LEGO Star Wars 2023 Set Discussion - READ FIRST POST!!!

[ArrowBricks]

Why do we think we have more Super Battle Droids than Battle Droids in the new battle pack? 

Interested to hear thoughts…I was surprised it was not the other way around.

[Pedilego]

The upcoming battle pack sounds great. It's a pseudo Bad Batch army builder, too, since those are the main two Imperial Era P2 variants.

8 hours ago, wesker said:

There's the 327th Star Corps Clone Troopers. We haven't seen these guys since 2007 while Commander Bly has yet to appear in a set.

There's also the BARC Trooper that was last seen in 2014.

Finally there's the 442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper. This one doesn't actually appear in the movie (they did have CGI models for them) but it would still be nice to get a modern remake of it.

There's also Kamino Security (the gray Shock Troopers), Fallen Order's 13th Battalion, & those troops on Coruscant with the very subtle gray accents in ROTS.

Of course, there's also named characters, P1, & specialist designs (e.g. Galactic Marines, 2nd Battle of Geonosis variants). Feels like the only ones guaranteed are Wolfpack & Kashyyyk (based on that game) and Star Corps because of the Macro piece (hopefully the helmets aren't too much of an issue). I'll keep buying but I'd think fatigue + less interest for these lesser battalions will likely slow down interest & sales & future sets.

3 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I love this pack, I'm very happy to get both one of my favorite legions cheap in the Shock Troopers AND finally get a massable amount of P2 shinies. Will definately pick up at least 2. However, I think this needs to be the last clone battlepack for at least a year and a half or so. We've had so many. Let's get something for the empire, or rebel endor or fleet troopers, maybe even First Order.

We've yet to see a set with Clone(s) in one of those holiday sets, whereas the Snowtroopers are being bundled with the Hoth AT-ST this year. I could be wrong but, more often than not, I see those bundles as incentives for selling sets TLG is looking to move.

Even if I'm wrong about that, there's no denying that the Hoth Rebels pack is still available for 20% off...

Not saying variety isn't needed, but they can't just keep doing plain OT re-treads & expect it to sell on par with popular Clones.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Pedilego

[Batman1]

Im most interested to know if we will get a new mould for the Super Battle Droids or perhaps TLG managed to update the quality of the plastic for the arms and legs. 
 

Regardless, easily the most exciting battle pack for years now!

[ForgedInLego]

1 hour ago, ArrowBricks said:

Why do we think we have more Super Battle Droids than Battle Droids in the new battle pack? 

Interested to hear thoughts…I was surprised it was not the other way around.

They're probably making up for the near decade drought of B2s, B1s are pretty easy to come by.

Have there been any new Pearl Dark Grey adjacent new plastic types since 2015? A less brittle plastic could make a difference, but even the dark brown (was dark brown as bad as reddish brown?) Commando droid legs feel weaker than regular droid legs

[NoOneOfImportance]

4 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I love this pack, I'm very happy to get both one of my favorite legions cheap in the Shock Troopers AND finally get a massable amount of P2 shinies. Will definately pick up at least 2. However, I think this needs to be the last clone battlepack for at least a year and a half or so. We've had so many. Let's get something for the empire, or rebel endor or fleet troopers, maybe even First Order.

Agreed. I'll reiterate this again, but Stormtroopers of all things are terribly hard to come by in large amounts anymore. The main enemy of a whole trilogy and three shows (including Mando-as Stormies are in multiple episodes-, Andor, and Rebels) should be far more available. And they once were, but now everything is clones. I'm not saying clone sets should disappear, but the reason I think the 2014-2017 era of LSW was so good is because alongside great builds was a prevalence of stormies, and clones, and droids, and... Everything felt well represented. 
 

56 minutes ago, Pedilego said:

We've yet to see a set with Clone(s) in one of those holiday sets, whereas the Snowtroopers are being bundled with the Hoth AT-ST this year. I could be wrong but, more often than not, I see those bundles as incentives for selling sets TLG is looking to move.

Even if I'm wrong about that, there's no denying that the Hoth Rebels pack is still available for 20% off...

Not saying variety isn't needed, but they can't just keep doing plain OT re-treads & expect it to sell on par with popular Clones.

I would agree that the Hoth packs are clearly not selling well enough, but that's also because they are more particular, and there are less sets that they go alongside. If someone wants an AT-ST for Endor, the Hoth AT-ST doesn't help them. If people want Imperial armies, but literally on any other planet, the battle pack doesn't help them. Same with the Rebel pack. They were great at release because they were on the tail end of people more frequently buying 75288 and the front end of 75313, but now, they don't really do much. The only sets they go with are each other, and the Rebel pack isn't widely available, so building up a ton of Snowies to fight against one Rebel and Chewie just isn't desirable. 

