Star Wars Constraction 2018 Discussion & Rumors

[ZORK64]

Darth Maul doesn't really interest me, but in terms of build and design, he looks pretty good.

[Leewan]

10 hours ago, JekPorkchops said:

Maybe it just fits underneath the head like a minifig cape, but then it would probably rattle around.

I think it's the case, at least according to one of BZP's tweets. My only concern is that it would limit the head's range of movement.

 

1 hour ago, ZORK64 said:

Darth Maul doesn't really interest me, but in terms of build and design, he looks pretty good.

Yeah, the designers obviously make efforts to make interesting sets, so it's a shame we're always getting characters in black robes / armour. An original constraction line with sets like the Praetorian Guard, Darth Vader (both versions, actually), or Darth Maul would be amazing.

[Lyichir]

On 2/19/2018 at 2:57 AM, JekPorkchops said:

I think the collar piece has a socket on the bottom and an additional neck ball joint on top for the head, though it would all have to fit within a very tight space (1 module) so I don’t know how plausible that is. Maybe it just fits underneath the head like a minifig cape, but then it would probably rattle around.

Not sure, but the top of the gearbox cover and torso shell is quite a bit more complex than a minifigure neck. It's entirely possible that even if it didn't attach with standard connection points it might still be able to fit snugly somehow.

[JekPorkchops]

Apparently it rattles around, according to BZPower. Even if the piece fits nicely around the shoulders, it still isn’t clamped from the top (because the head needs space to tilt). It’ll move around up and down when shaken.

I kinda like the function, but it’ll have to be posed better for me to properly judge it. I’m wondering how floppy those arms will be when used seperately, without the function or lightsaber.

[Nerd-with-a-Pencil]

The only one of these figures I've owned is Grievous (working on rectifying this, however). How much do the arm-swinging functions hinder posing for display, and how difficult are they to remove?

[Mitch Henry]

1 hour ago, Nerd-with-a-Pencil said:

The only one of these figures I've owned is Grievous (working on rectifying this, however). How much do the arm-swinging functions hinder posing for display, and how difficult are they to remove?

I've never found this difficult to pose since the gears aren't very loose, but the functions are easy enough to remove.

most of the figs with swinging arms have the function limited to one arm and use This piece to keep the other arm stable. If you have some extra of them lying around you can remove the gear function entirely. 

 

 

[Leewan]

Oh, I just realized Lego was doubling the VIP points for Darth Vader since the 11th, and the offer ends today (Almost late to the party ). There's another set concerned by this promotion, the First Order AT-ST. Is this the case in other countries too ? Anyways, this won't be enough to make me purchase him, I'll wait a bit more to find him somewhere else...

[JoeyB]

On 2/20/2018 at 9:32 AM, Nerd-with-a-Pencil said:

The only one of these figures I've owned is Grievous (working on rectifying this, however). How much do the arm-swinging functions hinder posing for display, and how difficult are they to remove?

 

On 2/20/2018 at 11:23 AM, Mitch Henry said:

I've never found this difficult to pose since the gears aren't very loose, but the functions are easy enough to remove.

most of the figs with swinging arms have the function limited to one arm and use This piece to keep the other arm stable. If you have some extra of them lying around you can remove the gear function entirely. 

 

 

As for the figures like K-2S0 and the Praetorian Guard, some blue or black 3-long TECHNIC pins will tighten up the function, but that's me. I've heard that Maul might not have usable elbows? Is this real, in 2018? 

[Aanchir]

On 2/28/2018 at 9:44 PM, JoeyB said:

 

As for the figures like K-2S0 and the Praetorian Guard, some blue or black 3-long TECHNIC pins will tighten up the function, but that's me. I've heard that Maul might not have usable elbows? Is this real, in 2018? 

His elbows are fixed at a 90-degree angle, but the entire lower arm can rotate on an axle. Elbows with jointed elbows could not work to swing a two-handed weapon — you can try it yourself if you have a spare gearbox. Having more resistance in the rotation of his hands and less in the rotation of his elbows would make him more likely to raise or lower both arms instead of simultaneously raising one and lowering the other.

[Agent Kallus]

2 hours ago, Falconfan1414 said:

So I got some news apparently according to Lego world club none of the constraction figures got ordered by retailers so the battle droid and 501st Legion clone trooper were canceled 

So this was said in the star wars main thread. I was looking forward to that AT-RT 

[Takanuinuva]

Does that mean the Han Solo Movie CCBS sets will be the last Star Wars Constraction sets?

