SketchBrick

Eurobricks Citizen
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Posts posted by SketchBrick

  4. Posted

    13 minutes ago, JohnTPT17 said:

    Looking through Renown's profile, there are some other smaller quotes from other sources/the Bible. Though I don't think that any of them were a direct tease for a character - moreso in response to a Eurobricks user. So, sadly, it may be a sign that Renown (or Renown's source) has gone dark... If, so, thanks for the fun teases you have given, @Renown!

    If this is the case, it'll be the end of an era. RIP 😭

  8. Posted

    15 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

    I dunno if you noticed, but those are all brickheadz sets- sets that have lots of basic bricks, and are a subline that's always been print-only, like the 4+ sets.

    That's exactly my point though. I doubt Lego is selling BrickHeadz at a loss, so clearly they can afford to include new printed parts if they choose to. Why then do they choose not to print parts on the midi Invisible Hand or Tantive IV? I'm pretty sure the amount of plastic is pretty comparable to a BH multipack, so I just don't see how the value proposition makes sense for these 18+ sets if they're not going to at least offer the full "premium" experience and leave out the stickers.

  9. Posted

    It's crazy to me to see the value discrepancy between a lot of the new 18+ sets and something like the BrickHeadz.

    $55 for the TPM 6-pack gets you 732 pieces and 6 exclusive prints, but they refuse to do new prints (aside from the name plate) for the $50 Invisible Hand that's arguably even smaller at 557 pieces?

    The $10 Commander Cody has THREE unique prints, but we're expected to deal with stickers for the Droideka, the Mos Espa diorama, and even the UCS Interceptor?

    The black box tax is real :laugh_hard:

  10. Posted

    3 hours ago, PreVizsla said:

    If I am being realistic figures are adding an insane value to UCS sets so I am struggling to understand where you got the $5 value from. We also know the exclusive tie pilot from the 75095: Tie fighter is currently at $50 which is 1/4th of it's $200 price point. Would it be the craziest thing in the world for both people that only care about the display set and people that only care about figures to want one more figure inside to either recoup the cost even more or to have one more cool figure in their collection?

    I think I understand what you're saying, and it's a valid argument. When I say $5 however, I'm talking about the actual retail value of including a minifig (from Lego's perspective); they can sell these small pieces of printed plastic in blind bags for $5 and make profit.

    The reason some of these figures sell on the aftermarket for such high prices is precisely because they're exclusive to expensive sets and collectors are willing to pay big money to have them without needing to obtain the full build. Lego knows this, and they're happy to play along by including figures (that they could release elsewhere if they chose) that inflate the "value" of the set to collectors or resellers while costing Lego very little to physically produce.

    If Lego didn't include 1-2 minifigs in a set like the USC Landspeeder or X-Wing, and let's imagine that was normal and expected by fans, would the sets be priced very differently? Maybe they'd be $10 cheaper, but would collectors then complain about the horrible value because there was no "$50" figure they could resell to recoup costs? Either it's "yes" to both, and we have to then admit how obscenely overpriced all UCS sets are just to include a figure or two, OR it's "no" to both, and the builds are what matter and we can all agree losing the minifigs wouldn't really affect the value of the sets much.

  11. Posted

    2 hours ago, 1340cc said:

    Agreed for the most part, but UCS sets that are minifig scale should always have some relevant minifigs. Especially now that Lego's designers are going to the effort of including full interiors.

    I can concede here; at least with minifig-scale (or close to) sets, the minifigs can interact with the build itself (like the AT-AT). With sets where the fig(s) are just be standing on a black plate to the side, it seems kind of unnecessary.

  12. Posted

    2 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

    This would not stop the complaints. People won't let go of the helmet holes or the commander being in the gunship instead of the pilot. You think they'll let go of the figures disappearing entirely?

    LOL you're very right. I guess in my fantasy world, they wouldn't have started the precedent of including figures in sets like that at all, so there wouldn't be anything to miss.

