MSY-MSP

This may not be the right place for this comment, so apologies if I am in the wrong here. I have been giving a lot of thought to the concept of the leaker and how Lego deals with leaks. We all know that Lego has gotten much better about controlling leaks in the past few years. With the sudden amount of "leaks" that have come out in the recent weeks, I am wondering if Lego is doing two things. The first is figuring out where the leaks are actually coming from. This is a common approach used when dealing with potential security breaches. We would internally send around documents that mostly said the same thing (so that the actual job could get done) but would switch out slight details here and there so if the document ended up somewhere we could figure out who it came from. (i.e. who was sharing that shouldn't have been) The second would be to test ideas that we aren't fully ready to commit to, or are trying to figure out which way to go on something. These rumors seem to fit both categories, but I am leaning towards Lego really trying to figure out where their leaks are. And my guess is that the leaks are not coming from the LSW team, but somewhere else in the company. My guess would be someone on the marketing team or the sales team. You could give them just enough real information to allow them to do there job, but change enough of the facts that you would know who the leaker was. For example, (this is not real) the Jedi temple could really be the Endor Bunker. From a marketing and sales standpoint, they both would be large sets portraying an important site/event in universe. So the approach to both would likely be the same at a high level. And the work done by the team would not necessarily be wasted and you would find your leaker. Same thing could happen for a ship. Pick two similar style ships and see what happens. Further, it does seem that leaks are mostly sought after for the licensed themes, and the more adult focused lines. (Modular, CMF, Icons, etc). Which makes finding the leaks that much more valuable. Just a thought and sorry if its in the wrong place.

Not going to quote a bunch of folks here. Honestly too time consuming from my perspective. I appreciate that we are finally getting sort of back on track with the discussions about Lego and what the future may hold for the star wars lines. My only comment on the folks who give us hints, and it has been said already, is let them provide their hints. We are all able to separate the wheat from the chaff in order to determine who to trust and who not to trust. We don't need to bash anyone for what they bring. Time will always sort things out. Ok, off my soapbox. I have noticed discussion on what could come out of Andor for future sets that would appeal to kids. I actually see quite a few other areas that would make a good "play set" for kids outside of the haulcraft. One is the Quad Jumper after they make the escape from prison. The two fishermen would be an interesting set of minifigs. Also the Quad Jumper could tie into the one that gets blown up in TFA. Another one could be the "Heist on Aldhani" maybe focusing on the ship and the escape rail. And finally, something related to the Narkina 5 prison room. (now admittedly this may not make the greatest play set) For Ashoka there seems to me to be a lot that could be done to create sets with what hasn't been done yet. I could see something like the Noti moveable homes. (That could give you Ezra). Also the Eye of Sion would be a great set as well, (could give Thrawn and a great mother). I agree the Chimera is likely going to be held for a future time. Those are just some thoughts I had.

If it is a plushie, I am going to have to buy 2. My girls are going to want to chase me around the house with those for sure.

I like the set. It looks interesting to me and I am not terribly concerned what version it is between the CW and TROS. Granted it is a big set and that may be my biggest hurdle on pulling the trigger on it. The one space I have where it could be displayed has been taken over by the Titanic that my girls demanded that I put there (and buy and build) for them. (This is after it spent 3 months in one of their classrooms). Is it just me or do all of the lifestyle shots have impeccably clean and organized houses without a hint of any other Lego whatsoever. I mean they really should have at least one or two shots of the person trying to figure out where they are going to put the set amongst the rest of their entire collections. You know reaching over the Eifel Tower to reach a shelf, or tripping over the AT-AT. Its not like someone purchasing this set doesn't own any other sets.

Well I found the T-6 at the local Costco for $65, which after having built the set, I am really glad that I didn't spend $80 on it. The figures are great, even if Sabine doesn't have arm printing. For the first time in a long time for me is that the build is not great. The ship is way too small. When I first was building it, I thought that there might be a little room behind the cockpit area that hadn't been mentioned. But no, turns out that was simply a place to store a bunch of weapons and tools. You have storage for all of the figure's weapons, but no space for the figures, WTF. The final build is about the size of the Fang Fighter or the Spider Tank. The cockpit is really flimsy in the way it is attached. So overall not very impressed with the model itself. I think it should have been at least twice the price to do the ship justice. I am half thinking of picking up a couple more of the set and attempting to make a much better sized version, and using the cockpit from the Falcon to at least be able to fit 2 figures in there.

