Kaijumeister

As long as the 2HY sets are actually worth the wait

I agree with the comments around Cobb’s speeder. If you’re going to make it ridiculously oversized, at least make the build accurate. Personally I think it would have been better to include a small Mos Pelgo side-build and downsize the speeder. The speeder build in the battle pack looks pretty great for what it is, although Mando’s speeder looks a little too basic (especially when compared to the build quality of Ghost Rider’s motorcycle which occupies the same pricepoint). Can’t believe I’m saying this and it’s not a 1:1 comparison, but the winter Marvel wave beats out the winter Star Wars wave it seems. Of course Marvel has more sets in January and isn’t spread out through the year like Star Wars is, so hopefully the March / May sets are an improvement. As a random aside, I was initially disappointed not to see the Gar Saxon helmet reused in the battle pack, but outside of the Supercommando we see in the Ahsoka flashback none of the Mauldolorians in the actual TCW Siege of Mandalore episodes actually use the horned helmets outside of Saxon.

Agree it’s a boring choice but it does make sense with TMAG releasing. Also yay, new Grogu mould! @BrickBob Studpants I’d be surprised if the new Grogu isn’t included in the $10 speeder. The only time I can think of two versions of a mould coexisting was back in 2022, when the helmet hole version of the P2 clone trooper helmet was introduced in the AT-TE whilst the original P2 helmet was also used in the Republic Fighter Tank and the Justifier.

This is a genuinely good wave, wow! - The Daily Bugle looks awesome, dedicating the bulk of the set towards the main building is a wise choice. I do wish the building had more depth to accommodate a better interior though. Great to finally get Rhino - Juniors ran so playscale sets could walk. - The Ghost Rider bike is the perfect choice for an impulse set, however the decision to print the glowing effect of the flames escaping GR’s eyes and mouth makes it look too clown-like. - The Epic Moment Collection subline has enormous potential and makes me hope a Green Goblin battle from Spider-Man 1 is on the cards. Can’t believe we’re getting a Spider-Man 3 set! - Buildable Iron Man looks far better than I expected. Despite my derisive attitude towards buildable figures, gotta give credit where it’s due. - I can’t believe they’re actually giving Iron Man some arm printing and new face prints, heck even a dual moulded leg on Venomized Captain America! I still think these Venomised characters feel like a waste when these print budgets could be used towards characters that people actually want, but alas. All in all, really solid wave. Even the repeated ideas we see feel somewhat fresh enough.

This is the first thing that stood out to me too, the box art template is fantastic! The set itself looks unique and the black / purple colours pop quite nicely. Sets like this strike a nice compromise between offering a display piece that also serves as a system playset. Definitely a more creative approach than buildable objects or characters in my opinion.

Huh, I just realised we never actually saw what the Sith Eternal TIE Pilots looked like. Even the 2020 TIE Dagger set just reused a First Order TIE Pilot

Good points, I guess I’m romanticising using the 2016 period of the subtheme as a benchmark despite the past few years being very consistent in how Spider-Man sets in general have been handled. In that manner, what we’re seeing this year and no doubt will see next year has little reason to deviate from the status quo we’re used to.

