly different since the torso of a pilot leaked! Good, good. Ships should come with their pilots. 21 hours ago, Darth_Bane13 said: I'm not asking Lego to do CAC level detailing, I don't even need arm printing. I just want them to correct basic things they got right 10 years ago. The 20th anniversary dropship wasn't rickety and had three seats plus a shadow trooper. I think I would've preferred them just to release the rebel BP portion alone as a $20 set. I wonder if part of that was timing, and also probably not a popular enough ship for the price point. Yeah I don't mind the downscaled Tie and X-wing. The Imperial Shuttle on the other hand.... This is crazy to me, what didn't people like about the 08 TCW sets? The arm printing is there on fives though. And the pauldron is if anything significantly more accurate than the ARC pauldron they made 10 years earlier. The only two issues are the kama- which I've been very vocal about for forever is something that I dislike, especially in regards to the chunky rubber capes, but I don't think is enough to destroy a figure- and the helmet, which again I just really don't see as an issue. (As far as CAC goes their helmet for P2 fives also seems off.) I'm not saying it's a perfect figure but I think it's hyperbole to consider it some awful failure, much less to the extent that the figure's inclusion in a $55 set with six other figures is somehow a negative. It wasn't as rickety as the 2008 version, but it also didn't have the complexity or look as good as the 2024 one IMO. (And it in itself lost a seat- not to mention that considering it's price, two of them with 10 figs would be $50, with less substantial builds.) The rebel speeder is out of the bounds of what could fit in a $20 battle pack nowadays, unfortunately, and I'd hate to have missed out on the dropship, but believe me you want to ask lego for a rebel fleet trooper BP, I'm right there with you. Oh they definitely got poodoo'd over by Faverau killing the crest in S2. Had it stayed Mando's main ship I'm sure it would have done a little better. Agreed. Shuttle was too small and I'm glad they've fixed it. The face prints were a major one, but a lot of the vehicles were also just laughably oversized and/or had really low figure counts. My favorite is the RFT- a sick toy, but it would have retailed for $75 today- a price point that's just ridiculous for a system TX-130- and only had TWO minifigures. 3 minutes ago, Swordy said: Vader loved the TIE Avenger so much, despite it never living up to its full potential, that he named one of the Star Destroyers he commanded to be named Avenger. So if Darth Vader endorses the TIE Avenger, then so should the LEGO Group. I mean, I do have a reasonable-looking EE-3 carbine build, but the trouble is that it's so fiddly that I get frustrated with it a lot of the time. I'm not normally one for custom molds for this weapon and that, but they are iconic blasters that don't get a reasonable approximation in official LEGO sets. For that reason I'd be against custom blasters for Han Solo or stormtroopers, since I do believe both in-universe weapons provided inspiration for the LEGO counterparts. Lol, I was meaning that I had read "Sandcrawler Bucks," saw "the trend" and my brain made a connection between the two as "Sandcrawler bucks, the new trending SW-branded currency." XD There is precedent- in one of the Thrawn novels Vader personally endorses the TIE Defender project. It's not impossible that if he'd been exposed to the avenger he would have expressed similar sentiment. Yup- I think the pistol is fine for Han's blaster, the medium is fine for the E-11, the long is fine for the A-280C etc, and while not perfect they're fine approximations for the clone DC weapons, mandalorian blasters, first order weapons, etc, even if the scopes aren't accurate. It's lego after all. But the EE-3's entire structure is just radically different from the standard blaster molds. I get it now. I'm sure the Jawas have indeed attempted to market Sandcrawler Bucks, it would be in-character. Quote
ArrowBricks Posted March 6 Posted March 6 On 3/5/2026 at 6:37 PM, Kaijumeister said: They don’t even try to push the envelope with playscale, but this can’t be expected anyway given how little the designers have to work with. You’d argue they don’t need to, they’re targeted for children and teens at best in the current climate. Quote
Darth_Bane13 Posted March 7 Posted March 7 4 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said: The arm printing is there on fives though. And the pauldron is if anything significantly more accurate than the ARC pauldron they made 10 years earlier. The only two issues are the kama- which I've been very vocal about for forever is something that I dislike, especially in regards to the chunky rubber capes, but I don't think is enough to destroy a figure- and the helmet, which again I just really don't see as an issue. (As far as CAC goes their helmet for P2 fives also seems off.) I'm not saying it's a perfect figure but I think it's hyperbole to consider it some awful failure, much less to the extent that the figure's inclusion in a $55 set with six other figures is somehow a negative. It wasn't as rickety as the 2008 version, but it also didn't have the complexity or look as good as the 2024 one IMO. (And it in itself lost a seat- not to mention that considering it's price, two of them with 10 figs would be $50, with less substantial builds.) The rebel speeder is out of the bounds of what could fit in a $20 battle pack nowadays, unfortunately, and I'd hate to have missed out on the dropship, but believe me you want to ask lego for a rebel