LEGO Star Wars 2012 Pictures and Rumors

[Omega X]

Well, Lego could do something in my opinion. Lego could create a new raised baseplate, like the temple of Crystal Skull or like King Leo's castle(I think), and attach it beneath Jabba's palace and build the Rancor Pit in it.The second tower that we get in the Jabba's palace set(The new one) might be detached and lego could easily wedge something between it.

Overall, I'm not really excited.

Omega X

[Big T]

Thanks everyone for the positive reception of my theorie about the Rancor Pit!

Although I'm pretty optimistic about a Rancor Pit, I am left wondering what the designers will do about the tower with the entrance. If the palace is raised up by the Rancor Pit, it will need a pretty tall entrance ramp to get to the entrance. On the other hand, the tower is modular, so perhaps they will make it connect to the lower 'Rancor Pit' part. Oh well, I guess only time will tell...

If they want to do the droid dungeon as well as the Rancor pit (to really complete the Palace) then they could place the dungeon directly under the tower maybe? Have it adjacent to the pit, and make the whole set-up two stories

[HJR-Holland]

I really like the idea, yet I'm not convinced there would be a big market for a Rancor-only set; it would indeed require q droid pit in there to become 'playable'... I think it will be an exclusive as it will be hard to convice 100000+ stores to stock a LEGO Rancor set...

All said, I do hope we'll get a LEGO Rancor one day though! If LEGO can make a Tauntaun, they can also do a Rancor :-)

[kamigawa]

Any info about the B-Wing?

I remember someone recently said we would get some tidbits of information soon enough, but I must admit I have no idea of the line-up of forthcoming LEGO/toy events where it could be seen.

[CaptainCRO]

I have been in a dark age for a while(since the release of winter wave sets), but I'm back!

First off, I must say the new minifigures are just awesome. I LOVE Palpatine's arrest minifigures, even though they are pretty much recycled.

But, now I see how much better the regular faces are than the CW faces. Saesee Tiin looks so much better with this face,

and I thought he had awesome face even if it was CW. Agen Kolar is also incomparably cooler and overall better than Eeth Koth.

Palpatine and Mace Windu are also very nice.

Although, the minifigures are more than incredible, I must say I am dissapointed, and here's why:

Almost all sets nowadays are being sold ONLY BECAUSE OF MINIFIGURES. I remember when I was a kid and bought sets because they had cool vehicles and buildings.

An exception to that is Jabba's palace. This set is on a different level than other sets this year. It has a very nice building and play features, and of course

a ton of new extremly detailed minifigs. The only problem is it is very expensive.

If I will be able to in the terms of money, I am definitly going to pick this set up. And if they release a rancor pit for it, this set could be one of the best

SW sets ever released.

The only set that is a good build other than Jabba's palace is The Gungan sub. But it is nothing so special in my opinion.

The X-Wing and Y-WIng are cool, but I can't stand them being re-released over and over again.

I will end up BL-ing the figs I like and skipping on the sets.

[MandaloretheLesser]

Soooo any news on this UCS B-wing??

[TheLegoDr]

The beauty of them re-releasing sets over time is the new improvements/colors/figures. Yes, figures are a selling point for many people (including me), but the set overall has to have some value to it. I only recently got into SW, but the 2012 waves are by far the best renditions of all the sets/figures (in my opinion). If I had earlier versions of those sets, I would probably still pick up the new versions just because of how beautiful they are, even though i would be reluctant about doing so.

I am all for bricklinking figures and not buy the whole set, but from what I've seen, if you want the majority of the figures, it usually isn't that much more to just buy the entire set and get a lot of extra pieces for little money beyond the figure sales. That's the only reason I will be willing to buy Jabba and Palpatine sets. Otherwise, I would just bricklink the figures in all the summer sets and call it good. Heck, I would have done that for the first wave also, but most of the time the figures are ridiculously high all on their own.

When I first got into Lego in the early 90s, I liked the figures, but the sets were the fun/selling point. Now you still have that, but beautiful figures to go along with them. I love the figures, but I actually do miss the 90s Lego with more simple figures. But that was well before the licensing frenzy also.

