Samppu

The one place where this would work probably the best in Star Wars would be Coruscant. You could do almost dozens of great sets of the nature: A big set (100 to 200 €/$): a building akin to a modular building, though with some key differences: Taller towers but no backwalls, which is a good compromise as it enables higher buildings for the same price while also enabling better playability. The street level would be microscale city scape and the actual minifigure street would be one level higher akin to the streets in Ninjago modular buildings. This cheap yet efficient optical illusion would better feel like the minifigures were actually living high above the visible ground of the megapolis. Some compromises would need to be done, like locations being allocated to the same tower building even if they were not intended to be in the same building in-universe. However, this is no different from what Harry Potter is doing. The sets as a whole could be combined in similar style as in HP. Tall buildings physically separated from each other but as a whole creating the feeling of the towering heights of a megapolis in which you use an air speeder to travel from one tower to another. A medium set (50 or so): a flat compatible with the big sets so that you could just add another floor in between like a ham into a sandwich. Small set (10 to 20): a speeder or a battle pack focusing on alien folks Just to get your imagination running: A Coruscant tower with three locations (big set): Basement level: Coruscant underworld club Street level: Dexter's coffee Level 3: Padme's apartment Andor's and Bix's hideout apartment on Coruscant (medium set) You could add this to the Coruscant tower set as another floor. Luthen's gallery with a landing platform (medium set) You could add this to the Coruscant tower set as another floor. Anakin's and Zam Wesel's speeder (small sets). They would fit to land on the roof or some small landing platform of the big Coruscant tower set. Mon Mothma's air speeder (small set). Would fit on the gallery's platform. Some more: The senate (a big set) Half of the mushroom showing exterior, interior being a couple of senate podiums in the rotunda and the rest being squeezed podiums to create an optical illusion of depth (4 x 4 podium with microfigures and at the very bottom 2 x 2 podiums). The chairman's tower could be lifted with a mechanism. In addition to the rotunda, it would include a small hallway area from the door to the two openings to different podiums. The front yard would be a small section of street/bridge over micro scaled city. Chancellor's office (medium set) You could stack this under the Senate set. The medical bay for Darth Vader's transformation (medium set) You could stack this as another level at the bottom of the Senate set. Bail Organa's speeder (small set) Could stick with a Technic axle to flow under the Senate mushroom so that Yoda could jump into it from a hatch in the Senate set.

It has probably something to do with a long term strategy, not with immediate resale winnings. Clearly buildable Chewie does not affect long term fans and kids so much, but it isn't meant to. It is meant to attract new adult fans and more than that, all the 18+ sets are a spearhead with which Lego fuels the culture of a trendy new adult hobby. It is not just the 18+ sets alone, it is the Lego Masters TV shows, collaboration with nostalgia brands (Pokemon!) and advertisement campaigns towards adults which clearly reflect their overall purpose to win a new market for years to come. Individual sales are of secondary importance next to this grand scheme. If a set make revenue, even small, then great. If it doesn't, consider it as a marketing cost. In this regard they are probably pulling the right strings given that the new generation of adults (millenials) care a lot about hobbies, unlike most of their parents did, whereas the kids tend to become more inclined to digital addiction than toys.

My thoughts exactly as well.

Generally the in-universe numbers, especially considering money but also things like army size, production value, population or distance are so weird and poorly fit that I personally try to avoid attaching myself to the numbers too much, as much as I would love to if they only made any sense. Just some funny examples: Galactic credits have more or less the same course as US dollars in our universe. Yet in Star Wars universe, you can buy an X-Wing for 60 000 credits, even if you barely buy a Tesla on Earth for the same amount of dollars. Just for comparison, Abrams tank costs something like 10 million dollars and F-35 something like 300 million dollars. And in Andor they tell us that 80 million credits will suffice as the pay roll of a quarter of a year for a an Imperial sector. In Earth terms that would roughly give you the payroll of 800 doctors and 10 000 nurses for a quarter of a year. In the small country of Finland with a population of 5 million, we have 20 000 doctors. The GAR army size has been commonly referred to have had about 3 million clone troopers. Even Russia is not so far from it at the moment (1 million casualties and another million still standing at the front), and the Soviet Union deployed as much as 30 million troops against the Germans. Personally I let the numbers just flow and try to keep some sort of cohesion of the logistics at play only in my head with numbers and logic I adjust myself to please only myself. Applies to the Lego universe as well, of which I mentioned an example a while back that I use as a downscale for the army organization for the Empire, Alliance and Republic (droid have a different system, though), which makes sense in terms of Lego but still has the right kind of feel of size in the Lego context: Private (1 trooper) Patrol (2 troopers) Squad (4 troopers, one of them a sergeant) Platoon (2 squads led by a lietenaunt so 9 together) Company (2 platoons led by a captain so 19 together) Battallion (2 companies led by a major so technically 39 together) Brigade (2 battallions of similar type of force, like a bridage of stormtroopers, led by a colonel, technical size about 80) Regiment (2 battallions of different types of force, like a combined force of artillery, armor and different sorts of infantry, led by a colonel, technical size about 80) Division (a combined and independent fighting force including artillery and armory and air support as well as field hospital totaling a number larger than a brigade or a regiment with the technical size being well over a hundred, led by a general) Notes: Corporals' role is to be the second in command in a squad if the sergeant falls or is needed elsewhere. Corporals do not command units as such. Unit sizes are technical paper sizes counting only the regular troopers. E.g. companies often employ a medic, battallions always have other officers and aids and technical specialists and often a small special force at the command station and platoons can have attached specialists like flametroopers at their disposal raising their actual size from the technical. Legion is an honorary title granted for successful units, not a unit size as such. Sector force or an army refers to all combined units on a particular planet or the land units of a fleet. Its size can be big or small, and it is commanded either by a moff (the sector force belonging to his or her sector) or an admiral (the army belonging to his or her fleet). Military, like the Imperial Military or the Alliance military, refers to all combined arms of a faction including armies and fleets and intelligence etc.