  14. Posted

    17 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

     

    To be fair, the figures are never the point of a UCS set. If you're paying $240 for a tie pilot, the issue isn't that it's a tie pilot and not also an officer or something, it's that you're paying $240 for two minifigures.
    That said, I think it would be a good idea for them to drop a second figure in- it's a perfect opportunity for a semi-obscure named officer.

    Hot take but I'd almost prefer they stop including minifigs in UCS sets in general. So much of the online discourse gets tied up in arguments about minifig quality/exclusivity for massive sets that often aren't even minifig scale/compatible.

    A couple of $5 minifigs aren't really a huge value add to a $300-800 display model at the end of the day, and it would likely quell some of the community outrage (e.g. Gunship/Venator) to present these sets for what they are: display models that are mostly outside of the minifig "world".

    The midi-scale ships are an example of this already, and - prices aside - they don't actually need figs included. What we do need are more opportunities for good figures, meaning either a Star Wars CMF, or more fig-focused playsets with better overall quality.

  16. Posted

    21 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

    A Dreamzzz set that just got revealed (or leaked) comes with a new dual-moulded bird in black and trans-pink! Not super useful for other settings, but it may show up in other colour combinations :laugh:

    The mould looks really cool! Seems like it would work well as a realistic raven/crow if it was recoloured and given the standard eye print (maybe next year?)

  18. Posted

    Question: 60427 seems unaccounted for in the current City lineup. Do we think it's a cancelled set? Or is there a possibility it's a retailer exclusive and we just don't know what it could be yet?

  21. Posted

    I'd love to see the internal budget for this one, because what you're getting for $30 is rough. Obi-Wan's starfighter is the same price for a more substantial build and a new minifigure mould, or the new clones/droids battle pack is practically the same piece count with a bunch of extra characters to boot.

    This set should be 25-30% off,  minimum.

  22. Posted

    28 minutes ago, Kit Figsto said:

    Vehicles are a bit of a crapshoot as it is with minifigure amounts, but the general rule for the past, say, 5-10 years seems to have been 3-4 figures and maybe a droid if it's less than $100 (and this obviously does not include battle packs).  There are examples of sets that may have had a 5th figure, but realistically expecting anything beyond 4 for this set isn't super realistic.  It's entirely possible that if this wasn't a 25th anniversary set, it would've literally just been Anakin, Qui-Gon, and Maul.

    You're right about the standards that are in place for LSW, 4 minifigs for a $70 ship is fairly typical these days. Of course, I think most of us would like to see more, and I find it disappointing that Lego sort of skimps out on minifigure numbers so often.

    As mentioned by another user, the real issue is arguably the lack of TPM minfigs overall. Lego is only releasing 1 playset for the movie's 25th anniversary, and that 1 set only includes 3 characters from the film itself. On top of that, these three characters are all retreads with nothing much new or exciting - you can essentially buy similar figs on Bricklink for reasonable prices.

    Think of all the other possibilities we're missing out on: new Padme costumes, an updated Panaka or Nute Gunray, TPM C-3PO, Shmi, Boss Nass, updated Jar-Jar or Sebulba, TPM Palpatine, Watto, Chancellor Valorum, new Naboo pilots or guards, the list goes on. But instead of us getting ANY of these characters to celebrate 25 years, we're looking at another Sith Infiltrator with pretty much the 3 default characters it could include.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Qui-Gon to be here with his poncho again, but there have been a dozen Maul figures over the years, and young Anakin isn't anything special (compared to many other Anakin variants they could make).

    Sigh, I guess we'll try again in 2029 :(

  23. Posted · Edited by SketchBrick

    1 hour ago, Roebuck said:

    New tigerhead mould and new color for that and the Crocodile leaked :sweet:

    Wow I didn't expect they'd actually do a new mould for the tiger head, but it looks pretty good from the pic available!

    Also forgive my colour-blindness, but what colour is the new croc? I can't tell by looking at it.

    Edit: Red panda also leaked!

  25. Posted

    I think some of these issues could be alleviated if there were additional castle (or similar) sets available on shelves to accompany the big Icons sets. A small medieval farm with a few animals for $30-50 - for example - would give people a chance to get in on the action at a lower price point.