[Omega X]

Seriously, i have no interest in Jabba's Palace, with or without the rancor pit. The minifigures are the main attraction, but the content is not worth it. The Malevolence bears a striking similarity to the Ventor-Class Republic Attack Cruiser, VRAC in short. Most of the features, like the handle and the opening front. So I would like to ask, is VRAC longer or is the Malevolence longer?

In conclusion(I hate saying this part), I have no interest in the 2012 summer SW wave. Good try Lego, but NO. Sorry.

Omega X

[Bilbo Baggins]

I really don't think LEGO will ever produce a Rancor because of it being massive and requiring a really tricky build.

[Alldarker]

I really don't think LEGO will ever produce a Rancor because of it being massive and requiring a really tricky build.

If Lego have already made a Wampa ice creature, a Hulk and a Cave Troll, I have no doubt at all that they can (and will) make a Rancor is the same style. All those are relatively the same sizes, so a Rancor would be very easy to make to the scale of a minifig. I'd say it's not going to be a brick build at all, just the usual torso with attachable hands (and perhaps an opening mouth).

[CaptainCRO]

I dont really get the idea of a rancor pit.

Rancor is HUGE, the room would have to be even bigger for him to fit in.

[Aanchir]

Has Lego ever made play sets that are designed to interconnect and make one big set? I know the Orc sets can be used to expand Helms Deeps wall, but I mean real fully independent sets that are designed to lock together to make a bigger scene?

Well, the most recent Hogwarts set (4867) is designed to connect to the previous year's Hogwarts Castle (4842). But despite connecting together in this way, they don't form one interconnected scene the way Jabba's Palace would with a Rancor Pit expansion.

Similarly to the Hogwarts sets mentioned, all Harry Potter sets that depicted scenes set at Hogwarts Castle in 2001-2002 were able to be interconnected (with the exception of the pastel-colored "dollhouse"-style sets of 2001). See here (poster from 2001 sets) and here (poster from 2002 sets). But again, although the sets were intended to be connected physically, they were not designed to connect functionally-- every set with a staircase or trapdoor tended to have it connect somewhere within that set, rather than to a different set.

The early Star Wars theme had certain sets that were meant to be visually compatible even if they didn't connect physically. The most obvious examples are 7200 and 7201 (Final Duel I and II) and 7203 and 7204 (Jedi Defense I and II). But in fact the original Jabba's Palace was released as three visually-compatible sets: 4475 Jabba's Message, 4476 Jabba's Prize, and 4480 Jabba's Palace.

Interestingly, one feature of these "visually-compatible" sets is that by getting all of the sets in a series, you would get a wide cast of characters from the relevant scenes with zero duplicates. This becomes meaningful when you notice that the Jabba's Palace set released this year lacks some key characters from the scenes at Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi: specifically, Luke, who would be the central character in a Rancor Pit set, is absent, and R2-D2 and C-3P0, who would likely appear in a "droid dungeon" expansion, are nowhere to be found. With that in mind it's very believable that those two scenes be included in the inevitable Jabba's Palace expansion.

[Dustin]

Seriously, i have no interest in Jabba's Palace, with or without the rancor pit. The minifigures are the main attraction, but the content is not worth it. The Malevolence bears a striking similarity to the Ventor-Class Republic Attack Cruiser, VRAC in short. Most of the features, like the handle and the opening front. So I would like to ask, is VRAC longer or is the Malevolence longer?

In conclusion(I hate saying this part), I have no interest in the 2012 summer SW wave. Good try Lego, but NO. Sorry.

Omega X

Well, the Venator is taller, but the Malevolence ( ) is a bit longer.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Dustin

[mutley777]

If Lego have already made a Wampa ice creature, a Hulk and a Cave Troll, I have no doubt at all that they can (and will) make a Rancor is the same style. All those are relatively the same sizes, so a Rancor would be very easy to make to the scale of a minifig. I'd say it's not going to be a brick build at all, just the usual torso with attachable hands (and perhaps an opening mouth).

I would say forget the size of those three figs as they just are not big enough. The new T-rex from the dino line is a real example of how big the Rancor could be.

