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

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

3 hours ago, Artizan said:

they wouldn't have need that mold if they simply made two holes on the sides of the phase 2 helmet from the beginning. well...

Oh for sure. I never understood why TLG didn't make molds more costumizable.

[Stefanisimo]

On 6/14/2021 at 8:41 AM, Clone OPatra said:

Though possibly too textured, this new hairpiece from City Wildlife/Eternals seems like a fairly decent fit.

Didn't even know about this new piece, definitely seems like a possibility! Now imagine if they print a few thin orange streaks on that piece. Lego clearly loves Fennec, alright.

[Clone OPatra]

Haven't seen anyone else say it, but since LEGO has shown they are capable of wraparound head printing (like on Lobot), it's pretty lame how they've fudged Echo's cybernetic bit that goes over his ears and just printed it on the back of his head.

The imperfections in the Bad Batch figures make it easier to want to skip that set. I have been enjoying the show though I wouldn't say I "care" about the characters, and I actually like the main build in the set, so I'm inclined to want it. But, the fact that they didn't make a new top fin-less helmet mould to share between Echo, Hunter and Crosshair, and Echo's head printing letdown makes it easier to decide to pass in favour of the Mandalorian fighter, Armory and maybe even Slave I. When budget is tight, you have to make tough decisions.

[hondohnaka]

2 hours ago, Stefanisimo said:

Didn't even know about this new piece, definitely seems like a possibility! Now imagine if they print a few thin orange streaks on that piece. Lego clearly loves Fennec, alright.

It’s a bit odd too considering how minor a character she’s been up til this point but I’m not complaining, especially since she’ll be getting more and more important as the shows goes on. It’s really cool to get such a gorgeous fig right off the bat granted the use she’ll see. Now I just have to convince my wallet that the glorified 4+ set that is the Slave One is worth the money so I can have both of them 

[Mandalorianknight]

18 hours ago, hondohnaka said:

There’s no earthly way the Mando fighter has the same hype as the AAT. It has a grand total of one massable figure without customizing and if Mandos were anywhere near as popular as clones why has the mando battlepack been on sale for ages. It’ll have some element of that hype but it’ll be nowhere near that level. It’ll be impossible to find for the first day or two and then be relatively common for the rest of its existence. Tbh I don’t see any of these sets being especially hard to find post-week 1, bar MAYBE the Trexler Marauder because of imperial army builders (cough cough yours truly) but even that doesn’t have a price-to-fig ratio that’s that desirable. The AT AT was hard to find tho and theres aeons more hype for the Cruiser then there was for that so that one might also be tough for a little.  

Were you trying to get the mando battlepack back in early 2020? It was INSANELY hard to find. It sold out in lego stores in the US within an hour or two of release, was on backorder at target within a couple hours of release, etc, and stayed incredibly hard to find for months. Yes, mandos are very much "anywhere near as popular" as clones, I'd argue they're actually more popular due to the mandalorian, boba fett, and cross-era appeal. Also not sure about your comments on the mando fighter alongside the AAT. The AAT really only had one massable figure people wanted as well (Don't tell me people were trying to mass b1 tank drivers), and bo-katan + Gar saxon are easier to make usable figures out of with extra copies (nite owls and mauldalorians) than ahsoka is. People complained like hell about the AAT when it first came out, saying the only good parts were ahsoka and the 332nd trooper, whereas people seem to like both the vehicle and figures this time around for the fighter, with the most criticism I've seen being about Bo-Katan's hair of all things. 

TLDR: Mando fighter has the same hype as the AAT and mandos are as popular, if not MORE popular than clones.

[oodan]

1 hour ago, hondohnaka said:

It’s a bit odd too considering how minor a character she’s been up til this point but I’m not complaining, especially since she’ll be getting more and more important as the shows goes on. It’s really cool to get such a gorgeous fig right off the bat granted the use she’ll see. Now I just have to convince my wallet that the glorified 4+ set that is the Slave One is worth the money so I can have both of them 

Just be patient man, they're both going to appear again.

[AIex]

20 hours ago, hondohnaka said:

Tbh I don’t see any of these sets being especially hard to find post-week 1, bar MAYBE the Trexler Marauder because of imperial army builders (cough cough yours truly)

Ay, you know how I do it

[hondohnaka]

3 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Were you trying to get the mando battlepack back in early 2020? It was INSANELY hard to find. It sold out in lego stores in the US within an hour or two of release, was on backorder at target within a couple hours of release, etc, and stayed incredibly hard to find for months. Yes, mandos are very much "anywhere near as popular" as clones, I'd argue they're actually more popular due to the mandalorian, boba fett, and cross-era appeal. Also not sure about your comments on the mando fighter alongside the AAT. The AAT really only had one massable figure people wanted as well (Don't tell me people were trying to mass b1 tank drivers), and bo-katan + Gar saxon are easier to make usable figures out of with extra copies (nite owls and mauldalorians) than ahsoka is. People complained like hell about the AAT when it first came out, saying the only good parts were ahsoka and the 332nd trooper, whereas people seem to like both the vehicle and figures this time around for the fighter, with the most criticism I've seen being about Bo-Katan's hair of all things. 