Were there any leaked pictures of the Battle Droid and AT-RT?

Edited March 2, 2018 by Takanuinuva

[Kalhiki]

Could it be possible that's a regional thing? I recall the last wave of Chima Ultrabuilds was only released in Europe or some such (either way, they weren't available in the States, iirc). Maybe we're looking at the same thing?

[Leewan]

3 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Having more resistance in the rotation of his hands and less in the rotation of his elbows would make him more likely to raise or lower both arms instead of simultaneously raising one and lowering the other.

Unless I've built the arms wrong, he actually doesn't do any of this. The movement is a bit... random ?

 

1 hour ago, Kalhiki said:

Could it be possible that's a regional thing? I recall the last wave of Chima Ultrabuilds was only released in Europe or some such (either way, they weren't available in the States, iirc). Maybe we're looking at the same thing?

The NYTF PR states this :

The LEGO Star Wars™ collection adds 28 new building sets based on characters and scenes from various episodes of the film and animated television series, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story. Fans can also create five new buildable figures of favorite characters.

The 28 system sets seem to include the summer wave, and with the Super Battle Droid and the Clone + AT-RT, there would be seven Constraction sets, not five...

I hope they'll still be released in some way, perhaps as Lego Store / s@h exclusives ?

[Voxovan]

The absolute state of Star Wars constracion And to think people used to claim that these sets sell well...

[Mitch Henry]

Does Falconfan1414 have a good track record with these kinds of reveals/leaks? I wouldn't take some random post as gospel truth unless he's known for this.

[Mesonak]

I find it pretty difficult to believe on its own merits (though it wouldn't surprise me if SW Constraction did end), but the Toy Fair blurb is pretty compelling anecdotal evidence.

[TheGreatSpirit]

mfw

[Azani]

20 hours ago, Leewan said:

Unless I've built the arms wrong, he actually doesn't do any of this. The movement is a bit... random ?

Yeah; it's a nice attempt, but it's certainly a bit rough. As a rule, I'm usually able to get his arms to do the whole "elbow up, elbow down" deal if you hold him at a slight angle forward - TLG might have been operating off of the expectation that kids will be doing that.

20 hours ago, Leewan said:

The NYTF PR states this :

The LEGO Star Wars™ collection adds 28 new building sets based on characters and scenes from various episodes of the film and animated television series, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story. Fans can also create five new buildable figures of favorite characters.

The 28 system sets seem to include the summer wave, and with the Super Battle Droid and the Clone + AT-RT, there would be seven Constraction sets, not five...

I hope they'll still be released in some way, perhaps as Lego Store / s@h exclusives ?

Yeah, man. Aw...

As much as I'd like to say otherwise, it's looking as though 75538 Super Battle Droid and 75539 Clone & AT-RT will only see release in the EU. That's how it's looking ATM.

20 hours ago, Voxovan said:

The absolute state of Star Wars constracion And to think people used to claim that these sets sell well...

And to think that this guy still posts in this forum...

I still claim that, dude. There's no evidence to support the idea that they don't sell well. All that we know is that TLG is still making them. Funny how that works, right? :)

I've legitimately never heard you say anything positive about constraction... do you enjoy doing this online?

Edited March 3, 2018 by Azani

[Voxovan]

3 hours ago, Azani said:

And to think that this guy still posts in this forum...

I still claim that, dude. There's no evidence to support the idea that they don't sell well. All that we know is that TLG is still making them. Funny how that works, right? :)

I've legitimately never heard you say anything positive about constraction... do you enjoy doing this online?

You're even more delusional than I thought, but that's okay, you can believe what you want. However, the mere fact there is a (granted, not confirmed) statement about these sets being cancelled/not realesed in the US, along with the official NYTF PR statement is the evidence. Even you yourself stated that you're 100% certain that these 2 sets will only see release in the EU. If the previous constraction sets sold like hotcakes, why would that even happen? It's true that LEGO still makes these, but have you noticed that there's less sets each wave? Ever thought that this might have to do something with the sales?