Picture borrowed from Plissken's 5886 review

[Faefrost]

Interestingly, one feature of these "visually-compatible" sets is that by getting all of the sets in a series, you would get a wide cast of characters from the relevant scenes with zero duplicates. This becomes meaningful when you notice that the Jabba's Palace set released this year lacks some key characters from the scenes at Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi: specifically, Luke, who would be the central character in a Rancor Pit set, is absent, and R2-D2 and C-3P0, who would likely appear in a "droid dungeon" expansion, are nowhere to be found. With that in mind it's very believable that those two scenes be included in the inevitable Jabba's Palace expansion.

Luke, Lando and Boba Fett show up in the companion set the Dessert Skiff this year. C3PO and R2D2 show up in the Droid escape which will still be on the shelves, so I am not sure that their absence in the palace set is indicative of anything?

I'm just afraid that we are getting our hopes all worked up over what might simply be left over design elements from when they initially created this thing and were still debating how big to make it, and how to reduce it for pricing? Aren't the protoypes of the sets normally much bigger or more involved, and then they go in and start cutting back elements to hit the desired price points? When they first designed it, it might have had the pit underneath. They may have removed it in production for cost, or because it simply didn't look right with the palace sitting on top of it, or whatever. But they never reworked the design to remove the vestigial connection points. We have seen this sort of thing plenty of times before. some weird little almost feature that wasn't in the docs or marketing materials, like a pair on missiles in the trucks engine compartment, that really dont pivot out well and are never mentioned as a feature, etc.

With that said, I am actually surprised that the only time they seem to have made sets that were really designed to be both stand alone, and directly interconnect to form a larger interrelated scene is principally the AFOL targeted Modular town buildings like the Pet Shop and Town Hall. You would think that something like that would work well for Star Wars or the Superhero's? Build yourself a Death Star on the installment plan.

[HumanPackMule]

I'm just afraid that we are getting our hopes all worked up over what might simply be left over design elements from when they initially created this thing and were still debating how big to make it, and how to reduce it for pricing? Aren't the protoypes of the sets normally much bigger or more involved, and then they go in and start cutting back elements to hit the desired price points? When they first designed it, it might have had the pit underneath. They may have removed it in production for cost, or because it simply didn't look right with the palace sitting on top of it, or whatever. But they never reworked the design to remove the vestigial connection points. We have seen this sort of thing plenty of times before. some weird little almost feature that wasn't in the docs or marketing materials, like a pair on missiles in the trucks engine compartment, that really dont pivot out well and are never mentioned as a feature, etc.

Really? What would some good examples of that situation be?

[Omega X]

Well, the Venator is taller, but the Malevolence ( ) is a bit longer.

Hey thanks Dustin!

Omega X

[Alldarker]

Faefrost, if you check out the instructions for Jabba's Palace (part 1 / part 2), you'll see that a significant amount of extra pieces have been used to build the base of the Palace with those four holes / 'vestigial connection points' on the underneath. It would have been a lot more efficient NOT to use all those extra pieces, and to just double up on the large plates used on the top part of the floor. Nowadays, Lego is enormously conscious of design-efficiency, and if a set-design can be easily simplified without hurting the look, it will be. Examples of that are common: the replacement of many printed bricks by stickers; using weird colored bricks in interiors where they can't be seen; or for example using two 1x3 plates to avoid using a single 2x3 plate. It's highly unlikely they'd let superfluous parts slide in a set like Jabba's Palace, especially as Lego is already probably aware that this is a very expensive set, considering the price-to-parts ratio.

In addition to that, Lego sets are designed to a price-point, and not the other way round. So the designer is allowed a certain budget to create a set, but a regular set is hardly ever priced after it has been designed (unless perhaps it's a UCS set). And there's little chance that a Rancor Pit would ever have fitted within the budgetary design-constraints for this set.

You are right about the figures, though. On the one had, Jabba's Palace is missing a few figures like Luke and the droids, but they are all figures that are available in other current sets. I've been thinking about the figures a theoretical 'Rancor Pit / Droid torture chamber' would contain: I guess Luke is a no-brainer, as is a huge Rancor mold (expensive to create!) and the Rancor keeper (hopefully with double-sided crying face!). Also, a new EV-9D9 and a Gonk Droid might be likely, as is another Gammorean guard.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Alldarker

[Dustin]

Hey thanks Dustin!

Omega X

You are most welcome!

Oh, BTW, "legoboy12456789" has video reviews of all the 2012 Summer Sets (excluding Pre Vizsla's Mandalorian Starfighter) up on YouTube! Go check them out!

