Kaijumeister

Sign me up for a return to form with the winter waves. They’ve been really lacklustre since 2021. I do understand Lego’s approach with diversifying the usual winter / summer dichotomy due to the D+ shows, but dislike having to wait longer every year to see the really good sets. A spoilery Ahsoka and Mando S3 set are musts. Probably getting ahead of myself, but the Ahsoka sets seem to be the best mainstream product we’re getting out of Lego Star Wars this year. Can’t wait to see the T6 and dogfight sets. One of the r/Legoleak mods seems to think the other vehicle in the dogfight set is a downsized X-Wing, though I’m hoping for an E-Wing given the latest trailer.

Ah yes, why have proper sets based on X-Men ‘97 when you can have (checks notes) a buildable Wolverine action figure and buildable Wolverine’s glove. Can’t complain too much as at least we’ll get minifigure coverage via the CMF I suppose, but I wish the decision makers behind this theme would remember that good, solid system scale sets are worth their weight in gold regardless of the target audience. @Lyichir That’s an interesting observation, but more likely than not a red herring I’d say. Stuntz also introduced the Ant Man helmet in green, which many speculated to indicate a potential use for Green Goblin, but alas nothing.

Wow, the Ghost is definitely a Day 1 buy! Certainly a big step up from the 2014 version, and the compact Phantom II looks adorable. A bigger interior would’ve been welcome to see, however I can’t say I’m too fussed given that the main Ghost crew we know and love aren’t occupying the ship at this point in the timeline, outside of Hera and Chop. (Also, glad Jacen has been redesigned so he doesn’t look like an imp). The minifigures aren’t particularly interesting, however we all know the T6 and unknown $100 set will have the more interesting characters anyway. Plus, new Ahsoka mould! It looks excellent based on the packaging character art, and that arm printing is most welcome too. @Falconfan1414 also seems to be indicating the enemy ship on the box art will be included in the unknown set, so I’m assuming it’s going to be another dogfight scenario like the Fang Fighter vs. TIE Interceptor. Gunship is…acceptable. I appreciate it’s a little smaller to scale better with minifigures, however a set of that size / price point could’ve been much better. Omitting clone pilots is absurd, but overall I’ll still buy it as the out of packaging shot looks far more flattering than the box art. All in all, September is looking pretty good!

It’s just an odd choice all around. Given that it’s a Clone Wars Anniversary set, a CIS vehicle / droid-focused model would have been much better, particularly given how Republic-centric the Clone Wars and Prequel-era sets have been over the past few years. Price-wise too, the value for money just isn’t there by any stretch of the imagination, although the starfighter itself is well designed and certainly something I’d buy on discount. However more than anything, I feel that it would have been awesome to get Anakin and Obi-Wan in their Season 1 Clone Wars armour with the Republic Gunship. Ever since that Mace Windu figure we got last year, I can’t stop thinking how brilliant a Clone Wars Obi-Wan would look.

Wow, that Hera figure looks stunning. I appreciate that her lekku have their printed patterns too just like the Rebels version did. My expectations for the 3 Ahsoka sets are astronomical at this point. Out of all the standard sets we’re getting this year, these 3 definitely have the most potential.

We will get everything except this. Just have to accept it I’m afraid.

Wow, it looks great! And tell me about it, the minifigure part budget this year is pretty crazy. Ahsoka is a character that really needs it though, but I’ll live. A smaller montrail mould would just work so much better, similar to the Clone Wars version. Also curious if Sabine will get a cool hairpiece. I can see Baylan using the same mould that’s usually used for Hawkeye / short haired Thor etc. in white, whilst Shin would look quite good with the Hermione Granger hair mould from Philosopher’s Stone / Chamber of Secrets.

Now that Tears of the Kingdom has been out for a while, goodness would it translate so well to a line of tie-in sets. The buildable Zonai contraptions are perfectly compatible with Lego sets - not to mention the endless potential for Link variants and incredible set pieces from throughout the game. With Mario running for as long as it has and Sonic being given new life this year, I sincerely hope Lego has something planned for this theme beyond the Great Deku Tree, though in all honesty even that would be enough provided we do get Link and Zelda minifigures from BotW / TotK. There’s simply so much material to pull from with these games that would make for outstanding Lego sets.

