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

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15 minutes ago, Bobbtom said:

No, they take place before the OT, so a literal interpretation would mean they are "PT," but the sets and figures are functionally, aesthetically or literally OT. It is not practical or reasonable to consider the  RO AT-ST as  a PT set. Similarly, it is not reasonable to  consider the stormtrooper in the rogue one y-wing to be a PT figure, that is just ridiculous-even when discounting that the fact that the exact same figure appears in the actual OT sets. A reasonable person is not going to look at the AT-ST on a shelf and say "on I know that, it's from the prequels"

Right, right, but only 6-7 of those actually apply to the sets (I’m not really thinking about minifigs), and it’s not fair to discount all of them because a few are, and considering that one or two resemble pt too, I think it would be worth taking into consideration. 

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13 minutes ago, PreVizsla said:

<snip>

The difference between these specific numbers and mine is that I just used the number listed for each movie on BrickLink, which includes some foil packs, co-packs, reissues with new numbers, and so forth that shouldn't really be counted as sets, so your numbers are better than mine (for anybody else referencing this). But the basic idea that the OT gets a lot more sets is going to hold up no matter how you slice it.

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I’m of that all-too-uncommon breed of fan who enjoys each era (OT, PT and ST) and am content with enjoying them for what they are. Digging down into the nitty gritty and classifying which movie/show fits into which era and which era is getting the most representation is all superfluous to me personally (not to discredit anyone who’s interested in such things) because it’s all Star Wars at the end of the day. There’s sets I want Lego to make from each movie and show.

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26 minutes ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

the basic idea that the OT gets a lot more sets is going to hold up no matter how you slice it.

I wasn't trying to slice it. I agree with you, they are getting way more sets and i personally hate it, but we are having the same conversation each year and nothing changes.

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13 minutes ago, PreVizsla said:

I wasn't trying to slice it. I agree with you, they are getting way more sets and i personally hate it, but we are having the same conversation each year and nothing changes.

The thing is, even many OT fans hate the OT sets that LEGO keeps putting out. Landspeeders, X-Wings, generic TIEs, snowspeeders, A-Wings, Y-Wings, AT-STs... it's the same damn designs over and over... dressed up in a new paint deco, or a slightly changed build, or with one new fig (yay!) or re-scaled to fit a new price point... and there's honestly only so many of any of these that any of us want.

Yes, there are always people who pop up right about now saying "but I'm happy for another landspeeder because I (somehow, inexplicably) missed the one that retired three months ago"... but for those of us that didn't just emerge from a dark age, or who have been collecting for more than the last 6 months, the repetition is really frustrating. And this isn't just OT... LEGO puts out the same half-dozen PT designs over and over (Jedi Starfighters, Interceptors, AT-RTs, etc.), and even the sets from the ST and anthology movies increasingly bypassed new designs (see: TIE Heavy, Cargo Shuttle, Exegol, Ochi's Ship, etc) in favor of well-worn, recycled "sure-seller" sets.

Honestly, I would not care what the mix of movies/shows was, so long as the mix featured more *unique* designs/builds to fill the many gaping holes across the entire SW timeline. Sadly, skimming through the last 7-8 years of sets on Brickset, it seems this number has dropped considerably over the last few years, at least as far as system sets are concerned (helmets, statues, etc... doesn't, doesn't count.)

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20 minutes ago, jdubbs said:

Landspeeders, X-Wings, generic TIEs, snowspeeders, A-Wings, Y-Wings, AT-STs... it's the same damn designs over and over... dressed up in a new paint deco, or a slightly changed build, or with one new fig (yay!) or re-scaled to fit a new price point... and there's honestly only so many of any of these that any of us want.

TLG need to keep pumping out these designs, not for AFOLs, but for children. The X wings, TIEs and snowspeeders, while monotonous, are the most iconic SW vehicles which most kids will want. The designs have to be updated or altered, either for the designs compatibility with other sets or to ensure it does not compete with other new sets, as well as to remain current design and technique-wise. Every couple of years a generation of children will grow out of Lego SW and a new generation will enter the market, and it important to have the iconic sets there to purchase for them.

