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

[Kit Figsto]

28 minutes ago, Paul11283652 said:

Why is R2 sitting up perfectly as a target for Vader?

In universe the droids do sit a bit higher than just the head exposed.  (See below).  He might be sitting a bit higher in the model but it's definitely a bit more accurate than just having the head exposed, which is what had been the case previously.

[wesker]

Having R2 sit higher also makes it easier to remove him from the set, especially now that the sides of the droid socket are fully enclosed.

[Mandalorianknight]

4 hours ago, Lego-Freak said:

They're part of the goggles 

I know, but this doesn't lessen the blow for me. Just take any January wave of the last 6-7 years, remove the BPs, all non-OT stuff, and all the new moulds and minifigs introduced and you get basically this wave  This could have been a good wave if they did the same thing as usual, i.e. adding BPs + 3-4 sets based on new material. Don't tell me Mando S1 or TROS didn't have enough material 

I'll agree with you on the missing BPs but other than that, this wave compared to 2020: 

2020 (battlepacks excluded): 4 new molds, 3 new figures, 4 updated figures.

2021: 1 new mold (I'm pretty sure it is a new mold, the goggles on the minion are 4x4 and it's 3x3 on the x-wing), 2 new figures, 3 updated figures, without seeing the shuttle.

So it will probably be less, unless there's a set the leakers don't know about or the shuttle has a few new molds and like, jerjerrod and a new ewok or something, but it's not exactly egregious.

3 hours ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

This is demonstrably untrue. Disney bought Lucasfilm back in 2012, remember.

As for the colours, I think it's only really TPM where you can make the argument the prequels were more colourful than the OT. Monochrome and muted colours are a big part of the Star Wars lived-in aesthetic, there's no getting around that fact in LEGO sets.

Yup. The most prequel heavy year, 2014, was long enough after the disney purchase that if they were ordering lego around (which they aren't/weren't) it would have been to create the sets that these people liked the best .

And yeah, episodes 2 and three are mainly red/gray vs dark blue/gray. Not too different from mainly red/white vs grey/black of the OT, or blue/gray vs red/black of the sequels.

1 hour ago, Paul11283652 said:

Why is R2 sitting up perfectly as a target for Vader?

Is the 2x6 tile a new piece?

Most importantly, what is the wing folding mechanism?

Enough about the X-wing. I don’t expect every other OT craft will be getting new smaller versions soon. As has been said, the Shuttle was due for a remake and the new version looks to scaled the same as the 2018 Sentinel. The Snowspeeder speeder is already small enough. Perhaps a TIE Interceptor? An A-wing with a shorter nose and longer engines would be enough. 

1. Because that's how it is in ANH, and he gets shot as a result.

2. If there's a 2x6 than yeah I think, though I thought it about the grey engine fronts as well.

3. looks like technic center-pivot with no rubber bands..in other words, very good.

4. I agree here. This was a calculated choice to make it the X-wing and TIE first, and then the shuttle was just due for a remake. I also agree that most of these ships just can't be made smaller, like the snowspeeder.

[Paul11283652]

36 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

...Yup. The most prequel heavy year, 2014, was long enough after the disney purchase that if they were ordering lego around (which they aren't/weren't) it would have been to create the sets that these people liked the best ...

1. Because that's how it is in ANH, and he gets shot as a result.

2. If there's a 2x6 than yeah I think, though I thought it about the grey engine fronts as well.

3. looks like technic center-pivot with no rubber bands..in other words, very good.

4. I agree here. This was a calculated choice to make it the X-wing and TIE first, and then the shuttle was just due for a remake. I also agree that most of these ships just can't be made smaller, like the snowspeeder.

Perhaps Lego designed 2014 to be prequel heavy knowing that 2015-2020 would be focused on the sequels?

1. I still think R2 is a plate too high.

2. It is a new design. No. 69279. Appeared first in the NES and also Sesame Street.

4. It looks like the wings are attached with black technic pins. Probably an easy mod to swap them for 2L axles. The mechanism intrigues me the most out of this wave. It does look like a significant improvement.

[TeufelHund]

The Xwing and Microfighter don't interest me, and I prefer the minifgs and look of the 2012 Tie Fighter that I already have (this one just looks stumpy like the 4+ version).

Will definitely be getting the Mando set but otherwise looks like a cheap wave for me. Hopefully it will be available before Xmas.

[Redroe]

7 hours ago, NathanR said:

It's a common complaint that the ball joints should come in more colours. Unfortunately, a designer interview from a while back (appeared on newelementary I think) reported that something as simple as changing the part colour changes the clutch power of the ball joints. As it is absolutely critical that the ball joints have the correct amount of friction to be easily moveable and to hold a pose, and the most data they had was on the behaviour of LBG and DBG, those were the only colours the joints would be appearing in. I suspect Lego have now colour-locked the part, like the technic pins. Clips probably wouldn't work in this case, because the pivot point of the clip/bar hinge is offset from the plate, whereas the ball joint is in line with the middle of the plate.

Really liking these new sets, I think it's wonderful that Lego are making the X-Wing and TIE fighter models as toys rather than miniature UCS sets. They're simple, but they do a great job of capturing the vehicles. 

That's very interesting. Thanks for that. I've alwayd wanted them in brown or dark tan- i think dark tan would probably the most versatile and least obvious colour if it were used alongside others for organic builds like Ents, Arena Monsters, birds etc...

[BrickBob Studpants]

5 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

2021: 1 new mold (I'm pretty sure it is a new mold, the goggles on the minion are 4x4 and it's 3x3 on the x-wing), 2 new figures, 3 updated figures, without seeing the shuttle.

You might be onto something here.

