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

[Per_SW]

Managed to get a couple of 501st BPs and an AAT today and I find myself having conflicting feelings.
On one hand I do love the figures and I do appreciate the play value both sets have, especially together, but then again as an AFOL I am struggling to overcome the many issues I find with the scale of the builds.

The 501st set is a solid set, for 30 $/€ you get 6 figs and two vehicles, but to me they are awfully oversized. I like the troopers, although I prefer the 2014-17 design for P2 clones, and I knew the AT-RT would be oversized, but having built the set I think the BARC may be a worse offender. For something supposed to be 4.6 mt long that thing is huge! I thought I could keep at least those and combine the AT-RTs into something alternative, but now I'm wondering wether to dismantle the BARCs too and use the pieces to build something else to fit with the rest of my republic display.

The AAT on the other hand has two main issues. The first is its price, it really does not feel worth the 40€ it costs. 30? Probably, but we know that's mainly Ahsoka's "fault" and there's already been loads of discussion about it, no need to stir the pot again.
The second issue is, as many said before, with its proportions: it really looks like they designed the top and bottom separately and only then realized they were going for different scales. To me it seems it comes down to two pieces around which the sections are built, those being the 4x4 bows at the back of the top and the 45 degree side slopes on the bottom section.
I have a couple of mods in mind to try and fix some of the discrepancies, but I still think that a 10 wide top is too large for the bottom section we have.

[Samppu]

3 hours ago, Per_SW said:

Managed to get a couple of 501st BPs and an AAT today and I find myself having conflicting feelings.
On one hand I do love the figures and I do appreciate the play value both sets have, especially together, but then again as an AFOL I am struggling to overcome the many issues I find with the scale of the builds.

The 501st set is a solid set, for 30 $/€ you get 6 figs and two vehicles, but to me they are awfully oversized. I like the troopers, although I prefer the 2014-17 design for P2 clones, and I knew the AT-RT would be oversized, but having built the set I think the BARC may be a worse offender. For something supposed to be 4.6 mt long that thing is huge! I thought I could keep at least those and combine the AT-RTs into something alternative, but now I'm wondering wether to dismantle the BARCs too and use the pieces to build something else to fit with the rest of my republic display.

The AAT on the other hand has two main issues. The first is its price, it really does not feel worth the 40€ it costs. 30? Probably, but we know that's mainly Ahsoka's "fault" and there's already been loads of discussion about it, no need to stir the pot again.
The second issue is, as many said before, with its proportions: it really looks like they designed the top and bottom separately and only then realized they were going for different scales. To me it seems it comes down to two pieces around which the sections are built, those being the 4x4 bows at the back of the top and the 45 degree side slopes on the bottom section.
I have a couple of mods in mind to try and fix some of the discrepancies, but I still think that a 10 wide top is too large for the bottom section we have.

I agree with the AAT, as that one does have different proportions to the upper and lower part as you said, and that is a clear design flaw, I would say. (or it might have something to do with the animated vehicle, which might have vastly different proportions compared to its cinema counterpart...) Interestingly, the AAT is one of the few vehicles for which I still personally prefer the classic first one as the best design.

However, I feel that the scale-to-the-height philosophy is a little over-exaggerated philosophy among AFOLs when it comes to Star Wars vehicles. If one takes the scale from the height, they are, true, oversized. But if one takes the scale from the helmet even, then they are actually pretty spot on considering the over all length and height. The Lego figures implement after all quite extreme chibi-like proportions themselves, so to my eye the fan made tiny AT-RTs and BARC speeders actually look even too tiny for this reason: the figure heads pop out as overly chibi like in those solutions to my eye. To some extent this is a question of taste, but I think that the scale issue still is not fundamentally about the actual height per se, but more about the overly bulky over all appearance that make them look a little clumsy. The same overall height would not really hurt if the design seemed more agile for the AT-RT, I believe.

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Samppu

[RODDY]

Do we have any updates on if the Razorcrest pre orders are still getting shipped out on September 1 or if they got delayed due to COVID-19?

[Mandalorianknight]

12 hours ago, Samppu said:

However, I feel that the scale-to-the-height philosophy is a little over-exaggerated philosophy among AFOLs when it comes to Star Wars vehicles. If one takes the scale from the height, they are, true, oversized. But if one takes the scale from the helmet even, then they are actually pretty spot on considering the over all length and height. The Lego figures implement after all quite extreme chibi-like proportions themselves, so to my eye the fan made tiny AT-RTs and BARC speeders actually look even too tiny for this reason: the figure heads pop out as overly chibi like in those solutions to my eye. To some extent this is a question of taste, but I think that the scale issue still is not fundamentally about the actual height per se, but more about the overly bulky over all appearance that make them look a little clumsy. The same overall height would not really hurt if the design seemed more agile for the AT-RT, I believe.

I agree, just by the weird proportions of the lego figures themselves, scale is really tough to get. 

However, I still think the AT-RT and BARC are way too big for what's in the films and clone wars.

2 hours ago, RODDY said:

Do we have any updates on if the Razorcrest pre orders are still getting shipped out on September 1 or if they got delayed due to COVID-19?