I actually agree about Luke's role, it made sense on many levels. Yet still considering Mando S2, the visit of Ahsoka seeking Thrawn, for instance, was something a bit out of context and clearly acted merely as an advertisement of her own show. Exciting, well yes, connected to the story or the world of a ruthless bountyhunter of the Mandalorian, not really. And I don't mean they should have left her or Thrawn out, but the professional style of writing would be to bring them in as logical parts of the story and the lore setting. For example, if we had heard e.g. some stormtroopers speaking about a new warlord taking command before, which later would have revealed to be Thrawn, that would have been elegant. Now he bumbs out of nowhere as if the directors just had the idea and/or permission to bring him in, because somebody in the background just signed the deal about Ahsoka's series, which needed an advert. This same issue spans over most of Star Wars media, Mandalorian as a whole, too. Not that the connections should not exist or that they would be inherently bad, but they just don't seem and feel to be built in a cohesive manner.

Me too. The reason behind this back-and-forth logic is probably simple and stupid, unfortunately: the movies and series are not planned as a whole, but instead they seem to be made only one movie or episode at a time. The saddest example is the sequel trilogy itself, but let's not dwell into that again. The real question is why they don't? One would think that professional writers who are Star Wars fans would know how to plan long archs over trilogies of movies and seasons of series. My bet is that the problem is less in the writers (though, some of it is in the writers and directors themselves, too, but that issue spans over the entire Hollywood in general, not just over Star Wars) and more in the producers. On many occasions it seems that the writers are forbidden to make any direct connections to the existing lore of the Expanded Universe or even to the other canonical series. Take the Mandalorian season 1 for a particular example. Most of the episodes are episodic (so the story does not continue from one episode to the next but instead each episode is a more-or-less stand-alone story of its own), and almost totally disconnected from everything. Mostly no meaningful connections to any other existing lore, nor thorough explanations or backstories of characters and settings (which applies well to the sequel trilogy, too) as if they had not yet decided how this should fit into the grand scheme. Then suddenly in the season two, bam, the writers are set free and you get Ahsoka, dark troopers, even Thrawn, Luke etc. Though still those connections to old characters and lore feel mostly disconnected from the ongoing story and its logic. They tend to be visiting guests, who act rather as cameos (or some sort of advertisement of other projects) than as actually meaningful parts of the story. If indecisiveness is the shame of the producers, lacking functionally meaningful role in the story is then a blame on the writers. It only gets worse when directors or producers decide to reverse the decisions of their predessors in ways of which you guys gave a plenty of silly examples.

That's what I do personally, as alternatives don't exist (unless some customization involving tools and 3D printers), but I would prefer an official mold for longer legs for long characters, not just in Star Wars but in general. But in the case of Star Wars, the use would be plenty. Darth Vader, wookies, pauans would come to mind in particular. It would be exactly the same idea they did with the medium legs but to the opposite end, so I don't even see it very revolutionary to the concept of the minifigure really. But the longer legs should only be like one plate higher, the Avatar versions would go too far. One other similar wish mold-wise would be to have some sort of fatness backpack (or rather, front-pack), which would be attached to the minifigure's neck similarly as the backpacks are attached, but the mold would be used to give a round stomach on a figure's frontside of a torso. Customizers can achieve this by cutting and cluing the 2 x 2 inverted plates, but again, an actual mold would be cool. I admit that this would see only limited use in Star Wars, but where I would want it, nothing else could replace it, like using it for the body of a Rodian gangster Reelo Baruk from the Jedi Outcast video game.

Yes, I have tried it and true, the Avatar legs make him look like a dark side giraffe. What I meant was a new mold for long legs wich would be modestly just one plate longer than the normal ones. Such legs would be useful for other characters too, like Chewbacca and other wookies.