fleet trooper BP, I'm right there with you. Oh they definitely got poodoo'd over by Faverau killing the crest in S2. Had it stayed Mando's main ship I'm sure it would have done a little better. Agreed. Shuttle was too small and I'm glad they've fixed it. The face prints were a major one, but a lot of the vehicles were also just laughably oversized and/or had really low figure counts. My favorite is the RFT- a sick toy, but it would have retailed for $75 today- a price point that's just ridiculous for a system TX-130- and only had TWO minifigures. Agree to disagree on Fives. It was just disappointing to me as I wanted his figure for so long and they clearly could've done better in my eyes. I prefer the look of the 2019 dropship, the new one has random bits of brown throughout and looks chunky. Yeah the $20 price wasn't great though, I didn't think an anniversary Han Solo was worth $5, also ruined army building potential. laughably oversized? RFT and V-19 I guess, but those sets always seemed pretty well liked. I think low figure count was fairly consistent with the era,, often times they only gave you how many figures you needed to fill out the set. I actually dislike the 08 RFT, looks kind of ridiculous next to the AT-TE, I think the 2017 one is the best. 5 hours ago, Swordy said: larger is generally cooler for kids, and hallow implies lighter, thus easier with which to play. (Yes, as well as flimsy, although isn't the point of LEGO destroying and rebuilding anyway?) Totally agree here, people often criticize old Lego Star Wars sets but they are arguably just better toys. Larger and hollow sets = bigger interior = more fun. Old Lego was comfortable with being a TOY. When I was a kid, it was almost a given that eventually my sets would fall apart from play and end up in "the bin". Then I'd build new stuff out of all the parts I had, that was a big part of the fun to me. New sets are so well built they feel like they're not made to be taken apart. Quote
CloneCommando99 Posted March 7 Posted March 7 (edited) The Shuttle pilot is 100% going to be another John Lego right? Regarding the length of the campaign: It doesn't hurt me. You want to feel how it feels? You wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me? You wanna hear about the deal that I'm making? TIE Avenger TIE Avenger and me And if I only could Make a deal with God And get him to swap our places Be running up that road Be running up that hill Be running up that building Day #316. I reckon Lego can make a TIE Avenger. Stranger things have been released 6 hours ago, Darth_Bane13 said: I think the 2017 one is the best. That we agree on. Really great set I regret not getting. Edited March 7 by CloneCommando99 Quote
BrickPrick Posted March 7 Posted March 7 On 3/5/2026 at 7:37 PM, Kaijumeister said: In a way, this is why I derive more enjoyment and excitement from leaks than I do set reveals (more so for Star Wars than the other themes). It’s because I know that no matter how good a Star Wars set sounds, the real product will as always be a victim of endless compromises. From around 2021-2024 I would typically buy most if not all sets in a wave (especially summer ones), but as of late I’ve become extremely selective with Star Wars sets because a lot of them just feel like ‘filler’. Not a criticism from me towards either side of that particular debate, but it’s interesting how diverse the spectrum of opinion is when it comes to minifigure ‘accuracy’. On a personal level I’m less bothered about small inaccuracies as minifigures are a substantial form of abstraction anyway. To me, there's like a two phase program at play here. Phase one is looking whether the set speaks to me in any way, shape or form during the leak season. And if it does, phase two kicks in upon official reveals when I just check the price points (in addition to more clear shots) and figure out how long the wait approximately is gonna be. If I get a set just a month after release, small to mid-sized stuff, that's early for me. The bigger sets are usually reserved for the next year. Yeah, I'm not one of those purists either. I recognize all these inaccuracies, but I don't mind them as much as others do. Yet at the same time I don't like to defend every one of those either. As the line between creative freedom and straight up laziness appears to be very blurry at times. On 3/5/2026 at 8:38 PM, Darth_Bane13 said: The helmet is roughly 1/3 of a minifigure, you could include the head which I guess would make it 1/4. So 1/4 of the minifig is bad which gives it a 75% grade. Also factor in the lack of cloth Kama and the flat pauldron, leaving the figure at a failing grade in my mind. Most figures don't have anywhere near this amount of issues. Are you guys really accepting this quality from a multi billion dollar company who charges as much as they do? I just personally vote with my wallet when it comes to these kind of things. I like to rate any given minifigure based on both the positive and negative aspects. Is it a flawed figure that should have been better all around? Yeah. Does that make it a horrendous figure by default? Nope. It's a decent, yet disappointing figure... 