Contrast this with the Clone sets, where we get a $140 model for them every year, Battle Droids around in some of those same sets, and lots of vehicles, etc. for them to engage with. 

If LEGO released a $30 Stormtrooper pack with 3-4 regular Stormies and a couple of Rebels (or some similar distribution), I would guarantee that this set would be incredibly popular for the OT fans (who are a large percentage of the Star Wars fanbase (and overlap as PT fans, ST fans, etc. in many areas)). But that's just not something LEGO has done of late (and I'm not sure the Trexler counts in the same way, with only 2 Stormies an a Mortar trooper, as good as the set was).

[Llewop]

40 minutes ago, Batman1 said:

Im most interested to know if we will get a new mould for the Super Battle Droids or perhaps TLG managed to update the quality of the plastic for the arms and legs. 
 

Regardless, easily the most exciting battle pack for years now!

Mark my words they’ll put stud shooters in their arms. It just seems to good to be true. I honestly don’t want that but It’s Lego 

[ArrowBricks]

28 minutes ago, Llewop said:

Mark my words they’ll put stud shooters in their arms. It just seems to good to be true. I honestly don’t want that but It’s Lego 

God I hope not…

[Pedilego]

59 minutes ago, NoOneOfImportance said:

if LEGO released a $30 Stormtrooper pack with 3-4 regular Stormies and a couple of Rebels (or some similar distribution), I would guarantee that this set would be incredibly popular for the OT fans (who are a large percentage of the Star Wars fanbase (and overlap as PT fans, ST fans, etc. in many areas)). But that's just not something LEGO has done of late (and I'm not sure the Trexler counts in the same way, with only 2 Stormies an a Mortar trooper, as good as the set was).

Completely agree but imo Stormies are the exception & I don’t think there’s a flood of other BP options that’d match current Clone sales.

We’d probably also agree that they’ll do another one eventually, but they’re seemingly adverse to doing them too often. The latest version can’t be /too/ readily accessible /too/ fast…..

 

[Mandalorianknight]

20 minutes ago, Pedilego said:

Completely agree but imo Stormies are the exception & I don’t think there’s a flood of other BP options that’d match current Clone sales.

We’d probably also agree that they’ll do another one eventually, but they’re seemingly adverse to doing them too often. The latest version can’t be /too/ readily accessible /too/ fast…..

Not to get too far into wishlisting, but I could see:

Stormtroopers, Endor imperials (scouts and an officer/navy trooper), shore/death troopers, Gideon's beskar mandos, rebel fleet troopers, endor rebel troopers, a first order pack, etc all selling about as well as the current clone packs.
 

Not to mention, they're eventually going to run into diminishing returns with the clones, right? I don't know about you guys, but I've been buying fewer and fewer copies of each battle pack, just because I already have so many clones. Now of course kids aren't as affected by this, but there's got to be a certain point where there are just too many clones on the market and kids aren't going to keep buying them regardless of what color the stripes on them are.

[Classic_Spaceman]

75384: The Crimson Firehawk / $49.99 / 136 Pieces 
Includes Nubs, Nash Durango, and RJ-83; side-builds are a speeder bike and small market stall. 
 

[ForgedInLego]

4 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Not to mention, they're eventually going to run into diminishing returns with the clones, right? I don't know about you guys, but I've been buying fewer and fewer copies of each battle pack, just because I already have so many clones. Now of course kids aren't as affected by this, but there's got to be a certain point where there are just too many clones on the market and kids aren't going to keep buying them regardless of what color the stripes on them are.

On 7/29/2023 at 8:56 PM, ForgedInLego said:

501st** battle pack #4 confirmed?

If its a droid vehicle like a Hailfire or its shinies (P1 or P2) or its B2s I might get it, but oh my god. 

** the 332nd is orange flavored 501st, fight me

I mean they pretty much went 3 for 3 on what I was hoping for, so after this one I'm probably done 

[Pedilego]

13 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Not to get too far into wishlisting, but I could see:

Stormtroopers, Endor imperials (scouts and an officer/navy trooper), shore/death troopers, Gideon's beskar mandos, rebel fleet troopers, endor rebel troopers, a first order pack, etc all selling about as well as the current clone packs.
 

Not to mention, they're eventually going to run into diminishing returns with the clones, right? I don't know about you guys, but I've been buying fewer and fewer copies of each battle pack, just because I already have so many clones. Now of course kids aren't as affected by this, but there's got to be a certain point where there are just too many clones on the market and kids aren't going to keep buying them regardless of what color the stripes on them are.