Agree on Chewie. Some ideas: Zam Wessel (skin color and a new mod for helmet) Long legs (plus one plate) for Vader Shoulder pads and physical equipment belts for stormtroopers AT-ST driver helmets, which could hold black ski goggles Backpacks for snowtrooper and scout trooper Jabba with a moving mouth Satyr legs for Geonosians Friends-body for a Kaminoan R2 units with rotating heads Mon Mothma with proper hair and a skirt

The more details, the better works for me. I even prefer the hyper realism in faces like in Count Dooku of 2014 or the old Indiana Jones' father. The limit goes in the requirement of versatility and customizability. That is, the parts and prints must be compatible with each other and Lego in general. So for example this would go overboard in my mind, because it is no longer possible to swap the torso to another etc. But wrap-around printing, detailed alien molds (love the new keldor/Plo Koon mold!) and double-molds in legs and helmets? (stormie helmet was a gooď idea with a bad result as was the updated rebel pilot helmet - please try both again Lego) Yes please!

This concept sounds great and works perfectly well in Harry Potter. Perhaps I would rather use it for something else than the Death Star, though. A collection of Hoth locations or even Naboo or Coruscant locations, granted, the latter ones being more of a fantasy than a realistic possibility.

Did I miss something before: is there another battle pack for 332nd, that is, Ahsoka's company coming in 2026? Agree on every word. I was kinda excited for the set, or rather for the minifigures as I almost exclusively build mocs anyway, before seeing the pictures. Now I feel no shame about using custom figures, which are actually of surprisingly good quality. Not perfect but as a whole easily surpassing Lego nowadays.

Don't be. As a cognitive scientist any mockery from me towards psychologists would be like a soccer player mocking a basketballer that it is silly to run after a ball. And even if I see risk, I too also see a lot of potential with dynamic sound effects, if the Smart Brick really can enable such things. TIE-bomber roaring when tilted. The alarm system of an Imperial base going on if a minifigure enters a forbidden area. A big monster like rancor roaring when moved. A vehicle making an explosion sound when hit to the right spot. Jabba's mumbling door droid, which would actually speak when activated! Cantina band playing as an effect to opening door to the cantina. Millenium Falcon engines making the lighting up sound, when you make the fix suggested by Threepio. The ghost of a forgone sith lord laughing at his tomb.

Even if I generally enjoy and embrace novel ideas and creative visions, now that I saw the sketch even I don't think the Smart Brick thing is worth of destroying the very idea of Lego Star Wars. Or at least the original idea of roughly minifigure scaled vehicles with actual minifigures, which seem to be on the edge of going extinct under the pressure of 18+ gimmicks and now these child oriented sets... The problem you refer to why Lego's previous creative visions have miserably failed is the lack of consistency and weirdly idealized idea of what playing with toys should look like. Take for example the dreaded light-up lightsabers from the beginning of 2000s. They were inconsistent with other lightsabers and inconsistent with the idea of Lego figures, because now you could not remove and change the arms or head not to talk about to ever remove the lightsaber from the hand. In some idealized vision of very young children playing you could as an adult executive at Lego imagine that when children play they fiercely clash the figures together, press the light-up button and roar something and soon after the play session is over. In such a situation the play features like the light-up lightsabers seem reasonable. For some young children this kind of playstyle is also undoubtedly true, but it does lack the broader understanding of play, especially for older children (and personally for me as well). The actual play revolves around long and deep stories, which rather resemble epic role playing games than anything else. Often they involve serious themes and cruel and scary events, even or especially in the playing of children. What is unique about Lego is that you can really go all in for your own story. You are not limited by what instructions tell you, you can build a world of your liking and you can play a story, which excites you. In your own privacy it does not matter, if the events in your story were not approved by anyone else. Lego makes this possible, because no other toy enables creation of your own characters and world in the same way. This principle should be sacred and any new gadgets and parts should only look to broaden the possibilities, not to force your play to a preset railing approved by some world hugging psychologist in a corporate company. The laser shooters pose a successful example of this, so not all the gadgets are inherently bad. The laser shooters enabled more action or games to some of the events in your story. In space fight you could now determine the winner according to actual hits instead of imaginary ones, but the existence of the shooters did not affect your story telling and world building nor did they limit your way of using the laser shooters themselves. If you wanted to create a violent and even sadistic scene, they were there to enable some concretia to it for you, not preventing you from doing it in the first place. If the Smart Brick gets this idea right, I can see it as a win, especially if you could code e.g. your own sound effects to it. E.g. a TIE bomber roaring when you tilt it down for a bombing run would be a cool feature, which would add something to playing out still your own story. But if the Smart Brick, as I am now becoming afraid of, is some sort of preset collection of psychologist approved features only compatible with some special electronic minifigures incompatible with all of the other figures, it quickly becomes boring by trying to rail the story of your play.

Oh, I am actually all in for gadgets like the Smart Brick. They may enable unseen play features in the right hands, and personally I would be willing to pay some premium for a set, if it included something of the sort. For me getting simply the laser shooters in 2014 began a whole new era of Lego building by enabling seriously cool functions in very cramped spaces. However, the question comes then down on the features and the quality of the Smart Brick itself. Sounds are cool already, but I can see some other potential depending how the scanning feature actually works. E.g. it would be quite exciting if you could "target" another ship or base with a ship in your hand, and if the Smart Brick hidden into the structure of your ship succeeded to scan the code part somewhere at the back of the aimed target, the Smart Brick would make a sound of an explosion as a sign of winning the dogfight or the bombing run being successful.