I keep talking about the 2016 Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Battle in this thread, but it’s also a good frame of reference for what good large summer Spider-Man sets could look like. Although it’s a little reductive comparing a set from 9 years ago (especially as it was standalone compared to being part of a modular system) to one from 2025, it still shows how the priorities for playscale Marvel sets have changed: - The continued gutting of piece counts for large sets just means modern sets like Oscorp provide less actual value. Increasing prices in line with inflation etc. is one thing, but we’re seeing more and more of these £100+ sets that fail to break past the 1000+ part count. Star Wars is seeing this too for playscale sets too so not only are we paying more, but we’re also getting less. Piece counts aren’t a holistic metric for value, but they still tell a story. The builds are certainly far simpler too. - The design and play ethos for these playscale sets have begun changing since 2019 (or thereabouts). Looking at things like play features and sidebuilds, they mostly used to make contextual sense to the playset - I still remember how part of the bridge battle would partially ‘break’ off with a web piece underneath to represent the taxi crashing into it. Very well thought out and executed. Similarly with side-builds, they typically made sense to a scene too - you’d get vehicles like a New York taxi etc., whereas now it’s usually a generic bike or car for Peter / Miles / etc. Easier for younger audiences to get on board with I suppose, but it’s interesting how the Spider vehicles were somewhat interesting and unique with their introduction in 2019 and have slowly become more generic and simple as the years have gone by. - The continued reduction in minifigure budgets / available frames for this theme every year has led to an uptick in more recycled / kitbashed minifigures more than ever. It’s understandable if smaller sets reuse minifigures and introduce a small number of new ones, but larger sets doing this isn’t great. - The mini-modular system is a fantastic idea and I hope it continues long-term, but it also means that larger sets like Oscorp try to introduce small generic buildings alongside the actual skyscraper. It’s trying to do too much (multiple buildings, side vehicles) with too little (low piece count). As a result, the skyscraper itself is extremely bare-bones as are the play features. I think making the large sets more focused on the large buildings and leaving the smaller buildings like shops and apartments to cheaper sets would make more sense, but I’m sure the Marvel team will play around with what works and what doesn’t as they produce more of these mini-modulars. Interestingly from an age rating perspective, Oscorp is 10+ and the Bridge Battle was 8-14, so it’s not like they’re catering to vastly different audiences either. But there’s no denying that sets like the Bridge Battle are fun to build and look good on display, whereas sets like Oscorp don’t have the same ‘wow’ factor. I don’t think this is necessarily a guaranteed consequence of having to adopt a modular system either, and large sets can still be good despite accommodating that new system. Wall of text aside, I certainly see the current modular system being fun to play with and reconfigure for younger audiences. I guess it just takes getting used to for those who have seen how awesome the earlier Spider-Man playsets used to be.

Same here, maybe even top 15 for me. I just want the Mantis with a full crew and some Purge Troopers with Trilla in Lego form. I agree that Starfighter will be the event film that hopefully draws in new audiences and injects some hype into the existing fanbase from a cinematic standpoint (with some killer Lego sets too I hope). TMaG still looks and sounds like it should have just been another Disney+ thing, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong. I feel like Lego Star Wars could take a few cues from Harry Potter and offer up some non-UCS sets in the £150-£200 price range. The concept of compatible playsets would also work amazingly for locations like Cloud City, the Death Star, Geonosis etc. Saying that, this year’s £140 system sets can’t even go past the 1000 piece mark anymore, though it seems like that may not necessarily be the case next year.

I wonder if JJJ in the Bugle is a reuse of the one from this year’s Spider-Man 2 set? So far the Ghost Rider Bike and Sandman Battle are the only sets I’m interested in for January, and the latter only because of it potentially being a Raimi set. Pessimism aside, the play function of the adjustable billboard / sign on the Daily Bugle sounds pretty cool!

These January sets sound great and I’ve been wanting a set of Hagrid’s bike from DH for so long. Confounded at the lack of a Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing though. The patronuses as 25th anniversary collectibles are a neat idea too. I like it when anniversary celebrations are more specific for a theme rather than just reliant on golden minifigures. As much as non-playscale sets aren’t my cup of tea (and I genuinely think Lego are making far too much of these at the expense of good system sets across licensed themes), that Philosopher’s Stone set sounds pretty cool. Looking forward to seeing pictures.

It’s been fascinating seeing the reactions towards the recent news of the cancelled Hunt for Ben Solo film. As much as unjustified resurrections aren’t great, I still contemplate how awesome it would have been to see Ben actually living with the consequences of his actions and trying to atone in a post-TRoS galaxy. Text descriptions for the January wave are starting to leak, hopefully Star Wars ones aren’t far behind! This 100% won’t happen but seeing a set from the Jedi games next year with some of the main characters would be a dream come true for me. Hopefully with the third game we’ll get something.