Also if you never heard me saying anything positive about constraction, then you're clearly new on this forum. Also it's not that hard to check and see that I post constraction MOCs on deviantart and various other sites, and I very much enjoy making new builds using the CCBS, the OG Bionicle system, or mixing both. But yeah man, I sure hate constraction :)

 

[Azani]

43 minutes ago, Voxovan said:

You're even more delusional than I thought

At this point, I knew that I should stop reading, but I kept doing so against my better judgement. Yeah, you must enjoy doing this online.

This is going to be a mega-post, if that's alright.

43 minutes ago, Voxovan said:

However, the mere fact there is a (granted, not confirmed) statement about these sets being cancelled/not realesed in the US

That person is wrong. I wasn't sure at first, but I ran by their source, a group that edited their initial (public) statement to clarify that they were mistaken several hours ago.

43 minutes ago, Voxovan said:

along with the official NYTF PR statement is the evidence.

That's an incredibly vague statement that could mean 10 different things. It could be omitting 75533 and 75534 from the "five new figures", as they had already been released. Coincidentally, that's two figures, which would allow for 75538 and 75539.

43 minutes ago, Voxovan said:

Even you yourself stated that you're 100% certain that these 2 sets will only see release in the EU.

Actually, I said that it was looking like that at the moment. Dude, it seems like you're really desperate to find stuff that will support your point here.

43 minutes ago, Voxovan said:

If the previous constraction sets sold like hotcakes, why would that even happen?

Sure, that's fair. I certainly don't belive that they sell great, or have ever been one of TLG's strong points. I've never said that. However...

43 minutes ago, Voxovan said:

It's true that LEGO still makes these, but have you noticed that there's less sets each wave? Ever thought that this might have to do something with the sales?

To be honest, I didn't think that this was true, so I checked up on Brickset, where all the SW figures are listed on this page. Here's the breakdown, with the first wave in 2015 omitted for space/irrelevancy reasons:

January 2016

75113: Rey

75114: First Order Stormtrooper

75115: Poe Dameron

75116: Finn

75117: Kylo Ren

75118: Captain Phasma

October 2016

75119: Sergeant Jyn Erso

75120: K-2SO

75121: Imperial Death Trooper

February 2017

75523: Scarif Stormtrooper

75524: Chirrut Îmwe

75525: Baze Malbus

June 2017

75531: Stormtrooper Commander

75532: Scout Trooper & Speeder Bike

September 2017

75526: Elite TIE Fighter Pilot

75528: Rey

75529: Elite Praetorian Guard

75530: Chewbacca

January 2018

75533: Boba Fett

75534: Darth Vader

April 2018

75535: Han Solo

75536: Range Trooper

75537: Darth Maul

August 2018

75538: Super Battle Droid

75539: 501st Legion Clone Trooper & AT-RT Walker

___________

In this case, 75538 and 75539 are relevant to the trend, even if they don't get released. If they were planned, then it's straight-up indicative, from TLG's point of view, of a response to whatever sales looked like at that point in the process.

There are two complete years to go off of here: 2016 and 2017. We got nine in 2016. We got nine in 2017. Just off of what we know for a fact, TLG had planned seven for 2018 - at least.

Are they releasing fewer each wave, as you said? Yes, they are; however, they're also releasing them in more waves. Each set has a higher piece count, and is more expensive. No, they are not releasing fewer and fewer each year. Not even close.

43 minutes ago, Voxovan said:

Also if you never heard me saying anything positive about constraction, then you're clearly new on this forum. Also it's not that hard to check and see that I post constraction MOCs on deviantart and various other sites, and I very much enjoy making new builds using the CCBS, the OG Bionicle system, or mixing both. But yeah man, I sure hate constraction :)

I mean, I am new to this forum, yeah. I'm sorry, I guess, that I haven't done my research; I'm sorry that I haven't been searching up your username and looking at your MOCs, man. What I know is pretty clear - you just seem as though you're really, really pessimistic, dude. I know that constraction isn't doing awesome, yeah. If I did say that, and you responded that I was delusional, I'd agree. But frankly, we don't have much to go off, ever. I'm a skeptic with a lot of things; in this case, I just happen to also like the thing in question.

Edited March 3, 2018 by Azani

[MakutaDreadscythe]

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if some sets were cancelled or given limited release considering the current state of constraction. We still have heard nothing of a new constraction IP with the sets generally shelf-warming wherever I go.

