LEGO Star Wars 2021 Set Discussion - READ FIRST POST!!!

[MKJoshA]

Opinions are 100% allowed, just remember to play nice with each other.

[LarryBoy]

8 hours ago, benderisgreat said:

Again this is a really stupid thing to say. If there is no event to which the set should have been exclusive, LEGO should either keep it in warehouse until next Sdcc or just mass produce and repackage set.

It’s ridiculous to me how some people always defend legos actions no matter how anti-consumer they are. They are basically saying “only US customers matter to us, screw the rest of the world”! 
 

What’s stopping them from producing more Bespin duel sets? They can make a ton of money by selling it as a regular set, there is clearly a demand for it.

I don't think you realize the amount of work that goes into the global production and distribution of a LEGO set. It typically takes months for LEGO to bring a set to market after they've finalized it, licensed sets having more complications that make this period even longer. If SDCC or Star Wars Celebration were to be cancelled any other year, it would be challenging enough for LEGO to switch to a global distribution model for the event exclusive, but to do so in the midst of a worldwide pandemic creates a situation where it's not feasible for LEGO to do so. They've already shown with the latest wave over the summer just how difficult it is to release their standard lineup; with multiple theme's waves being delayed by more than a month in North America because of the stresses their supply chain is under. All of this - and a lot more - is why I suggested people should be more sympathetic towards LEGO's CURRENT situation and that they're doing the best they can under the extremely strenuous and unprecedented circumstances. If this was any other year, I'd say that people would have more justification in being upset with LEGO.

Going forward, 2021 could be a different story as to how LEGO decides to handle an event exclusive for something like SDCC or Star Wars Celebration. It takes months for them to plan a set even for a limited event like that, but now with the recent experience and fan backlash from this summer's cancelled event exclusives I wonder how this will factor into LEGO's approach moving forward. It might be that they won't design sets for the events to begin with or that they'll be prepared for a global product launch from the get-go.

[benderisgreat]

57 minutes ago, LarryBoy said:

I don't think you realize the amount of work that goes into the global production and distribution of a LEGO set. It typically takes months for LEGO to bring a set to market after they've finalized it, licensed sets having more complications that make this period even longer. If SDCC or Star Wars Celebration were to be cancelled any other year, it would be challenging enough for LEGO to switch to a global distribution model for the event exclusive, but to do so in the midst of a worldwide pandemic creates a situation where it's not feasible for LEGO to do so. They've already shown with the latest wave over the summer just how difficult it is to release their standard lineup; with multiple theme's waves being delayed by more than a month in North America because of the stresses their supply chain is under. All of this - and a lot more - is why I suggested people should be more sympathetic towards LEGO's CURRENT situation and that they're doing the best they can under the extremely strenuous and unprecedented circumstances. If this was any other year, I'd say that people would have more justification in being upset with LEGO.

Going forward, 2021 could be a different story as to how LEGO decides to handle an event exclusive for something like SDCC or Star Wars Celebration. It takes months for them to plan a set even for a limited event like that, but now with the recent experience and fan backlash from this summer's cancelled event exclusives I wonder how this will factor into LEGO's approach moving forward. It might be that they won't design sets for the events to begin with or that they'll be prepared for a global product launch from the get-go.

Sympathetic to their situation? Gimme a break. They are big multi-billion corporation, not some mom & pop toy maker.

Every business aims to make as much money as possible , LEGO included. They are basically throwing away money by not making this sets widely available. There is clearly demand for sets like Bespin duel, and they are wasting it, not to mention pissing off their loyal customers who don’t live in USA. Just my 2 cents.

[LarryBoy]

7 minutes ago, benderisgreat said:

Sympathetic to their situation? Gimme a break. They are big multi-billion corporation, not some mom & pop toy maker.

Every business aims to make as much money as possible , LEGO included. They are basically throwing away money by not making this sets widely available. There is clearly demand for sets like Bespin duel, and they are wasting it, not to mention pissing off their loyal customers who don’t live in USA. Just my 2 cents.

The global pandemic is affecting multi-billion dollar corporations and your typical mom & pop shop alike. In fact, an international company like LEGO is far more dependent on a myriad of factors complicated by a global supply chain and distribution network which is under unprecedented stress due to the current crisis - something your small and local business is far less affected by. Being sympathetic to their situation doesn't mean to excuse them of any wrongdoing or not suggest that they could have done better, but rather it means to be understanding of the increased complexities that they are under as a company and how those challenges ultimately affect us as the consumer.