As an attorney who deals with NDA's and IP rights day in and day out. The one thing I would fear is personally breaching an NDA especially if I ever wanted to work in a particular industry ever again. Often times the NDA has language such as this: "Recipient acknowledges that the Confidential Information it receives constitutes unique and valuable information to Discloser and its affiliates and that the breach of any of the provisions contained in this Agreement may result in irreparable harm and continuing damages to Discloser and its affiliates and their businesses, and that Discloser's remedy at law for any such breach or threatened breach may be inadequate...." Which is often quite fun to figure out what the actual damages are due to the breach. Getting the injunction that says stop what you are doing and stop using this is easier. In the case of leaking an upcoming product, the monetary damages side of the breach would be next to impossible to come up with a number for. For a licensed theme, the damages would likely be to the relationship between Lego and the License holder. If the license holder decided to end the relationship, then the damages would likely be the lost future revenue for that license. And Lego could go after the leaker for those damages. However, if they kept the relationship, then the amount of actually damages would be a lot harder to figure out. At the end of the day, the real harm to the leaker caused by the leak would be loss of future employment/access to this type of information. And any company looking to do business with the individual would, if they are doing their due diligence, likely not want to work with them.

Being on the older side of things, i.e. I saw the original Star Wars (when it was still Star Wars, and not a new hope) in the theater in 1977, I too would like a Dex's Diner. One of the strongest appeals that it has for me is that it is a scene that shows the ordinary life of the rest of the folks and not the main characters. In a lot of ways it is the Cantina from the PT. A memorable locale that doesn't have a lot of screen time, but adds a lot to the overall sense of the universe. Another location from AToC would be the bar where Obi-Wan is offered the death sticks. I could see that as a set, though it might make a better diorama given the subject matter. I can see the quote now "You want to go home and rethink your life. I want to go home and rethink my life." But as many have said Lego is faced with a lot of choices with which to make sets based on. They have the new material which there is a lot of lately, and the movies. If they only do 20-25 sets a year, and then you also factor the need to make sure they balance the price points for the sets across a large spectrum, there is only so much that they can realistically ever do. Lego knows it has to have at least some of the new sets be from the OT regardless of what we here say, Lego knows that those will always sell. So it is safe to say that at least 7-10 of any year's release will be OT related, which doesn't leave a lot of room for the other movies. When venturing out of the OT, Lego has been extremely conservative in what they do (outside of the releases related to when the actual subject matter is first released). I think a lot of it comes from being unsure of how far to take things past the main primary threads of the movies while still making toys. I think in the end that is why we don't see much spreading out with respect to these particular films. I also think that Lego has been experimenting a lot with different themes with respect to Star Wars. The dioramas are clearly aimed at older fans, and were I think a fairly successful attempt at trying something new. Same thing with the helmets (though I am not a fan), and the statues(for lack of a better word) (which have been hit or miss with Chewie being the biggest miss). The Mechs are another stab from them, which like many have said here is not my cup of tea, but I will say Lego is trying new things. At the end of the day we all can hope for something, but unfortunately we aren't the ones in the conference rooms making these calls. As Abraham Lincoln once said "You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time."