I think it's still september 1, as that's when all the august sets were pushed back to in america and in other countries they weren't delayed at all, but I'm not sure.

[Per_SW]

17 hours ago, Samppu said:

 Interestingly, the AAT is one of the few vehicles for which I still personally prefer the classic first one as the best design.

However, I feel that the scale-to-the-height philosophy is a little over-exaggerated philosophy among AFOLs when it comes to Star Wars vehicles. If one takes the scale from the height, they are, true, oversized. But if one takes the scale from the helmet even, then they are actually pretty spot on considering the over all length and height. The Lego figures implement after all quite extreme chibi-like proportions themselves, so to my eye the fan made tiny AT-RTs and BARC speeders actually look even too tiny for this reason: the figure heads pop out as overly chibi like in those solutions to my eye. To some extent this is a question of taste, but I think that the scale issue still is not fundamentally about the actual height per se, but more about the overly bulky over all appearance that make them look a little clumsy. The same overall height would not really hurt if the design seemed more agile for the AT-RT, I believe.

 

I completely agree about the 2000 AAT, all its flaws due to age notwithstanding to me it feels the perfect size.

About the AT-RT I see what you mean about its bulkiness making it look "too big" in the eyes of many, but in the end is definitely about taste, and to me the best AT-RT so far is the one from the 75151 Juggernaut.
Regarding the BARC it really comes down to the height-scale vs the width-scale, same as Kanan's Speeder Bike from 75141: they both are beautifully made models and they are the right scale from a certain point of view, just not from mine :D

[Graupensuppe]

IMO the prices of the AAT and Grievous' starfighter should have been switched. With 487 pieces it's possible to build an accurately sized AAT (I needed 434 for mine), while Grievous starfighter isn't very large or massive and could have been built with 286 pieces (the 2007 version used only 225).

Edited August 15, 2020 by Graupensuppe

[Makin Bacon]

Just found out that the Grievous Starfighter is $120 in Canada 

[lego_guyon02]

9 hours ago, Graupensuppe said:

IMO the prices of the AAT and Grievous' starfighter should have been switched. With 487 pieces it's possible to build an accurately sized AAT (I needed 434 for mine), while Grievous starfighter isn't very large or massive and could have been built with 286 pieces (the 2007 version used only 225).

So you wanted the AAT, a.k.a. ''the Ahsoka set'', to be ridiculously overpriced? That's definetely a no from me 

[Graupensuppe]

6 minutes ago, Guyon2002 said:

So you wanted the AAT, a.k.a. ''the Ahsoka set'', to be ridiculously overpriced?

The AAT they released is ridiculously overpriced too. So is Grievous' starfighter. I only would've preferred the larger vehicle to be made as the larger model and the smaller vehicle as the smaller one.

[PreVizsla]

42 minutes ago, Graupensuppe said:

The AAT they released is ridiculously overpriced too. So is Grievous' starfighter.

I agree with Grievous set which is 30$ or 40$ overpriced,but i disagree with AAT. AAT was 25$ in 2015(around 28 now cause of inflation). It had 3 terrible figures including 2 worthless 1$ droids and no aat pilot to use the actual tank while this has 4 amazing figures with leg printing,actual pilots for aat (glad they are 2 so i can put 1 in my 2015 set) and 30 more pieces. Are you really telling me you wouldnt pay 10$ for polybag of Ahsoka and 30 pieces? They could have given us aat for 30$ without Ahsoka and handful of pieces but they did us a favor and also probably have maul set planned and didnt want to put them together.  (set will also hit 32$ with discounts in most retail stores all around the world after a month). 

[Graupensuppe]

It's not what I expect from a 40€ model. It's tiny, it's deformed, it seems unfinished. It uses marginally more pieces than the 2015 version, but it's not noticably more substantial. And the 2015 version wasn't a great value either.

17 minutes ago, PreVizsla said:

Are you really telling me you wouldnt pay 10$ for polybag of Ahsoka and 30 pieces?

Not if she has to re-use another character's head piece.

17 minutes ago, PreVizsla said:

and no aat pilot to use the actual tank

It did include a pilot droid.

Edited August 16, 2020 by Graupensuppe

[lego_guyon02]

21 minutes ago, Graupensuppe said:

It did include a pilot droid.

That's just a generic pilot droid, the one we got in the most recent set with the green markings is what an AAT pilot droid is supposed to look like. 

[Graupensuppe]

1 minute ago, Guyon2002 said:

That's just a generic pilot droid, the one we got in the most recent set with the green markings is what an AAT pilot droid is supposed to look like.

But that design was created later for TCW. The droid pilots that appeared in the prequels had either blue markings or no special markings at all.

[wesker]

26 minutes ago, Guyon2002 said:

That's just a generic pilot droid, the one we got in the most recent set with the green markings is what an AAT pilot droid is supposed to look like.

For the Separatist version sure. Doesn't mean the Trade Federation version used the same.

For what its worth the Incredible Cross Sections book for The Phantom Menace does depict the standard blue pilot droid behind the controls.

