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

[McMurder_them_softly]

7 minutes ago, ARC2149Nova said:

Not gonna lie, I'm tempted to gain some flight hours with the Gunship too 

Now that is an idea! I am guilty of flying 75060 and 75181 around the living room...I also did 10030, with the 2 upper segments removed and just pretended (I was much younger).

Based on reviews, picking up the gunship and flying it around should be easy (long as the weight does not make it overly cumbersome). 

[hondohnaka]

6 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

There's one last chance though: after all, the Mando Forge also hasn't been officially revealed yet  Then again, we've known about that one for months, and still no peep about the unknown set. I guess we should adjust our expectations accordingly 

You're braver than I am 

Yeah I highly doubt it’s a thing at this point, especially granted that 75396 is such a far-flung number compared to where the set numbers are now. It’s almost definitely just a misread, granted how similar the numbers 2 and 3 are and all. Oh well, if it surprises us, so much the better, I’ll be even more broke!

[kidtheboss611]

7 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Lego officially said that if you want more prequel UCS sets, get the gunship, and I don't think they'd be able to turn around a new MBS set in less than a year, considering how long the cantina was said to have been in production for. Granted, UCS is technically not MBS, but I think we can all assume we wouldn't get prequel MBS without prequel UCS.

While I agree that is there sentiment the anniversary only comes once so I think it makes too much sense not to do at least one special AOTC D2C set. The Genosioan Arena has never been done (to my knowledge) and is the perfect set for the anniversary and would offer more figure variety than another OT based D2C. 

Then again with their distain for prequel D2C and its reliance on Gunship sales I fear we'll have to wait another 11 years till at-least 2032.

[Gremer2]

If LEGO hates prequel UCS sets, it's because they don't sell. Lego is a company, they make things that make them money. The other two prequel UCS sets aren't exactly highly regarded (though, to be fair, they're not the best models for UCS) and from what I understand, 10215 was a poor seller.

 

For me anyway, the Gunship will probably be a day one purchase. I love it, it's my second or third favorite prequel vehicle and it looks fantastic. 

[Clone OPatra]

17 minutes ago, Gremer2 said:

If LEGO hates prequel UCS sets, it's because they don't sell. Lego is a company, they make things that make them money.

As others have pointed out, the timing might be better now than it was before. A generation of fans who grew up with and like the Prequels might have more money to buy UCS now, plus general opinion has swung in favour of the Clone Wars show especially, if not the Prequels as a whole. Not to mention that the adult/big display piece market for LEGO in general must be continually growing given the ever growing number of huge, high priced items they're producing each year.

It's high time they delved into the Prequels for a UCS again. They themselves might be surprised by the sales.

Or not, and we'll all see that it's still the OT that commands attention on this side of the LEGO Star Wars market.

(As an aside, the Aus/NZ LEGO Certified Store social media has been referring to the Gunship as being from the Battle of Geonosis in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Technically not untrue, but amusing.)

[OCD_Chad]

I still haven't received an email from Lego about the UCS Gunship.

[Mandalorianknight]

2 hours ago, kidtheboss611 said:

While I agree that is there sentiment the anniversary only comes once so I think it makes too much sense not to do at least one special AOTC D2C set. The Genosioan Arena has never been done (to my knowledge) and is the perfect set for the anniversary and would offer more figure variety than another OT based D2C. 

Then again with their distain for prequel D2C and its reliance on Gunship sales I fear we'll have to wait another 11 years till at-least 2032.

AFAIK the only wide-release (to avoid you pedants talking about SDCC and celebration) sets lego has made for SW film anniversaries are for ESB's 30th and 40th, they don't really do it for the other films. I'd also add, where are you getting "disdain" from . Lego put the gunship in the vote to test if there was a market for prequel UCS, and now how well it preforms saleswise will determine if we get more. It's not "disdain", there's no secret anti-prequel agenda, it's basic economics. Companies sell what people buy, and lego's now testing if prequel D2Cs buy. Personally I hope they do, I'd love to see a UCS ARC-170 or V-wing (though the latter is definately a long shot).