Where the issue for me is, is the other main retail sets, (I see the X-wing and TIE spots as a sort of necessary reduction in product availability for the above reasons). The landspeeeders, A wings, Eta 2 interceptors and other generally uniconic vehicles really should be substituted with designs we haven't seen much of, like the ARC 170, just as an example.

Edited by Stuartn

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2 hours ago, PreVizsla said:

Last 2 years:
4 PT sets ( gunship included)
17 OT sets ( UCS AT-AT not included) + 2 comic con sets, 2 gwp and 3 microfighters.
4 PT vs 25 OT and we already have battle pack, AT-ST, helmets and microfighter rumored for OT next year and nothing for PT.

 

I'm just curious, what are you classifying as PT sets?  Of strictly prequel stuff, I would assume you mean Duel on Mustafar, Grievous' Fighter, Anakin's Fighter, and the Gunship, but I think the 501st set, AAT, Duel on Mandalore, Bad Batch Shuttle, and Mandalorian Fighters could also count.  They're prequel era and the shows tie in with the movies pretty closely.

Also, I would probably count Yoda's Lightsaber as a prequel GWP, since he doesn't use it in the OT.

Now, that doesn't the numbers even, I know, but there is a bit more stuff that I would classify as "prequel era."  

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3 minutes ago, Stuartn said:

TLG need to keep pumping out these designs, not for AFOLs, but for children. The X wings, TIEs and snowspeeders, while monotonous, are the most iconic SW vehicles which most kids will want. The designs have to be updated or altered, either for the designs compatibility with other sets or to ensure it does not compete with other new sets, as well as to remain current design and technique-wise. Every couple of years a generation of children will grow out of Lego SW and a new generation will enter the market, and it important to have the iconic sets there to purchase for them.

Yes, that's what I meant by "sure-sellers". These sets will always be there for the obvious reasons, but increasingly, they seem to be dominating the lineup in ways that they weren't, say, 5-10 years ago. This is largely down to LEGO scaling back the SW line, leaving less room for "new" given the core block of 20-odd sets will get recycled over and over no matter how small the line gets.

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5 hours ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

Oh, I can see how my post might have been unclear. All these numbers are only looking at sets for the nine numbered films and TCW. RO, Solo, Rebels, Mando, and the various smaller sub-themes aren't included in this data at all. If you included the other OT-era subthemes in the OT count it would be another 67 sets since 2014, skewing the distribution even further in that direction. In fairness, if you did that you should also count Yoda Chronicles, Bad Batch, and a couple other miscellaneous sets towards TCW, adding 10 to that count as well, but that doesn't remotely make up the difference.

That does make the data a bit different, though I'd say if we count them it'd half to be on a set-by-set basis, nearly. A good number of the RO sets are very similar to OT ones, but many of the solo sets, for instance, are only connected to the OT through han solo, and since the main chunk of the film takes place almost exactly halfway through the ROTS-ANH gap, that's a pretty tenuous connection. Plus, yoda chronicles and the other lego-ip sets are weird to count. Jek-14's fighter isn't in the prequels or clone wars, but it comes with clone and mandalorian characters, so while I personally wouldn't count it as part of anything there's an argument to be made. Some of the mando sets are close enough to OT (imperial vehicles), but others honestly seem closer to PT (colorful mandalorians), and some really seem more on their own (Razor crest). Clone wars sets pretty much all fit as prequel sets, but rebels is a weird one. Sure, many sets are OT styled, so it'd be a boon to that count. But how do you count rex's AT-TE? It's a Clone wars vehicle with clone troopers, but it takes place closer to the OT.

TLDR it gets pretty subjective on a set-by set basis, but I think overall the OT did get a solid percent more sets in that 2015-2019 period of the new films, again because they were the safest bets to sell well.

4 hours ago, kidtheboss611 said:

You're right about the CW dominating for a stretch but ever since TFA, outside of movie releases, the sets have been overwhelmingly OT compared to PT. X-Wings and Tie fighters are iconic so they're a given/must but we've had more variations on Luke's Landspeeder than the MTT, ARC-170, Venator, V-Wing, CW Y-Wing, Turbo Tank, AT-TE, and Gunship. That's dumbfounding if you actually think about it. I know the land speeder has about 5-10 minutes of screentime in ANH and the republic ships only have 2-3 minutes each but it's still ridiculous given the circumstance. We're not asking for one every few years but maybe do one every 5 instead of every 8 years. 