As cool as Dafoe’s likeness is on the face print, man am I (still) so bummed out at how much they dropped the ball with the minifigure otherwise. But overall, I feel like this theme is just so unpredictable, and shortcuts are incredibly prevalent. Even 2021, which I think was one of this theme’s all-time high points with the first Infinity Saga wave and the Daily Bugle, wasn’t really exempt from this. Superheroes just seems to be working with more limitations and baffling decisions than any other licensed theme. I really hope we do see some Spider-Verse sets next year, but even if we do, I’ll keep my expectations in check knowing how things operate with Lego Marvel.

After eons of deliberating, I decided to bite the bullet and just buy the whole wave. I wasn’t overly sold on the Lost Tomb, but the value for money is phenomenal and this theme only has three sets anyway. I’d absolutely love to see just one DoD set, if only to get an old Indy variant and a cool looking Greek tomb. However when all is said and done, the tiny scope of this theme doesn’t detract from the fact that the designers really put the effort into all three sets that did end up releasing.

I was going to say exactly this, a set being for kids doesn’t mean it should feel so half-baked. This is one of the summer flagship sets after all, it should have some heft and a wow-factor - the Star Wars brand name should not be enough to carry a product. But conversely, how much can really done with this particular source material? Sure, a well-built Temple complex would’ve been awesome to see (and given the price-point, this should have been the case to begin with), but ultimately it’s only a base of operations with a non-existent conflict scenario. The sheer number of minifigures is clearly where a lot of this set’s value is derived from, and on that front it mostly succeeds. Anyway, checked out of the August wave to begin with. September is where the cool stuff’s at! I’m crossing every appendage that more effort has been put into the Gunship and Ahsoka sets from both a minifigure and build perspective.

Well, Across the Spider-Verse unsurprisingly reiterates that Sony’s animated Spider-Man films are the best in the business. Do Lego not produce direct tie-in sets due to licensing issues? I can’t imagine that being a problem for…reasons. With Beyond the Spider-Verse debuting next spring, let’s hope Lego finally have something up their sleeve. It’d be a nice change of pace from the buildable objects and figures, not to mention the usual made-up Spider-Man vehicles. Marvel movie tie-in sets aren’t the best in this theme, but these films need representation. So much colour, creativity, and imagination that would translate excellently into Lego sets more so than what the MCU has been outputting post-Endgame.

Ugh, guess I spoke too soon. @Fulcrumfan91 Yeah, delaying the good sets until September is confusing, but I guess I can understand given that most of the September sets are of the >$100 variety, so they wanted to stagger the summer lineup a bit.

It’s a decent enough display piece, but this looks like an incredibly tedious build. Again, why buy this when the Marvel Legends version is full-sized, more accurate, can be wielded, and is far cheaper? Not sure if the Cap being an AoU variant is an oversight or a budgetary thing, but in any case it’s not the focus of the set. I’m just going to think back to 2021, that was a damn good year for this theme. We’re seeing so many shortcuts and baffling decisions as of late.

The 332nd Battle Pack is nice enough, but strikes me as wholly unnecessary given the deluge of 501st content we’ve received lately. It’s quite disgusting that Lego genuinely were going to price it even higher before backtracking, but I’m glad someone making these decisions had enough sense. Really though, a small 332nd vs Mauldolorians set with Rex would’ve been much better than this. Yavin IV is great for what it is, but I still maintain that Lego could have afforded to give it a couple of hundred more pieces to beef up the temple, especially at that price point. Really cool that the medal pieces are printed though! Will probably buy on discount. Yoda’s Starfighter is unexpectedly a massive upgrade over the original. The wings are closer to the body, the cockpit shaping is more stout yet sleek, and the overall profile of the ship is more compact compared to the 2017 predecessor. It’s a great improvement all in all compared to how small the incremental changes to Jedi Starfighters typically are. I still question why this set of all sets had to be made (especially as Yoda’s torso print is even slightly different), and a third minifigure would’ve made this a must-buy. But anyway, September is where the great stuff is at. I sincerely hope that wave won’t be an example of set names and descriptions being much better than what we actually get.

Agreed, it was fun while it lasted!

Glad to hear it. I was deliberating on buying the BoH, might just go for it!

Not buying the Tenoo Temple myself, but seeing High Republic-era Jedi outfits in Lego form is simply wonderful. I’m sure we’ll get the Jedi Vector as a set at some point. Also, I’ve said this before but it’s absolutely crazy that every minifigure in this set has a new mould, even Yoda! The set certainly justifies its price to an extent. I hope we get more minifigure moulds with the September wave.

Same with me! Lego was actually the reason I got into Indy back then. 2008 was just something else, not just in terms of toys, but with books too. It was a great time for IJ. @BrickBob Studpants All it takes is for Lego to release a formal statement definitely confirming this is it for the theme. They chose to obfuscate things further with their ambiguous press release after all, haha. I really would have loved to see more Last Crusade sets.