The minions part has a pin hole while the piece on the X-Wing has an axle hole  So this is where the entire budget went for this wave 

[NerdYoda]

Did you notice that it is not only an armprint, but the shoulder plate of Mando also has the print of the mudhorn. How ingenious is that! Day One purchase!

[Ozkabot]

4 hours ago, Paul11283652 said:

Perhaps Lego designed 2014 to be prequel heavy knowing that 2015-2020 would be focused on the sequels?

 

I doubt that had anything to do with it. I'm pretty sure 2012 - 2014 was prequel heavy because Lucasfilm planned on re-releasing every Star Wars movie into theatres in 3D, starting with The Phantom Menace in 2012, and Lego were already working on sets to coincide with these releases. Despite the 3D re-releases being cancelled after TPM, the AOTC and ROTS sets still got their same release dates in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

The strange thing is that TPM's sets seemed to have been pushed into 2015. Perhaps they couldn't afford to fit them into an already crowded 2012 wave and releasing them 2013 would consistently put Lego a year behind the 3D releases, so they had them on hold until there was a release schedule empty enough to accommodate them.

[BrickBob Studpants]

I‘m warming up to this wave a bit. Still disappointed, but the sets themselves don‘t really deserve my ire, they‘re quite nice for what they are  HOWEVER, I still hope the summer wave is a lot less OT-centric. Just do what you did this year, can‘t be that hard  

[LegoFjotten]

Wow, that X-Wing has a really good lineup of figures!

[MaximillianRebo]

I'm loving the look of the X-wing, looks really good for the piece count and the figure selection is great. Not totally sold on the new nose design but it's not the worst thing. The TIE I feel could have been maybe a bit taller in the wings and slightly wider for each side strut. Not sure if that would be any better for the proportions but right now it looks stunted. Maybe it'll shape up better in person or next to other ships. Like others I wish TLG had done a re-colour on the ball joint but it's really interesting to read about how the colour choices affects the properties of the pieces. The set that is disappointing is the MF microfighter in that it's a straight up release without breaking any new ground, but I guess the plan was to tie in with the OT theme and have figs for all of the main trio available in this wave.

It's only a small thing and was easily changeable via Bricklink in the past but I like how the laser bolts for the TIE are now green. Also, wondering if Leia will come with alternate white legs like in the Tantive IV (again, easy to find on BL).

[macaron35]

Nice minifigs for the X-wing but the ship is not worth the previous one

hopefully i followed @Mandalorianknight and bought it recently for a good price

 

a bit disappointed with the tie fighter too, smaller wings would have been nice on the previous one but here it is too small

 

those sets are meant to be played by kids rather than collected by adults imho

[lego_guyon02]

1 minute ago, macaron35 said:

those sets are meant to be played by kids rather than collected by adults imho

That's the case with pretty much all normal retail sets though 

[macaron35]

What i mean is that previous sets than those new ones seem less toys

[Mark1006]

I think Santa has been getting priced out of a lot of the €80+ fighters we've been seeing these past few years.  So even though as an AFOL I obviously prefer more detail and I'm willing to pay for it, I'm really happy to see some sets more kids are going to have access to.

[TheMainBricker]

The X-Wing and TIE have been clearly designed for a younger market (due to being less detailed), so less enticement for collectors, BUT Lego have deliberately put in rare/new minifigures to get collectors to buy the sets.

[ArrowBricks]

Tie Fighter £34.99 

X-Wing £44.99

Beautiful prices going on here! 

Not the most inspiring but I truly think this is the right step forward considering Lego was just too expensive and detailed. That X-Wing imo is insanely good. 

I’d expect a Y-Wing, another Tie (Vader’s or interceptor) and a Star Destroyer in the summer. I’d be baffled if Lego do not commit to this. Hopefully prequels get some love too with the scaled down versions!

 

[Ozkabot]

56 minutes ago, TheMainBricker said:

The X-Wing and TIE have been clearly designed for a younger market (due to being less detailed), so less enticement for collectors, BUT Lego have deliberately put in rare/new minifigures to get collectors to buy the sets.

This is the way it should be IMO. Quite often playsets end up being too detailed to be affordable for a younger market, but not detailed / accurate enough to be a collectors item. The result was a weird in-between product. 

[Redroe]

1 hour ago, Lego-Freak said:

You might be onto something here.

The minions part has a pin hole while the piece on the X-Wing has an axle hole  So this is where the entire budget went for this wave 

That is a beautiful part. Finally the problem is fixed. Those old 3x6 cylinders never had a concentric axle hole and they so badly needed one. 

[CF Mitch]

Whoah, the X-Wing and TIE fighters look amazing! And those minifigs...  
I think I might actually get the X-Wing (I don't have any yet ) and perhaps even the TIE as well  

Regards,
Mitch

[MaximillianRebo]

Looking at the box photo for the X-Wing - the front landing gear is clearly visible with the ship in flying mode. No retractable landing gear? Maybe this was one of the concessions made in getting the size/part count down (or that's just how the model was posed for the photo).

[lego_guyon02]

If you look at the boxart of the X-Wing you'll notice that it's the exact same trench as on the 2018 boxart from a slightly different perspective

[wesker]

2 minutes ago, MaximillianRebo said:

Looking at the box photo for the X-Wing - the front landing gear is clearly visible with the ship in flying mode. No retractable landing gear? Maybe this was one of the concessions made in getting the size/part count down (or that's just how the model was posed for the photo).

I think its just how the set was posed for the box art. The description on Shop@Home mentions the landing gear is retractable.

[Balrogofmorgoth]

General Dodonna is a must have for sure. Hopefully we’ll see the Shuttle soon, I think that’s the set I’m most curious about.