LEGO Star Wars 2020 Set Discussion - READ FIRST POST!!!

[Kit Figsto]

1 hour ago, 2maxwell said:

The torso's carrying over from the Mustafar set really is confusing. Any look at figures shows how often Lego likes to change up prints, even when they really don't need to. I get that the Mustafar set isn't one you'd buy multiples of, but it seems weird to me that it would sell so poorly. It was cheap, had two main characters most people would want, and had decent play features. Amusingly, the main reason I didn't get it was because of the battle damage on the prints haha. Still, that set selling poorly is the answer that makes the most sense to me at this point.

While we don't know for sure if it sold poorly or not, and I'm guessing that they'd have the torsos lined up beforehand anyway (unless the pandemic and craziness meant they were planning on using traditional torsos, but the delays and everything meant that they chose to just make things easier and use the burned ones, which I can understand), I definitely did like the Mustafar set, it's one of the Winter 2020 sets that I bought right away (along with T-16/Banta and the Mandalorian BP, which, by the way, I still haven't seen in a main US retailer, I literally found a handful one time in December at a Kohl's, which I think would probably be considered a second-tier department store behind Target/Walmart).  

[PreVizsla]

75283 - Armored Assault Tank (AAT) - Love it,getting 1-4, i dont mind the long barrel either
75281 - Anakin's Jedi Intercepter - getting 1,dont care that anakin is from mustafar set cause its on the cheaper end
75280 - 501st Legion Clone Troopers - love figures and barc speeder,hate at-rt size and look getting 1-6
75286 - General Grievous' Starfighter -hate it,overpriced,no good minifigures,bothered by obi being from mustafar based on its price. not buying
75279 - LEGO Star Wars 2020 Advent Calendar -not for me but love that there are 2 christmas figures inside. not buying
75284 - Knights Of Ren Transport Ship -amazing and decent price.not buying cause i dont enjoy the movies

Will decide between AT-AT,Death Star Final Duel,The Razor Crest and UCS Imperial Shuttle when we start getting reviews and when leaks for January hit (hoping for mauls mandalorian battle pack,will rather have 23 of those or multiples of mauls mandalorian ship than any of those 4 sets if not i am leaning toward at-at and shuttle)

[Redroe]

8 hours ago, benderisgreat said:

I mean there's no reason to get Anakin Jedi Interceptor

I hadn't even noticed that Anakin was reused, my eye skipped over the starfighter completely (though I don't mind its being remade. It's the next in the cycle. Blue is up next I think?) But its yet another reason NOT to shell out on the awful Mustafar set. You can get the previously exclusive scene-specific figs in other sets. And apart from the figs, it's just a bunch of red and yellow parts that are practically useless if you want to build your own (better) Mustafar MOC.

[MGS6735]

45 minutes ago, Redroe said:

I hadn't even noticed that Anakin was reused, my eye skipped over the starfighter completely (though I don't mind its being remade. It's the next in the cycle. Blue is up next I think?) But its yet another reason NOT to shell out on the awful Mustafar set. You can get the previously exclusive scene-specific figs in other sets. And apart from the figs, it's just a bunch of red and yellow parts that are practically useless if you want to build your own (better) Mustafar MOC.

I didn't notice that the robe torso was reused on Anakin until people started mentioning it.

I got the Mustafar set before it came out. It was good for play, but some of the play features had problems and the red and yellow lava was strange, to say the least. The biggest disappointment was the lack of high ground, but a bit of modding fixed that. The lava, however, would have required a lot more work, and I ultimately decided it was more work to overhaul the set to replace the lava than it was worth. That being said, the inaccurate lava was the biggest initial turnoff of the set for me.

That being said, I agree that there is no reason to buy this set now that the Anakin and Obi-Wan are in other sets. Anakin's Interceptor is a bit more expensive than the Mustafar Duel, but the interceptor is a much better build than the Mustafar Duel, even if it is very similar to the 2014 version. Grievous' Starfighter is overpriced, but it will likely cause the value of the Mustafar Obi-Wan figure to decrease for those who don't want either set (same for the Anakin figure, but it's slightly different and the interceptor is slightly more desirable.) The only reason left to buy the Mustafar set come September is it's slightly cheaper price and lackluster scenery.

