TheWorldAhead

Purchased the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter polybag at Target today. Honestly, it might be my favorite polybag of all time; it's beautiful. Gotta go back and get another one for the printed mini TIE windscreen. But for the first time in my memory, there is actually a legitimate shortage of Star Wars LEGO in the world.

Thanks for the mini-review! :) At first, I was very disappointed by the look of this set (no droid!) but now I'm totally psyched to get it in a few weeks. The only problem seems to be the split-engines, which shouldn't be solid, but I'm still working on a solution for that. R5, if you get a chance could you please take a picture of the new blue with the s-foils closed?

You're right, Chupacabra. I was wrong in my word choice and insensitive in my opinion. I'm sorry. If buying this battle pack is more economical than BrickLink, then I rescind my comments. I didn't mean to insult you or your intelligence, and I apologize. Anyway, so I don't derail us anymore than I already have, I would like to thank Igrion for the review and bring up a new point. Does anyone have a plan for the Shock Troopers? I assume they are in the new Battlefront game, which I haven't yet played. I suppose they would be cool for dystopian, OT-era Coruscant MOCs!

Why would you destroy exclusive variants of LEGO? Wouldn't it make more sense to BrickLink the "clean" Stormtroopers, or something? Anyway, I personally love the battle-damaged troops; they will add nice variety and detail. Plus, they're something new that might not have appeared in any other set! Then again, I am an amateur, part-time, casual army-builder, so many may disagree.

I don't like the set as a whole, but the minifigures are great--people who bought the Hoth Han polybag may be disappointed that (as far as I can tell) only his head is now exclusive. The Snowtrooper is a perfect, unchanged design, and the Rebel Trooper is great, especially for people who don't want or can't get the Advent Calendar and the looming UCS set. I also like that the turret now swivels, and that TIE windshield in grey is pretty cool. My problem is that it's all been done before, and for a (presumably) better price, namely in 2009's "Echo Base." For those who missed that one, this set may be a goldmine, I suppose. On the other hand, I'm mostly sour because I know this set is going to be eclipsed by the UCS Hoth, which I will not be able to afford.

Irony and coincidence are often confused. [EDIT: CM4Sci beat me to it, well done.] Any-way, I'm actually quite "impressed," if frustrated, with the security of these sets. I hope there will actually be battle packs available to buy in the US in January. Maybe I'm getting paranoid... And yeah, Battle on Takodana looks freaking amazing. I would love to see more minifigure-rich playsets in the Star Wars theme.

How misprinted is the head? My new R2 from the Jedi Interceptor had his "torso" printing a few millimeters too far to the left, and it doesn't look very good. Even my very non-AFOL brother commented.

Nice! I think the minifigures are the same as the ones in the Imperial Troop Transport, though. Did you want pauldrons, polybags, or all of the above? Anyway, I haven't posted for a few months; since then I've gotten: yellow Jedi Interceptor, TFA C-3PO polybag, TIE Advanced Prototype polybag, Rey's Speeder, and the First Order Snowspeeder. Considering getting some of those classy Imperial minifigure components from Bricks and Pieces.

As far as I know, we're still lacking a picture of "Droid Escape Pod," which is actually the one I'm most interested in, having not had that set since the $6 one in nearly fifteen years ago. (EDIT: Alas, I'm a Citizen! )

Speaking of which (I guess...) does anyone know why TLG chose Orthanc as the D2C set instead of Minas Tirith? That always baffled me from day one. I think Isengard would have been sufficiently represented by "The Wizard Battle" and "The Orc Forge."

Do you know anything, or is this the same hopeful speculation?

That would be really cool, actually. Although I read Tarkin, and I wasn't very impressed, I like the idea. It would also mean getting Vader (probably with new helmet) in a smaller set again, which I'm sure would always be welcome for kids, or for AFOLs who haven't been collecting for very long.

True, but a lot of people really want that particular Jedi starfighter, because its original incarnation in 7283 "Ultimate Space Battle" was notoriously rare.

You lucky... (and great MOCer ) Did you pay full price? Is this your first/only one? I could never afford it...or so I say. I buy so much "little" stuff that it adds up. Speaking of which, I've added the new Advent Calendar to my collection, and I just Bricklink'd the two Sandtroopers from 9490!

Nice! Those are beautiful photos; you should do a review the next time you get a set!