GoldenNinja3000

I can vouch for Zavvi - they're a great way to get sets at a discount or early like this, and they often have random deals on sets. Right now you can get the Benatar + Endgame Final Battle for $215 and free shipping which is even a $5 savings on the US retail price.

Places like Brickshop actually have crazy discounts (and Zavvi has $5 flat shipping), so even after shipping it's still about $10 cheaper than buying them in the US at release. Plus I won't be in town when the sets release, so I'd rather get them a month early for the same price than get them two weeks after release.

I'd be surprised if the CMF was a September release since it's so What If-heavy and What If releases in August. Side note: do any international folks know any sites where I could buy the Marvel sets from? I've got an eye on Zavvi and Brickshop.nl, but was wondering if there are any other retailers that ship to the U.S.

I guess I expected Miek to be a new one-piece mold that could be held by a minifigure. Then again, I didn't think we'd get a minifig-sized Korg, either.

Ugh, it's still happening? I don't see a need for this set at all with Peggy in the CMF series and Iron Monger coming out at the same time. Knowing LEGO, civilian Steve will have a generic reused face and maybe a new torso but that's it, so he isn't even a figure I'm looking forward to. Hopefully we get other Disney+ sets for series like Secret Invasion...

The What If set looks awesome! A very unique build even though it's yet another oversized Iron Man mech. I really hope we stop getting Hulkbusters next year. The Advent Calendar is pretty meh, much like the HP one, which is disappointing. I wasn't expecting a ton but the exclusive figures aren't even good and like everyone else I’m sick of the video game variants.

Ugh, $40 and an October release date?? Why on earth...

I love the build of this 1966 cowl especially compared to the other one, and it was a cool surprise! I’m absolutely done with the ridiculous helmet pricing, though. There’s no way this is worth $60. Forget about the abysmal price per piece ratio, it’s not even anywhere near the same size as all the other helmets! At least the other cowl had that going for it, and that one was already pretty overpriced. If LEGO will adjust the helmet pricing for Star Wars why can’t they do it for other themes?

I actually love the Sanctuary II, provided it's $30 and not $50. The ship looks pretty darn good for the scale LEGO picked even if that was a poor scale choice in my opinion. I think a $50 price point would've turned out a better ship, like the 2017 Milano, but the sweet spot would be $80-120 for me. I do love this little version and the minifigures are great, but if LEGO is going to continue making minifigure versions of Thanos I really wish they'd invest in a new helmet mold for him or at the very least print that golden glove so that it's actually an Infinity Gauntlet. For one-off figures I didn't really care about this stuff but at this point it's getting a little bit irritating.

I've definitely noticed a decrease in quality over the last two years in particular. 7 of the minifigure heads in my copy of Diagon Alley were visibly smudged and for some reason sticker sheets are never cut correctly anymore? My DA set had so many stickers whose edges were cut off, and I received three replacement sticker sheets before getting one that was cut properly. That's just ridiculous for a $400 USD set and I've noticed it in many other ones as well, most recently the 1966 Batmobile. I don't have a huge problem with stickers but at the very least I expect them to look the way they're supposed to.

Finished the Bugle last night! It's pretty amazing when it's all complete. I particularly love Firestar's display area up by the antenna, and the little acton posing pieces elsewhere are great too. It fits in better than I expected with the modulars and I can't wait to put it in my city!

Same here. I'm disappointed about Monica being included if that lineup is accurate. I love Monica as a character, but she's going to be one of the co-leads in a movie next year and her figure's printing would just be a white shirt and black pants. We don't know when/if Agatha is returning and even if she is in Doctor Strange 2, I highly doubt there would be space to put her in a set. And unlike Monica, her costume is detailed enough to warrant the budget of a CMF figure. I can't believe LEGO is missing out on making Zemo again, too. I don't like that the Marvel series is only going to have 12 figures. If it had 16, we could get pretty much every main character from these four Disney+ shows.