Now on top of that the Landspeeder is getting a UCS set before all of those PT ships which is the ultimate meme. I really hope the Landspeeder looks good and is done well cause I like collecting all the UCS models but that doesn't change the fact that the over saturation of OT sets over the last 5-6 years is dumb. Also the Venator might have only been 3-4 years old back then but it isn't now. It has possibly the most screentime of any PT ship, save the Gunship, across all media making it a prime candidate for a UCS version. 

 

So this is almost entirely focused on the landspeeder, so I'll just say: The landspeeder IS one of the most iconic vehicles in the saga. It's also a way to get luke, obi-wan, c-3po, and r2-d2 in a single, cheap set, but the main point is on the iconicity of the vehicle. Yeah, it's not in the series all that much, but it's more than slave one, almost all republic vehicles, etc. It is one of the definitive star wars vehicles. If you ask people on the street to name 5 star wars vehicles, I guarantee it would be "x-wing, tie fighter, millenium falcon, imperial walker, luke's speeder" a solid 90% of the time.

1 hour ago, Kit Figsto said:

I'm just curious, what are you classifying as PT sets?  Of strictly prequel stuff, I would assume you mean Duel on Mustafar, Grievous' Fighter, Anakin's Fighter, and the Gunship, but I think the 501st set, AAT, Duel on Mandalore, Bad Batch Shuttle, and Mandalorian Fighters could also count.  They're prequel era and the shows tie in with the movies pretty closely.

Also, I would probably count Yoda's Lightsaber as a prequel GWP, since he doesn't use it in the OT.

Now, that doesn't the numbers even, I know, but there is a bit more stuff that I would classify as "prequel era."  

Yeah, the idea that CW needs to be counted separately from prequels really doesn't make sense for many of these.

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4 hours ago, Brickroll said:

I’m going to go back looking for it through this thread considering how long most of the posts are, but shouldn’t Rebels, Solo, R1 count as prequel era sets? I mean r/prequelmemes counts them as such, and even though of them have very Ot inspired design, it would certainly change the percentage up? Mando would also count as st, but that could certainly change the proportions if you added those, and combining all the pre ANH and post ROTJ properties might outweigh Ot.

If you genuinely think Rebels, Solo, and R1 are prequel era then you need to rewatch the saga cause they all take place over 10 years after the ending of the prequel era (ROTS). The different eras aren't corresponding solely with the films but rather the ruling faction and story at that moment. The Prequel Era is the High Republic and the Fall of the Jedi. The Original Trilogy Era is the Reign of the Empire and Age of Rebellion. The Sequel Trilogy Era is the New Republic and Rise of the First Order. That's the official Disney breakdown from the start of this year so there's no arguing that. 

Now that that's established, the fact they weren't counted as OT for the graph is dumb cause they are all effectively imperial era shows just how absurdly high the OT era sets have been represented in Lego over the last 5 years. Many vehicles that probably didn't need remakes so soon after the movie version got remakes like the AT-ST after next year we'll have had 3 in 4 years, or the Tie Fighter which will have 5 (one being first order) in 6 years. The point is fans have a right to be annoyed as more of the 2022 rumors look bleak and overly OT.

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4 minutes ago, kidtheboss611 said:

Now that that's established, the fact they weren't counted as OT for the graph is dumb cause they are all effectively imperial era shows just how absurdly high the OT era sets have been represented in Lego over the last 5 years. Many vehicles that probably didn't need remakes so soon after the movie version got remakes like the AT-ST after next year we'll have had 3 in 4 years, or the Tie Fighter which will have 5 (one being first order) in 6 years. The point is fans have a right to be annoyed as more of the 2022 rumors look bleak and overly OT.

