Kaijumeister

Overall, this wave is a 7/10 for me. I do think it’s one of the stronger movie-related waves we’ve had in some time. Strengths - Minimal minifigure reuse, and an outstanding application of detail across the board. - A perfect Doctor Doom minifigure, who shouldn’t have had arm printing locked behind a bust. Very sly move by Lego. - The builds don’t seem like afterthoughts. Yes some are flawed, but they are substantial enough not to feel like you’re just buying each set for the minifigs. Minor but it’s cool how the Quinjet actually has a control stick! - Shoutout to the awesome Sentinel build and the optional battle damage elements. Really cool stuff. Weaknesses - Some missed opportunities / shortcuts with minifigs. Thor needed a new faceprint, Yelena’s hair is completely off which sucks because the new face print is awesome, and Reed doesn’t get his jacket design and stretchy arms. - The Avengers Tower’s appearance is rough. Perfect example of how too much SNOT can be a bad thing. The interior is decent though, can’t believe they have the gall to think they can imprison Doom. - Yet another Quinjet seems redundant when getting the F4 (Excelsior?) would have been far more refreshing. That would have required a larger price point though. I think I’ll buy all three sets upon release, albeit using my accumulated Lego Insiders Points. My main issue with what this wave (and the BND wave) represents is that we lose set slots and therefore characters because they want to squeeze in a buildable character or bust. It’s not a big issue if the existing slots comprehensively cover the film but the Doomsday wave would have sorely benefitted from one more playscale set.

@CloneCommando99 Bravo sir, and now to paraphrase the closing lines of the SDCC Doomsday trailer: John Lego: “I swear you will beg for the TIE Avenger long before I grant it.” CloneCommando99: “The TIE Avenger answers to me. For. I. Am. CloneCommando99.” Apparently Kevin Feige has already watched a cut of Starfighter and was singing its praises during the MCU’s Ghost Rider announcement yesterday. Whilst water is indeed wet, it’s quite cool that the film is apparently looking good enough for Feige to bring Ryan Gosling and Shawn Levy (along with Michael Trapper who also wrote Starfighter) on board. Makes me excited for the Lego sets too. @Lobot I agree muddy Mando looks off (plus to be nitpicky, his right pauldron should also be made of beskar), but still a strong figure overall. I do wish he’d have received a new face print to represent the absolute beating he took from the Mudhorn though.

Good question, I would go for the latter if that’s what the trade-off is. As much as over-detailed minifigures can defeat the point of Lego, GG’s design merits the works. Some really cool announcements have come out of SDCC, as well as a convention-exclusive Doomsday trailer that is leaps and bounds better than the Cinemacon(?) one that was released last Monday. Leaks are floating about online but this trailer has raised my hype for the film.

Sandcrawler review is also out, and confirms what a brilliant playset it is. The abundance of interior space and its price-point should have afforded another 2-3 jawas, but it really is a magnificent set. I pray this sets the standard for flagship non-D2C playsets moving forward. Hyperbolic as I sound, this and the Remnant AT-AT double-handedly save the entirety of 2026 for me.

I remember reading about this too, doubtless the public opinion on the PT at the time exacerbated the need for a ‘return to form’ with OT aesthetics. It goes to show what happens when you place what’s come before on a pedestal that cannot be surpassed - that’s why I admired Favreau’s initial approach with the Mandalorian where he looked at what inspired Star Wars rather than simply being inspired by Star Wars. But I agree, the related Lego sets from the ST era largely lack excitement as a result. Can’t wait for August, I’ll finally order the three Star Wars sets that interest me this year; the Remnant AT-AT, Offworld Sandcrawler, and Cobb’s Speeder. I can’t remember the last time there was a year where I’ve bought so few Star Wars sets, but with how good 2027 is sounding I absolutely don’t mind this year being a light one for me.

What’s interesting about Starfighter is that it’s completely uncharted territory era-wise, so they can really go all out with it. I echo your sentiment that getting a sweet new ship design for the film that’s somewhere between a sleek single-person starfighter and multiple-crew starship / freighter (why not both?.jpg) would be great. Maybe something that balances Doug Chiang’s design language with the practical sensibilities of the OT / ST ships. Ironically we now know the sequel era intentionally took a step back in terms of ‘hero’ starfighter upgrades to maintain the rag-tag dynamic of the Resistance. Case in point, the New Republic were using T-85 X-Wings but the Resistance had to use the T-70s. I understand wishing to honour what works with Star Wars but hopefully Starfighter takes more of a swing with unique vehicle and character designs than the ST did. I think this is what made the initial Ahsoka wave feel so refreshingly new. It was a great mix of long-awaited remakes and ships that had never been done in LEGO before. I hope the Starfighter sets have a similar vibe. To each their own, but I meant what I said! Agreed! Need his signature on it too rather than the Design Lead’s as usual haha. Really impressed with the AT-AT. Both this and the Sandcrawler (hopefully we’ll get reviews for the latter soon) provide a comprehensive play experience that large Star Wars sets have been lacking for a while. We are starting to see more improvements in this area since 2025. You don’t just get the bare minimum of the subject vehicle and some minifigures to populate it - you also get representations of the opposing faction and some good side builds that elevate the play and display experience (INT-4 and Mudhorn in this instance). I would say last year’s MTT gave a similar ‘battle / scenario in a box’. It all hopefully sets a precedent for what we can expect from larger sets moving forward. Ironically I would say Yavin IV was comprehensive, but it tried too hard to be so and we consequently got a set that felt like butter stretched over too much bread. Conversely the Remnant AT-AT and Offworld Sandcrawler show us there’s an art to providing a comprehensive set that still places some boundaries on itself so it doesn’t seem too stretched out.