Unfortunately I don’t think a video game was ever on the table, there just isn’t the same sort of interest in Indiana Jones the way there was in 2008. It’s not just Lego that’s being incredibly minimalist with their Indy merch either, Hasbro is too - although admittedly they are producing a fair number of 6” figures on the classic films and a handful from Dial of Destiny.

A single set in the mid-size range should be enough to cover the gaps for Mando S3 (namely Gideon, the Beskar troopers, Praetorian Guards, and perhaps Grogu with his IG-mech). I can 100% see more sets in the pipeline for Ahsoka given what characters we know are going to be appearing from the trailer alone, but frankly the verbal descriptions of the Ahsoka sets already sound leagues better than the half-baked Mando S3 sets. However saying that, I know Promobricks reported a much more interesting minifigure lineup for the large unknown Ahsoka set (with Baylan, Shin, and Morgan), but given that they’ve been working with some inaccurate information for Harry Potter and Marvel this year, part of me wonders if this too won’t be correct. Seeing the Mantis or at least some sort of Jedi Survivor set next year seems fairly likely IMO - I just think Lego couldn’t cover it this year due to lack of set slots. As much as years like this do have a fair few duds, it’s clear Lego are listening to what’s in demand (even if their execution isn’t always perfect).

This is so true, and I say that as someone who prizes The Last Crusade above everything else! The more I think about it, the more I feel DoD should’ve at least got one set just for some sort of representation. Getting the tomb from the trailers at a similar size and price point to the Well of Souls would’ve been lovely to see, and Ancient Greek / Egyptian tombs are clearly different enough that they wouldn’t cannibalise each other’s sales I’m just glad we got some solid sets out of this line, even if it was short lived.

@Clone OPatra This hasn’t been the best year for Marvel, but I was so hopeful that out of everything, the NWH set would break the mould and truly deliver on all fronts. It’s not like Lego were working with outdated concept art this time after all. The fact that the set doesn’t fully deliver is so…maddening. Apologies if I sound entitled or hyperbolic, but this thing was so close to being a perfect set. NWH’s Green Goblin design is one of my favourites - the green armour, tattered purple hood and ‘cape’, and shoulder bag made for an incredibly cool design - and the Lego minifigure barely captures any of that (although I do appreciate they at least nailed Dafoe’s likeness). Of all the GG iterations, this could’ve made for one of the best Lego minifigures had they done a good job. Similarly, even Otto’s torso / leg print looks a little off colour-wise (though again, excellent face print). And I struggle to believe that they couldn’t throw in 50-100 more pieces just to give a more substantial build for Sandman. The alternative heads for the three Spideys was always going to be a long shot so I won’t dwell on that, but it stings because Promobricks seemed to think this was actually going to happen. I’m still really excited to buy this set, but at this point I’ve accepted that Lego Marvel will always compromise more than most licensed themes. It’s clear this theme doesn’t get the best budget and for whatever reason, shortcuts are abundant across most of the sets we see - whether that be due to budgetary constraints or just the discretion of the designers themselves. Moving forward, whenever we get confirmation that Lego will adapt a highly anticipated scene / film from the MCU, I’m going to going to be mindful of tempering my excitement. EDIT: I just realised Scarlet Witch even gets a soft goods skirt in the A-Force set. Goblin not getting a purple tattered soft goods cape is a massive shame.

The Reddit user who confirmed a few of the summer wave details indicated it’s the same mould with new printing. Hoping that was inaccurate though! @Fulcrumfan91 Definitely! Heck, even Obi-Wan in the Delta-7 set from last year included both a hair and hood piece, which I thought was really cool of Lego to do.

I’ll definitely be buying the NWH set, but overall I really do think this theme’s quality is dropping. For the NWH set, my biggest gripes are: - Green Goblin not being very detailed. The face print is great, but the lack of a hood and fabric tattered cape really hurts the figure. Did Lego really have to cheap out here? The Wyldstyle hood / goggles piece would’ve been perfect! - No alternate heads for the three Spideys. Another instance of Promobricks getting minifigure information wrong, but no big deal. - Lack of a proper Sandman build. - (Extremely nitpicky) Otto should’ve had the Harry Potter hairpiece. The three Spider-Men look fantastic though. I would’ve liked to see arm printing on them but it’s fine, and the build looks pretty great. Regardless I feel that the designers really should’ve put a bit more effort in. A-Force set is underwhelming, as is Venomised Groot.