I'm not disagreeing with the breakdown of sets at all, nor with the fact that at least two of those three should probably count towards OT (RO for sure, Rebels with a lot of stuff, Solo I'd say is a bit more debatable, but if I'm counting CW towards prequels, then I'd say it's fair to count Solo towards OT :tongue:), but in fairness, the reason that we were getting those sets was because they were topical at the time, and none of those properties have gotten really any attention at all other than their initial waves.  I believe RO got a couple of sets released after the film wave, and then Rebels had a handful but nothing since, like, 2017.  So, believe me, I see where you're coming from, because I am a huge RO fan and absolutely want more sets from that movie, and same deal with Rebels.

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1 minute ago, Mandalorianknight said:

So this is almost entirely focused on the landspeeder, so I'll just say: The landspeeder IS one of the most iconic vehicles in the saga. It's also a way to get luke, obi-wan, c-3po, and r2-d2 in a single, cheap set, but the main point is on the iconicity of the vehicle. Yeah, it's not in the series all that much, but it's more than slave one, almost all republic vehicles, etc. It is one of the definitive star wars vehicles. If you ask people on the street to name 5 star wars vehicles, I guarantee it would be "x-wing, tie fighter, millenium falcon, imperial walker, luke's speeder" a solid 90% of the time.

2 points here:

1. The Landspeeder is not more iconic than a Venator or Gunship. That was true from 1977-2010 but it is not anymore. 

2. An average person on the street isn't buying Lego, a young SW fan or adult collector is. If I ask a child what their fav SW vehicles are the answers would be X-wing, Tie Fighter, Falcon, Gunship, and Razorcrest. We are not in 2010 anymore, the world doesn't hate prequels as much and fans are watching the new stuff far more than the old. The Gunship's appearance in animated shows and the Razorcrests' in the Mandalorian have catapulted them in popularity with younger audiences who are Lego's primary consumer base. If you think from the point of view of a 35-40-year-old then yeah the Landspeder and Walker are more iconic but if you have the point of view of a 9/14-year-old then you realize they probably want clones and Baby Yoda. 

I don't like to site Mandr in this forum cause that brings him hate but I think his videos and comment sections are an accurate representation of how children and young adults feel about Lego SW as of late. Young kids who grew up and still watch the CW era/ Mando era material want more of those sets rather than a new TIE or walker. Yeah, they might whine and complain but that's how the average fans of any fanbase popular on the interwebs acts. 

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28 minutes ago, kidtheboss611 said:

1. The Landspeeder is not more iconic than a Venator or Gunship. That was true from 1977-2010 but it is not anymore. 

 2. An average person on the street isn't buying Lego, a young SW fan or adult collector is. If I ask a child what their fav SW vehicles are the answers would be X-wing, Tie Fighter, Falcon, Gunship, and Razorcrest. We are not in 2010 anymore, the world doesn't hate prequels as much and fans are watching the new stuff far more than the old. The Gunship's appearance in animated shows and the Razorcrests' in the Mandalorian have catapulted them in popularity with younger audiences who are Lego's primary consumer base. If you think from the point of view of a 35-40-year-old then yeah the Landspeder and Walker are more iconic but if you have the point of view of a 9/14-year-old then you realize they probably want clones and Baby Yoda. 

This is not really a valid comparison, at least not when it comes to the number of releases these three ships see over the years. The Landspeeder is going to get release after release because it's a recognizable (and yes, iconic) $30 set, which is the sweet spot for the "birthday present" buyer... i.e., parents who need a cheap-but-not-too-cheap gift that their kid can give to their classmate at his/her birthday party... something every parent has to buy a dozen or more times a year (and speaking as a parent, it's invariably the parent buying these gifts... so the point of view of the 35-40yo does matter here, as much or moreso than the kid's). This is a big part of the reason why the Jedi Starfighter gets released over and over, and the snowspeeder, and the batmobile, and so on. 

LEGO slots just 1 or 2 sets per year at the price point of the Venator or Gunship... while I would agree that both are overdue for a rerelease, the Gunship has seen 2 or 3 System releases already, as well as a UCS release. And the Venator's design overlaps considerably with the ISD, FO SD, and now Gideon's Cruiser... so it's never going to see frequent releases... If your expectation is that sets like these (at the top of price pyramid) will see releases as often as $30 sets, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

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42 minutes ago, Brickroll said:

Well that’s just the thing—even though there are certainly many who agree with the people on his comments, MandR’s top video has 2.3 million views—a lot, for a a relatively small time youtuber, but not nearly enough to make a dent in lego’s market. Same deal with groups like r/prequelmemes as a whole.
  