6/10. Personally, it's not quite enough to enter terrible territory. That honour I would give to Bly, where I just think the bad and ugly outweighs the good. And regarding a certain greedy attitude from a multi billion company... Well, ideally we wouldn't have to talk about any of this, but it's there so we do. Imagine Lego being held to a higher quality standard and delivering more consistently across the board? Or at least being less aggressive when it comes to constant price increases? Although nice and a sight to behold, we would also have much less to talk about, I guess. Last but not least, while the principle of voting with your wallet is generally good, in this particular case I don't think it's needed at all. As the Boarding the Tantive IV is a superb set in it's own right. As unlike other anniversary offerings, it's respected minifigure can actually be considered as a bonus. On 3/5/2026 at 9:12 PM, BrickBob Studpants said: Not saying the same thing will happen again with some of the 2025 or Smart Play sets, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there will be some nostalgia at play in 10 years No need to accuse me of screaming at the clouds this time around, but in 2036 I wanna ask whether you guys and girls remember this bizarre, gimmicky sub-theme from nine years ago. 13 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said: Looks like the minifig selection of the Imperial Shuttle is slightly different since the torso of a pilot leaked! Lego's path of working in some mighty mysterious ways continues. This time, for the better. 13 hours ago, Swordy said: Fair. For me, I love the community here, but my primary reason for taking part in it is to discuss new LEGO (and maybe the newest Star Wars show so long as the rancor doesn't notice); thus, losing interest in upcoming LEGO does affect my activity. Like you say, there are other things that may take priority, and I guess those help distract me from any dips in my interest in LEGO. I get what you mean by the contrasting humor and frustration of smart bricks. Seeing Jang test out the smart brick made me crack up, and so long as I don't consider the waste of resources this is for LEGO–resources that could easily be placed into bettering what LEGO fans already like–I don't mind the sets at all. It'll be sad to walk into a store, see all the new sets, and realize again there's nothing for me. Yeah, leaks have been either rather slow or too early as of late. Plus, seeing TLG trend away from my interests and price range is saddening to me. I try to avoid complaining unless I can tie it into a greater principle about which I feel passionate (hence my overindulgence on railing against the 2025 Clonemania). I strongly dislike being a nuisance and I strongly dislike being apathetic–two things that don't always mix, lol. That's right, I'm back! I'm back! *falls* WHAAA! Ow, my back–oh, my back! Okay, I see. I'm going more along the mindset of "making the most out of it whenever possible". Like the fact BS sets have been awful abominations for the most part gives me all the more reason to make fun of it. Of course I would prefer to speak about more... positive outcomes of the theme. However, that rarely prevents me to still take a swing or two at this stuff when I feel like it. In Germany, we say "Ersatzhandlung". Damn, just reading your posting makes me feel a little sad for you there, too. Walking in a store, looking for something interesting, only to end up leaving empty handed like a disappointed kid... that's sad. First world problem levels of sad, but sad nonetheless. Well, here's hoping things will pick up for you sooner rather than later. The biggest grasp I have with the BS sub-theme is less the fact of it's mere existence taking up precious few system set slots. As bad as that is, it's some of the sets in question that will probably void a regular version that bothers me the most. To possibly get no TIE Advanced, no A-Wing, no new Cantina Aliens, no new Hoth Echo Base in quite a while because of these useless gimmicks sucks Billund billionaire megablocks. Ha, I can strongly relate to that sentiment. Both of those things do in fact not compliment each other all too well. But that's the thing with sweet spots when much more nuance is needed... it's a balancing act that's tough to get right. As having extremes, everything or nothing, is rather easy, when certain things dictate your every move. SEAGULLS! Quote
Darth_Bane13 Posted March 7 Posted March 7 3 hours ago, BrickPrick said: I like to rate any given minifigure based on both the positive and negative aspects. Is it a flawed figure that should have been better all around? Yeah. Does that make it a horrendous figure by default? Nope. It's a decent, yet disappointing figure... 6/10. Personally, it's not quite enough to enter terrible territory. That honour I would give to Bly, where I just think the bad and ugly outweighs the good. And regarding a certain greedy attitude from a multi billion company... Well, ideally we wouldn't have to talk about any of this, but it's there so we do. Imagine Lego being held to a higher quality standard and delivering more consistently across the board? Or at least being less aggressive when it comes to constant price increases? Although nice and a sight to behold, we would also have much less to talk about, I guess. Last but not least, while the principle of voting with your wallet is generally good, in this particular case I don't think it's needed at all. As the Boarding the Tantive IV is a superb set in it's own right. As unlike other anniversary offerings, it's respected minifigure can actually be considered as a bonus. Bly worse than fives? I'd say they have around the same amount of issues. I don't think there are many minifigs in all of Lego Star Wars that can be considered worse than Fives. Quote
