Venkefedo

I like the metallic silver. The pearl gold is nice for a Sidious hilt, to give him something different. The gunmetal is awesome for Kylo & other darksiders (Malgus, Revan... I have a couple BrickForge hilts from before Lego produced their own in gunmetal, and while not as versatile as the Lego hilts, they still look great with a blade in the hands of a Jedi or Sith). I have some old chrome ones, but never much cared for them. I wish they had Dooku's & Asajj's hilts in metallic silver, too. Seeing the newer colors is interesting... The dark brown could work for wooden hilts, like for Gungi from TCW (tho reddish brown would be better).

I would love an SW CMF line. There's plenty of potential there, even with popular characters (like, ANH Han Solo but with a stormtrooper belt printed on his torso and maybe dual-molded dark-blue/black legs for his boots, rather than printing... which still leaves a regular ANH Han update available for an actual set, with his normal gunboat printed on dual-molded legs... Bespin Luke is long overdue, but they could have a regular version in one line, and a "damaged" version in another (with torn pockets & whatnot, a messier hairpiece maybe, a "NOOOOOO!" face). There are aliens they could make new molds for that could easily be reused in sets (Ishi Tib head, Abednedo head maybe, reprints of Bossk's head for a Saurin from the Cantina, other Trandoshans from TCW, Mas Amedda headgear for use with other Chagrians, etc). Look at how many variations Hasbro has released of various characters, some with the most minor changes... Lego could EASILY make a batch of SW CMFs with some major players from the various films as well as minor players from the films, TCW, Rebels, maybe--MAYBE--even the new comics & whatnot. They could easily tackle a few series of SW, I think. Consider how many TFA variations we still don't have: they could make other pilots like Jess Pava, Ello Asty, Nien Nunb... we still need a Luke... Leia in her dress from the end of the movie, Rey in her Resistance outfit, Poe in the pain orange jumpsuit or an officer's uniform (with captain badge), Finn without the jacket (I mean, that's kinda bland, but it's an option), Han in his new heavy coat, Hux with hair & without his overcoat (the former is DIY, but the latter requires a new print, as the other First Order officer uniforms don't seem to match his). We'll probably be getting more TFA sets eventually, but that could take some time... and if VIII really begins right where VII ends as it seems, then the first wave of VIII sets could easily feature the Luke & Rey figures from the end of the VII. But the point is there's still fodder, and Lego might not get to them in sets anytime soon (think how long it's been since we had Bespin Luke, Leia, Lando... Dagobah Luke... even Endor Luke was so long ago the faces were still yellow and the grey of the torso was old 'dark grey' rather than 'dark bley'). Might even be a decent way to update OT pilots with new X-wing helmets with molded visors like TFA's helmets, and you could have the heads feature a chinstrap on one side, but a regular face on the other and maybe a hairpiece so you could have 'em without their helmet, too. That could be fun! Hasbro's appeal has severely diminished for me over the last few years, with poorer distribution, lessened articulation & accessories, more difficulty in locating the more collector-oriented SA figures, etc... I wouldn't mind at all if Disney renegotiates the licensing deal in a couple years to allow Lego to have access to "action figures" solo. Maybe then we could get CMFs and some more interesting Battle Packs with another couple of minifigs and without wonky little "throw some bricks together and have something launch, that'll be good enough" builds (not all are like that, but some sure feel that way)

Had to limit myself, so I just got Kanan's Speeder (for the figs/crates/parts-pack, since I already built DarthTwoShedsJackson's better-scaled version of Kanan's bike), and a Resistance BP. Just need a Zeb to finish off the crew of the Ghost! (and, y'know...a Ghost someday to go with them)

Adding my voice to the chorus, that's exceptional. The details are killer! Mini TIE Interceptors with room for a pilot?! McQuarrie/Phoenix Squadron A-wing captured... Sentinel shuttle... all the rooms from barracks to captain's cabin to med bay to conference room... the dark side adept room, the commissary with Jeff Vader, brilliant stuff. And then around all that already-awesome stuff is a beautiful gigantic Star Destroyer with removable panels, swiveling guns, and a wonderful little "bridge" panel for display/play options!

That seems incredibly unlikely. Some huts, villagers, Phasma, stormies, Flametroopers maybe, Kylo... not really a lot there to get kids excited about. Finn's not quite a hero yet, Poe & Lor San Tekka were already used in the X-wing set, so it's just a bunch of baddies, a panicked baddie, and some villagers. Not much fun there.

They wanted to use Z-95s since there were EU fans on the crew, and in the audience... we'd always been told Z-95s were precursors to X-wings (and McQuarrie X-wings were often used to depict Z-95s in the EU), yet all the films had given us were ARC-170s which, while related to X-wings, weren't really the same... so along comes the new Z-95 that, coupled with the ARC-170, make for a nice range of ships to evolve into the X-wing. They could've used V-wings, sure, but bringing in a new ship (and merchandise-wise, new toys!) was the way they went instead. Had the series continued thru to Season 8 as planned, we may've seen V-wings used as well as it would've been even closer to the time of ROTS, and ROTS is the only place we saw V-wings.