The thing is, you can’t really measure lego’s target market, (and this isn’t just directed at you @kidtheboss611, lots of people here do it) it applies to a lot of people, because they aren’t online, at least not in large enough numbers, count as a good representation of lego’s largest fan group. 
  

Also, my point earlier about rebels/solo/r1 is that they are, by technical definition, not OT and if added to the survey could change the percentage. 

 

35 minutes ago, jdubbs said:

This is not really a valid comparison, at least not when it comes to the number of releases these three ships see over the years. The Landspeeder is going to get release after release because it's a recognizable (and yes, iconic) $30 set, which is the sweet spot for the "birthday present" buyer... i.e., parents who need a cheap-but-not-too-cheap gift that their kid can give to their classmate at his/her birthday party... something every parent has to buy a dozen or more times a year (and speaking as a parent, it's invariably the parent buying these gifts... so the point of view of the 35-40yo does matter here, as much or moreso than the kid's). This is a big part of the reason why the Jedi Starfighter gets released over and over, and the snowspeeder, and the batmobile, and so on. 

 LEGO slots just 1 or 2 sets per year at the price point of the Venator or Gunship... while I would agree that both are overdue for a rerelease, the Gunship has seen 2 or 3 System releases already, as well as a UCS release. And the Venator's design overlaps considerably with the ISD, FO SD, and now Gideon's Cruiser... so it's never going to see frequent releases... If your expectation is that sets like these (at the top of price pyramid) will see releases as often as $30 sets, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

Then my question is what is it. In this forum, the Lego SW market is sometimes adults and OT fans or sometimes young kids depending on the discussion or rumor of the day. IMO the market is kids for smaller sets priced at $15-$160, while the UCS/MBS models are meant for adult collectors and some young adults. While he doesn't have millions of views Mandr gets more views per SW video than his Lego counterparts and this IMO is representative of the younger generation of Lego SW fans.

From being on this forum for a while I'm gonna guess I'm one of the younger people here and so I have experienced the internet very differently from most. Most people my age (college/HS) were introduced to the internet through Youtube so for example Lego fans like myself will have similar opinions to the other people in the YT Lego SW community. My opinions on PT and CW sets will be reflected in YT videos like Mandr's or BrickWiz's. Youtube is immensely popular with young kids and they are getting online at higher rates so I think the people in YT communities are more representative of the collective than any forum ever could be. Also, this isn't an endorsement of Mandr and his fans before someone quotes me. 

I can't speak on buying for someone younger cause I buy for me but I'll take your word for it when it comes to gifting however I don't think the parents are making all the decisions on which sets to get. While parents are making the purchases I'd guess kids would make choices so if they recognize Captain Rex or Ahsoka from their favorite show then they're gonna wanna buy that set from CW and not the one from ANH that their parents think is iconic. Also in this scenario where $30 is the sweet spot, I don't see how the Lanspeeder is selling well at all-cause kids (who grew up w/clones and CW) would rather have a bunch of clones and battle droid in a BP rather than Luke, 3-PO and a speeder.

Anyway, I didn't mean to stray somewhat off topic but my larger point is still that PT sets are getting more and more recognizable and need more rep in Lego SW.

42 minutes ago, Brickroll said:

Edit: Never mind, my arguments will be smarter in the morning.

Ignore my stupid unedited essay in your notifications @kidtheboss611

Was typing when this was edited. Disregard my response to you.

Edited by kidtheboss611

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We won't ever know for sure what the market exactly wants or the data lego bases their decisiosn off of, but I'll say this: if lego's market research is supposedly always 100% correct then every line would be a successful blockbuster like ninjago and there won't be any cancelled lines like videyo.

Edited by Bobbtom

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36 minutes ago, Bobbtom said:

We won't ever know for sure what the market exactly wants or the data lego bases their decisiosn off of, but I'll say this: if lego's market research is supposedly always 100% correct then every line would be a successful blockbuster like ninjago and there won't be any cancelled lines like videyo.