The new prints allocated for these senseless / half-baked venomised characters could actually be used to create Spider-Man villains people actually want. Is a venomised Captain America really more desirable than, say, Shocker or Scorpion? Hooray for yet another reuse of Spidey / Miles / Gwen / Mk 43 Iron Man (reusing these particular figures this frequently across both low and high price-points is actually ridiculous IMO). How is it that the 4+ Spider-Man sets completely outclass the mainline Spider-Man sets in terms of character lineups?

I wouldn’t be surprised if a new ANH Falcon is on the cards (although a Cantina is also viable) so Han / Chewie / Luke / Greedo’s inclusion would make sense. If the Smart Brick is working in a similar manner to the Mario Digi-Figs and produces different light / sound effects, I suspect physical features on models incorporating the Smart Brick will revolve around changing the tiles exposed to the brick to produce the desired effect. Think buttons or rotary knobs on the Millennium Falcon that correspond with engine malfunctions / firing turrets etc. whilst the presumable integrated accelerometers would handle all the ‘flying’ noises. Keeping an open mind but not terribly jazzed about the idea of smart-brick sets and figures dominating so many slots. The back printing for smart figures also doesn’t look great, although this won’t be such an issue for characters with capes.

This would be the coolest £10 set for DC and make a world of sense, and that is exactly why it most likely hasn’t even crossed their minds. There needs to be some sort of rule at Lego where they shouldn’t do a vehicle or character at the UCS or buildable figure scale if a minifigure version doesn’t exist. It still irritates me how the Bat-Pod has only been done at the UCS and buildable figure scale, and how the Raimi Green Goblin in his armoured form has a buildable figure, but there’s still no minifigure in sight. Seeing the Speed Champions Marty McFly and Doc Brown’s Starship, I do still think the Pattmobile is a Speed Champions-level set. My only contention is the continued refusal to give the minifigure some much needed arm printing or make some more unique cowl pieces.

I was thinking that whenever @CloneCommando99 does get around to making an Age of Ultron poster, Ultron should be a 4+ TIE Avenger (‘I was supposed to be beautiful’) whilst Vision would be a regular TIE Avenger (or perhaps a UCS TIE Avenger? Not quite what Tony, I mean CC99 wanted but still better than Ultron). Also, hear hear on the discussions around Eurobricks as a platform. I think the smaller pool of users and the more nuanced discussions on this forum helps make it feel like a real community. All takes are welcome here and I always enjoy reading everyone’s opinions because they all bring something valuable to the table. The lack of bad faith arguments in general is a positive also.

Sign me up for a new Spidey variant too. 5 years of reusing the same minifigure variant is certainly long enough. That said, I do think the current variant works well as a ‘definitive’ Spider-Man minifigure (provided dual-moulded legs are used) and it’s understandable wanting to keep that generic suit as accessible as possible. If we do get a new variant, something more visually striking like the Insomniac suit would be awesome as opposed to another variant of the red / blue for its own sake.

The BvS and 2022 Batmobiles are phenomenal. I’ve been wanting the Pattmobile in Speed Champions scale since 2022 and this is close to perfect in my opinion. Batfleck looks awesome, Battinson looks okay, really could have benefitted from a new cowl / collar / pauldron piece but at least he has more accurate printing. God forbid the bean counters invest in more moulds for DC. The buildable logo…yeesh.

Great review @MKJoshA. Appreciate that you haven’t overlooked any aspects of the build, minifigures, and elements in the set. I’ve been wanting to get into the anime but haven’t had the time, but found the Netflix adaption to be quite enjoyable and am looking forward to Season 2. I’ve been really impressed with the entire Lego One Piece lineup, licensed sets tend to rely on detailed minifigures at the expense of good builds but I’m really happy to see that both areas have been given love within this theme and I would love to see this sort of genuine quality within Star Wars and Marvel. I ordered the Going Merry and Windmill Village sets just last week and they seem well worth the money even at full price.

