N_Cat

Also the Iron Legionaires, who were just robots

It seems like TLG were hamstrung pretty hard in making the Iron Man 3 sets. First of all, vehicle based action is Lego’s bread and butter and IM3 ultimately had very little, but they had a running contract with Marvel. Secondly, they couldn’t spoil the twist, which put restrictions on which figures were included where. To work within those restrictions, they went with making things up. Now, though, they have three years distance, and can safely integrate elements from the film into the wider line without needing to either capitalize on the zeitgeist or worry about protecting the brand. They must have liked the film because, like you were saying, they are putting out a lot now. It’s nice, particularly for those who would like to model IM3’s final battle. With the addition of the 2016 suits, there will be: -Mark 17 -Mark 33 -Mark 37 -Mark 39 (presumably) -Mark 42 -Iron Patriot -Aldrich Killian -"Extremis Soldier" -Pepper Potts -Tony Stark At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the summer wave includes Igor or Red Snapper.

I'll bet you 3:1 that it's a regular stud-shooter with a 1x1 cylinder attached onto the butt end.

You're right, obviously, but there are differences: Mark 5 has much more silver, a circular chest repulsor, more segmented, etc. I'm more pleased that it's a pretty good Mark 33.

I might be alone in this, but I think the coolest part is that the print on the torso looks spot-on, because the "armor with 2 tiles" design is way too bulky for the Centurion.

Even those who think it's "real" don't think that this is what the final figure will look like, right? Lego wouldn't release that, even if it were an internally used figure.

That helmet has been recommended, but (a.) I don't own it, so I can't just test it, and (b.) I'm content this one, so it's not worth purchasing for me. However, if you can find a nice gold torso, great! I really wanted gold, too, but the best one I found was this, and everyone I asked said they preferred the torso I ended up using. I own one, so I can throw it on for you if you think it'd look better, and I'll look into any recommendations.

It's not perfect, but it's the best I got with currently available parts. Here is my purist MCU Wasp: For reference:

Yes, of course. Sorry, and changed. Great analysis, and I agree with you on pretty much all points. Frustratingly, with the current schedule, I think Black Panther and Captain Marvel are likely to be skipped over, as they come 3 and 2 months before an Avengers film, respectively. I hope they're at least included in the sets for those Avengers films if they don't get their own sets. At least we know we're getting one figure of the title characters in 2016, so they can always be included in our collections even if they're completely shafted in the future. It's weird- what I'd like for Ragarök on a film level and what I'd like for Ragnarök on a Lego level are mutually exclusive. I think going cosmic and ignoring Earth completely would make a much better film, but I really would prefer to get the Thor 1 and Thor 2 casts in Lego over new characters. I think Surtur is the most likely villain, but there are a bunch of possibilities.

Agreed. 2018 *2017 is a crazy busy year- Guardians v2, Spider-Man, and Thor: Ragnarök. Previously, I would have pegged Thor as the film to get skipped over by Lego; Guardians was super popular with the kids, and we know how much Lego loves Spider-Man. But now, with the added ties to the universe, there's a chance all 3 might get at least a little Lego love, particularly if Lego drops comic/tv Spider-Man in favor of the film! If we get sets, I presume we'll get Loki, Thor, the main villain, and Hulk's quite likely now, too. Enchantress and Valkyrie are cool, but who I really want in minifigure form are Sif, Heimdall, Selvig and Jane! I'd have liked Frigga and Odin, too, but they're (both?) dead, so unlikely to appear. Anyone want to take bets as to whether Thor wears a helmet? Ha! If only. I have a feeling next the next SDCC exclusives will be Banner and Coulson just to taunt us.

So, it's been confirmed that Hulk will be in Thor: Ragnarök. That's intriguing, though we've gotten Hulk bigfigs, so it probably won't be anything new in the Lego realm of things. Though maybe Hulk will wear some armor, Planet Hulk style? Only in the MCU the armor will be Asgardian in origin? I think that could be cool and it would give us a new figure.

For heads, I guess I'd go with Red Skull or Devil for Atrocitus, Kranxx for Larfleeze, Sinestro and Hal for themselves, CMF Classic Alien for St Walker, Vision or Umbaran for Indigo (not happy with this), and a regular head for Star Sapphire. Anyone else got better things?

I think after Age of Ultron, he's taking a backseat to spend more time with his family, making him less of a core Avenger. I'm only joking, though, I understand what you mean I still believe that we may not get a Hawkeye figure. It's simply just not a sure thing either way.

If so, do you figure they had to and/or did ask m.togami before using it? Or does Lego permanently retain the image rights of all ideas submissions?

Hahaha I have no secrets, I'm a complete novice! I'm mainly parroting what I've heard elsewhere, typically from those who seem to have a collection that's way bigger than would be reasonably obtainable via Bricklink. Some LUGs and communities will buy sets in bulk and part them out to re-sell. People that are part of these groups can get the figures at price because there's no markup within the group. It's one way the stores on Bricklink get hundreds of the same figure or part to sell. I have no interest in doing that and haven't looked into it- Lego is just a hobby to me. Other people trade directly for specific figures on websites like Reddit or Facebook, typically in private groups that you need invites for. Lego forums, including ours, have trading/purchasing sections where Lego is often cheaper than Bricklink, but it's not a great selection and it's inconsistent. In general, if you have a special connections with a group, you can get better deals. I like Bricklink because it's public, open, consistent, and has a large inventory. I dunno, Darkseid seems like a good point of comparison for Thanos to me, (bigfig, arch nemesis to the super team, comes in a $70.00 set), and he's only selling for $10. Obviously, Thanos will be somewhat more than Darkseid because of the MCU connection, but double the price seems like a big jump. Quicksilver was particularly expensive (I paid $16 just to get him, so I feel your pain), but there were a number of factors there that shouldn't be generalized. One, he was in a larger retailer exclusive, so the set never went on sale for resellers. Two, the rest of the set in question was anomalously undesirable, so he was the only way for resellers to recoup their money. Three, he died and he's an X-Man, so everyone knew we'll never get him again in any form, not in MCU sets nor comic based sets. I guarantee that Captain Marvel, Thanos, Red Skull and Iron Man will all reappear, even if they're different variants. We might not get Hyperion again, but frankly, he's not famous enough to command a high price. I've read the original Squadron Supreme comics, Hickman's Avengers, and watched the Avengers Assemble episodes with him and sometimes I still forget he exists. In popularity, he's lower tier than fellow evil-alternate-universe characters Justice Lord Batman or goatee Spock. But rejoice, Hyperion fans! It means he'll be easy to get for those who love him! Anyway, to get back on topic, do we know why certain sets were included in the Lego.com cache and others weren't? I'm dying to see Captain Marvel! Also, to those in the know (cough*CM4Sci*cough), were the cache photos the same as those in the retailer catalog, or are there differences? Might some sets still be prototypes or is everything finalized?

It's certainly a better deal to buy sets than figures, but if you truly only want figures, it can be somewhat cheaper to just buy the figures individually. I spend a fair amount of time on Bricklink deciding how to get particular figures, so I'll share my general impressions: In a medium sized Superheroes set like the Skull Submarine, you can typically get every figure for less than the MSRP, but you aren't saving much money (e.g. Hulkbuster Smash would be about $26 for all the figures vs $30 NIB). When you don't want every figure, things change. The two most desirable figures in this type of set usually average between $8-12 each. After a month, I imagine underwater Iron Man and Iron Skull could be acquired for $10 each on Bricklink. $20 for 2 figures is really a terrible value, but if you really don't want the rest of the set, it's better than paying $35 just to get those two figures. Because they come from a larger set, I can see Captain Marvel and Thanos selling for ~$15 each. Space Iron Man could go for $10, while Hyperion and Cap will probably go for $5. If my two most desired figures were Captain Marvel and Mark 37, then I could spend ~$25 to get just them rather than $105 to get their sets. I could put the $80 I "saved" towards sets that I actually cared about. There are places where figures are much cheaper than Bricklink, but I'm not a part of any of those communities.

That wasn't ever in question, was it? Has any Juniors set ever come with anything less than the full figures? I think only the Mighty Micros are/were in question.

I don't think the submarine is nearly as bad as some of you are making it out to be. It's at the very least a good parts pack, and if budget allows, I'm looking forward to modding it into the submarine from Captain America: The First Avenger that the Hydra agent tries to escape in. I'm actually way, way more impressed by this set than I thought I would be.

Hey, cool, it's the Mark 37 Deepsea armor. Y'know, that one was originally designed for Iron Man 1, and when it came time to make Iron Man 3 and they looked through the archives and found it, and used it as one of the Iron Legion. Personally, I only like the Iron Man 3 armors that were actually designed by someone, not the ones that are random combinations of other armors with ugly color schemes and ludicrous specializations. EDIT: This probably means they will use the Gemini armor for the Avenjet set, which is good, because that's also one of the specifically designed ones.

Actually, his wings look exactly how TT Games represented both Hawkman's and Batman's wings in the last game: about half a plate thick and opaque, rather than paper thin and translucent. They're not good, but I guess it is Lego- we can replace them with whatever we want. At least we will finally have an MCU Falcon! How about this, though- at 0:30 through the trailer, we can partially see Thanos, and he appears brightly colored. It's possible that he might be the specific version we're getting in the Avenjet set in January- I assume they'd want to match the figure that will have been out for less than a month. If this is the case, it would mean we're getting a brightly colored Thanos.

I mean, Lego has managed to print this piece before, so it can't be all that difficult:

Yeah, even if they reuse the AoU torso and have no new printing on the arms or legs and I'd still be ecstatic if we got either a better printed head or a removable helmet with a flesh head.

Oh my goodness. That looks so perfect! I need to get that head now. Thank you so, so much! How on earth did you find these?!

It's only £7.34 for Goblin on Bricklink, but obviously that can change. I hope you can get yours to work! On another note, I have a couple partial ideas: Has anyone tried Barry's head for a Falcon figure? I'm trying to decide whether it's worth the cost. And could someone put Chase McCain style Dark Tan hair onto Mini Head 1709 (the Male Resistance fighter, or Naboo fighter pilot, or Resistance X-Wing pilot)? I'm trying to make a Steve Rogers figure, but I dislike the orange color Lego gave him for his hair and eyebrows.

Wow, that's an even better idea that I had never considered! You're blowing my mind here! At prices right now, it would still be cheaper overall to bite the bullet and get the Goblin on Bricklink or eBay, but that'll be a perfect solution for many, many people!