TLDR: Mando fighter has the same hype as the AAT and mandos are as popular, if not MORE popular than clones.

Well dang. I always saw them kicking around in stores in my area so I had no idea. That all being said, I maintain nothing from this wave will be as hard to get as previous ones because COVID is no longer screwing with the supply chain. Different point I know but thought I'd bring it up. 

2 hours ago, ood0 said:

Just be patient man, they're both going to appear again.

Waiting? Being smart with money? What is this, normal human behavior? 

1 hour ago, AIex said:

Ay, you know how I do it

Hail Thrawn. 

[Flieger]

On 6/14/2021 at 2:17 AM, Stefanisimo said:

The Solo range troopers get it, why not the Armorer? Paz looks gorgeous as well.

 

The Solo line is a bit of an outlier: 12 new moulds were made for it. That's more than TLJ and TRoS combined (5 and 6, respectively). And beautiful moulds, too. Think about the Patrol Trooper helmet.

It is not easy to understand in hindsight since Patrol Troopers and Range Troopers have one scene each. But the designers said they hoped for more screentime (in fact, they said they were happy that the Patrol Troopers were not cut entirely). Apparently the production of this movie was a real mess not just for the filmmakers. I find it fascinating when glimpses of the frustration break through even in highly controlled marketing material... but let's stay on target:
Solo got a lot new moulds, and we would not expect that again any time soon.

[MKJoshA]

1 hour ago, hondohnaka said:

Well dang. I always saw them kicking around in stores in my area so I had no idea. That all being said, I maintain nothing from this wave will be as hard to get as previous ones because COVID is no longer screwing with the supply chain. Different point I know but thought I'd bring it up.

It's important to realize that we have it insanely good in the US when it comes to 1) finding sets on shelves and 2) finding sets on discount. From what I know of the rest of the markets no one else gets the US expected 20% markdown on most Lego sets 6-12 months after release. Target and Walmart pile-up their stock for us. When they over-stock they run sales and we get the wonderful 20% off. But most of the world doesn't get that.

[Clone OPatra]

58 minutes ago, MKJoshA said:

From what I know of the rest of the markets no one else gets the US expected 20% markdown on most Lego sets 6-12 months after release.

Australia may be in a lucky position because we DO always get 20-25% sales (and some stores price the sets below LEGO's RRP to begin with), but US folks have to understand that a 20% off sale in Australia usually only brings the price down to full US RRP (taking the typical exchange rate into account).

The other issue here besides pricing is supply, though. In the US you can still readily purchase the 501st set, at a discount to boot. In Australia, that set disappeared in about a month from release and has never been restocked. Same with the AAT.

The AAT had two major selling points: a cool new mass-able clone, and a cool new Ahsoka, the first in years. Given LEGO's recent record on producing material from the animated shows, there was no reason to think either of those figures would ever appear again, so it's understandable why that set got snatched up to the extent it did. Those two figures alone were extremely desirable to fans, resellers looking to sell just the figures in the shorter term, and resellers looking to hold on to the whole set and sell it later.

Luckily for us fans, LEGO is actually doing more animated stuff (at least for now), and we get the Ahsoka again, but there was no way to know that would happen when the AAT came out.

As for the Mandalorian Fighter, I think it will be difficult to acquire (in Australia) at first, but none of those characters are fan favourites to the same extent as Ahsoka, and the AAT had the bonus of being a vehicle that was desirable to mass too.

[MKJoshA]

It's so hard to guess which figures Lego is going to keep exclusive right now. A great example is the new Boba Fett. I don't need another Slave I, but do I gamble and assume Boba will come in more sets? Same with Fennec. Lego seems to be giving us lots of opportunities to get their updated SW characters. But when will that trend end?

[Safwanus]

I'm still surprised and weirded-out that we didn't get a single official look at the mandalorian sets for this upcoming wave.

[Clone OPatra]

37 minutes ago, MKJoshA said:

I don't need another Slave I, but do I gamble and assume Boba will come in more sets? Same with Fennec.

Given LEGO's (upcoming) product line support of the Marvel Disney+ shows and the lack of other Star Wars content, I think it's a very very good bet to hold out for Book of Boba Fett sets for both Boba and Fennec. Even if they did just one set for the show, it would include those two figures.