Agreed on diminishing returns (I mentioned that in my first post today) but, still, I think you're severely underestimating how much Clones sell...

Personally, I aim to have enough of each faction to do basically any kind of MOC with my kids when they're older. X number of each kind of Clones, Y number of each kind of OT Imperials, and, Rebels, well, basically one of each version over the years; it makes them look more mis-matchy and true to the movies. The Rebels are supposed to be outmatched, too, after all; you just don't need many. There aren't that many OT Imperial variants so I'm basically set unless I want to upgrade & I'm not really a fan of the current Stormies. Imperial or Imperial-adjacent stuff from the Disney era is very hit-or-miss for me and a lot of people feel the same way. It's cool a lot of people on this forum have been voicing that it's time to bring back ST sets, but there are still a lot of disappointed fans that still have no interest in the ST or and have become just as dis-interested in debating the Disney era. Clones, though; there's still a deep mine of Lucas-era variants that people would continue to buy in mass quantities.

Of course; that's just my approach/opinion. However, since the 'dark times' first started a few years ago, I started buying old lots & new sets to build up my collection & to sell the rest. I'm not just speaking from my own tastes but, rather, I know what people tend to buy, how often, and for how much. I've sold Clone stuff from my personal collection because I thought prices were just too high. They're definitely not as hot as they were, but they still sell consistently at above-average prices. OT does OK. Lots of generic figs (like the ones you listed) for middling prices, but they don't sell much unless you sell them for, well, ST fig sorts of prices. ST has gone up a bit, supply & demand, but Lego would really need to leverage product/program synergy and/or do something special with them to have the things you listed pop like Clone packs will. It's not a perfect way to gauge the entire market, but I feel like my experience gives me some good visibility/insight into the broader market/demand/interest. 

 

Like, a "vs." Battle Pack could work if it were released alongside a MBS Endor - which likely isn't coming soon with the Sail Barge (and maybe something for the ROTS Anniversary) coming up. Shore Troopers & Death Troopers could be solid if they're prominent in Andor S2. Rebel Fleet Troopers, not so much; most people will be satiated with what they can get from however many copies of the Hallway set they'll buy. First Order figs were already high quality & can still be had at reasonable prices. Gideon's troops (3 Mandos + 1 P. Guard) would be interesting from a sales POV since people seemed to think S3 was mediocre but the character designs themselves are cool.

 

Sorry I didn't have time to workshop that & make it shorter lol.

[Meaf]

4 hours ago, ArrowBricks said:

Why do we think we have more Super Battle Droids than Battle Droids in the new battle pack? 

Interested to hear thoughts…I was surprised it was not the other way around.

I was also a little surprised, but I assume it's just because the Super Battle Droids have been gone for a while. 

1 hour ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Not to mention, they're eventually going to run into diminishing returns with the clones, right? I don't know about you guys, but I've been buying fewer and fewer copies of each battle pack, just because I already have so many clones. Now of course kids aren't as affected by this, but there's got to be a certain point where there are just too many clones on the market and kids aren't going to keep buying them regardless of what color the stripes on them are.

I think this is just really hard to tell without sales data, unfortunately. If a significant portion of battle pack sales are coming from army builders, then yeah I think Lego is going to start seeing the sales of clone packs fall off. But if the sales of battle packs are largely kids just buying one or two, I doubt it matters much what they make. There are other factors to take into account too, like collectors who previously didn't army build wanting to try it, and of course just new fans starting with the new battle packs because the older ones might not be available or as interesting. 

I guess all that is to say, unless there is some info that Lego has revealed about battle pack sales, it's probably hard to really know whether they are actually seeing diminishing returns. In a vacuum I feel like that makes sense, but for all the reasons I mentioned before that may not be the case. And on the other hand, if Lego keeps making them presumably they have done enough market research to believe these are going to sell? But then again, Lego has obviously been pretty off target in recent years (though I'd argue that applies more so to larger, less traditional sets).

EDIT: Oh neat I hit 500 posts

Edited September 8, 2023 by Meadius
Hit 500 posts

[ArrowBricks]

1 hour ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Now of course kids aren't as affected by this, but there's got to be a certain point where there are just too many clones on the market and kids aren't going to keep buying them regardless of what color the stripes on them are.

I won’t lie, there’s just something about shiny Phase II Clone Troopers. 