Making money is the reason they decided to sell what sets they had in a limited release which was the only window available to them at the time, rather than an unforeseen and unplanned global launch of a product in an already strained supply chain. You're exactly right, demand is the main issue here. LEGO just does not have the means to meet the demand - at least not right now. 2021 may represent a change in direction for them as to how they handle future launches like this. LEGO certainly don't want to use up the good faith they've generated by alienating a huge percentage of their fanbase with regional exclusives and mismanaged product launches. Like I said already, SDCC and Star Wars Celebration 2021 will be the big indicator in regards to LEGO's policy moving forward. Until then, we just need to wait and see.

[TeddytheSpoon]

Although this may have a tinge of European bias to it, I think TLG have made a decent effort with the SW SDCC exclusives this year. The only new exclusive parts are either stickers, or a figure that will soon be available with a magazine. Everything else can be made from personal collections or Bricklink, which is definitely the way to go. Obviously for those in Australasia and South America it sucks, but at least it shows TLG are willing to make the effort.

My counter to the above point is that LEGO are a multi-billion dollar company (in revenue, not profit, lest we forget) precisely because they make smart decisions regarding the supply chain. With years worth of planning, it really isn't worth the colossal time and effort, and therefore money, to overhaul everything for a few extra thousand Bespin sets that wouldn't have been available elsewhere anyway.

[lego_guyon02]

1 minute ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

Although this may have a tinge of European bias to it, I think TLG have made a decent effort with the SW SDCC exclusives this year. The only new exclusive parts are either stickers, or a figure that will soon be available with a magazine. Everything else can be made from personal collections or Bricklink, which is definitely the way to go. Obviously for those in Australasia and South America it sucks, but at least it shows TLG are willing to make the effort.

My counter to the above point is that LEGO are a multi-billion dollar company (in revenue, not profit, lest we forget) precisely because they make smart decisions regarding the supply chain. With years worth of planning, it really isn't worth the colossal time and effort, and therefore money, to overhaul everything for a few extra thousand Bespin sets that wouldn't have been available elsewhere anyway.

They definetely have, the only fanbase still really getting screwed over with these exclusives are the Marvel fans.

[Mandalorianknight]

12 hours ago, Redroe said:

What are the bookies offering on the Mando set including baby Yoda for $30? 

Based on the recent poster I fully expect it to be a couple of speeder bikes.

"approximately 3,720 to 1!"

I'd say anywhere from 15-30%. I think it's not that likely, as they'd want to keep the child exclusive to the more expensive sets, but maybe they figure it won't hurt the value enough, or enough time has passed.

11 hours ago, benderisgreat said:

Again this is a really stupid thing to say. If there is no event to which the set should have been exclusive, LEGO should either keep it in warehouse until next Sdcc or just mass produce and repackage set.

It’s ridiculous to me how some people always defend legos actions no matter how anti-consumer they are. They are basically saying “only US customers matter to us, screw the rest of the world”! 

What’s stopping them from producing more Bespin duel sets? They can make a ton of money by selling it as a regular set, there is clearly a demand for it.

that's not what they're saying, though. Think about it this way. With the limited amount of sets produced for the con, they have limited stock. They can't sell it worldwide, due to the aforementioned lack of stock. So they sell it in the country the convention was in, which is probably where the stock was before covid anyway. Is it by any means perfect? No, but it takes something that would have been a convention exclusive, or this year just not released, and makes it a little easier to get ahold of. It's not like they're taking retail sets and making them US exclusive, these are things that would have been sold only at conventions anyway. They're not taking a random set deciding to make it america-exclusive to "screw the rest of the world" or something, they're taking something that you'd only be able to get if you had a ticket to SDCC and making it a little easier to get ahold of.

1 hour ago, Guyon2002 said:

They definitely have, the only fanbase still really getting screwed over with these exclusives are the Marvel fans.

I feel you there, that's why I stopped collecting. (That, and with endgame over I don't really care that much about most of the new films)

Edited October 5, 2020 by Mandalorianknight

[TeddytheSpoon]

1 hour ago, Guyon2002 said:

They definetely have, the only fanbase still really getting screwed over with these exclusives are the Marvel fans.

I forgot to mention that actually - agreed, I'm no great fan of either Marvel or DC, but every exclusive does seem to centre around minifigs, which sucks for fans. I guess it's a bit trickier since the iconic things in superhero media tend to be... Well, the superheroes, which are best represented as minifigures. They should probably move to Brickheadz or busts.

[Kit Figsto]

3 hours ago, LarryBoy said:

I don't think you realize the amount of work that goes into the global production and distribution of a LEGO set. It typically takes months for LEGO to bring a set to market after they've finalized it, licensed sets having more complications that make this period even longer. If SDCC or Star Wars Celebration were to be cancelled any other year, it would be challenging enough for LEGO to switch to a global distribution model for the event exclusive, but to do so in the midst of a worldwide pandemic creates a situation where it's not feasible for LEGO to do so. They've already shown with the latest wave over the summer just how difficult it is to release their standard lineup; with multiple theme's waves being delayed by more than a month in North America because of the stresses their supply chain is under. All of this - and a lot more - is why I suggested people should be more sympathetic towards LEGO's CURRENT situation and that they're doing the best they can under the extremely strenuous and unprecedented circumstances. If this was any other year, I'd say that people would have more justification in being upset with LEGO.