Also, the Anakin figure from the interceptor appears to have the headset print on both faces. It's good for differentiating the figure slightly from Mustafar Anakin, but the headset being on both sides makes the figure less useful. I dislike the figure from the 2018 Anakin's Starfighter for the same reason. I don't see why they couldn't make one face with the headset for use in the ship and one face without it for use outside of the ship. Removing the headset from one side would reduce the cost of printing and improve the figure. If Lego would cut corners to the point of reusing figure torsos in instances where they are clearly inaccurate, I don't think taking a bit of printing off a minifigure head is too much to ask.

[Redroe]

10 minutes ago, MGS6735 said:

got the Mustafar set before it came out. It was good for play, but some of the play features had problems and the red and yellow lava was strange, to say the least. The biggest disappointment was the lack of high ground, but a bit of modding fixed that. The lava, however, would have required a lot more work, and I ultimately decided it was more work to overhaul the set to replace the lava than it was worth. That being said, the inaccurate lava was the biggest initial turnoff of the set for me.

Exactly, look at a recent Ninjago set and you can see that they can do decent lava, so why use blocky red and yellow? I have one trans-neon-orange 8x8 plate which I plan to build my mod around... from the old, old Ultimate Lightsaber Duel, a set which many condemn as Worst Set Ever. Well blow me if they haven't remade it worse.

[Celloguy]

The prices for many of these are eyewatering, it will be fascinating to see how it affects sales. Alongside the Mario sets, which are also insanely priced (the ones which don't include the new technology), this is a rather risky venture. We'll see how it pans out.

My favourite new recolour is that curved blue corner piece that makes up the "eye" of the "hammerhead"! Beautiful!

Edited June 18, 2020 by Celloguy

[Balrogofmorgoth]

I can’t express enough how much I hate that they reused the battle damaged Mustafar torsos for Anakin and Obi Wan this wave. That might be one of the laziest things I’ve seen Lego do. I really hate it

Edited June 18, 2020 by Balrogofmorgoth

[Sabre-aN]

12 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

Thanks so much for this mock-up! For me personally the thing they most need is the black hips. There's just not enough contrast without them. I thought the blue arms would be necessary too but looking at the options, white arms surprisingly look fine to me once the hips are swapped.

 

11 hours ago, Kit Figsto said:

100% in agreement here, the black hips, even if not entirely accurate to the costumes, are as close as you can get and provide some contrast that just makes them look a bit more realistic.

Yeah this is more or less my own opinion on the hips - plain white hips, whilst more accurate than simply plain black hips based on a view of the real thing from the front, just don't seem to translate as well because then it looks like it's missing that black contrast that you otherwise see one the real thing. Similar sort of issue with the blue arms. There is the little bit of black they've added to the legs to try and represent the undersuit, but this only works if both legs are at the same angle. I think that the Airborne Trooper doesn't look as bad for this reason - his buckle printing and kama break up the white a bit.

I would also say though that the white hips also then make the troopers look a little worse from the back, as can be seen in the turnaround vids for these sets - more of the undersuit is visible on the real thing from that angle, yet with a white belt piece there's no black whatsoever on the trooper's lower half from the rear. I think the latest Scout Troopers also have this as an issue, they only look decent from the front because all the black on their legs and hips is printed & it's only on the front.

Does anyone know if Lego have ever explained why they seem to avoid dual moulded arms / legs on Star Wars minifgs? Dual moulded arms would look great on the Ahsoka Trooper:

I always guessed it was perhaps because the quality of said minifig parts didn't meet the same quality standards required for premium Star Wars figs, based on my limited experience with collectible minifigs. Shame that, as far as I know, Lego haven't made dual moulded blue upper/white lower arms like this yet, they've only done them with red or yellow lower parts, so we can't even make this mod this ourselves.

[w219]

Lego Star Wars waves are of very limited interest for me since years.
Very limited number of prequel sets and the prices of the sets bothers me. Sometimes, it feels just like too much.
The sets are less interessting, smaller, too many new pieces, minifigures are less good with the time ( new hood, new clones.).
I will probably buy the Anakin starfighter and one clone trooper AT-RT and BARC speeder set.
 

Edited June 18, 2020 by w219

[adam1210leg]

For multiple years prequels and The Clone Wars were overrepresented in LEGO Star Wars. You also have to remember that now we have not just two but three Star Wars trilogies. LEGO found perfect balance considering that we also have multiple TV series - out and in development, both live-action and animated.