ArrowBricks Posted March 7 Posted March 7 On 3/6/2026 at 1:37 AM, BrickBob Studpants said: I personally didn‘t agree with any of the points, besides the faceprints. Not that I much preferred the OT/PT prints at the time either, since all other themes had pupils by that point and the SW minifigs continued to have black beady eyes until the end of 2009 Still better than the horrendous HP faceprints before 2010, but I‘m so glad everything‘s been consistent since then! I bought 2008-2010 sets but I found Eurobricks in 2011. This hit me big time, I remember the lasting sentiment of The Clone Wars sets. From memory, a lot of the negativity was with the AFOLs of the time who wanted OT and hated the animated style. I remember the sets themselves being well received by and large. Then 2011-2014 came around and it was banger after banger. I am trying to recall any criticism at that time but I am struggling to remember anything major except the flick fire missiles and those stud shooter guns. The 2014 winter wave will never be beaten imo. I do look back on 2008-2014 and I think our expectations have just got greater. The 2008 Gunship is great but 5 figures by today’s standards is poor - same goes for the 2013 AT-TE. That being said, the downscale era has to come to an end at some point. Most of the popular vehicles have been downscaled now. I think we are 2-3 years away, maximum. I wonder where they go next with playscale. Quote
BrickPrick Posted March 7 Posted March 7 34 minutes ago, Darth_Bane13 said: Bly worse than fives? I'd say they have around the same amount of issues. I don't think there are many minifigs in all of Lego Star Wars that can be considered worse than Fives. I need to double check both figures to say for sure. But the way I remember, they got more details wrong for Bly than right. Like the amount of inaccuracies is just staggering. Plus there'a obviously no arm printing. So at the top of my head, I'd say it's fairly obvious the worse figure out of the bunch. But both indeed measured at a fairly low quality standard. Ranking Fives higher than Bly doesn't make him a good minifigure... but not a bad one either. Quote
Mandalorianknight Posted March 7 Posted March 7 8 hours ago, CloneCommando99 said: The Shuttle pilot is 100% going to be another John Lego right? And if I only could Make a deal with God I almost feel like they're missing out if it's not, his face actually resembles the John Lego print fairly well I swear you've done this one before. 14 hours ago, Darth_Bane13 said: Agree to disagree on Fives. It was just disappointing to me as I wanted his figure for so long and they clearly could've done better in my eyes. I prefer the look of the 2019 dropship, the new one has random bits of brown throughout and looks chunky. Yeah the $20 price wasn't great though, I didn't think an anniversary Han Solo was worth $5, also ruined army building potential. laughably oversized? RFT and V-19 I guess, but those sets always seemed pretty well liked. I think low figure count was fairly consistent with the era,, often times they only gave you how many figures you needed to fill out the set. I actually dislike the 08 RFT, looks kind of ridiculous next to the AT-TE, I think the 2017 one is the best. Fair That's another one I'll agree to disagree on then- I think the brown accents add to the color scheme, and that it no longer being primarily a 2 brick thick wall for most of the design makes it look more like it could be a "real" vehicle in-universe- same with how it now actually has a logical cockpit. Yeah, a lot of them were kind of just ridiculous sizes/price points. Adjusting the price just for inflation puts a lot of them into perspective: the RFT would be $75, the Torrent $85, the Magnaguard Fighter $70 (Magnaguard starfighter for $70 doesn't immediately sound absurd, but it's a smaller fighter in-universe), $90 Y-wing, SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR AAT, etc. And then some others where since they aren't as well-known of vehicles it's not immediately obvious, but stuff like Cad's coruscant speeder would have been $75 nowadays. And sure, the very low figure counts (Imagine if we got one fig in a $85 Torrent nowadays) were common for the era, but printed kamas and the dual-molded stormtrooper helmets have been common here for the better part of a decade and you still hear about those pretty frequently. 2017 RFT was definitely the best one. I can see the vision for the 2022 one but I think it ended up getting designed around that cockpit piece being used for the "nose", and suffered as a result. Quote
Darth_Bane13 Posted March 7 Posted March 7 3 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said: Yeah, a lot of them were kind of just ridiculous sizes/price points. Adjusting the price just for inflation puts a lot of them into perspective: the RFT would be $75, the Torrent $85, the Magnaguard Fighter $70 (Magnaguard starfighter for $70 doesn't immediately sound absurd, but it's a smaller fighter in-universe), $90 Y-wing, SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR AAT, etc. And then some others where since they aren't as well-known of vehicles it's not immediately obvious, but stuff like Cad's coruscant speeder would have been $75 nowadays. And sure, the very low figure counts (Imagine if we got one fig in a $85 Torrent nowadays) were common for the era, but printed kamas and the dual-molded stormtrooper helmets have been common here for the better part of a decade and you still hear about those pretty frequently. 2017 RFT was definitely the best one. I can see the vision for the 2022 one but I think it ended up getting designed around that cockpit piece being used for the "nose", and suffered as a result. Yeah the sets were pretty expensive back then, even worse considering they came out around the recession. I thought the Magna guard starfighter looked pretty accurate scale wise. The difference between the lack of figures, and the printed Kamas and Stormtrooper helmet problem of today, is that they've gone backwards. We already had cloth kama's, and perfect stormtrooper helmets 10 years ago. Whereas the expectation for lots of figures in sets wasn't really there until the 2010s. Quote