Edited June 11, 2012 by Dustin

[HumanPackMule]

Just watched Legoboy12456789's reviews last night, and they significantly altered my plans for my purchasing of the summer sets. Still getting the skiff and JSF but the Gungan sub is now out of the question as well as the Malevolence due to their prices and lack of interesting features. Still on the fence with Jabba's palace though. And the republic fighter might be worth picking up now.

[Faefrost]

Faefrost, if you check out the instructions for Jabba's Palace (part 1 / part 2), you'll see that a significant amount of extra pieces have been used to build the base of the Palace with those four holes / 'vestigial connection points' on the underneath. It would have been a lot more efficient NOT to use all those extra pieces, and to just double up on the large plates used on the top part of the floor. Nowadays, Lego is enormously conscious of design-efficiency, and if a set-design can be easily simplified without hurting the look, it will be. Examples of that are common: the replacement of many printed bricks by stickers; using weird colored bricks in interiors where they can't be seen; or for example using two 1x3 plates to avoid using a single 2x3 plate. It's highly unlikely they'd let superfluous parts slide in a set like Jabba's Palace, especially as Lego is already probably aware that this is a very expensive set, considering the price-to-parts ratio.

In addition to that, Lego sets are designed to a price-point, and not the other way round. So the designer is allowed a certain budget to create a set, but a regular set is hardly ever priced after it has been designed (unless perhaps it's a UCS set). And there's little chance that a Rancor Pit would ever have fitted within the budgetary design-constraints for this set.

You are right about the figures, though. On the one had, Jabba's Palace is missing a few figures like Luke and the droids, but they are all figures that are available in other current sets. I've been thinking about the figures a theoretical 'Rancor Pit / Droid torture chamber' would contain: I guess Luke is a no-brainer, as is a huge Rancor mold (expensive to create!) and the Rancor keeper (hopefully with double-sided crying face!). Also, a new EV-9D9 and a Gonk Droid might be likely, as is another Gammorean guard.

I understand what you are saying, and it does seem weird that these were left in. But I am just not willing to get my hopes up regarding a type of set modularity that Lego has never ever attempted before, and that would seem to have a great deal of technical hurdles. Just think about the degree of engineering that would need to be done for this theoretical Jabba's Dungeon / Rancor Pit. It has to be tall enough to fully enclose the Rancor pit, yet still leave a broad access for play. So three side walls. It probably has to be at least tall enough to support the height of a large Rancor. Ideally about the size of the T-rex, but worst case the size of the current Hulk. So probably somewhere between 9 and 12" in height. Now it has to support the entire weight of the fairly large Jabba's Palace playset, and still look good from the outside, so some terrain sculpting ala the Agents Volcano Base set. Toss a Rancor and a few minifigs into this, plus the shear amount of pieces needed to make it structurally sound while not looking like a girder bridge, and you are getting to a horribly expensive set at a minimum. Easily $200+ USD. (Which when combined with Jabba's Palace would put it in line with the Death Star set, which would be an interesting business and marketing model). I just think that if they were doing something that elaborate, it would be showing up in the Marketing Materials. It would be heralded on the back of the box. "HEY! Combines with set XXX to form this scene!!!!! "

I hope that all the speculation is right. I would love a Rancor Pit and have thought it should have been an obvious choice years ago. This just seems like it would be a weird choice to quietly and secretly slip in such a feature. The trap door to nowhere in the Palace set, + the connection points definitely imply that they were thinking of a Racor Pit underneath. I am just not yet hopeful that they have pulled the trigger and are putting such a set out.

[KurttKrueger]

Just watched Legoboy12456789's reviews last night, and they significantly altered my plans for my purchasing of the summer sets. Still getting the skiff and JSF but the Gungan sub is now out of the question as well as the Malevolence due to their prices and lack of interesting features. Still on the fence with Jabba's palace though. And the republic fighter might be worth picking up now.

The Republic Starfighter is a lovely ship, and well worth picking up if you get the chance. It's been sitting on my desk for nearly a week now, and I have t fight the urge to pick it up and swoosh it every time I see it (ok, I don't always fight the urge...).

Lovely vibrant colour scheme as well, really makes it 'pop'.

