Markalus

You're lucky. I suspect I may have just missed your shipment. It's still saying "In warehouse". It always seems to take 2-3 weeks for me. I will call customer service in the morning.

Happy May the fourth Eurobrickians! I ordered Rebel Combat Frigate, A-wing and Phantom II from S@H, mostly for the minifigs. Ordered on April 29th and its still listed as 'In Warehouse' five days later. I don't know of any other company that drags it feet on shipping like Lego...at least to Australia.

How soon before a set is released do they normally make a designer vid? That seems kinda early to have one in the can if the rumoured release timeframe is correct.

Nice haul! It's good to see the Snowspeeder is available on the Aus S@H website now.

Its now the 29th in Australia and its still not available to add to cart for VIPs. Despite this, May the fourth promotions have triggered here ie. R2-D2 polybag and 10% discount across the entire Star Wars range (except Snowspeeder).

Unless it's blue milk. Then it's conclusive.

There was talk several pages back about 2 x VIP points for the May the fourth promotional period. The S@H splashpage is now advertising that the May the Fourth promotional period begins on April 29, the date of VIP early access for the UCS Snowspeeder and the reported 40% discount on the resistance X-wing (at least in EU). Can anyone confirm if double VIP points also begin on this date? That would be a pretty sweet deal, especially if it included the R2-D2 promo polybag.

Lol. I'm half expecting this to be the name of the inevitable Lepin cheap knock-off!

I would be over the moon if TLG announce a new UCS MF, regardless of whether I had already purchased the UCS Snowspeeder. Like Artanis I said above, I would be in the scenario 1 category. In all likelihood I would find the money from somewhere for day 1 purchase. But, if not, I would save until I did. Scenario 2 is not in TLG's best interests as it may cannibalise sales. Have they ever officially announced a future UCS set before the imminent release of a 'current' one? I doubt it.

'You're' just repeating what I was saying, but yes. Not everyone has an unlimited budget for Lego. Not lost profit for TLG per se but I would argue the MF is on another level in terms of desirability. Thus, it might influence the purchasing decision of someone who is on the fence for the UCS Snowspeeder. I would include myself in that category. As you are well aware it's not $200 and $600-800 in our neck of the woods either, it's $340 and $1000-$1400 respectively, neither of which most people would consider small change. Your mileage may vary of course.

Lol. Genuine 1980's prices. The original was $500!

No way they are going to reveal the next UCS set before the Snowspeeder is released. It could hurt sales if people decide to pass on it to save for the rumoured $600+ one.

The sales guy said they had 50 of them sitting in stock unsold for 6 months but almost all of them went in one day once the 50% discount was applied. I suspect heavy discounting of Assault on Hoth in other regions will follow before it retires. For me personally, at that price, it makes a great parts pack to add to my custom Hoth MOC and the minifigs are a bonus.

Yes. In Australia.

^This. There's already Evilbay listings "pre-selling" the celebration exclusive detention cell block set for hundreds of dollars.

Just picked up Assault on Hoth (and classic Batman Batcave) @ 50% discount in Target Australia. I never had any intention of buying the set but at the equivalent of $150 USD it was too good to pass up.

I think you've answered you own question..."exclusive". They could probably charge $100 and it would just make it more 'exclusive' and more desirable to a collector. It will sell for many hundreds of dollars on the secondary market.

That would be a really dick move on TLGs part if that is the case. I would imagine there are a lot of VIPs chomping at the bit to order the Snowspeeder on April 29 to avoid possible dissapointment if it sells out quickly. Jay's Brick Blog is reporting that the May 4th promotional period begins on April 29 so there appears to be some discrepancy there.

I presume the double VIP points starts on the day the May 4th promotion begins then? ie. April 29th? If not, there is a going to be a sh1tstorm of abuse from angry VIPs who placed orders for the Snowspeeder on day 1 sans double points.

Um...maybe. But when a well informed Mod makes such a comment and multiple reliable sources have fuelled the rumor, setting aside a budget for it is wise.

I'll take that as confirmation the rumor is true then.

The new UCS Snowspeeder looks great! I have 10129 but will get this one too. I agree with the overall sentiment about the number of stickers though, particularly canopy stickers. If they go the trouble of creating a new canopy mold I can't see why they can't make it printed? Even the guy in the announcement video felt like he had to justify the number of stickers. Sometimes I feel like TLG cut production costs on Star Wars sets because they know they will sell well regardless. If Megabloks can make "collector" sets entirely sans stickers & with complex printed elements surely Lego can!

I don't think it lends any more credibility to the rumor at all. It's a marketing person answering the question with spin. However, in the written article the author mentions that TLG could release UCS Falcon 2.0 to combat the flood of Lepin knock-off's. This, I believe, is more likely a valid reason we'll see it released sooner rather than later. The UCS Falcon is their hero model. It's literally being stolen by a dodgy company and Lego have no current way to combat the loss of IP and potential income due to weak IP laws in certain countries. The only reason the knock-off is viable is due to the huge price differential. Even if they copied a new version the price difference would be so much smaller that it would make the clone much less appealing.

Each to their own I guess. I just think grey gets a bit boring after a while. And if I want specific parts I just bricklink them.

It sure is. Its just a shame they didn't include him with a prototype B-wing from season 2 of Rebels, instead of the Freemaker set. That whole episode was a beautiful homage to Ralph McQuarrie.