[THELEGOBATMAN]

2 hours ago, Sabre-aN said:

 

Yeah this is more or less my own opinion on the hips - plain white hips, whilst more accurate than simply plain black hips based on a view of the real thing from the front, just don't seem to translate as well because then it looks like it's missing that black contrast that you otherwise see one the real thing. Similar sort of issue with the blue arms. There is the little bit of black they've added to the legs to try and represent the undersuit, but this only works if both legs are at the same angle. I think that the Airborne Trooper doesn't look as bad for this reason - his buckle printing and kama break up the white a bit.

I would also say though that the white hips also then make the troopers look a little worse from the back, as can be seen in the turnaround vids for these sets - more of the undersuit is visible on the real thing from that angle, yet with a white belt piece there's no black whatsoever on the trooper's lower half from the rear. I think the latest Scout Troopers also have this as an issue, they only look decent from the front because all the black on their legs and hips is printed & it's only on the front.

Does anyone know if Lego have ever explained why they seem to avoid dual moulded arms / legs on Star Wars minifgs? Dual moulded arms would look great on the Ahsoka Trooper:

*snap*

I always guessed it was perhaps because the quality of said minifig parts didn't meet the same quality standards required for premium Star Wars figs, based on my limited experience with collectible minifigs. Shame that, as far as I know, Lego haven't made dual moulded blue upper/white lower arms like this yet, they've only done them with red or yellow lower parts, so we can't even make this mod this ourselves.

It's not like they avoid dual-molding in Star Wars sets, they avoid dual-molding generally. From what I know dual-molding costs A LOT, so they only use it in CMF and a few regular sets.

[TeddytheSpoon]

10 minutes ago, adam1210leg said:

For multiple years prequels and The Clone Wars were overrepresented in LEGO Star Wars. You also have to remember that now we have not just two but three Star Wars trilogies. LEGO found perfect balance considering that we also have multiple TV series - out and in development, both live-action and animated.

I've seen a lot of people say the prequel era gets underrepresented, when we've got four sets of a nine-set wave from then, irrespective of what you think the quality might be. I do wonder if some people say prequel sets when really they mean they want sets with clones in them.

Speaking of clones, the black hips certainly do look better. If they were printed they probably wouldn't look too bad - the airborne trooper I think looks fine, and the scout trooper that's out at the moment I think looks great, both of which are white hips but with printing.

Edited June 18, 2020 by TeddytheSpoon

[BigGuy4U]

5 minutes ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

I've seen a lot of people say the prequel era gets underrepresented, when we've got four sets of a nine-set wave from then, irrespective of what you think the quality might be. I do wonder if some people say prequel sets when really they mean they want sets with clones in them.

Speaking of clones, the black hips certainly do look better. If they were printed they probably wouldn't look too bad - the airborne trooper I think looks fine, and the scout trooper that's out at the moment I think looks great, both of which are white hips but with printing.

I wouldn't be surprised if the real issue with "we don't get enough PT representation" is more to the effect of "we don't get enough PT sets with minifigs we want", i.e. standard clones, more Jedi, TCW characters etc. Can't say that I blame them in that regard since I want those too, doesn't help when last year's PT offerings were dominated by the Battle of Kashyyk and didn't give us much minifig variety there.

[Brickadeer]

2 hours ago, Sabre-aN said:

Does anyone know if Lego have ever explained why they seem to avoid dual moulded arms / legs on Star Wars minifgs? Dual moulded arms would look great on the Ahsoka Trooper:

I always guessed it was perhaps because the quality of said minifig parts didn't meet the same quality standards required for premium Star Wars figs, based on my limited experience with collectible minifigs. Shame that, as far as I know, Lego haven't made dual moulded blue upper/white lower arms like this yet, they've only done them with red or yellow lower parts, so we can't even make this mod this ourselves.

I don't like the dual molded version. I don't think it looks better than the variant with "normal" blue arms. You did a great job in editing the various variants, though In my opinion, the "black hips, coloured  arms" variant looks best, while either black hips or colored arms look better than plain white.