ArrowBricks Posted March 7 Posted March 7 Right, there’s been a lot of discussion about the state of Star Wars. Can anyone summarise the main points, ha! Feel like we have all had a therapy session. Quote
Alex_South Posted March 8 Posted March 8 (edited) Not to be off topic, but how likely do we think a Maul set would even be? One of the figures in #75449 is very very close to Rook Kast, and then there is the current Maul mech. The show looks like it will have some great characters: Icarus and Devon would be amazing minifigs, and I would love to see a slightly improved lego maul with arm printing for the silver clasps, and a soft-goods poncho piece with optional hood. I love the poncho pieces used for kenobi and qui-gon but it would look best with Maul's leg printing. His ship in the trailer looks like some mando shuttle variant, but then in the comic it just looks like a random new ship so i have no idea, we only see close shots on the boarding ramp. Edited March 8 by Alex_South Quote
Darth_Bane13 Posted March 8 Posted March 8 50 minutes ago, Alex_South said: Not to be off topic, but how likely do we think a Maul set would even be? One of the figures in #75449 is very very close to Rook Kast, and then there is the current Maul mech. The show looks like it will have some great characters: Icarus and Devon would be amazing minifigs, and I would love to see a slightly improved lego maul with arm printing for the silver clasps, and a soft-goods poncho piece with optional hood. I love the poncho pieces used for kenobi and qui-gon but it would look best with Maul's leg printing. His ship in the trailer looks like some mando shuttle variant, but then in the comic it just looks like a random new ship so i have no idea, we only see close shots on the boarding ramp. If it's good I'd say it's likely. Quote
Mandalorianknight Posted March 8 Posted March 8 9 hours ago, Darth_Bane13 said: Yeah the sets were pretty expensive back then, even worse considering they came out around the recession. I thought the Magna guard starfighter looked pretty accurate scale wise. The difference between the lack of figures, and the printed Kamas and Stormtrooper helmet problem of today, is that they've gone backwards. We already had cloth kama's, and perfect stormtrooper helmets 10 years ago. Whereas the expectation for lots of figures in sets wasn't really there until the 2010s. It's just so wide- about 40 studs wide IIRC, larger than a standard baseplate. It's an oddly shaped starfighter, sure, but it's not supposed to be significantly wider than the Hyena Bomber. The Kamas I agree are an issue, though moreso a sympton of the wider issue in a variety of themes that's lego trying to kill off cloth. Star Wars is actually faring better than some other themes since it gets to keep the cloth capes for now, and the plastic pauldrons are a reasonable choice in concept as it's meant to be a hard plastoid. Though I'm sure as soon as they figure out how to put a rubber cape on the Vader without him looking like he has a freakishly long neck, those will be coming to star wars too. As for the helmets that's purely a stylistic thing- they have their pros and cons but personally I think they fit the lego style and I appreciate the dual-molding. 9 hours ago, ArrowBricks said: Right, there’s been a lot of discussion about the state of Star Wars. Can anyone summarise the main points, ha! 2021-now era has pros and cons 2015-19 era had pros and cons 2008-14 (or 2008-11 and 2012-14) era(s) had pros and cons And then discussions on people's personal favorite years (I think I am gonna go with 2024). 6 hours ago, Alex_South said: Not to be off topic, but how likely do we think a Maul set would even be? More on-topic than what we've been discussing, really. I think a set was rumored but don't get your hopes up based on me saying that, I might be misremembering. The show does have some cool designs, although this main jedi lady seems to have stolen Cal's fit from survivor almost band for band. Luckily there's no poncho otherwise I think Cal would make an exception to only attacking droids, imperials, and random animals. Quote
MKJoshA Posted March 8 Author Posted March 8 7 hours ago, Alex_South said: Not to be off topic, but how likely do we think a Maul set would even be? This is actually the most on-topic comment we've had for a few pages. It's certainly ok to talk about the differences between years, but please be careful about repeating the same sentiment for pages on end. Quote
CloneCommando99 Posted March 8 Posted March 8 (edited) 15 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said: I swear you've done this one before. Nope. I think you’re confusing it with the Saw memes phase. We let it run wild. Brotherhood of the TIE Avenger!! Forgive me for I have sinned! On 8/24/2024 at 6:55 AM, CloneCommando99 said: Right. Every year there seems to be at least one Tie Fighter variant in play-scale form (most years anyway) 2015: FO Tie Fighter and Tie Advanced 2016: Tie Advanced x1 and Tie Striker 2017: Tie Silencer 2018: Tie Fighter 2019: Major Vorang’s Tie Interceptor 2020: Tie Dagger 2021: Tie Fighter 2022: No Tie (the one anomaly of the last 10 years) 2023: Tie Bomber and Tie interceptor 2024: Tie Fighter 2025: ? What are your bets? Tie Defender or Vader’s Tie Advanced are the two most likely imo? The Tie Avenger is probably too similar