Nobody thinks that LEGO's market research is 100% correct, but since nobody can think of any obvious logical reason for LEGO to release the same vehicles over and over when ones that are seemingly just as good get ignored, it seems like they must have something telling them to make some sets over others. The A-wing and the TIE interceptor are roughly equally prominent in RotJ, and they're similarly sized, so on the face of it one might expect them to receive similar coverage, but there have been seven A-wings released in the time since the last TIE interceptor in 2006. That's enough discrepancy that it's hard to believe that it's a produce of anything other than an intentional choice, and since nobody outside of LEGO gets any insight into why they might make such a choice, the best they can do is try to speculate about the data LEGO might be looking at that would produce such a skewed result. It's ultimately always pointless since we have absolutely zero ability to determine whether any given speculation is accurate, of course, but if people only talked about things that can be proven the world would be a less interesting place.

 

 

On a completely unrelated note, pictures of the next SW LEGO magazine foil pack are up on Rebrickable, and am I crazy, or is the Turbo Tank assembled backwards? I know they've got cockpits on both ends, so it doesn't really have a 'backwards' per se, but they've got the conning tower on the narrow end rather than the end with most of the guns.

Edited by Kdapt-Preacher

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5 hours ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

On a completely unrelated note, pictures of the next SW LEGO magazine foil pack are up on Rebrickable, and am I crazy, or is the Turbo Tank assembled backwards? I know they've got cockpits on both ends, so it doesn't really have a 'backwards' per se, but they've got the conning tower on the narrow end rather than the end with most of the guns.

Huh. I think you're right.

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8 hours ago, kidtheboss611 said:

2 points here:

1. The Landspeeder is not more iconic than a Venator or Gunship. That was true from 1977-2010 but it is not anymore. 

2. An average person on the street isn't buying Lego, a young SW fan or adult collector is. If I ask a child what their fav SW vehicles are the answers would be X-wing, Tie Fighter, Falcon, Gunship, and Razorcrest. We are not in 2010 anymore, the world doesn't hate prequels as much and fans are watching the new stuff far more than the old. The Gunship's appearance in animated shows and the Razorcrests' in the Mandalorian have catapulted them in popularity with younger audiences who are Lego's primary consumer base. If you think from the point of view of a 35-40-year-old then yeah the Landspeder and Walker are more iconic but if you have the point of view of a 9/14-year-old then you realize they probably want clones and Baby Yoda. 

I don't like to site Mandr in this forum cause that brings him hate but I think his videos and comment sections are an accurate representation of how children and young adults feel about Lego SW as of late. Young kids who grew up and still watch the CW era/ Mando era material want more of those sets rather than a new TIE or walker. Yeah, they might whine and complain but that's how the average fans of any fanbase popular on the interwebs acts. 

I actually think you're quite right here. 

I also think lego does the constant repeats because its a safe bet, but I wonder what would happen if they solidly ignored OT and went with' safe bets' in other eras. At some point OT fans will be just as common as any other era fan because enough time will have gone by that OT fans will be grampas and not buying lego anymore. Anyone growing up with SW now, has a lot more to watch and take their attention/eye candy vehicle wise, so the Landspeeder will just disappear into a background vehicle. It had no major prominent role other than transport luke and obiwan from a to b. That's it. Nothing really noteworthy occurred with it. 

If I was a kid, while it might seem spoilt, I'd be disappointed if I got a landspeeder as a gift. I mean, once you got one, that's it. It's not an army builder set. 

The naboo n1 is iconic enough to justify remakes of it as much as the Landspeeder gets. And, it's sooo much more of a beauty to look at too. 

If TLG are going with the whole 'old fans moved on, new fans joined and want lego' theory, then, it's a constant dynamic that'll never end and therefore they should just keep the same x wing on the shelf as there will always be someone new. Why bother wasting investment designing a new one? Just readjust which minifigs come with it, job done. 

Or, given how successful they are, and that it's star wars.... Take a gamble now and then, worst they'd likely do is make a smaller profit but still profit... 

Unless they do the current general grievous ship debacle again... 

