Themiddlebrick

The renders are an experiment they are currently running. There is a 50/50 chance you will see the new renders if you have cookies enabled. They are testing it to see if it is worth the extra resources to create and use the 3D renders vs the static images (i.e. more sales). If they do think so they will likely be improved (additional angles, better quality etc). No word on how long it will last and/or if it will revert to static images again while they decide if they should continue with it. Personally I think that overall its an improvement, being able to see both sides of a dual printed head, or torso is great and I think the renders are a better representation (in general) than the static images. Assuming they will be further improved I hope they continue with them.

Hey, somehow I missed your ping. This is great!! I love the oversized engines/missile launchers! You did a great job on the shape of the hull and wing angles too. Looks fantastic in cs colors too! All around great job

I read this yesterday, fantastic article! I've been wanting to experiment more with lighting in Studio and this gives me a great place to start. Thank you for writing it!

Here is my latest creation and a little lore that fed into the design. I made the speeder moc a while ago but just finished the base. I had a bunch of vibrant yellow 1x6 bricks and 1x12 plates along with Lime 1x2 curved slopes and plates from the PAB wall and set about using them here. So without further ado: In the dense atmosphere, pilots rely on instrumentation to avoid areas of high pressure which cause the crystallization of nitrogen and methane gas in the atmosphere. These 'gasbergs' have been the cause of many devastating collisions. The S21 features several innovations uniquely suited for use on the mining colony; a fully sealed body able to withstand the extreme pressures and highly caustic atmosphere of Saurus. Stabilizing piers with regular and inverted repulsers offer stability in turbulent gas currents needed to operate sensitive long-range sensors. The most unusual feature is the onboard nitrogen harvester. The nitrogen can be used to fuel the booster phase of the twin ion/combustion engines, allowing repeated orbital insertions without the need for refueling stations. When fired, the boosters ignite atmospheric xenon-nitrogen, producing distinctive green contrails.

Depends what you mean by revealed, but it is up at S@H https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/mandalorian-fang-fighter-vs-tie-interceptor-75348 which means high res images

Exactly my feelings

I guess its subjective. And its not a huge deal to me as I wasn't planning on buying it, but I think the design of this x-wing is underwhelming. On the plus side I appreciate the coloring, I think they did a good job capturing the feel of Red 5. And I like the new engine (cannot wait for that quarter circle panel part) design. The hexagonal aft section looks great to me and I think from R-2 back the ship looks really good. However, the shaping of the front of the ship is pretty terrible and way out of proportion. I really wish they had taken this opportunity to create a proper x-wing canopy (hello ucs landspeeder) and I have to say I'm pretty shocked they didn't even attempt to suggest the tapered nose, not even with stacked plates, much less more complex solution using angled ones. This is an interesting comparison I saw posted on another site - I don't think its fair to compare to the original model, but as a point of reference I think it is useful

To be clear, what wasn't normal was that the order didn't have the indication that the stock was confirmed with a pick date after the part came back in stock on Mar 20 and was in warehouse. That was what lead them to re-ship the order. Not the bouncing back and forth between statuses which does happen sometimes. By my calculation it has been about 70 days now right?

You may want to contact CS. I just chatted with a rep. - the 4th time for this particular order. And for the first time they admitted that something was off about it. They said normally once the backordered parts come back in stock there is an indication that the stock is confirmed and a date for them to be picked in the warehouse. On my Jan 18 order this never showed (it bounced around between in process, and in warehouse several time over the past 2 months). This last rep said that is not typical and wasn't sure it would ever resolve itself. They ended up re-shipping the order (though tbf it is a small order, only $36, and they may be so quick to do this on a higher value one).

I hear you. I'm also waiting for a Jan 18 order. All because one bracket part was on backorder. I've now called CS about this issue 3 times. The part in question was supposed to be in stock on 3/20. Yesterday they put me on hold for 15 minutes to talk to the billing dept. and "push" the order to the warehouse. It is clear they are dealing with more volume than they can handle. Hopefully they are investing in technology to automate picking the orders because it is kind of a mess. Especially considering their standing as a major multinational (and multibillion) retail corporation. Also a measly 500 points? That isn't much in the way of an apology if you ask me. Sorry if this comes off as entitled, but as someone who has also never had an issue with the long wait of PaB before (I mean wasn't it in 2022 that the wait was around 3-4 months at one point?) TLG has me feeling a bit salty about their quality of service lately.

So I've been looking into the delays in delivery of US standard parts. I have three open orders from Feb 5 - Feb 15 that shipped between 22 and 8 days ago, all way outside of the normal delivery window. This is a separate issue than the backlogs we sometimes see on TLG's end (or orders like my Jan 17 order still held up because of a backordered part). For those who are unaware, standard orders to the US (and most countries) are bulk shipped air freight from Denmark to a single port of entry (in the US this is JFK airport) and clear customs. They are then taken to DHL distribution (in Avenel NJ) where they are broken out into the individual orders and delivered to USPS for delivery (it isn't clear at exactly what point they hand over to USPS, directly from distribution or at a more local level) According to Lego CS, apparently orders placed between Feb 4 and perhaps as late as around Feb 10 have had their bulk shipments held up in customs. This is a known issue with Lego. They are asking for an extra week of grace time before reshipping any orders (21 business days from shipping vs 14 business days). To answer @karrit lego sends the invoice when the order ships (this is because they do not consider the transaction closed until it leaves their possession). So for standard orders when you receive the emailed receipt from legoshop.com that is an accurate indication of the ship date (if you are not receiving these emails you may need to contact CS to make sure they have the correct email address on file, if you ever changed account info this can cause issues with their communications). Also FYI they can track standard orders to the US, CS seems to be more open to this lately, in the past you would really have to press to get them to do it, some reps simply don't know it is possible.

They seem to be having issues with particular parts( especially bardings, but some others as well). I have a Jan 17 standard order that has not shipped and it is because of a 1x2 bracket that is currently backordered. I called twice about it because I have received 2 standard orders that I placed on the same day and two weeks after this one. The first time they told me to wait a week and call back, when I called back at first they told me the same thing, but then the CS rep said hold on, I just looked into this more and see one part is backordered until March 20. So now I have to wait until then and hope the order is picked.I could have asked for the part to be removed, but then they put the order to the end of the line and you have to wait the 28/40 days all over again.

Haha thanks, I wanted something in the background that wasn't too distracting...planet, no too obvious...hmmm what else is there? Meteorite!

Personally I probably would have emailed them about it, specifically stating I don't need a replacement. I think it is important for them to know if there are quality issues and customer reporting is a big part of this

Thanks so much! I've been working hard on improving my photography so that is really nice to hear! Looking forward to see what you have planned! This definitely has me thinking about more SW CS crossovers