Unless something drastic happens with the set, I will be buying a fair few…

I can then buy all the current Republic vehicles such as the AT-TE and have all my nice Phase II shinies using them. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by ArrowBricks

[CallumPears]

4 hours ago, ForgedInLego said:

Have there been any new Pearl Dark Grey adjacent new plastic types since 2015? A less brittle plastic could make a difference, but even the dark brown (was dark brown as bad as reddish brown?) Commando droid legs feel weaker than regular droid legs

I also had a magnaguard's legs break (that one hurt) so I don't think it's to do with the colour but the mould itself. 

The clip is very thick which makes it less flexible and more prone to cracking. LEGO's old philosophy seems to have been thicker equals stronger which evidently didn't work out. They had the same issue with the old 1x1 tile clip piece (part 2555) which also had a very thick clip. I had loads of those break but then they made a new design with a thinner and more flexible clip in the early 2010s and I've never had one of those break. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by CallumPears

[Mandalorianknight]

3 hours ago, ForgedInLego said:

I mean they pretty much went 3 for 3 on what I was hoping for, so after this one I'm probably done 

Same here. The only thing that would get me buying more is a 212th battle pack, and even then, I have enough of the 501st now that I wouldn't buy nearly as much of the 212th as I would have three years ago, or even one year ago.

2 hours ago, Meadius said:

I think this is just really hard to tell without sales data, unfortunately. If a significant portion of battle pack sales are coming from army builders, then yeah I think Lego is going to start seeing the sales of clone packs fall off. But if the sales of battle packs are largely kids just buying one or two, I doubt it matters much what they make. There are other factors to take into account too, like collectors who previously didn't army build wanting to try it, and of course just new fans starting with the new battle packs because the older ones might not be available or as interesting. 

I guess all that is to say, unless there is some info that Lego has revealed about battle pack sales, it's probably hard to really know whether they are actually seeing diminishing returns. In a vacuum I feel like that makes sense, but for all the reasons I mentioned before that may not be the case. And on the other hand, if Lego keeps making them presumably they have done enough market research to believe these are going to sell? But then again, Lego has obviously been pretty off target in recent years (though I'd argue that applies more so to larger, less traditional sets).

But at the same time, the more clones we get, the cheaper it is to get clones in general on secondhand sites, which an increasing number of kids use (seriously, I know second graders who buy older figs off BL).

Like you say, there's definately no way of knowing for sure, but I feel it's pretty apparent that at some point lego's going to have to lower the rate at which they're pumping out packs.

2 hours ago, ArrowBricks said:

I won’t lie, there’s just something about shiny Phase II Clone Troopers. 

Unless something drastic happens with the set, I will be buying a fair few…

I can then buy all the current Republic vehicles such as the AT-TE and have all my nice Phase II shinies using them. 

Oh, don't get me wrong, I agree. I'm very excited for generic Phase 2s, especially the 3-1 ratio of them with Shocks, who I also wanted a fair bit (but not enough for the gunship). I'm just saying we've had such a large number of them now, I can't see future ones doing as well.

[Old Master]

VENATOR PICS OUT 

[Balrogofmorgoth]

Venator looks incredible!!!

[Old Master]

Might be early to say this but that is easily a top 5 set of all time in my book

[Balrogofmorgoth]

I’ve saved up and plan on getting the Venator and Gringotts during double vip points

[SketchBrick]

5 minutes ago, Old Master said:

VENATOR PICS OUT 

They really need to start revealing sets like this a bit earlier, especially when products are already being shipped to stores.

The set looks good though, pretty much what I expected. I don't have space for it, but I hope those that plan to buy it will be happy with the design!

[wesker]

I think this just became my favorite set of the year. October can't come soon enough!

[ForgedInLego]

Huh. I guess I didn't expect it to be the Clone Wars style, but I still like it. I was planning on only modding the interior, but the exterior may need some updates to match my preference for the ROTS style

Also can anyone tell what the dimensions say? Maybe its just me but it doesn't look like it says "40 in", second digit looks more like a 3....

Edited September 9, 2023 by ForgedInLego

[Old Master]

22 minutes ago, ForgedInLego said:

Huh. I guess I didn't expect it to be the Clone Wars style, but I still like it. I was planning on only modding the interior, but the exterior may need some updates to match my preference for the ROTS style

Also can anyone tell what the dimensions say? Maybe its just me but it doesn't look like it says "40 in", second digit looks more like a 3....

43 inches long and 12.5 tall

Edited September 9, 2023 by Old Master

[RODDY]

Venator looks glorious I just hope it doesn’t have the same super long and flimsy paneling technique from the UCS Star Destroyer. That’s going to be my make or break on this set because that paneling drove me insane last time.