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10 hours ago, kidtheboss611 said:

I can't speak on buying for someone younger cause I buy for me but I'll take your word for it when it comes to gifting however I don't think the parents are making all the decisions on which sets to get. While parents are making the purchases I'd guess kids would make choices so if they recognize Captain Rex or Ahsoka from their favorite show then they're gonna wanna buy that set from CW and not the one from ANH that their parents think is iconic. Also in this scenario where $30 is the sweet spot, I don't see how the Lanspeeder is selling well at all-cause kids (who grew up w/clones and CW) would rather have a bunch of clones and battle droid in a BP rather than Luke, 3-PO and a speeder.

I can't speak for every parent, but in my experience it goes something like this: "Timmy's birthday party is Saturday. Parents didn't say 'no gifts', so I need to get something, stat. What's a $30-40 set that's in stock at Target, that feels substantial, that I recognize? Ideally on sale?" Mayyyyybe I ask my kid if they know what Timmy is into, but invariably I get no response, or the answer is (shudder) "Ninjago", and regardless there's no way I'm letting my kid choose, because then they're just going to want it for themselves, and refuse to give it away. Or I now have to buy a second set to placate my kid... which sets the precedent that every time another kid has a birthday, my kid gets a present too. (Thanks but no thanks... we're not hobbits.)

Parents buy what they know. For the last twenty years, that's been largely OT stuff. But as prequel-era kids grow up and start families of their own, sure, picking Rex or Ahsoka or some clones is just as likely (or moreso) than picking a landspeeder... 

As for why LEGO does Luke's rather dull landspeeder over and over, versus some other PT set of a comparable size? For one, there aren't all that many PT sets that fit the bill. The Jedi Starfighters/Interceptors are the closest match, and they do get released a ton (we had one a year for like 5 years running, iirc., and there's one on shelves now). Other than that, the Naboo Fighter is probably more of a $50-60 set at this point (though I agree, it should get re-released more often), and the AAT has been released twice over the last 6ish years... and again, on shelves now. The two speeders from Ep 2 would work, and are way overdue for a reissue, esp. since Zam has only been released as a yellow minifig. Hell, even the green version of Luke's landspeeder from Ep 1 would be a nice change, or the black one from the Lars garage, or the red one from Mando... Unfortunately, it's much easier for LEGO to recycle (or upcycle) an existing build, than it is to design something new...

8 hours ago, Kdapt-Preacher said:

The A-wing and the TIE interceptor are roughly equally prominent in RotJ, and they're similarly sized, so on the face of it one might expect them to receive similar coverage, but there have been seven A-wings released in the time since the last TIE interceptor in 2006.

The difference is that there are a ton of other TIEs that have been released as well (several very similar to, or adaptations of the Interceptor), and there's nothing really in the ballpark of the A-Wing. 

Edited by jdubbs
corrected AAT ship name

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40 minutes ago, jdubbs said:

the turbo tank has been released twice over the last 6ish years... and again, on shelves now

The Turbo Tank is a big model though, isn't it? I'd feel short-changed if Lego came out with a Turbo Tank (regular scale, not mini) that was Landspeeder size.

Besides that, is the Turbo Tank really an iconic vehicle? To me personally it's iconic, but that's entirely because the original set had that cool sand green scout trooper that I really wanted and never managed to get. But it probably has what? Twenty seconds' screen time, in the background of the battle of Kashyyk. For years I thought the set was a made-up vehicle like the TIE Crawler because it's so much in the background of the films.

45 minutes ago, jdubbs said:

The difference is that there are a ton of other TIEs that have been released as well (several very similar to, or adaptations of the Interceptor), and there's nothing really in the ballpark of the A-Wing. 

Not to mention that the A-Wing is also in the sequels, whereas the Interceptor (iirc) isn't.

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12 hours ago, Kit Figsto said:

I'm just curious, what are you classifying as PT sets?  Of strictly prequel stuff, I would assume you mean Duel on Mustafar, Grievous' Fighter, Anakin's Fighter, and the Gunship, but I think the 501st set, AAT, Duel on Mandalore, Bad Batch Shuttle, and Mandalorian Fighters could also count.  They're prequel era and the shows tie in with the movies pretty closely.