Haha, you’re probably right! I’m impressed we’ve had two TLoZ sets that have been minifigure-based, there’s definitely a gap for buildable objects unfortunately. I just can’t help thinking about how cool a TotK set would be. Link with arm-printing for his Zonai arm, Ganondorf (either hench or mummified), a cool Zelda variant, buildable Zonai contraptions, cool buildings and structures, the potential really is endless. Then again, that can be said for any mainline Zelda game.

You forgot the most important one: And a so-so Buildable Popsicle (includes minifigures of all the missing characters from the initial Doomsday wave). I agree I probably am coping around Avengerz Tower, difficult to translate its new look into a playscale set. That Raimi Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin is my most anticipated set of the winter wave, especially as it’s confirmed GG will have a new helmet piece. I hope Spidey includes some much needed battle damage too to differentiate him from the existing sets with him.

I’m really itching to see the Doomsday sets in HQ. Hopefully by the end of this weekend! All things considered, the Sentinel Battle seems like it will be the strongest set of the lot. I think the Avengerz Tower looks a lot worse than it actually will be because of the image quality of the leaks. Or perhaps I’m coping.

I agree, it’s quite difficult to anticipate which set the Carbon Freezing Chamber will be allocated to. It’s such an iconic set piece for the both the duel itself and Han getting frozen: - On one hand, including it in the duel to make it a three-segment / stage set would make that set feel complete, and technically the other set can be based on the post-freezing part of the film where Boba is taking Han to the Unpaid Work Experience 1. - On the other, there’s no way they’d miss out on creating a cool mechanism for freezing Han, but it’s pointless including that in a set where Han himself isn’t even included. So I’m leaning towards the duel set focusing on the control room and catwalk areas. I have a feeling Lego will take some inspiration from the old Micro Machines / Kenner Micro World playsets for the Cloud City sets. Great analysis. This is ripe for a cool new headpiece / mask piece for sure. We’ve seen that Lego can make awesome mask pieces that can fit at the front of a minifigure’s neck (like the Oni from this year’s Ninjago Legends sets), that sort of approach could work really well for Star Wars too. Whilst my dream is getting Jedi Survivor / Jedi III coverage next summer if the game releases in 2027, I’d be ecstatic if they finally did a Shadow Lord set for the summer too. The Hex alone could make for a good £90+ set and give the core characters of Maul, the Inquisitors, and Devon. Daki and some TK Troopers would be the cherry on the top, and of course Rook. You’re too kind my friend, thank you :) I always enjoy chatting with you on this thread, you always bring good energy and insightful takes in your posts. I agree with your assessments of everyone else as well. Honestly when the TIE Avenger gets made, it needs a @CloneCommando99 anniversary figure or we riot. Amen to that. Whenever I see a @Swordy post I know it’s going to make for a good and insightful read. I still remember when they mentioned Lego being a way to connect with the films and shows we love in a more tangible way and how accurate that is. I wonder if a McQuarrie Stormtrooper will be included with the helmet set next year. I know Star Wars helmets don’t include minifigures thus far but that could finally change. Outside of that, I can’t really think of any more concept minifigures they could make.

I just found on Reddit that apparently the three minifigure count came from MaxBaut? If so that’s as good as confirmed, he’s as reputable as the leakers get :( That’s a real shame. Even if all three minifigures are Haradrim, that still seems woefully understaffed given what we see in the movies. But hey, if Helms Deep is indeed the big set next year I am going all in with that.

Very much so! Yeah I think the modularised approach is the right way to go, it prevents people from being price-locked out of the first Cloud City in ages and hopefully also means that the individual scenes / areas that each set tackles are self contained and fleshed out too. I’m curious to see if we’ll get a full on new mask piece for Luke Starkiller or if they’ll rely on a combination of printing and Cad Bane’s breathing tubes like how they depicted him in the Skywalker Saga game. I’m a sucker for new minifigure helmet / mask pieces so hopefully the former. My sentiments too. I don’t want to get too excited because initial information always leaves plenty to the imagination to inflate our hopes for what sets could be, but from everything we’re hearing this is definitely sounding like the best year so far in the modern era of LSW. It sounds like there’s something for everyone, and we don’t even know what 2HY has in store yet. It’s all sounding good enough that I won’t be extremely disappointed if they skip Ahsoka S2, but I still hope they can squeeze out two sets for it.

Given that it’s not too far away from release, I’m really getting my hopes up for the Mûmakil set as this might be the first large LotR set I buy from the current era. Some random hopes: - Have it be based on the Battle of Pelennor Fields and not their initial introduction scene where Faramir’s men ambush the Haradrim. - Include Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli along with a couple of the Oathbreakers. Bonus points if it includes the King of the Dead. - Feature a couple of Haradrim (this seems a given if they’re riding the Oliphaunt) and Orcs as enemy combatants. The piece count is the same as the Shire which is weirdly coincidental, but I’m hoping that does permit for a decent minifigure budget to accommodate the above.

Hasbro’s picked up the TLoZ license, interesting! Seems that their first offerings are 6” scale figures of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf from Tears of the Kingdom. If we are still getting a Zelda set towards the end of the year, I really hope it’s TotK themed.

It seems like a lot of pieces are used in the Avengerz Tower for that blue subassembly at the back. Seems unnecessary to me. Curious to see whether this will simply have an open back like the current mini-modulars or will actually swing open like all the previous Avengers Tower sets. For my initial thoughts, I don’t think this is a spectacular wave by any stretch which is quite sad given this is our first Avengers film in 7 years. I’ll reserve my full thoughts for when we can see more than eight pixels because I do think the poor image quality is exacerbating our initial impressions. Seriously, would it kill them to give Reed the stretchy arms?