Finally snapped a pic of my guards' force pikes. Lego's version, with the telescope pieces, always felt wrong, in great part because the widest end wasn't at the bottom (where it is in the actual force pike props)... flipping the telescope helps, but then they're holding the pikes pretty high up; using saber hilts allows for a slightly better look, lower grip, and then the antenna gives a bit more length (plus metallic color makes it a bit more authentic)

I wondered that, too... I get why they use the light blue, for more of the 'light glow' effect, but I love the way the dark blue bars look. Same with the trans-bright green they've been using lately, as opposed to the trans-neon green they stopped using for SW in 2011 (which is a bit too yellow for my taste... if they made one of those in 3L, tho, it'd be perfect for Ahsoka's shoto saber during the Clone Wars, since it was yellowish-green!) ...they do, but look at Vader's, too... trans-red is too dark in that case!

But it does, tho. I'm not sure in how many ways, but there are so many things in the various side quests, conversations, and general story that touch on other EU material set in & after the Saga era, and some of that is bound to conflict. Korriban alone conflicts, since right now the only canon name for the old Sith world is Moraband. And there may be some story elements they don't want to canonize, like the origins of the Tuskens, how certain worlds were populated by slave races, the Shadowlands of Kashyyyk, etc. The basic story might be smooth sailing for the new canon, but all the myriad details make it more & more likely to conflict with something in such a way that it would affect the new canon universe. That said, more elements of KOTOR are being brought in seemingly with every project...and I'd love to get sets/minifigs based on the games to go with Revan. I want a T3-M4 to go with T7-O1, not to mention an HK-47... I've made my own Carth & Bao-Dur minifigs, but it'd be nice to get a Darth Malak & Bastila, not to mention Zaalbar & Mission Vao, Jolee, Juhani, Canderous (1st game version & Mandalore version), etc.

That's an R5 head But that would work, of course. Sometimes BT is shown with his head a bit taller, but not quite R4-style tall (which we don't have a Lego piece for, yet)... a height between an R4 and an R5 would probably be good for the R0s introduced in TFA.

That bothers me, tho, since stormtroopers absolutely shouldn't be a selling point to try to drive more sales of larger sets; they're troopers, and should be available in Battle Packs just like the Rebels-style stormies are: 4 to a set! Or at least 3, maybe with an officer (BTIO!) or specialty trooper in the mix (kinda like the very first stormie BP with a Shadow Trooper "pilot". That way a kid might want a big set that has some neat minifigs, and then a $12 Battle Pack with some troops for those minifigs to fight or command. The odds are far better for that to happen than for the kid to talk his parents into getting two of some $100 set just so he could have a whopping two stormtroopers total. ...and then you'd have AFOLs buying up multiples of the stormie packs to fill out their Emperor's Arrival MOC dioramas and whatnot, too... win-win. Most AFOLs probably aren't buying up loads of Star Destroyers just for extra stormies, right?

...must resist temptation to post the old comparison photos of Pope Benedict & Emperor Palpatine...

I doubt it's that; different color, different style (the Open Circle only has two segments; the A-wing's has 6!), and there's no Open Circle symbol on Hera's B-wing helmet; there's a closed circle with a similar color scheme, but it's part of another detail and not likely to represent that Clone Wars era symbol at all.

"Used to". It hasn't been that way for 14 years, basically. Hasbro & Dark Horse assigned their own colors to the Jedi Council members of TPM (Adi had red, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Saesee Tiin had purple, Plo Koon had yellow--or orange in the Jedi Power Battles game), then George changed things and they had to retcon it all. Since then, outside of ancient times (KOTOR games & comics) or post-Saga EU books set after Luke formed a New Jedi Order, red always means "bad guy". Even in the post-ROTJ stuff, I think few if any Jedi used red; there were some magentas, violets, etc. And while in the KOTOR & SWTOR games you could use whatever color you wanted basically (tho SWTOR had dark/light restrictions on red, green, and blue I think, at least at launch), usually if an NPC had a red blade, it was a villain. While the Lego shows, including Freemaker Adventures, aren't canon, they'll probably stick to the idea of "red=villain", so Naara will initially seem like an ally and probably betray the Freemaker siblings when it suits her, producing a red-bladed saber (or switching the color of the one she's been using), and TLG spoiled it in their set!

Not much mystery, tho, considering the set gives away that she has a red saber...and red saber generally means "darksider"

I don't have mine handy, but I've been using black saber hilts with metallic silver antennas on top... gives it more length and a more accurate look with the metallic color and black handle. Those metallic antennas are very nice, as you can take two (preferably one round-top for the upper part and one flat-top for the bottom) with a metallic saber hilt in the middle and make the pikes used by the Rebel Honor Guards flanking the doorway when Han, Luke, and Chewie arrive at the Yavin ceremony.

