Alex_South

I completely agree, but there will be a 3rd game and the series is doing really well so far, I believe a Mantis set is coming so I have no trouble skipping this cal figure, the fact that they put him in such an expensive set means they absolutely know the market is there. I think a mantis set also has good odds of being one of the best interpretations in recent years. That's half the success of the ships like the onyx cinder, it's a basic design and easy to implement in lego, unlike the T-6 which is harder to make a playset out of at a good size with the right cockpit shape and proportions without wasting a ton of bricks on the stupid giant double sided wing, I still wish they tried though haha. The onyx cinder is a great build but a boring design imo, but the mantis is a more iconic design (especially if you play the game), it has a smaller rotating wing that won't be a piece-hog like the T-6 wing, and the body of the ship is sensible for a strong build with easy to access and usable interior, it's such a sensible design, which lends itself to being good lego. I am holding out hope that we get some iconic builds for ships that actually have good source material in the next few years. To pass the time I think I will get the Jedi Bob starfighter and one or two of the little clone sets to do a fun minimalist clone wars era display on my shelf. I got rex for the fig(I'm not displaying the y-wing lol), I might also grab the grogu set for the incredible lamppost, speeder and 2 501st to go with rex. Bob's fighter is white and red instead of dark red so I am not sure how it would pair with the speeder+sidecar which has the same coloring as the coruscant guard gunship I think, but in a funny way that lamppost will look great next to it since it's right out of the lego games.

It has the potential to be an amazing display. If they reign in the desire to make the barge a shelf queen and keep the size closer to "beefed up play-set" and include a second skiff and got the price closer to 300-350 MBS with 5 more guard figures I think they would sell a lot more of these than if they do the inevitable 3' long 500$ barge. There are just so many other sets higher on my list before I would ever waste over $300 on a giant UCS pile of monochrome bricks, but that's just me. Objectively I completely agree, but emotionally I wish they had done several things different and the biggest gripe I have is the T-6, I want them to re-release that set at the price and scale of the onyx cinder/millenium falcon, I am hoping we get definitive versions of mando-verse stuff once that era makes it's way into theaters. Up to this point it appears that mandoverse is the future of star wars cinema and I feel that reflected in the merch, Lego support for the other shows are hit or miss but they have been building the mandoverse era for several years now and I hope it leads to some incredible movie waves.

I looked at that old leaked prototype photo (I think I found the correct one) and it doesn't seem like a 500$ build, not seeing as drastic of a difference the way I did between the AT-AT UCS and playset, It does seem like it would need a side build and more figures.

I guess it would be redundant but it would be accurate to have the barge include an identical skiff model full of guards to complete the scene.

random thoughts looking at this years sets: -at this point they have released Cal, the BD-1 build, and BD-1 figure it's gotta just be a matter of time before they do a mantis. -the more I look at the little lamppost in the grogu escape set the funnier it gets: "minimalist jedi temple display" -onyx cinder is a good build: not grey, not plastered in stickers, play features and a good interior you don't have to crack the ship in half to access, but it's kinda a boring ship design imo, maybe if the show is great I might change my mind.

i unironically agree with this, and i wish the SW UCS line didn't exist haha.

overall this has felt like a mostly filler year, it's clear they have backed away from the TV space quite a bit. Jedi Bob is funny and a genuinely fun fighter build so I will get that. It's a mix of delta-7 and interceptor proportions, the underside might be rough and I really hope it has landing gear, I think a lot of folks will come around on the design once they see more of it, the build and design looks superior to both the delta-7 and interceptor builds imo. Rex is a must have 12$ figure just in case we get a good Anakin figure next year. I don't have a good minimalist Clone Wars display idea for him yet but he's the definitive clone character so I got him. I might consider the skiff if they do a playscale barge at some point, like the UCS/playscale ATAT, but that's a wait and see situation. This version of Luke is my favorite that lego has ever done. C-3PO is a very interesting set to me because of the way it handles gold and silver pieces. This makes a proper chimera possible, right? Also I can now hope for an updated N-1 for mando movie with silver pieces and a better build. The SD this year was really disappointing considering all the talk from lego about how they only remake a vehicle if they can do something new like the Coruscant guard gunship recolor, for me it's a wasted slot for big grey triangle, I would have preferred the Chimera or a play-scale Venator. The build is absolutely solid though so if they ever do make those other two triangles I am confident they will do a good job. I don't know who has the money or shelf space for the dark falcon but lego is squeezing every last drop out of that 2019 falcon design. I am good to wait--I anticipate disney is going to cash in on falcon/OT crew nostalgia with an upcoming mando-verse movie.

Jedi Bob's star-fighter is the first delta-7 I want to own. It looks incredible, if there was ever a time for Lego to show favoritism and go all out on a mini-figure the time is now, give Bob dual molded legs and some arm printed CW gauntlets and a hair piece haha. EDIT: or maybe it's for the best if he matches his old version otherwise some folks might get upset.

