ForgedInLego

I like the droid carrier! looks like a remake of 7126 rather than a new version of the in universe ship

Yep! you can find them all here: https://rebrickable.com/users/ForgedInLego/mocs/

That looks great, don't worry too much about "minifig scale" its a pretty wide range. is that a handle I spot on the top?

I wouldn't rule it out, if the leg "ball" can rotate around the spine, I think it would be able to roll up fairly well even though the legs are fixed in place. Def need more pictures, but if it doesn't that just gives me another project!

In my experience, legs are more prone to catastrophic failure more than any other part. Torso cracking is far more common, but I don't count that as "catastrophic", by that I mean you can't put the fig back together type bad. Think arm hand hole cracked open to torso completely cracked in half which has happened more than once. Plenty of broken hips, light grey, light blueish gray, dark blueish gray, dark tan, of course brittle brown, black... the list goes on. I know I had a Zam at one point, but she got lost over a decade ago so who knows. Collectors probably don't have this problem, but Lego's target audience definitely does

Looks like its less a surplus of torsos and more a shortage of legs. The other parts (helmet and head) are both exclusive as well, but have about the same quantity in circulation. Maybe there is a durability problem with the legs in sand purple? I honestly have no idea

I think for Boba Fett, it was the same excuse as the kama, the cloth piece got in the way of the mech chest piece closing. Vader has a more flexible cloth cape, so I guess that type is ok. The microfighter should have a plenty of room for it though, and there is precedent with the sandtrooper dewback microfighter (admittedly from 2019)

While I could increase the price, I already have more Lego budget than I know what to do with, so I won't bother I thought about making from scratch instructions, but to make the part count as efficient as possible as an example some parts from the second to last bag are in the frame, so it would be a hassle to put together. I would recommend just not putting the subassemblies onto the frame as you build them, and then modding the frame and adding / modding parts until its done.

Bought it during the last 2x points weekend and I am very happy with it, IMO it looks much better in person than on camera. If you only have the budget for one and can wait till May or so for the reveal of Barad-Dur, you might want to. If you do get it however, you won't be disappointed!

That looks awesome! A couple of recommendations I have though are to try to connect the lower mandible panel with a technic pin as close as you can to the tip. This will turn the mandibles into a sort of I beam with no top, much stronger than just those technic parts (don't bother with the upper mandible panel it has no tensile strength). I'd also put some structure in the walls between the docking bays and the mandibles to prevent sag, I'm not 100% with your current setup. Cockpit attachment could use some work too, looks like its gonna want to sag forward, but that might be counteracted by the weight of the tunnel. Keep in mind, a plate above and below a technic frame to lock it in place goes a long way, and technic is not the only way to make things strong. Good luck and happy building!

keep in mind that most sets have a ~2 year turnaround, but Brickheadz are probably much faster due to the simple and standardized build. Barad-Dur was probably already started, but If Lego is making more LOTR sets because of Rivendell doing well, it would take around another year for them to release. Have patience, I don't think this is the end for LOTR My thoughts exactly!

GWP for the sail barge? Hoping its $400 or less, but lets be real here

Wait, that's fives? All I see is watermarks

Does this mean only the number of figs is wrong, but the fig list is accurate? Like 1 Imperial Crew instead of 3?