First off, I agree.  It seems like stuff is generally designed or in the design phase for like a year, and then they've gotta get it packaged and distributed. 

Secondly, even if these sets are still regional, they're more widely available than it being an SDCC exclusive, and secondary market prices are more akin to exclusive gifts with purchase, as opposed to SDCC exclusives (the Bespin set you can get for like $80, previous convention exclusives are like $100-200 for stuff that's actually smaller and don't have figures that are as desirable.  The Ghost set with Chopper, basically a slightly larger microfighter, is like $120 on BL).  So, yes, it's unfortunate that only part of the world can get these sets, but would people be this upset if it was a convention exclusive, then almost nobody at all could get it, unless you want to pay absurdly high secondary market prices?  No, it's not perfect, but it's still better than if only people who can afford to shell out hundreds of dollars to travel and go to a convention and wait in line for several hours are able to acquire it.  

Third, there's no reason to get upset at people on this forum because Lego made it a regional exclusive - none of us dictate where stuff gets released, so arguing with other fans about it isn't going to help the situation.  

This isn't a 100% fair comparison, but NA sometimes gets one exclusive per year , this year being an outlier, but Europe tends to gets the summer sets released quite a bit early and gets the magazines with figures/polybags.  I'm not saying that it's 100% fair or that one of these is better than the other, I'm just pointing out that both regions get things that the others don't.  

Edited October 5, 2020 by Kit Figsto

[Brickbashbosh]

I know that for some collectors a shiny box is as important to them as the bricks inside. We all collect for different reasons and thats your choice. However you just want to build / have the set on your shelf then the instructions are freely available from LEGO's website there are no unique elements apart from the 40th anniversary sticker and you can source the parts for pretty much the RRP, considerably less if you raid the spare parts bin. 

Like I said I understand to a degree but I also feel like sometimes we find it easier to bemoan a situation rather than look at the options ?

[BrickBob Studpants]

Pictures of the retail catalogue have leaked in the usual place  The X-Wing looks decent, but the dark gray ball joint piece on the TIE really doesn‘t look good  

[BacktoBricks]

Is that Luke on the microfighter Tauntaun? It would be great to get the Luke with the bruised face from the Wampa attack again.

[TeddytheSpoon]

X-wing looks great, any missing details should be easy to fill in (namely the engine ports). TIE looks fine as well, shame about the ball joints but not major.

The shuttle looks... odd. I think either the cockpit is too small, the body is too tall, or both. I have the latest version which is fantastic so I probably wasn't going to get this one anyway. It looks like there's an imperial pilot in the cockpit but it's hard to make out.

Figure selection for the microfighters is nice - Hoth Han and Luke? Yes please! The Tauntaun's legs do look really short, even for the chibi-fied style.

All in all these don't look too bad. The move to smaller sets seems to have worked, and I'll probably pick up the X-wing, TIE and microfighters. It's just a shame there aren't more sets.

8 minutes ago, BacktoBricks said:

Is that Luke on the microfighter Tauntaun? It would be great to get the Luke with the bruised face from the Wampa attack again.

It certainly looks like Luke, but this must be pre-Wampa as I can't make out any bruises. Could be a double-sided head though?

[BacktoBricks]

3 minutes ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

It certainly looks like Luke, but this must be pre-Wampa as I can't make out any bruises. Could be a double-sided head though?

Yeah the Luke in 75098 from 2016 had a double sided head with pre and post wampa so I'm hoping it's that.

[THELEGOBATMAN]

X-Wing looks fantastic, I love how it came out. TIE also looks awesome, although cockpit is a little bit too big. Imperial Shuttle also looks great, but I'll need to see it with its wing spread out. 

Microfighters look fine, minifigures are good tho.

Edited October 6, 2020 by THELEGOBATMAN

[Paul11283652]

The shuttle looks good and the TIE better than expected. I can only see the nose of the X-wing at the moment and I’m not impressed at all.

[TeddytheSpoon]

I do find it quite funny how Luke's lightsabre just clips on to the side of the Tauntaun like some kind of jousting knight or something out of Robot Wars. It's genius, why didn't the Jedi just strap their lightsabres to the front of their speeders?

[lego_guyon02]

The X-Wing looks pretty good but the TIE really is infinetely better than the ones we've gotten before, glad to see these cheaper versions turned out to be good! The Lambda looks fine but the proportions feel a bit off. Microfighters are fine. 