in shape to the Tie interceptor to warrant a set unfortunately. Aside from being a poorly aged post in context, I should never have slandered such a glorious ship. Forgive me brothers I was ignorant as Andor S2 had not released yet. (Day #317 of repentance) Not a SW locked question but I guess since things are so expensive already. With the Strait of Hormuz closed for the foreseeable future, blocking around 20% of all global oil exports, does anyone else think Lego will enact another price increase? Due to both production and transportation costs going up imminently. I hope not but I wouldn’t put it past them. (I’m not trying to get political, I’m just asking how it affects our hobby.) Also Donny’s recent 15% Tariff on all imports includes Lego too, right? So I can’t see Lego swallowing the oil cost increase in addition to that. 9 hours ago, Alex_South said: Not to be off topic, but how likely do we think a Maul set would even be? Reliable leakers have said there should be one coming. But nothing specific. Edited March 8 by CloneCommando99 Quote
Renny The Spaceman Posted March 8 Posted March 8 Watching the Duckbricks Smart Brick video, why is the play feature on the Yoda set Luke moaning on his swamp Ferris-wheel? Just makes it seem like he's cranking his Solja Boy at the amusement park Quote
BrickPrick Posted March 8 Posted March 8 (edited) 14 hours ago, ArrowBricks said: Right, there’s been a lot of discussion about the state of Star Wars. Can anyone summarise the main points, ha! Feel like we have all had a therapy session. Some people feel like we are entering the new Lego Star Wars dark ages or are already in it. Other people, myself included, recognize the old or new problems this theme clearly has, but also feel like there's still lots to enjoy and looking forward to, describing it more like a "rough state" we are currently in. Literally no one thinks we're in a golden age right now. And most people would be inclined to agree Lego's delivering not enough bang for your buck nowadays, because the amount of shortcomings and compromises is just too great for the asking prices. Nevertheless, it's not all doom and gloom. That's... basically it. Edited March 8 by BrickPrick Quote
Kaijumeister Posted March 8 Posted March 8 (edited) On 3/5/2026 at 10:27 PM, ArrowBricks said: In fairness, there’s been some good sets during this period: the Inquisitor Scythe is such a good set. The Scythe is a gold standard of a set. Perfect lineup of minifigures, perfect build, and reasonable price point. Spaceship fans ate well in summer 2022 with the Scythe, Kenobi’s Delta-7, Tac-Pod, and Icons Galaxy Explorer. On 3/6/2026 at 8:17 PM, Swordy said: Very much agree. It's why I avoid saying "well, at least TLG is appealing to AFoLs," when I believe true adult fans of LEGO appreciate LEGO as a play-thing as much as a display piece. The 18+ and UCS sets, on the other hand, seem geared toward groups like the SW influencers who want a large Venator behind them in videos or those at the office who want Luke's helmet at their desk. In fact, I think that to the end of appealing to people who display LSW rather than play with it, TLG have prioritized downscaling and fuller detail over what @BrickBob Studpants described as "large but hallow" builds of the 2000s; larger is generally cooler for kids, and hallow implies lighter, thus easier with which to play. (Yes, as well as flimsy, although isn't the point of LEGO destroying and rebuilding anyway?) A thought struck me yesterday. LEGO Ninjago and, dare I say, LEGO Marvel, who are both receiving phenomenal sets as of late, are 15 and 14 years into their lifespan. Line that up with the years many fans consider the "golden era" of LEGO Star Wars: 2013 and 2014. So perhaps the current stage of LSW is simply the natural course of a theme running for over a quarter of a century? There's also the point to be made that the LSW team seems to be in the middle of transition from one generation to the next. Mandates from the executive level are at play, but the trend toward a particular kind of subject matter and emphasis on "MOCs for sale" aka the 18+ display sets may be attributed to fresh, young vision–for better or worse, of course. Some excellent points here (as always), and I agree completely. The current 18+ lineup is more along the lines of something Hasbro would do than something you’d expect from Lego; things that are nice to look at but offer little beyond that. It’s completely fine and I suppose the sales numbers speak for themselves, but as always what saddens me is the ever-shrinking moat for those like us who just want nice builds with minifigures to interact with them without venturing into UCS or 4+ (and now, I guess, Smart Brick) territory. As for your second point, there’s definitely an element at play here of trying to keep a theme fresh after it’s been going on for 27 years. My main worry is that you’re sacrificing the soul of the theme by trying to appeal to both ‘too mature’ or ‘too immature’ audiences with not enough in the middle. I note Ninjago is seeing something similar as what you’re describing where the current lineup of designers includes those who grew up with the original show and sets. Of course their vision has just been to make sets that are fun, offer good display value, and are crammed with clever building techniques. We need more of that approach with Star Wars and I hope the Sandcrawler and Imperial Shuttle are the first forays into that sort of area. On 3/6/2026 at 10:42 PM, ArrowBricks said: You’d argue they don’t need to, they’re targeted for children and teens at best in the current climate. Very true, but the same