I have one question: Could you edit the cheeks as well, the black line in dark grey and the dark grey area in light grey? I always wondered how it'd look.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Brickadeer

[Mandalorianknight]

9 hours ago, Redroe said:

I hadn't even noticed that Anakin was reused, my eye skipped over the starfighter completely (though I don't mind its being remade. It's the next in the cycle. Blue is up next I think?) But its yet another reason NOT to shell out on the awful Mustafar set. You can get the previously exclusive scene-specific figs in other sets. And apart from the figs, it's just a bunch of red and yellow parts that are practically useless if you want to build your own (better) Mustafar MOC.

That's actually a really good point, the only thing exclusive to that set now is anakin's headset-less face. 

2 hours ago, w219 said:

Very limited number of prequel sets and the prices of the sets bothers me. 

Almost half the sets are prequel sets this wave, what do you mean it's a limited number? 

37 minutes ago, THELEGOBATMAN said:

It's not like they avoid dual-molding in Star Wars sets, they avoid dual-molding generally. From what I know dual-molding costs A LOT, so they only use it in CMF and a few regular sets.

I think this is why. We definitely haven't had 4 figures with dual-molded arms in one $30 set, for one thing.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Mandalorianknight

[LegoFjotten]

I think it's great we're getting more PT/CW stuff, makes it easy to reduce the number of sets I buy.

[Sabre-aN]

44 minutes ago, THELEGOBATMAN said:

It's not like they avoid dual-molding in Star Wars sets, they avoid dual-molding generally. From what I know dual-molding costs A LOT, so they only use it in CMF and a few regular sets.

 

7 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I think this is why. We definitely haven't had 4 figures with dual-molded arms in one $30 set, for one thing.

Good point, there's certainly no denying that they'll be more costly than the single colour parts. Though then again we did get 4 dual-moulded stormtrooper helmets cheaply in 75262. I suppose if helmets in general are already complicated / expensive parts anyway, perhaps the upgrade to dual moulding isn't considered as much of an issue as it would be for arms.

16 minutes ago, Brickadeer said:

I don't like the dual molded version. I don't think it looks better than the variant with "normal" blue arms. You did a great job in editing the various variants, though In my opinion, the "black hips, coloured  arms" variant looks best, while either black hips or colored arms look better than plain white.

I have one question: Could you edit the cheeks as well, the black line in dark grey and the dark grey area in light grey? I always wondered how it'd look.

Pretty sure the cheeks are already light grey rather than dark grey, the colour value there more closely matches the light grey bits on the torso, and not the dark grey bits. So I took a little liberty and changed it to white instead, for the full 'traditional' look:

[TeddytheSpoon]

47 minutes ago, BigGuy4U said:

I wouldn't be surprised if the real issue with "we don't get enough PT representation" is more to the effect of "we don't get enough PT sets with minifigs we want", i.e. standard clones, more Jedi, TCW characters etc. Can't say that I blame them in that regard since I want those too, doesn't help when last year's PT offerings were dominated by the Battle of Kashyyk and didn't give us much minifig variety there.

Same here, I love clone armies as much as the next guy, and I've definitely got caught up in the TCW hype train. Thing is I'd also like some more podracers, another Zam Wessel, Jango's Slave I or even some Kamino sets, and having people go 'wHeRe ArE tHe PrEqUeL sEtS' in instances like this where it's nearly half the wave makes those less likely (though in fairness I'm not sure what the demand for the ones I mentioned would be like). I'm not pointing any fingers - on here it's been reasonably measured, but I have seen it elsewhere.

[Brickadeer]

4 minutes ago, Sabre-aN said:

Pretty sure the cheeks are already light grey rather than dark grey, the colour value there more closely matches the light grey bits on the torso, and not the dark grey bits. So I took a little liberty and changed it to white instead, for the full 'traditional' look:

Thanks! I'm undecided. What I like about the new cheeks is that the size of the breathing tubes is emphasized, something that the previous p2 troopers clearly were lacking.

[ARC2149Nova]

On the subject of PT/TCW sets: There's certainly a difference between quality and quantity. Sure, there are 4 sets from the era, but one is hilariously overpriced, lacks any real desirable figures, and is a ship most of us wouldn't mind going without. Another is a semi-pointless remake, at least make it the green variant or something. The other two are only receiving praise (mostly) for the minifigs. I find it dismissive to shoo away complaints just because "it's 4/9 sets, be happy". I don't think the number is the problem, but the selection. Certainly, ignoring the 501st set, there were better options, but we got what we got.