Also, I would probably count Yoda's Lightsaber as a prequel GWP, since he doesn't use it in the OT.

Now, that doesn't the numbers even, I know, but there is a bit more stuff that I would classify as "prequel era."  

PT means prequel trilogy so i only count sets that are in the prequel trilogy movies the same way i only count OT sets if they were in OT movie. I became a star wars fan in 1999 after watching TPM, i didn't even know mandalorians aside from Jango even existed till 2012. If you gonna clasify Blue AAT as the same as Trade federation AAT from episode 1 you may as well count all sequel sets as OT cause most of the times it's just a bit of orange paint on an x-wing or a slightly different AT-AT. Then you need to count rogue one, solo, rebels and the mandalorian as OT cause they are all using imperial troops, imperial vehicles etc... Future Ahsoka show, Boba show, Obi show, upcoming 2023 movie it's all gonna be OT based. Rogue one literally ends when OT begins.  

Yeah you could also count Yoda's lightsaber, but there is also a fact that you had to buy a 250$ OT set to get it.

12 hours ago, jdubbs said:

The thing is, even many OT fans hate the OT sets that LEGO keeps putting out. Landspeeders, X-Wings, generic TIEs, snowspeeders, A-Wings, Y-Wings, AT-STs... it's the same damn designs over and over... dressed up in a new paint deco, or a slightly changed build, or with one new fig (yay!) or re-scaled to fit a new price point... and there's honestly only so many of any of these that any of us want.

Yes, there are always people who pop up right about now saying "but I'm happy for another landspeeder because I (somehow, inexplicably) missed the one that retired three months ago"... but for those of us that didn't just emerge from a dark age, or who have been collecting for more than the last 6 months, the repetition is really frustrating. And this isn't just OT... LEGO puts out the same half-dozen PT designs over and over (Jedi Starfighters, Interceptors, AT-RTs, etc.), and even the sets from the ST and anthology movies increasingly bypassed new designs (see: TIE Heavy, Cargo Shuttle, Exegol, Ochi's Ship, etc) in favor of well-worn, recycled "sure-seller" sets.

Honestly, I would not care what the mix of movies/shows was, so long as the mix featured more *unique* designs/builds to fill the many gaping holes across the entire SW timeline. Sadly, skimming through the last 7-8 years of sets on Brickset, it seems this number has dropped considerably over the last few years, at least as far as system sets are concerned (helmets, statues, etc... doesn't, doesn't count.)


100% agreed. Just repetition and repetition and they throw in 1 new fig fans really like for example General Dodo or Zuckuss to make you buy it. When there is a cool vehicle people want again like imperial shuttle they completely butcher it or ignore it like the endor bunker. When there is some cool new vehicle they ignore it too and go do the usual tie fighter, landspeeder, snowspeeder... Just sick and tired of it.

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24 minutes ago, Alexandrina said:

The Turbo Tank is a big model though, isn't it? I'd feel short-changed if Lego came out with a Turbo Tank (regular scale, not mini) that was Landspeeder size.

Sorry, I said Turbo Tank when I meant the AAT... which seems reasonably well-known, at least from Ep 1. And in the vicinity of the land speeder in terms of price.

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10 minutes ago, jdubbs said:

Sorry, I said Turbo Tank when I meant the AAT... which seems reasonably well-known, at least from Ep 1. And in the vicinity of the land speeder in terms of price.

Yeah, the AAT is definitely an apt comparison!

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I think Prequel UCS Sets will get there day, but there not going to drop a large grey and red piece of cheese, when there is a $700 grey only piece of cheese sitting on the shelf. I think the only case a Venator would have is 1-2 years or more after the current SD retires. 

Overall, with the mix of crazy expensive sets, MF, SD, and now AT-AT, combined with the MBS line, updates like the Y-wing, Speeder, and R2, new UCS like the A-wing, Gunship, and potentially the land speeder they have had a good mix that will take time to make everyone happy.

As someone who missed out on older sets, I like the updates, and new items regardless of the trilogy, I'm more worried about the frequency of these big $$$ sets. The AT-AT will be my first pass in awhile as I am happy with the plus size MOC I have, and a third $700-800 set in 4 years is a bit much for me!

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