could be said for other themes too which don’t limit themselves the same way. But I guess this ethos just varies from theme to theme. On 3/7/2026 at 11:39 AM, BrickPrick said: To me, there's like a two phase program at play here. Phase one is looking whether the set speaks to me in any way, shape or form during the leak season. And if it does, phase two kicks in upon official reveals when I just check the price points (in addition to more clear shots) and figure out how long the wait approximately is gonna be. If I get a set just a month after release, small to mid-sized stuff, that's early for me. The bigger sets are usually reserved for the next year. That’s fair, with any licensed theme I guess there’s two components of 1) Is this based on something I’m attached to and 2) Is this actually a good Lego set. Even if 2) falls short, 1) can still cover the distance (albeit begrudgingly). I can definitely admit I’ve picked up my fair share of sub-par Lego Star Wars sets just because it’s based on scenes and characters I’m attached to. Apologies, getting back on topic for 2026. Like @CloneCommando99 said, it was confirmed by @a_clay_brick on Discord that we’ll be getting a Shadow Lord set this summer. If we look at what Hasbro have revealed for the Vintage Collection and Black Series (and disregarding Maul himself who I hope does come with a hood and cloak), we get: - Eleventh Brother (The ‘Crow’) - First Brother (Marrok) - Devon Izara - Rook Kast I think it’s safe to surmise that we can expect to see one of the Inquisitor characters (I’m putting my money on 11th bro, a new mould would be nice or they can use the new Doctor Doom hood piece that was leaked via the Marvel Advent Calendar), Devon, and obviously Maul himself. I think Devon makes sense because you want someone who visually stands out amongst the dark colours of Maul and the Inquisitors (and is the only non-red lightsaber wielder). Rook I can’t imagine them doing because she looks fairly similar to the female Mandalorian in the January battle pack. Funko’s merchandise for the show also includes some new characters like Icarus (another Zabrak), but realistically I can’t see him getting a minifigure. Edited March 8 by Kaijumeister Quote
BrickPrick Posted March 8 Posted March 8 45 minutes ago, Kaijumeister said: The Scythe is a gold standard of a set. Perfect lineup of minifigures, perfect build, and reasonable price point. Spaceship fans ate well in summer 2022 with the Scythe, Kenobi’s Delta-7, Tac-Pod, and Icons Galaxy Explorer. I 100% agree. The Scythe is the perfect example of how you execute a set of this size and price point. Like you said, the build was literally flawless. I remember getting addicted to opening and closing the ship's cockpit, the design was so smooth and seamless. Given our recent complains of butchered flagship sets, if this thing was released today, it would probably be $140+ and might be not as well realized. 46 minutes ago, Kaijumeister said: That’s fair, with any licensed theme I guess there’s two components of 1) Is this based on something I’m attached to and 2) Is this actually a good Lego set. Even if 2) falls short, 1) can still cover the distance (albeit begrudgingly). I can definitely admit I’ve picked up my fair share of sub-par Lego Star Wars sets just because it’s based on scenes and characters I’m attached to. Yeah, I'm always going like this. Quality remains of the utmost importance. If the quality isn't to my liking, I won't get it at all. If I'm not attached to the source material, I won't get it regardless of quality. If both the quality and sub-theme speak to me, I will get it sooner or later, depending on the initial price points and time it takes to reach better ones. But don't get me wrong, there can definitely be... exceptions for me as well. A fair few minifigures can excite me to such an extent that I'm willing to look past certain flaws and still makes me picking up some sets. I mean it's Lego Star Wars. You are used to accept a variety of shortcoming with the theme anyways. And sometimes it can go a little off-limits. Otherwise I wouldn't still be contemplating whether I'm picking up the Tiny Tank before it retires. So yeah, I don't wanna come across as someone having this perfectly reasonable mindset all the time. I know, I have not by a long shot. Quote
Darth_Bane13 Posted March 8 Posted March 8 4 hours ago, Renny The Spaceman said: Watching the Duckbricks Smart Brick video, why is the play feature on the Yoda set Luke moaning on his swamp Ferris-wheel? Just makes it seem like he's cranking his Solja Boy at the amusement park We finally got ketamine yoda. Quote
ArrowBricks Posted March 8 Posted March 8 (edited) Excited to see the 4 largest sets this year. We’ve seen the RazorCrest, and that looks decent. I’d probably pay £100 for that, maximum. The AT-AT is really an interesting one because it’s one of the only vehicles that hasn’t had a downscale so far even though it’s been released in the era. Let’s hope the figures are good. Do we have a lineup? The Imperial Shuttle is very much needed after the 2021 version being way off. The leaked torso along with the rumoured lineup sounds promising. I have always wanted a Sandcrawler, I just hope this new one isn’t the size of the one released in 2018. I also hope it’s tiled off better - the Turbo Tank from last year was tiled off well, hoping for something a bit better there. Figures sounds pretty good too. I would be surprised if we end up getting the Ewok Village this year, but if we do that’s 5 big hitters. Not confident on that one because I’ve got this horrible feeling it will look like Yavin. Edited March 8 by ArrowBricks Quote
Mandalorianknight Posted March 8 Posted March 8 8 hours ago, CloneCommando99 said: Nope. I think you’re confusing it with the Saw memes phase. We let it run wild. Brotherhood of the TIE Avenger!! Forgive me for I have sinned! 15% Tariff on all imports includes Lego too, right? So I can’t see Lego swallowing the oil cost increase in addition to that. Maybe, maybe. The funniest part of that post is we didn't even get a normal TIE set last year. And by funny I mean very sad, especially since this year seems to be doubling down. It's been discussed before but it seems extremely likely that legos are covered by the USMCA. Add on to that that some of the 2026 sets were initially leaked at higher US prices but ended up being lower- the exact amount lower that the 2025 increases were- and there's a pretty high confidence level that lego isn't paying a tariff. As for the oil situation we'll have to see, but even if the difficulties there aren't offset by the increased supply of oil from Venezuela to the western world, I doubt it will even last until the TMAG sets release. I watched Jang's reviews of the smart sets and... oh, man. There's a lot of things we can get a more accurate look at now that people have those sets in-hand. I think the strangest is that the smart brick seems to function just fine when the top is covered, so I don't understand why there's massive openings above them. You could really just leave the color scanners on the side, which would be a lot less intrusive. The other is that the system has some definite flaws that feel more like a prototype than a final product- the color sensor on the advanced bounces off the walls, causing it to enter infinite loops. The "smart" system does allow for some hypothetically cool interactions so long as you have enough bricks (which is tough given even the starter kits come with a lot more brick-needing builds than bricks. You can't really do the smart play without two bricks, but if you get two bricks, now you have five builds that need to interact to unlock the full play), but there are some flaws that one would hope wouldn't have made it to the final release of a product like this. The smart brick, credit to it, can tell if there's another brick nearby and respond in such a manner that if one "fires", the other "takes damage". But that's it. The aim mechanic always seemed unrealistic to me, but it is now confirmed that there's no aim method- so long as one brick has a red piece near it, no matter what direction the brick or build are in the other nearby brick "takes damage". But there's also no faction mechanic, which seems like a larger issue to me since it should be pretty easy to code in that if the brick has scanned an imperial tag, it damages nearby rebel bricks when firing, not imperial ones. 18 minutes ago, ArrowBricks said: The AT-AT is really an interesting one because it’s one of the only vehicles that hasn’t had a downscale so far even though it’s been released in the era. Let’s hope the figures are good. Do we have a lineup? The Imperial Shuttle is very much needed after the 2021 version being way off. The leaked torso along with the rumoured lineup sounds promising. I have always wanted a Sandcrawler, I just hope this new one isn’t the size of the one released in 2018. I also hope it’s tiled off better - the Turbo Tank from last year was tiled off well, hoping for something a bit better there. Figures sounds pretty good too. I would be surprised if we end up getting the Ewok Village this year, but if we do that’s 5 big hitters. Not confident on that one because I’ve got this horrible feeling it will look like Yavin. I don't believe so, no. The imperial shuttle, AT-AT, and Sandcrawler all seem to be stemming the downscale flow, at least where it matters IMO. The AT-AT seems like it'll be around the same size as the 2020 one, the Sandcrawler leak puts it at slightly larger than the 2018 one, and the shuttle should DWARF the 2021 model and end up at around the size of the excellent 2015 model. We have had a sketch leak for the sandcrawler that confirms it's around the same size as the 2018 one- I believe it's a few studs longer? That said, at the price point and with a mudhorn build I believe it ends up around the same value as the inflation-adjusted 2018 model, if not better value given it's rumored to include more minifigures. I can't remember how much of it was tiled off but I thought the sketch looked good. I don't know how to explain it but I totally get what you mean by "looking like Yavin". That said, I also think it's harder to make the village look like Yavin and should turn out pretty well. Quote
BrickBob Studpants Posted March 8 Posted March 8 5 hours ago, Kaijumeister said: I think it’s safe to surmise that we can expect to see one of the Inquisitor characters (I’m putting my money on 11th bro, a new mould would be nice or they can use the new Doctor Doom hood piece that was leaked via the Marvel Advent Calendar) I definitely hope for the Eleventh Brother, as Marrok/First Brother would be a reprint (minus the rust). A new piece for him would be nice too since we‘ve only had one (!) new minifig piece this year, namely Grogu‘s body. Maybe three if you count the Smart minifig torso/legs and the Smart R2 body, but even then that‘s a reeeeeeally low count Maybe we get more in the summer? Likely candidates are a Snowtrooper helmet, the Shuttle pilot‘s headgear, and perhaps a piece or two in whatever the Maul set is Too bad we won‘t get Rotta this year, his ripped body definitely would need more than just a reprinted Jabba torso Quote
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