Yeah, this set doesn't interest me personally but I am sure it will be great for some folks, lego has a long history of re-releasing stuff which is good for folks who miss out for various reasons, or are just getting into LEGO. They don't get it perfect but they do it better than some other toy companies haha.

normal 501st troops seem most likely in that grogu set right?

Oh for sure, I just mean in general these sets are all geared around PT/CW era which IMO makes it increasingly likely we see some new versions of those characters considering they did appear in Ahsoka Ep. 5, so in a way maybe "Ahsoka" sets are still on the menu. A jedi temple will also be an incredible addition to a lot of displays.

Forget Ahsoka, if they give us the main trio in their CW outfits I am going all in on a CW display.

No Ahsoka sets next summer is a bummer, but on the flip-side it's also really thrilling because now we have more open slots for other stuff. Lego is doing CW era right these days. I am not a fan of the Z-95 but I applaud the price and not putting it in a combo pack. We still have a lot of slots open. It would be pretty funny if Lego dropped a play-scale Venator after all the UCS fomo. They kinda did the same thing with the Gunship. I thought I saw somewhere that the mando bunker and BP could be combined, does that imply some sort of structure/platform build for the mando BP?

YES! Rex in a Y-wing micro-fighter is better than I could have hoped, also vindication after being told on reddit and youtube that I was insane for saying LEGO wouldn't paywall the arm printing. Yularen is the more fair figure to remain exclusive. I'm also in the minority of folks not thrilled on the idea of a full Y-wing set, I don't like CW era Y-wings, but this microfighter will go perfect with a 501st specialist BP. Now to see what other CW era sets drop next summer. I am holding out hope for an eta class Jedi Shuttle with CW era Anakin/Obi/Ahsoka.

Oh nice! I just saw it, that's a beautiful set. A must have for any DUNE fan. and I love that technic function so much.

Yeah I am not invested enough in DUNE, but I am really happy for the fans. This is a fantastic set considering it's probably a one-and-done. Description says "flappable wings", hoping that's a technic action feature. I did appreciate the unique technic build for the spider tank this year, as an elder bionicle fan I love when technic gets used well in sets.

I bet all the folks complaining about Rex's missing kama feel a bit silly this morning. It's clear Lego blew the cloth budget for the next 5 years on Baron Harkonnen's robes

I'm not the biggest fan of the Y-wing, CW or OT (but I do love the midi-scale one in the yavin set), but I can't see how they would release that rex with any other vehicle. Is there anything else he could be in? I guess we could see some bad batch sets next year and maybe he is in one of those. I would personally love a Marauder remake. Also I really hope they don't paywall the arm-printing on the figure.

That's wild, I never would have guessed that. I might want Fives if Rex also releases in a cheaper set, but if they don't include Rex's arm print I won't bother. The Tantive hallways being modular sounds amazing.

I agree, personally I like the MBS concept more than UCS in most aspects, I would rather have affordable midi-scale stuff for display-only vehicles instead of giant UCS sets, a midi-scale venator and invisible hand would be way cooler on a shelf than two giant UCS sets that take up half a room, midi scale is perfect for fleet building and creating space battle displays. Playscale stuff begs for good MBS location sets, it's one of the things that makes the cantina so great imo, you can create so many cool displays with other sets, the scythe or the falcon or the crest or best of all, luke's landspeeder. I wish they hadn't whiffed so hard on that kenobi duel because I would have loved a duel set for the stonehenge starmap cliff with the trees from the first 5 episodes of Ahsoka, Lego does a great job doing fall colored trees. I am glad they are doing more dioramas because those are location based, but I just want them to do more locations in general.

Cantina is a great set and once it retires I am sure another great MBS set will take it's place.

Yeah, marrok really throws me, it's weird to have bulked up taller inquisitors when Vader towered over all of them, I still like him as a normal minifig, but over the years the number of bulked up figures has increased and Vader feels a bit smaller at times than he used to is all, but that's more on the issue of other figures being too big. I still think that his big helmet gives him enough height over other figures in most sets. This was also sort of my issue with Baylon, he is so big on-screen compared to other characters it was strange to see him as a minifig when marrok got the bulky armor piece.

I apologize ahead of time for this random take, but if they're not going to do robes over his chest has anyone else wished they would do a chest armor mold to beef up Vader like they do with most inquisitors, a custom mold of his armor to give him more presence and height as a figure? I have been wondering about this since the Marrok figure and the other inquisitors we got with the Scythe.

With all the potential for delays following the strikes I was wondering about this too. has lego ever done this before for a licensed theme?

Fair point, I'm just griping and waiting for the stars to align like they did with the Scythe but for a ship I really like. Buying 1-3 sets for my shelf and then selling and repeating the process is as far as my collecting goes. I don't really moc stuff, a few years ago I did some lego idea stuff called "penguin quest", made an orca helicopter thing, it was fun. I'll buy the T-6 when it goes on sale next year sometime, unless I am near a lucky cosco soon and then if they make a new one in a few years I will get it.