The creativity in this thread continues to amaze me, great work everyone! This area has already been addressed multiple times now but I thought I’d give it a shot. I have the Indiana Jones diorama from 2023 still on my bookshelf and can’t get over how well it strikes a balance between display and play value despite being an 18+ model. I’d love to see Star Wars dioramas with this level of functional integration, and a subline of relatively small sub-£50 dioramas (laughs in LSW pricing) covering duels across the Star Wars saga would be awesome. - Each set would follow an identical footprint of x by y studs, meaning they can connect next to each other. A tile featuring a suitable quote and the logo from the represented film would be included on the base. - A new lightsaber blade mould would be introduced that looks like the blades are ‘swooshing’. Similar to what some Hasbro Black Series figures include (e.g, Count Dooku, the SDCC-exclusive Anakin and Obi-Wan duel, etc.). The Ninjago Epic Battles sets from a few years ago had something similar with new weapon moulds to evoke a sense of dynamic movement. - Each diorama would include an integrated function evoking a specific scene within a duel. These would be well hidden much like the functions for the Indiana Jones diorama. Focusing on the prequels for now: 1. Duel of the Fates - Includes Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi - Diorama: Area around the opening Theed hangar door Maul first reveals himself behind (Quote: “We’ll handle this”.) - Function: Hangar door opens to reveal Maul whilst allowing Qui-Gon / Obi to ‘move’ towards him 2. Duel on Geonosis - Includes Yoda and Count Dooku - Diorama: Geonosian hangar, predominantly some of the archways as well as the boarding ramp to Dooku’s Solar Sailer (Quote: “I’ve become more powerful than any Jedi…even you.”) - Function: Yoda ‘jumps and flips’ (this will require a neck bracket) to clash blades with Dooku, who turns on the spot 3. Palpatine’s Arrest - Includes Mace Windu and Darth Sidious - Diorama: Palpatine’s main office desk and curved window. Small build of the Coruscant cityscape behind the window (Quote: “You are under arrest, my lord.”) - Function: Mace and Palpatine turn in opposing directions, allowing the window to ‘shatter’ and exposing the small cityscape build 4. Battle of the Heroes - Includes Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi - Diorama: The Mustafar catwalk upon which the two duel after making a smoothie out of the control centre (Quote: “Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must.”) - Function: Obi-Wan and Anakin move towards each other to clash blades, whilst small builds representing lava and flames rotate out from behind the catwalk.

Great to hear these will be revealed tomorrow. I’m still holding out hope there’s more to the Battinson figure than just dual-moulded legs (I will of course be proven wrong in short order).

I suspect with NYCC coming up, Lego will have some sort of demonstration for the Smart Bricks planned. I sure hope that’s the case given it’s the perfect event to drum up interest in this supposedly earth shattering new style of play. Then again, this is the same company who aren’t very good at revealing their own product in a sensibly timely manner and then get aggressive when things start leaking out. With the original pictures of the Lego City builds we saw with the Smart Brick, it didn’t look like said builds were horrendously simplified the way the X-Wing and Pikachu look just to accommodate the Smart Brick. Not sure why those two sets look as bad as they do.

Curious that a new ‘shoulder armour’ (pauldrons?) piece is being made for the BvS Batman whose normal suit doesn’t have any sort of armour, yet no pauldrond for the 2022 Batman. Very weird, unless it’s armoured Batman driving the BvS Batmobile. I love that we’re getting the Battinsonmobile again, but this entire wave reeks of laziness. Hopefully the Batmobiles are at least designed well.

As much as I’m trying to keep an open mind with the Smart Brick (and will continue to do so until we see more pictures of the other sets along with actual demos of these bricks being used), seeing the X-Wing confirms my reservations that build quality can severely decline for the sake of incorporating new gimmicks no-one asked for. Of course, these are still being priced at a premium one would associate with better designed builds. What’s interesting is that it doesn’t look like the X-Wing is a ~500 piece build to begin with. Maybe there’s a side build? Given the footprint of the Smart Brick, it shouldn’t have to require too many compromises with build quality to begin with.

I’ve been wanting a new Battinson cowl ever since the original movie wave released in 2022, the current cowl mould doesn’t suit the design well at all either. What would be awesome is getting a double sided head for him as well, one side with the eye makeup to go with the cowl and another without it so it can be used with a standard hairpiece.