I didn't bother trying to have the tower rise up from a building when I modified mine because I thought it would be too big. I just made the ground floor a bit longer and built a revolving door, as if the lobby is open to the public for visits. I've got a little hand scanner in the front and used to have Avengers suits lining the walls, and the lobby terminates in an electronic door that flips open to let authorized people up to the living spaces above and then the rest of the tower.

I just finished bag 2 and I'm blown away by the newspaper prints. They're so thick and glossy, and were packaged in a separate little bag! I think these are the highest quality prints I've ever seen from LEGO, and I really want to pick up duplicates.

I'll probably swap out my modified one for the official one if LEGO ever makes an Avengers Tower this size! I never thought they'd do a modular-compatible building as tall as the Bugle, which is why I thought my 3-foot Avengers Tower would be safe. I'm excited to see how they look together, though.

I ordered an extra copy online as a backup in case my store sold out and it was sold out online by the time I made it there. Not sure what I'll do with it now, either just return it or keep it as an investment. I'd love to open it and add more floors but I don't have the space for something that high, and I don't want any building in my city to be taller than my Avengers Tower.

Ordered my backup Bugle online, I'm building the Friends set right now, and I'm ready to pick up my actual one tomorrow morning at the store! I'm really excited, I didn't even realize that it's been two years since I went to the store for a D2C on release day.

Nope, large sets often sell out quickly and it's been more common over the past year due to production issues caused by COVID. The Ninjago City Gardens set sold out in a couple of days back in January and as far as I know hasn't been steadily in stock again, although it might have come back for a few hours or days. I don't think the Bugle will sell out in minutes, but I fully expect it to be sold out in the 11 hours between it going up online and my local store opening, which is why I'm ordering online as a backup in case the store sells out.

I always try to be there by opening time if possible. Haven't gone to a store on release day since summer 2019 (I think), but I called ahead and the employee told me that lots of people were calling about the Bugle and she predicted they would sell out quickly.

Awesome! I'm gonna order one online and go in store tomorrow. Don't want to risk the store being sold out since they only have 20 sets.

As someone who follows leaks up to about three months before a movie premieres, I don't understand why others can't just be courteous to the people who don't read those leaks. If someone is just watching the trailers and staying away from leaks, no, they do not want to hear that "the plot is weak". Even though it's not a specific spoiler it's still too much information for some people and invites discussion of plot-related spoilers, and as others have said, someone could slip up and say a spoiler without tagging it. And if the spoilers relate to set discussion, then what's the need to say stuff about the plot? At that point it's just movie discussion even if it's a throwaway comment. I loved the Eternals trailer and I think that the figures were translated pretty well into minifigure form, but it's a shame we didn't get a new mold for Ajak's crown. I also think Thena needs a better hairpiece since her hair looks a decent bit longer than the overused over-the-shoulder piece. I was surprised at how flat the spaceship is compared to the set and I don't love the huge proportion difference, but if LEGO made something that wide at a $90 pricepoint it would probably barely have any room for minifigures inside. Hopefully we see a couple shots of the Deviants and Celestials in the next trailer so we can compare those builds!

Thanks for this article! Can't wait to arrange my own configuration.

Eternals looks incredible. I wish the sets would hurry up and release! That final team shot does have me wishing that LEGO had shelled out and made a new mold for Ajak's crown, though.

I'm finally getting around to building the Spider-Man sets from earlier this year, and I'm very pleasantly surprised by a couple of builds. Doc Ock's mech is probably my favorite of all the new mechs and looks great. Ghost Rider's car seemed like a very boring build from the box but it was actually super interesting with the upside-down front and rear sections, and I didn't expect LEGO to supply extra pieces so you can remove the fiery bits! Now let's see if the Spider-Man monster truck can exceed my expectations...

Ouch, that Final Battle price is absolutely ridiculous. I'm glad it's $70 in the US since that actually seems like a decent price and not as overpriced as other bigfig sets, but 90 Euro??? That's crazy. This has to be one of the worst price conversions for a LEGO set in different regions.