[Paul11283652]

The X-wing still has a flat nose/forward fuselage. The cannons extend out beyond the wings for some reason. Do not want!

[CF Mitch]

1 hour ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

The shuttle looks... odd. I think either the cockpit is too small, the body is too tall, or both. I have the latest version which is fantastic so I probably wasn't going to get this one anyway. It looks like there's an imperial pilot in the cockpit but it's hard to make out.

 

21 minutes ago, Guyon2002 said:

The Lambda looks fine but the proportions feel a bit off. Microfighters are fine. 

The dorsal fin is too long/tall.
Glad I already have the amazing Imperial Shuttle from 2015.

Not very interested in those sets. That Tauntaun looks cute, though!

Regards,
Mitch

[wesker]

The X-Wing turned out pretty well. The loss of detail doesn't look too drastic compared to the 2018 version and its given some areas like the wings and droid socket a cleaner look. Not sure how I feel about the new nose design though. It looks a bit too blocky compared to before and will take some getting used too.

The Shuttle also looks nice but like others have said the proportions do look a bit off and I'm not too fond of the underside of the cockpit.

The TIE Fighter is definitely the highlight of the wave. This is by far the best cockpit design they've done and downsizing the ship has really improved the overall look of it. The only nitpick is the mismatched ball joints on the wing panels but that's a minor issue that can easily be fixed. Other than that its just a massive improvement over the previous renditions all around and makes me yearn for remakes of other TIE variants at this scale.

[ArrowBricks]

Sets look alright, nothing exciting about it. 

For those who don’t have have an X-Wing, Tie Fighter or an Imperial Shuttle (which for the first two I imagine a large proportion of people do from whatever era) it’s just a dead wave. 

Where’s the inspiration Lego? 
Where’s the originality? 
Where’s the exciting figures? 
 

BuT gUyS we have a £20/£30 Mandalorian set! Bore off...

 

[TeddytheSpoon]

11 minutes ago, ArrowBricks said:

Sets look alright, nothing exciting about it. 

For those who don’t have have an X-Wing, Tie Fighter or an Imperial Shuttle (which for the first two I imagine a large proportion of people do from whatever era) it’s just a dead wave. 

Where’s the inspiration Lego? 
Where’s the originality? 
Where’s the exciting figures? 
 

BuT gUyS we have a £20/£30 Mandalorian set! Bore off...

 

To be fair we haven't seen the figures yet, but valid points otherwise.

I completely forgot about the Mandalorian set. Would the fact it isn't in these photos suggest it's from season 2 rather than season 1? Surely it would be in there otherwise...

Edited October 6, 2020 by TeddytheSpoon

[storskogen]

26 minutes ago, wesker said:

The X-Wing turned out pretty well. The loss of detail doesn't look too drastic compared to the 2018 version and its given some areas like the wings and droid socket a cleaner look. Not sure how I feel about the new nose design though. It looks a bit too blocky compared to before and will take some getting used too.

The Shuttle also looks nice but like others have said the proportions do look a bit off and I'm not too fond of the underside of the cockpit.

The TIE Fighter is definitely the highlight of the wave. This is by far the best cockpit design they've done and downsizing the ship has really improved the overall look of it. The only nitpick is the mismatched ball joints on the wing panels but that's a minor issue that can easily be fixed. Other than that its just a massive improvement over the previous renditions all around and makes me yearn for remakes of other TIE variants at this scale.

Nice summary, overall good sets, proportions and prices. I'm thinking about what those already owing the X-wing, the Lambda and all existing TIE variants - as myself - will do when these sets will be released.

I still prefer the old Lambda and I surely won't upgrade (it would be more a downgrade).

Not sure about the X-wing. The previous versions are a bit oversized (and expensive) while this new one seems to be fitting better to minifigs. I might consider it as long as it looks good side by side with Y-wing and A-wing.

The TIE Fighter is without any doubt the best set. If they will release more TIE variants I can definitely consider changing my collection.

[BacktoBricks]

The shuttle looks very close to the 2015 one at first glance except it looks like it's crashed into a wall and pushed its cockpit in. Doesn't quite capture the sleek sloping cockpit of the in universe material, but a good rendition nevertheless. I'm really hoping it comes with some good figures like camo poncho Luke and Leia, but I have to say I'm not holding out hope.

The Tie looks very good and is exactly what a lot of people have been asking for I think: still detailed, but at a more reasonable price point. A great play or display piece.

The X-Wing is obviously not as good as the 2018 version and the end is a bit blocky, but I don't think without googling for a comparison photo that most consumers will even know there's been a 'downgrade'. It still resembles the source material well.

Anyone else think the Han with the microfighter is the same as in 75243 (blue jacket hoth Han with no dual moulded legs or mask)? 

Edited October 6, 2020 by BacktoBricks