came back from a vacation and had to waddle through like 10 pages of new stuff. Guess that is the breaks for trying to take time off. Lots of interesting stuff that came out especially about the 2024 releases. For now I will take them all with a grain of salt, but it does have potential for being a good wave. (minus R2, sorry, but not sure he is really needed). I will withhold judgement until such time as I am able to see actual pictures. However, the one thing that has been bugging me lately is everyone complaining about how overpriced this set or that set is relative to earlier types of sets. I think a lot of us have forgotten what inflation really looks like. Prior to the pandemic, inflation had been running at around 1-2% a year. Which in the grand scheme of things isn't very much. But to put things into perspective, something that cost $100 in 2013 would cost $133 today. Or to take two of my favorite sets from my youth or college years (Mainstreet and Fort Legoredo) Mainstreet (1980) had a MSRP of $40 which would be $156 today (giving a PPR of $0.26/part) and Fort Legoredo (1996) had an MSRP of $85 which would be $175 today (giving a PPR of $0.26/part). So when you look at things through that lens, two sets more than 16 years apart that have almost the same PPR when adjusted for inflation you come to realize that things aren't as overpriced as folks think they are. For example, the Gunship is only $0.15/part which is better than it was back when I was a kid (it would be $236 if it kept to the $0.26 rate). The thing that gets lost is perspective. I cannot tell you how many times I go, wait I used to be able to get this for $5 and now it costs $10. Looking at it as a whole, I think Lego has done a pretty good job over the years in minimizing the price increases. And because they have done that so well for so long, people start to expect that it will hold. But alas, it cannot. I have to keep reminding myself that this is an expensive hobby. And even more so when you have two kids who like completely different themes (and you have to buy things for 3+ themes over a year). I guess in the end, I wish folks would focus on the end product and not focus on what an earlier version of the same idea cost. Its not an apples to apples comparison anymore. Thanks for allowing me to rant.

This seems to be common theme around here. I have a ton of unopened sets as well and am slowly running out of space for them. The Titanic took up the space below the TV and the AT-AT is still looking for a home. There are only so many things that you can display on each IKEA Billy shelf unit.

While we are at it, let's add a playscale Luke's landspeeder and a droid escape to the list. It could get worse

Not sure I would say it would be overkill. (we can be greedy, right?) However, I think in this case Lego might actually be waiting to see how the characters develop in the series before releasing a set including them. It could be that there is some spoilery scene that would make a great set and include both of them. What I think we can safely say is that Lego probably is already working on that set (if it is actually coming), and if so, it is not based on concept art but on actual film.

I have to say I am impressed with the Asoka sets. We are definitely getting a lot of minifigures with these sets, as well as ships we haven't had in a long time. Overall I am very impressed. Chewie on the other hand, as folks have said, is not the best out there. I am not even sure it comes with an exclusive Chewie minifigure. This set is a complete pass for me. On a side note, I picked up the spider tank and the 332nd battle pack yesterday (for less than retail). Hopefully going to be able to build them later today or tomorrow. I will let you all know what I think about them afterwards.

I think one that hasn't been mentioned so far is the 1957 Chevy Bel-Air. I think that might be the most quintessential American car. The list of cars that could be made into an Icons is probably limitless. I think one thing should be that the vehicle is instantly recognizable world wide. And for the most part I would say they have done a pretty good job of that to date. So some of the Iconic cars that fit my criteria and haven't been made would be; Trabant Jaguar E-type Ford Model T Tucker 48 MG Midget or Triumph TR-3 or TR-4 Jeep CJ Rolls-Royce Phantom 1957 Chevy Bel-Air

Yavin 4 is interesting. I am not going to completely write it off yet. Need to see some other views. It looks like there is some more stuff on the other side that we cannot see yet. Almost like a briefing room or something. And I am guessing there may be some things in the top part of the pyramid as well. 10 figures isn't half bad. And truth be told they all make sense. The only thing I might have subbed out is Mon Mothma for Dondona. Yes having only 1 fleet trooper is painful, but I don't think they would have given us anymore if they had gone to 12 figures. Now that tree looks like something one of my kids would have come up with just using bricks we have lying around. (actually they might do better than that.) The 332 battle pack while expensive looks nice. Yoda's starfighter, I litterally had to go look at the one I have in my basement and compare it to see if there was any difference. There isn't much. The battle pack and Yavin 4 are potential purchases. The starfighter is not. Unless i find it on sale and i really need a parts pack.

Ok, so built maybe was the wrong word. I have all of the others built, x wing just opened. I have had the sets for a few weeks now as the local toy store put them out early as part of their going out of business sale. I guess when you are closing down street dates don't mean a whole lot to you. Not like you are worried that Lego won't send you more sets.