[Nootella]

2 hours ago, PreVizsla said:

they did us a favor

LEGO is a company, it does not do you or anyone favours, it creates a product and you choose to pay the price they set. You may be OK with spending whatever for an ahsoka figure but many people are not OK with spending 15$ more for an extra figure.

[THELEGOBATMAN]

75294 Bespin Duel is featured in the newest Lego catalogue, confirming that you will be able to order it directly from shop@home. The price is now confirmed to be $40.

Let's just hope that it won't be available only in US and Canada...

[Mandalorianknight]

 

17 hours ago, Graupensuppe said:

IMO the prices of the AAT and Grievous' starfighter should have been switched. With 487 pieces it's possible to build an accurately sized AAT (I needed 434 for mine), while Grievous starfighter isn't very large or massive and could have been built with 286 pieces (the 2007 version used only 225).

I though the most recent AAT was accurately sized though. (or at least the most accurate, the proportions of minifigures make true accuracy impossible). The 2009 one was too large for what it was.

And really, you'd want to pay $80 for an AAT? 
I think the problem is just that Grievous's starfighter should be $50-60, not $80. The AAT doesn't have any real size issues, it's just the proportions of the cannon and some other minor things that are easy fixes.

Edited August 16, 2020 by Mandalorianknight

[Graupensuppe]

1 hour ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I though the most recent AAT was accurately sized though. (or at least the most accurate, the proportions of minifigures make true accuracy impossible). The 2009 one was too large for what it was.

The new one is definitely too small, assuming 3 studs = 1 meter. I tried to calculate it once again:

Real AAT (original specifications):  Approximately 9.75m x 8.1m x 4.3m
at 1:42 scale:                                  23.4cm x 19.4cm x 10.3cm = 4676 cm2

Real AAT (newer specifications):     Approximately 9.19m x 7.6m x 4.1m
at 1:42 scale:                                   22.1cm x 18.2cm x 9.8cm = 3942 cm2

2020 model: 15.2cm x 14.4cm x 9.6 cm = 2101 cm2 (at most half the volume it should be, due to being neither wide nor long enough)

2009 model: 20.8cm x 19.2cm x 11.6cm = 4633 cm2 (height and length aren't perfect, but the overall volume seems about right)

 

1 hour ago, Mandalorianknight said:

And really, you'd want to pay $80 for an AAT?

Ideally I'd want to pay 60-70€ for a minifigure-scale 400-500 piece AAT.

[Archer]

When it comes to the AAT, I think the original 2000 model was the most accurate for scale. bigger than 2015 and 2020 but not quite as big as the 2009 model. Not to mention the 2000 model still looks pretty good compared to other far more inaccurate sets of the time.

[teos]

On 8/13/2020 at 1:54 AM, Johnny1360 said:

Anytime I have found sets at Target out before release date, I always try to go through the self checkout so that doesn't happen. 

Unfortunately more often than not the register will scan it and you get a message saying, set not offered for sale yet. I assume the cashiers get the same message and have no control over whether to sell the set to you or not. 

I had Target's self-checkout block the purchase of the small Overwatch set that was shelved before the release date.  Maybe it just depends on how thorough the store is with maintaining/enforcing street dates.

[Childish_Landino]

2 hours ago, teos said:

I had Target's self-checkout block the purchase of the small Overwatch set that was shelved before the release date.  Maybe it just depends on how thorough the store is with maintaining/enforcing street dates.

Target's have company-wide street dates that cannot be broken. All of the 2020 Summer Star Wars sets available at Target, with one exception, are not street dated and can be purchased. The one exception is the Resistance IT-S which is dated for September 1st. I believe the Burrow from HP is also street dated until the same day. 

[Redroe]

Jang speaks highly of the AAT and after watching his review and seeing a few different angles, I agree. Definitely overpriced, but not by a stupid margin. I managed to cock up my amazon order by not checking out right away, and took advantage of it going out of stock to have a cooling off period. But now I think I will certainly get one when I have the chance, and maybe even keep it together instead of mine it for parts as was my original plan. Dodgy proportions don't bother me at all in this instance.

[Brikkyy13]

The UCS snowspeeder just popped up on S@H again in the UK

[JintaiZ]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2020 at 10:01 PM, MandRproductions said:

You say that... ;)

A Republic Dropship and AT-OT remake would be nice...

3 hours ago, Brikkyy13 said:

The UCS snowspeeder just popped up on S@H again in the UK

For VIPs, but it sold out.

I wish it could be available in the United States...

[Mandalorianknight]

8 hours ago, Redroe said:

Jang speaks highly of the AAT and after watching his review and seeing a few different angles, I agree. Definitely overpriced, but not by a stupid margin. I managed to cock up my amazon order by not checking out right away, and took advantage of it going out of stock to have a cooling off period. But now I think I will certainly get one when I have the chance, and maybe even keep it together instead of mine it for parts as was my original plan. Dodgy proportions don't bother me at all in this instance.

The Jangbricks review increased my opinion of the set as well, I agree the major problem is the price. (which even then isn't atrocious, like you said.) 

It's even better price-wise if you pre-order two and plan to sell one of the ahsokas...