[Aanchir]

I understand what you are saying, and it does seem weird that these were left in. But I am just not willing to get my hopes up regarding a type of set modularity that Lego has never ever attempted before, and that would seem to have a great deal of technical hurdles.

Never attempted before? Perhaps, but that's no reason it's unlikely. The only thing that makes a theoretical Rancor Pit set more advanced than the modularity of the older Harry Potter sets is that Jabba's Palace would include an action feature that would directly connect to a Rancor pit (having the trapdoor open into the Rancor pit set). While this is unprecedented as far as I know, it's preposterous to suggest that this reason makes a Rancor pit unlikely, because that logic would imply that a Jabba's Palace without a trapdoor would be more likely to connect to a Rancor pit. There would be more precedent at any rate.

Just think about the degree of engineering that would need to be done for this theoretical Jabba's Dungeon / Rancor Pit. It has to be tall enough to fully enclose the Rancor pit, yet still leave a broad access for play. So three side walls.

Counterpoint-- why would it need any walls at all? The most it would need would be a single wall to allow for the gate that crushes the Rancor. But all it would need to support Jabba's Palace above it would be four columns, and there are countless ways four sturdy columns could be built using existing Technic and System elements at a reasonable (by Star Wars standards) price point.

It probably has to be at least tall enough to support the height of a large Rancor. Ideally about the size of the T-rex, but worst case the size of the current Hulk. So probably somewhere between 9 and 12" in height.

It would be simple to create sturdy columns of an appropriate size as mentioned above through clever use of Technic and System. The minarets of the Taj Mahal set are very tall and mostly hollow, supported internally with Technic axles. Something similar could be done here, perhaps even more economically by using the existing 2x2x11 column piece for the upper part of the supports. To keep the columns from falling over and dropping the upper part of the palace, it would be fairly easy and cheap to incorporate Technic into the base to keep the columns perpendicular to the "floor"

Now it has to support the entire weight of the fairly large Jabba's Palace playset, and still look good from the outside, so some terrain sculpting ala the Agents Volcano Base set.

I think "looking good from the outside" is irrelevant to the whole conversation. After all, being a subterranean location, its exterior is not at all distinctive and thus there is no real need to replicate it. Perhaps some Star Wars fans might not like this, given that the beautiful exterior is a great asset of Jabba's Palace, but the set on its own could still be effective at depicting the scene in a way fans can appreciate without needing a detailed exterior on all sides-- perhaps the only exterior it would really need would be the single wall that includes the important gate.

Toss a Rancor and a few minifigs into this, plus the shear amount of pieces needed to make it structurally sound while not looking like a girder bridge, and you are getting to a horribly expensive set at a minimum. Easily $200+ USD. (Which when combined with Jabba's Palace would put it in line with the Death Star set, which would be an interesting business and marketing model). I just think that if they were doing something that elaborate, it would be showing up in the Marketing Materials. It would be heralded on the back of the box. "HEY! Combines with set XXX to form this scene!!!!! "

The reasons listed above convince me that the price would not be remotely as high as you're suggesting. But regarding the marketing aspect, why would they advertise a set they haven't even released in marketing materials for Jabba's Palace? It's not like they advertised the 2011 Hogwarts set in the marketing materials for the 2010 Hogwarts set, even though they were designed to be compatible. Once the 2011 Hogwarts set was out, though, they didn't hesitate to mention compatibility with the 2010 Hogwarts set in its marketing materials.

Also, like the two Hogwarts sets, Jabba's Palace and the Rancor Pit would both be designed to be desirable as stand-alone sets. The Rancor Pit, after all, would depict a major action scene in a way that includes a convenient action feature (the opening/closing gate) and a Rancor figure that would be a must-have for both kids and collectors. Still, there would be a definite advantage in owning both sets, just as with the previous two Hogwarts depictions.

I hope that all the speculation is right. I would love a Rancor Pit and have thought it should have been an obvious choice years ago. This just seems like it would be a weird choice to quietly and secretly slip in such a feature. The trap door to nowhere in the Palace set, + the connection points definitely imply that they were thinking of a Racor Pit underneath. I am just not yet hopeful that they have pulled the trigger and are putting such a set out.