That circle thing in front of the cockpit? That's not a Republic symbol. PT Republic symbols are similar to Imperial symbols; this is just a dashed-line circle. This is the symbol of the New Republic as we know it from new canon works, and I'm not seeing it in that image. I like the look of the set, too, but agree that the figures are lackluster... printed "sleeve" arms would've been great, darker skin tone would've been even better, and helmets would've been best of all (at least for Rex & Wolffe). If I get the set, I might use Rex's torso, but use the darker bare arms I have on my custom Old Man Rex with Santa beard and Panaka head. Would've definitely preferred Zeb to the stormtrooper in this set... the Imp Troop Transport is still on shelves, and stud-firing blasters aside it's a great source for stormies. Both Rebels Speeder Bike sets have stormies, too!

To be clear, the Boba & Obi-Wan things aren't even actual rumors... just fan speculation based on little substance (such as MacGregor saying "I'd love to play Obi-Wan again, but they haven't called me"... or the old rumors when spinoffs were first announced a few years ago and people thought the first three would be about Yoda, Han, and Boba... it's just people thinking about characters with backstories that could be fun to see throwing them out on the internet and seeing if anyone runs with it) We know a Han movie is on the way after Rogue One & Episode VIII. We know there will be a third Star Wars Story after Episode IX. We know nothing of what it's about, however (I mean, really: think about what we KNOW about the Han film: directors, writers, and that it'd deal with Han & Chewie meeting. That's really about it, and it's like 2 years away... of course we'd know nothing about the 3rd one!)

It won't be a trilogy, tho. We only know of three so far, but they're gonna keep making more... and Rogue One/Han Solo/Whatever the 3rd is won't even be connected in any way other than "it's Star Wars". AOTC 3PO would be darker, with browns & stuff all over him because he was a hodgepodge of old & ugly coverings. It's much more likely to be E-3PO from Cloud City.

There are even more, too! In the scene where Jyn & Diego are exiting the hangar, they've got a couple Endor-y guys on their right, right behind the Gonk droid... then on the far right, there are a couple guys with brand-new helmets--possibly two distinct styles--with a Hoth-ish guy approaching them from the left. There's a guy in the foreground crossing from left to right, I think he's got one of the new hats, too! Lots of possibilities here; it'd be nice if Lego gave us several prints for various rebel soldiers, officers... and some gunbelts printed on legs, too!

You can make a temp Mendelsohn character right now with a suitable head & hair, Yularen's torso, black legs, and a white cape! But remember, it's just an illustration. Probably doesn't reflect most of the prints or pieces we'll see in the final sets. Diego's hair will probably be the standard short tousled in black or dark brown, tho it's possible they might use something else.

I got their Sabine helmet, the Old Republic trooper helmet for the Jace Malcom figure from 9497 (and a visor for it), a hair piece and a soft rubber shawl or two, plus the curved "smuggler" torso in green. The printing seemed just fine, the rubber shawl & the hair piece made my custom KOTOR Zayne Carrick look great, and the helmets are nice. No problems with the quality that I've noticed!

Not all the new helmet designs, tho! The tank trooper's helmet looks to be new, tho it has a big "visor" piece like the Scarab Trooper's helmet there, with the flared, rounded bottom part like a regular stormie helmet. As for the new AT-ATs, well... it's a galactic Empire! There are probably several different models in service across the galaxy, assigned to various locations. What Vader's troops used in ESB might be the run-of-the-mill style AT-ATs, while these in Rogue One could be advanced prototypes or, indeed, an iteration between the older McQuarrie-style walkers in Rebels and the later ESB models. Maybe some sectors get better equipment than others.

Remember, this is just a CG illustration... like the Lego "cast readthru" pic from TFA. Diego's hair color is wrong (and the hair seems to be a mirrored "short tousled" Mutt/Old Man Han hair), but maybe it'll kill some of the "He's Biggs!" rumors... Jyn's hair should be dark brown, not reddish brown... lots of other problems of various types, of course. Aside from maybe some of the torso prints, I'm not sure this'll reflect much of what we see in the official sets at all. They can make better choices for a lot of 'em; armored-backpack guy might do better with Thorin hair, or black Qui-Gon hair. I wouldn't mind seeing the Hoth Hat in that sand blue or whatever it is... Bottom line, fun illustration, but probably not very representative of what we'll see in the official sets.

...this could be rendered moot if she turns out to be Rey's mom. If she's unrelated, tho, then yeah, I'm right there with you. I think the other new female leads in VIII aren't quite so white (Laura Dern aside) Of course! It's the internet. If you're not automatically pessimistic from a teaser that shows a lot without telling you much, you're doing it wrong.