[Mandalorianknight]

 

4 hours ago, hondohnaka said:

Hail Thrawn. 

Hail Thrawn.

1 hour ago, MKJoshA said:

It's so hard to guess which figures Lego is going to keep exclusive right now. A great example is the new Boba Fett. I don't need another Slave I, but do I gamble and assume Boba will come in more sets? Same with Fennec. Lego seems to be giving us lots of opportunities to get their updated SW characters. But when will that trend end?

Depends how much you want the figures. Since you're comfortable waiting at least a wave, seeing as you don't want to buy the set just for the figure if it'll show up later, I'd wait at least until the January 2022 set images leak. There's no way the summer 2021 sets will have retired by then, but we'll know if any BoBF tie-ins will release that wave.

[hondohnaka]

1 hour ago, Clone OPatra said:

Given LEGO's (upcoming) product line support of the Marvel Disney+ shows and the lack of other Star Wars content, I think it's a very very good bet to hold out for Book of Boba Fett sets for both Boba and Fennec. Even if they did just one set for the show, it would include those two figures.

Yeah there's no way they don't do something with them. Even if it isn't officially from BoBF because that's sort of a one-off special (from what I've heard, it's shorter then Mando and won't be happening again), he'll show up in Mando 3 almost guaranteed. Something something Ahsoka asks him to gather a team to help her with Thrawn and he grabs Boba because it's Boba. 

[Clone OPatra]

17 minutes ago, hondohnaka said:

Even if it isn't officially from BoBF because that's sort of a one-off special

A movie is as much a one-off special as a one-off Disney+ show these days . They hype around Disney+ Star Wars and Boba Fett is real.

If LEGO wasn't doing this whole wave of non-film content, and hadn't made the previous Mandalorian sets, I'd say sure, LEGO will ignore the hype and do random stuff. But I think that's changing. At least one BoBF set, whether to coincide with the series or be released the following spring/summer, feels like a strong given.

[hondohnaka]

16 minutes ago, Clone OPatra said:

A movie is as much a one-off special as a one-off Disney+ show these days . They hype around Disney+ Star Wars and Boba Fett is real.

If LEGO wasn't doing this whole wave of non-film content, and hadn't made the previous Mandalorian sets, I'd say sure, LEGO will ignore the hype and do random stuff. But I think that's changing. At least one BoBF set, whether to coincide with the series or be released the following spring/summer, feels like a strong given.

I think they saw the reaction to the lack of TV show stuff these past two years and are finally reacting to it. 

Edited June 16, 2021 by hondohnaka

[Clone OPatra]

1 minute ago, hondohnaka said:

 Also if anyone remembers that idiot Kong who was spamming shit, I called him out on it, he followed/made threads about me and then he was banned and now he’s started making accounts to follow me again. Mods if you can tank him that’d be great. 

Use the Report button and we take care of it within minutes. No need to post about this in a thread. Same goes for anyone else who sees spam.

[hondohnaka]

Just now, Clone OPatra said:

Use the Report button and we take care of it within minutes. No need to post about this in a thread. Same goes for anyone else who sees spam.

[Meaf]

6 hours ago, MKJoshA said:

It's important to realize that we have it insanely good in the US when it comes to 1) finding sets on shelves and 2) finding sets on discount. From what I know of the rest of the markets no one else gets the US expected 20% markdown on most Lego sets 6-12 months after release. Target and Walmart pile-up their stock for us. When they over-stock they run sales and we get the wonderful 20% off. But most of the world doesn't get that.

Perhaps it's just the area where I live but I actually don't see much in the way of discounts in store. It's not really a huge deal since Amazon almost always does them, and there are some here and there at Target, but I tend to not see a lot in the way of sales. The US is a massive country though, so it might just be a regional thing.

Edited June 16, 2021 by Meadius

[Archer]

I've also noticed far less sets over $100 going on sale then I used to, but I also see less of the larger sets in stock so maybe the retail stores aren't buying as many as they used to. $40 - $80 if its not a store exclusive you are almost guaranteed to see that 20% off somewhere. 

[Stuartn]

I am wondering what in store pricing will be here in Australia, normally both Big W and Kmart have equal prices which are substantially less than S@H prices, however Big W mirrored TLG prices last year  for all themes, however this year their new city sets are going to be at lower prices (even lower as they are being released on sale) so I hope that this will be the same for SW sets

[hondohnaka]

Just watched a Shuttle review and ugh maybe it was just the distance from the camera but I’m definitely sliding back into doomering about it. The actual shuttle is just so small for 100 dollars. 

[BigA_7]

Why was the summer wave so short lived in Australia? Was it due to supply issues from COVID or do waves just retire super quickly? I’m confused since all the other waves are fine but those sets from the summer wave are just gone