Well, it will certainly be anything but quiet once a Rancor Pit set is finally revealed. I guarantee you they'll then start pushing both sets a great deal. But there's an advantage to not revealing or releasing both at the same time. Being at such high price points, it will be unlikely for kids to be able to obtain both sets at once. And yet by spacing them just a year apart, they will both be on store shelves at the same time, so kids who first buy the Palace can later buy the Rancor Pit and vice-versa. Keep in mind that being high-dollar items, they will surely stay on store shelves longer than smaller sets that make better "impulse buys".

In general, it's clear that during the design, the designers considered the possibility of a Rancor Pit to connect to Jabba's Palace. Even you acknowledge that the Rancor Pit would be somewhat costly, so I think the idea that the two were ever expected to comprise a single set is preposterous.

On the other hand, if a Rancor Pit is still in the works then I don't think we'll be waiting long for it to be revealed. If there are plans for a Rancor Pit, I would expect it by next summer at the latest. The design of Jabba's Palace creates an opportunity for such a set, and it's hard to imagine anything that could possibly happen in the future to create a more auspicious opportunity than this one.

[Faefrost]

Never attempted before? Perhaps, but that's no reason it's unlikely. The only thing that makes a theoretical Rancor Pit set more advanced than the modularity of the older Harry Potter sets is that Jabba's Palace would include an action feature that would directly connect to a Rancor pit (having the trapdoor open into the Rancor pit set). While this is unprecedented as far as I know, it's preposterous to suggest that this reason makes a Rancor pit unlikely, because that logic would imply that a Jabba's Palace without a trapdoor would be more likely to connect to a Rancor pit. There would be more precedent at any rate.

I'll just crop your responses down mainly for brevity. I think it would be spectacular if they did this. I am hoping that they do. But I still stand by my suspicions that if they do do it it will be a massive and expensive system. Something like how the newly announced Haunted House fits into the Monster Fighters line.

They cannot make it open. They would not take this years top end showpiece set and just mount it on stilts like a classic 80's space set. Which means they will need at a minimum at least around 60% wrap around of the back wall and gate. It will need to look good from both inside and out because the Jabba's Palace set is made to look good from both the external view and the internal open side. TLG is well aware who it is buying the SW line, and especially the OT portions of it. It is the AFOL's with money. We tend to be a very picky audience. In order for Jabba's Palace to sit on top of something it will have to match and look reasonably good. Yeah it is possible for them to do an open design with 4 columns. But they won't. This isn't 1999. They will do it right or not do it at all.

And that is why I am reasonably skeptical on this. If they were going to make a massive interjoined set project like this, I just don't see where they would test it out first with sets that stack vertically like we are thinking. A couple of horizontal sets to see how well they connect and sell. Maybe our long asked for Ewok Village with 3 sets that have interconnecting bridges? But to take the years biggest set, a large building, and perch it onto some lego pillars and maybe walls? It's possible. They sure do like to surprise us. But it just seems a strange place to start. Hopefully we do get lucky and get it.

With all of that said. Has anybody seen any sign of the new SW sets in the US or Canada yet?

[Artanis I]

I noticed that there is a topic showing a few photos of all(?) the new sets but most sets have not been fully reviewed yet. I bought and built the 9500 Old Republic set Sith Fury Class Interceptor so if you'd like to see a few more photos of that set have a look here.

It's a nice solid ship, I really like the underside of the wings being made studs on bottom. One thing that irritates me about some ships (eg new Mandalorian ship) is when the underside of plates is showing. Regarding the build, it was a bit repetitive making the same wing section 4 times (2 left, 2 right) for both the front and back, but not as annoying as building the same engine rocket heaps of times - as can be the case in other sets.

Darth Malgus is a realy nice minifig. The torso has identical printing to the armour piece where it's hidden by it. The sith troopers aren't as good as I first thought they'd be when box art first emerged, but they aren't bad figures at all. The helmets are very reminiscent of someone we know very well...

A downside of the set is I couldn't really find a good one-handed grip to pick it up. On the plus side though, all 3 minifigs fit nicely inside the ship. (Darth Malgus seated isn't great for the cape, but the cockpit can close with him standing & holding his lightsabre.) Flick-fires are on the side, fairly low key and no hassles with their use/inclusion.

Rear wings fold out like so: