montgocloud

LEGO probably included Groot in the Knowhere set to complement Rocket. Since he was a major player in that scene, Groot was thrown in as well. I wish Marvel would have pushed for a set based on the prison escape rather than Knowhere. Two inmates, one Nova officer, Rocket, Groot, and Nebula (just because). The prison locale is much easier to capture in LEGO than the spread out Knowhere scene.

Oh, wow. This is simply... stunning! The inspired use of the Rock Raiders canopy, the black nets, the little walkway on the neck... so many little details to marvel at! Great work. This sure makes the competition a lot more interesting!

This is a tough one. I'd never sell my sets, but if I was forced into that position had to pick one to save, it would be Cloud City. It not only has a great collector's value (and bragging rights attached), it holds sentimental value as well. In early 2003, a fire burned down most of my home (luckily a good portion of my sets were at my grandparent's house) and this was one of the first sets to start my new collection. I don't think I'll ever part with it. Even in death it shall be put in my sarcoghagus. Also, the Death Star. Because it's so dang cool.

I agree with the general consensus-these sets look far better than the preliminaries. I think it was a bad idea for LEGO to show their preliminary designs to fans. It made a lot of us worried. Anyways, I'm glad that the final sets look so awesome.

I don't think this one photo reflects how all of the Stormtroopers' armor will look in the final film. I imagine they'll show lots of wear in the battle scenes. At least we can all be thankful that they aren't being created entirely out of CGI like the clones.

On the LEGO Inside Tour one of the heads at the factory stated that the highest produced part is the technic pin.

I have no doubt that Bail will show up in Rebels, but I don't think it will be soon enough for sets to appear with him in it next year. I could be wrong though! It just seems like season one is focusing on forming the team, Ezra's training, and evading the Inquisitor. Creating the actual Rebel Alliance is a huge event that I'm sure they're saving for later...

Don't forget characters! I like what I've seen of them so far. They may be similar archetypes to the ones seen in A New Hope, but they have been tinkered with enough to feel distinct. I'm really looking forward to everything with Agent Kallus. From the preview clips, it looks like this will be a light science fantasy romp, which I love. Sure, it would be interesting to have a sort of "Jedi holocaust" situation, but I don't think a kids show, Disney produced or not, would ever explore that dark of a story. But it does implicate some potentially interesting dilemmas in the previews, particularly whether it is ethical for Kanan to train Ezra as a Jedi in such a dark time. I hope this show turns out as good as it looks.

I listen to a lot of rock and some electronic (as long as it's not too repetitive). My favorite artists (in alphabetical order) are Anamanaguchi, Art Brut, Ash, Franz Ferdinand, LCD Soundsystem, and Motion City Soundtrack. Lately I've been listening to LCD Soundsystem a lot though. James Murphy is a genius.

Please add a flag in Houston, TX!

This is an awesome mash-up! There are so many simple details like the SNOTed discs on the door and the ingenious use of microfigures on the wall in the booth section. It's a great use of parts and it captures both the Star Wars and neo-classic space look perfectly. I look forward to any possible mash-ups in the future!

LEGO video reviews are usually long and drawn out and focus way too much on the minifigures. Video reviews have clear advantages though and, if done right, could be great. They need to be more concise, have a good script (preferably a voice over), and focus on pictures like this particular review did with little bits of video thrown in to showcase the model's features. And hands should always be out of the shot. It's unprofessional and clunky. So basically what I'm saying is it should be a fast paced pictorial review with a scripted voice over instead of text. That way a viewer could pause if he wanted a closer look but isn't subjected to a 20 minute fumbling mess.

I have been doing a lot of LEGO shopping over the past couple of months. I had the privilege of going on the LEGO Inside Tour in June and while I was there, I bought the Mos Eisley Cantina and the Imperial Star Destroyer. I really like the European boxes! While I enjoy having the piece count on the box, they look much more clean compared to their American counterparts. I'm not sure it does LEGO any favors when it comes to marketing though. LEGO is much more expensive in Europe and, coupled with the downsized boxes, I can only imagine how the uninitiated adult gift-givers feel when the pay so much for a box that's so little, not knowing that the model is bigger than the box might suggest. Back on topic, I recently bought the Ghost and the Phantom. I love these sets when paired together, but I'm having a problem with the front flaps that store the equipment and missiles. The hinge for the flap on the left doesn't sit well (when I attempt to close it, it immediately bounces up a little bit) while the one on the right will stay down just fine. Because of this, the two sides are noticeably uneven. I tried to take the section apart and it appears that the hinge has a problem. I can't remove the technic pin no matter how hard I pull or push an axle on the other side. Any suggestions? Edit: With some brute strength and a simple part replacement I solved the problem. An actual criticism I have about the Ghost is that Kanan can't fit in the gunner seat and I imagine Sabine won't be able to either. Ezra can just barely cram his head in there.

If this set list is true, then this is a huge step up from the recent Bat-centric waves. Let's hope that the sets are as promising as they sound.

I see what you're saying and I agree with you to a point. The prequels are really guilty of this and it's inexcusable. But the TV show only has 20 minutes (or around an hour if it's an arc) to establish a problem on a planet, do some fun character stuff, have some twists and turns, and resolve it. There isn't time to think about the larger scale unfortunately. Rebels is just about a band of heroes traveling from planet to planet fighting the Empire, so it won't be an issue there unless we see some major Rebel uprisings-then it will probably fall into the same trapping Clone Wars did.

I thought I heard that they were somewhere but maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part. Oh well, I can always just pretend that they are.

Using weight to determine if a set is well priced is flawed in some cases. Making a new mold is very expensive for LEGO. A lot of time and money goes into designing it and manufacturing it. That's another mold to habitually clean and replace. The prices of sets with exclusive molds reflects this.

Yeah, I get the hate for the Stormtrooper, but can't we all be thankful that the actual faces for the figures are at least normal? I'm fine with the new prints---the Stormtroopers in Rebels are supposed to be a slightly different design than the ones in the original trilogy. Unlike in The Clone Wars, there is a story context to it.

As a huge turtles fan, I thought it was pretty terrible. In order to keep this semi-structured I'll number my main problems with this movie. 1. The script Wow, this has to be the laziest superhero movie since Green Lantern! It's so typical and cliche. Not only that, but it appears many elements were borrowed from The Amazing Spider-Man. What? 2. The origin I'm okay with different takes on the origin. Hell, I grew up with one version of the origin but now my favorite version is the one in the recent IDW comics. What they did here was okay... Until they took away any of Splinter's ties with Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki. Hey, Liebesmen! The interesting thing about the Splinter vs. Shredder fight isn't that it's a rat fighting a cheese grater! It's their motivation! This movie took away their motivation and I couldn't have been more bored during their fight scene as a result. 3. The Turtles themselves Okay, this may be a minor point, but they weren't really ninjas in this movie. Yes, the movie claims that they can disappear after a fight, but they don't fight like ninjas. They fight like soldiers. Wouldn't it be cool if there was a scene where, after the Turtles got their shells handed to them by Shredder, they had to use stealth to take him down? Nah, fight in the open like Splinter taught you! *Sigh* 4. The obvious rewrites It's so obvious that Eric Sachs was meant to be Shredder. It's so, painfully obvious. That whole scene where he talks to April O'Fox in the exposition room proves it! I know fans (including myself) were getting furious, but they shouldn't have changed it that late in the game. It comes off pretty sloppy. The whole change makes Sachs a worthless character and Shredder wasn't even faithfully portrayed so what was the point? 5. Characterization... or lack thereof Want to know how fleshed out the Turtles are in this movie? Leonardo is the leader, Raphael is the hothead, Donatello is the brains, and Michaelangelo is the party dude. That's it for what we get in terms of characterization. Yes, I know this is produced by Michael Bay. But does that mean I should lower my standards? Wouldn't it be cool to see why Leonardo was chosen as the leader or how Raphael got so hotheaded? There could also be a cool opportunity for character if, say, one Turtle had a closer relationship with one brother than another. Something, anything! All Liebesmen had to do was take out one of Megan O'Neil's pace-breaking scenes! This movie is infuriatingly bad. Writing this post helped me get through my boiling anger though.

So I've been watching a lot of the Clone Wars on Netflix. I have to say, as a strictly OT fan, it is not only miles ahead of the prequels in terms of storytelling and characters, it also elevates the prequels. I can't wait to see what the team has in store for Rebels. I recently finished the season six Clovis arc and I have one major question for prequel fans: it appears that the Galactic Banking Clan funds both sides of the war... How does that work? How does that make any sense? Most of my problems with the show stem from its source material, but I don't remember this plot point being in AOTC or ROTS so I can't blame Lucas... There has to be something I'm missing. Am I the only one who thinks this is totally nonsensical?

LEGO doesn't decide how to allocate sets with the Marvel license, Marvel does. Marvel is at fault for the lack of The Winter Soldier and The Dark World sets. These two movies had very poor toy marketing outside of LEGO too. The toy marketing for Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy, meanwhile, was much, much stronger.

I don't even understand their argument. LEGO includes instructions with their sets to create a model. Does that mean that kids can't break the model down later and make something new? The only reason they wouldn't is if they didn't want to. And what's wrong with licensed sets? They don't "restrict" creativity. I have a friend with a much younger brother and whenever I go to his house I always see his bizarre creations with pieces and figures that he took from licensed sets. Licensed sets also encourage kids to roleplay. Let's face it, some kids in the 6 to 10 range would rather roleplay as Luke Skywalker than as a town citizen-whether it be in the backyard or with their LEGO bricks. The uneducated always assume that the creativity only comes from what kids physically create and don't take into account the stories they tell to themselves.

The only thing I have any attachment to in the EU is the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight trilogy. If there's an episode in Rebels where the team finds the Death Star plans then I'll riot. But oh well, they'll always be canon to me!

I know it would be difficult but I would kill for an LDD file! Your model is gorgeous and would look fantastic in any Endor display.

Gamora's sword can be stored on a special clip right above the speakers. It's easy to miss. There's also another clip on the opposite side for storing her extra sword. I don't have a solution for Quill's helmet though...