I may be theorizing but part of my stance on why they sell poorly compared to regular LEGO is the pricing. After licensing costs, part production and whatnot we usually get sets that cost on average $30/£ (price over in the UK is outright extortionate) where an original counterpart would be sold at half the price. Looking at forum posts I tend to see a lot of "Wait for a price drop" regardless of the figure's quality. For me personally and especially when there is no LEGO charm or functionality it starts to compete with more accurate figures a la Black Series etc, where it is the same price (if not cheaper) to get a more accurate scalable figure.

[Scarilian]

On 3/4/2018 at 6:45 PM, MakutaDreadscythe said:

I may be theorizing but part of my stance on why they sell poorly compared to regular LEGO is the pricing. After licensing costs, part production and whatnot we usually get sets that cost on average $30/£ (price over in the UK is outright extortionate) where an original counterpart would be sold at half the price. Looking at forum posts I tend to see a lot of "Wait for a price drop" regardless of the figure's quality.

I do get the vibe that a lot of the Star Wars sets have reached extortionate prices in places like the UK - for some reason Lego saw Brexit and thought they needed to charge more - so in an economy currently concerned with saving money, Lego had the bright idea of charging more to people who could afford less. So of-course sets that are most notably experiencing the price hikes coupled with licensing costs are going to shelf-warm more and sell less, this coupled with a majority not being based on developed characters, but being reliant on the popularity or pieces to sell the sets - the success of licensed sets is normally relative to the license.

• In January 2017 they rose UK prices by 5%
• in September 2017 they stated ' In the US and Europe, our sales have declined...' and that revenue had fallen by 5%.

It's almost as if raising the prices had a negative effect on sales or something. Regardless, this does mean that the shelf warming of sets in the UK may not be as representative of the sales of the sets in other locations.

[JoeyB]

Oh no... I need that Clone and B2, those are the most original-looking ones so far! I hope Amazon will still have them, assuming they're released at all...

[Agent Kallus]

9 hours ago, Sir von Lego said:

Both of these sets (Clone Trooper with AT-RT and Super Battle Droid) won’t see the light of a day: cancelled.

We will get another set as compensation, not a constraction one.

Well that's the end of that then. 

[Voxovan]

19 hours ago, Scarilian said:

I do get the vibe that a lot of the Star Wars sets have reached extortionate prices in places like the UK - for some reason Lego saw Brexit and thought they needed to charge more - so in an economy currently concerned with saving money, Lego had the bright idea of charging more to people who could afford less. So of-course sets that are most notably experiencing the price hikes coupled with licensing costs are going to shelf-warm more and sell less, this coupled with a majority not being based on developed characters, but being reliant on the popularity or pieces to sell the sets - the success of licensed sets is normally relative to the license.

• In January 2017 they rose UK prices by 5%
• in September 2017 they stated ' In the US and Europe, our sales have declined...' and that revenue had fallen by 5%.

It's almost as if raising the prices had a negative effect on sales or something. Regardless, this does mean that the shelf warming of sets in the UK may not be as representative of the sales of the sets in other locations.

Just throwing in my 2 cents, the sets shelfwarm pretty hard in my country too (the toy store I go to in one of the biggest shopping malls in the city I live in still has Jyn Ersos on the shelves, and lots of kids roll through that place (I visit it quite often), not to mention how terribly these sets were selling in my hometown, but, granted, it was a much smaller place), so I don't think it's a UK-specific occurance.

On 3.03.2018 at 4:34 PM, Azani said:

At this point, I knew that I should stop reading, but I kept doing so against my better judgement. Yeah, you must enjoy doing this online.

This is going to be a mega-post, if that's alright.

I was actually thorn whether or not I should reply to this post, seeing your other posts on the SW sub-forum, how you were so stubborn that nothing I'd write would really change your mind, and how you edited the post I was replying to in order for it to better support your latter reply (for the record, you actually did say you were certain that these two sets are not cancelled, just because I worded it differently and didn't quote you 1:1 doesn't make my reply less legitimate and I was not, in fact, "desperate to find stuff that will support my point here"; I also find it funny how you deleted that bit in the latter edit. The only thing I have to admit I was wrong about is the bit about less sets being released in each wave - I was pretty sure that Lego was still releasing these figures in the standard 2-wave formula, not this weird 3-wave one, and the only brickset list I managed to find didn't list all of the CCBS Star Wars sets so, my bad here).

But, I'm glad Sir von Lego actually cleared things up and proved that you were wrong all along, despite you acting so confident about stuff you had no possible way of being 100% sure about.