5 hours ago, hondohnaka said:

Yeah I highly doubt it’s a thing at this point, especially granted that 75396 is such a far-flung number compared to where the set numbers are now. It’s almost definitely just a misread, granted how similar the numbers 2 and 3 are and all. Oh well, if it surprises us, so much the better, I’ll be even more broke!

Yeah, I don't think it's coming.

[Brikkyy13]

13 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

AFAIK the only wide-release (to avoid you pedants talking about SDCC and celebration) sets lego has made for SW film anniversaries are for ESB's 30th and 40th, they don't really do it for the other films.

All sets in 2007 were branded with 30th anniversary badges for the original movie. Also just want to add that the anniversary stuff comes from Lucasfilm since other Star Wars merch sports the same packaging and anniversary branding. 

[kidtheboss611]

1 hour ago, Mandalorianknight said:

AFAIK the only wide-release (to avoid you pedants talking about SDCC and celebration) sets lego has made for SW film anniversaries are for ESB's 30th and 40th, they don't really do it for the other films. I'd also add, where are you getting "disdain" from .

I got "disdain" from the way the designers talked about the Gunship and prequel sets in their interviews past and present. I don't think its an anti prequel agenda but rather a company unwillinging to try something new or make any effort to change. Also everyone keeps saying prequels don't sell well but the last prequel UCS set was released over 11 years ago. If you're telling me that the "basic economics" of Lego SW in 2021 apply in the same way to the Obi Wan Starfighter's sales from 11 years ago then I don't think you understand how differently today's consumers view the prequels or you choose not to. 

[BrickBob Studpants]

10 minutes ago, kidtheboss611 said:

I don't think its an anti prequel agenda but rather a company unwillinging to try something new or make any effort to change. 

If they were really this unwilling to try, then why did they include the Gunship in the vote in the first place? Doesn‘t that (plus the amount of TCW sets) prove they‘re willing to give the PT era another shot? 

Of course, nobody should be surprised that we won‘t see another PT UCS set anytime soon if the Gunship doesn‘t succeed, so we should make sure it does and put our money where our mouths are

[kidtheboss611]

38 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

If they were really this unwilling to try, then why did they include the Gunship in the vote in the first place? Doesn‘t that (plus the amount of TCW sets) prove they‘re willing to give the PT era another shot? 

The TCW sets are play sets not UCS and as I said before there is no anti prequel agenda across the board but rather an unwillingness to make UCS prequel sets. My evidence for which is the UCS releases the last 11 years and one vote in 11 years where the options are two OT ships and 1 PT ship isn't the change fans are looking for. TLG should take a chance and not need a fan vote to tell them to make a prequel UCS set. Fans shouldn't have to tell them through a vote and comment sections that the sales of a set from 2010 should not dictate what they release in 2021. Even some people in this forum should understand that times are different now and fans of the prequels are now old enough to have a job and disposable income to buy expensive UCS sets of their favorite prequel ships. Things like the Venator, CIS Dreadnoughts, or the Arc-170 should be made cause they're iconic to SW and not just the oh so widely hated prequels. 

[BrickBob Studpants]

18 minutes ago, kidtheboss611 said:

Even some people in this forum should understand that times are different now and fans of the prequels are now old enough to have a job and disposable income to buy expensive UCS sets of their favorite prequel ships. 

Well, then let‘s hope they actually do it  We already know that many of the voters unsurprisingly won‘t buy it, but that‘s hopefully just a vocal minority

[Artizan]

On 7/19/2021 at 2:22 AM, ArrowBricks said:

You have the movie scenes on the back too. But the Gunship could have easily worked for episode 2 and 3 - all you need is to remove the ball turrets. The UCS Falcon had this with the radar dish and separate minifigures from completely different time periods let alone the following film like they do with AOTC/ROTS. I don’t mind no Cody at all but this is a fair argument I have heard recently.  

Gunship in ep3 has ball turrets too, in fact it just looks the same from ep2.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Artizan

[Mandalorianknight]

10 hours ago, Brikkyy13 said:

All sets in 2007 were branded with 30th anniversary badges for the original movie. Also just want to add that the anniversary stuff comes from Lucasfilm since other Star Wars merch sports the same packaging and anniversary branding. 

But they didn't choose sets specifically for the anniversary, again AFAIK. I suppose aside from the sets that were supposed to be convention exclusives, they didn't for ESB either, that may have muddled my point a bit. You could even argue that the AT-AT may have been influenced by it, but we were overdue for one anyway. Ok, point is, they don't make star wars D2Cs just because of a film anniversary, and we won't get pentaki in 2022.

9 hours ago, kidtheboss611 said:

I got "disdain" from the way the designers talked about the Gunship and prequel sets in their interviews past and present. I don't think its an anti prequel agenda but rather a company unwillinging to try something new or make any effort to change. Also everyone keeps saying prequels don't sell well but the last prequel UCS set was released over 11 years ago. If you're telling me that the "basic economics" of Lego SW in 2021 apply in the same way to the Obi Wan Starfighter's sales from 11 years ago then I don't think you understand how differently today's consumers view the prequels or you choose not to. 

If they're unwilling to try something new, why did they put it in the vote? It's basic economics not to sell what doesn't work. So they waited 11 years, enough time for the children who grew up watching the prequels to have disposable incomes, and now they're trying to see if prequel UCS will sell. It's not an agenda, it's a smart business strategy. If they were unwilling to change or trying not to "make an effort to change", they wouldn't have put the gunship, one of the most popular prequel vehicles, in the vote, or any prequel set for that matter. 

[Sarah_H7744]

On 7/18/2021 at 8:36 PM, Mandalorianknight said:

I'm telling you guys, download the part list of the 2013 one, see which one's you've got already, and bricklink the rest. There's a few tips for the more expensive parts I shared in a different thread somewhere.

Yes, I think that's the best way to go. 

[samsz_3]

The more I look at the gunship, the more I love it. At first I thought (like some other people said) it wouldn't work as UCS with an empty troop bay, but to me I almost don't notice it because of the shear awe of the ship. It's expensive, but I am fully considering it as my first proper UCS set (I have the 2019 Tantive but does that count?).

Do UCS sets tend to ever go on sale in the UK? 

[TeddytheSpoon]

4 minutes ago, samsz_3 said:

Do UCS sets tend to ever go on sale in the UK? 

I've never seen one on sale, though I've only really seen them regularly at LEGO stores. If anywhere, John Lewis might be a possibility - I picked up the Technic Chiron for quite a bit less than RRP a year or two ago, and I know the one in Sloane Square had (and probably still has) the Falcon and ISD in stock, but again I'm not sure they have regular sales.

[PhoenixBuilder]

2 minutes ago, TeddytheSpoon said:

I've never seen one on sale, though I've only really seen them regularly at LEGO stores. If anywhere, John Lewis might be a possibility - I picked up the Technic Chiron for quite a bit less than RRP a year or two ago, and I know the one in Sloane Square had (and probably still has) the Falcon and ISD in stock, but again I'm not sure they have regular sales.

Yeah, it depends if / when it goes to a third party seller -- Smyth's can be good too. 

[Agent Kallus]

15 minutes ago, samsz_3 said:

Do UCS sets tend to ever go on sale in the UK? 

I think the less in demand ones sometimes do on the lego shop, but not often and not the more popular ones. I think the gunship probaly won't but IIRC the A-wing and b-wing both did.

11 hours ago, kidtheboss611 said:

I got "disdain" from the way the designers talked about the Gunship and prequel sets in their interviews past and present. I don't think its an anti prequel agenda but rather a company unwillinging to try something new or make any effort to change. Also everyone keeps saying prequels don't sell well but the last prequel UCS set was released over 11 years ago. If you're telling me that the "basic economics" of Lego SW in 2021 apply in the same way to the Obi Wan Starfighter's sales from 11 years ago then I don't think you understand how differently today's consumers view the prequels or you choose not to. 

Come on New Zealand  TLG try something new!

 

[SEmrys]

3 hours ago, samsz_3 said:

Do UCS sets tend to ever go on sale in the UK? 

I second Smyth's (or at least I think it was Smyth's - might have been the Entertainer). I once saw the Falcon for almost £100 off there once. It was a while after it released, but it's worth keeping an eye out. 

[Brickbashbosh]

4 hours ago, samsz_3 said:

Do UCS sets tend to ever go on sale in the UK? 

As others have said rarely do they go on sale at LEGO themselves (instore or online) but when they hit 3rd party retailers then yes the more expensive sets go on sale surprisingly regularly. The Falcon & The ISD have both been on sale for £100 off at John Lewis, Smyths, and Disney stores multiple times both this year and last. Even amazon join the party every so often and Zavvi have been doing a lot of flash sales on the high end sets too, most recently the Cantina 👍

Edited July 20, 2021 by Brickbashbosh

[Kit Figsto]

8 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

If they're unwilling to try something new, why did they put it in the vote? It's basic economics not to sell what doesn't work. So they waited 11 years, enough time for the children who grew up watching the prequels to have disposable incomes, and now they're trying to see if prequel UCS will sell. It's not an agenda, it's a smart business strategy. If they were unwilling to change or trying not to "make an effort to change", they wouldn't have put the gunship, one of the most popular prequel vehicles, in the vote, or any prequel set for that matter. 

Also worth nothing that the consensus opinion on the prequels didn't seem to change as much until around 2014-2016ish.  If you watch YouTube videos or whatever from the early 2010s, the consensus was still absolutely "the prequels are absolutely terrible" which I think is partially because TCW hadn't become as popular.  Obviously there's still division on some of the prequel films, but there's a whooole lot more support behind them now than there was 8-10 years ago, and I think most people, even if they disliked the movies, are more open to the idea of sets based on them and stuff.

On top of that, they were still producing some stuff in UCS form that either needed a remake or hadn't been done at all.  The Star Destroyers, Falcon remake, those are all sets that probably would outsell just about any prequel UCS (not a slam on the prequels, they're just that iconic).  At this point, it'd either be into more obscure vehicles or remakes of sets if they kept going with the OT, so it makes sense to explore how prequel UCS stuff will sell.

[necrochasm]

53 minutes ago, Kit Figsto said:

Also worth nothing that the consensus opinion on the prequels didn't seem to change as much until around 2014-2016ish.  If you watch YouTube videos or whatever from the early 2010s, the consensus was still absolutely "the prequels are absolutely terrible" which I think is partially because TCW hadn't become as popular.  Obviously there's still division on some of the prequel films, but there's a whooole lot more support behind them now than there was 8-10 years ago, and I think most people, even if they disliked the movies, are more open to the idea of sets based on them and stuff.

Definitely agree with that, also gotta remember, the 4 they DID make are... a darth maul head, a small naboo starfighter, a weird looking general grievous statue aaaaaand an Obi Wan starfighter that got overshadowed by the UCS shuttle

and when people say they want prequels, they mean clone wars vehicles. Republic Gunships, ARC 170s, Venators, AT-TE's

the sets were gonna fail no matter what

[Clone OPatra]

I also wouldn't say that the PT has swung to OT levels of popularity. Though a number of factors have certainly elevated the PT's standing and appreciation of it, I don't think it will ever command the type of widespread love that the OT has. Even people who liked it as children can change their position on it in light of its flaws.

Whatever happens with sales of the Gunship, people are going to make a LOT of claims in the next couple of years about how it has impacted the future of the UCS line.

[Kit Figsto]

1 hour ago, Clone OPatra said:

I also wouldn't say that the PT has swung to OT levels of popularity. Though a number of factors have certainly elevated the PT's standing and appreciation of it, I don't think it will ever command the type of widespread love that the OT has. Even people who liked it as children can change their position on it in light of its flaws.

Agree, I think the internet skews it to where some corners of the net may say that the PT may have reached OT levels of popularity, but the OT is definitely still on top.