Also, knowing Lego, there are major characters missing that we may never see (not just from TCW), and so that's a factor to consider in some people's disappointment.

[Kit Figsto]

8 minutes ago, ARC2149Nova said:

On the subject of PT/TCW sets: There's certainly a difference between quality and quantity. Sure, there are 4 sets from the era, but one is hilariously overpriced, lacks any real desirable figures, and is a ship most of us wouldn't mind going without. Another is a semi-pointless remake, at least make it the green variant or something. The other two are only receiving praise (mostly) for the minifigs. I find it dismissive to shoo away complaints just because "it's 4/9 sets, be happy". I don't think the number is the problem, but the selection. Certainly, ignoring the 501st set, there were better options, but we got what we got.

Also, knowing Lego, there are major characters missing that we may never see (not just from TCW), and so that's a factor to consider in some people's disappointment.

In fairness, and I’m not discounting the lack of prequel sets in recent years since it does feel like there’s typically fewer (although it also felt at times that EVERYTHING except the sequels was getting shoved to the back burner), but the OT sets/fans have similar problems in terms of half the sets being remakes.  I mean, this board makes jokes all the time about the constant barrages of snowspeeders/landspeeders.  Even this year, the only “new” OT set I can think of at minifigure scale has been Ben’s Hut, everything else is a remake, although some do have legitimate improvements over prior releases, like the AT-AT (at least in my opinion).  I think the biggest difference comes in the quantity.  It might be different if we got an AAT every 3 years, like one of the OT vehicles, but it’s been more like every 8 years for an AAT.  The OT rehashes must be hot sellers, otherwise they wouldn’t keep pushing them out, but I definitely agree that we need more of a mix in the future, which is why I like this wave.  

I’m only 100% buying one set, and am considering another three, but I think it’s great that there’s some fairly appealing sets for fans of each trilogy.

And if it makes people wanting more prequel stuff feel any better, at least you’re not a Rogue One fan like me waiting for something...anything! since 2016 now 

[naugem]

I haven't been interested in a Star Wars set in a while, but I like the Resistance Transport.

[Tanner]

These are all awesome

[THELEGOBATMAN]

Honestly I have no idea why most people prefer black hips over white hips. I think they looks absolutely awful, and I am so happy they finally went with white hips.

[jdubbs]

1 minute ago, THELEGOBATMAN said:

Honestly I have no idea why most people prefer black hips over white hips. I think they looks absolutely awful, and I am so happy they finally went with white hips.

I'm with you. If you look at the actual Stormtrooper costume, white hips seems way more accurate. I think people just have a nostalgic fondness for the black hips dating back to the first stormtroopers, and resist change, even when it produces a more accurate product.

1 hour ago, ARC2149Nova said:

On the subject of PT/TCW sets: There's certainly a difference between quality and quantity. Sure, there are 4 sets from the era, but one is hilariously overpriced, lacks any real desirable figures, and is a ship most of us wouldn't mind going without. Another is a semi-pointless remake, at least make it the green variant or something. The other two are only receiving praise (mostly) for the minifigs. I find it dismissive to shoo away complaints just because "it's 4/9 sets, be happy". I don't think the number is the problem, but the selection. Certainly, ignoring the 501st set, there were better options, but we got what we got.

Also, knowing Lego, there are major characters missing that we may never see (not just from TCW), and so that's a factor to consider in some people's disappointment.

This is true of sets from all the movies, not just the PT. How many times will LEGO give us Luke's Landspeeder, when they could have just as easily done the Lars family landspeeder, or even the green version of Luke's from TPM? How many Cantinas will come with Han and Greedo, ignoring the dozens of other aliens in the scene? Did we really need a blink-and-you-miss-it Y-Wing and AT-ST from Rogue One (never mind how good they were) when there were sets like the AT-ACT and Cargo Shuttle that had never been done before? Why did we get a generic TIE fighter from Solo instead of the all-new TIE Heavy? Why yet another Falcon (admittedly, a superior version, but the fourth in 5 years) from Rise of Skywalker instead of Ochi's ship?

I don't disagree that LEGO's choice of sets is mind-boggling at times. I do disagree that this is somehow a problem particular to the prequels.