Alexandrina

This hits the mark, even at lower price points. I remember having to save for months every time I wanted to buy a new set, so when I got it, it didn't just have to be a good set in its own right - it had to not leave me feeling like I should have bought a different set for the same price instead. When you don't have to worry - when it's not a case of having one set or having the other, no way of getting both - you don't have that same investment in the quality Imo it's the same sort of feeling as when you're watching a TV show week to week and there's a slow episode. You've waited for that slow episode and now you have to wait again for the climax, whereas viewers binging years after the fact will just digest the slow episode and go right on with the next one.

Lol, I don't really keep up with the helmet line but I honestly figured a Tusken Raider would have been done years ago. I know they've been released again since with a new head mould, but my formative years of Lego Star Wars were during the period where the only Tuskens were in that one 2002 set so in my head they're still one of the more desirable characters in minifigure form, let alone anything else. Not quite so desirable as Zam though. (I'm still kicking myself; back in like 2009 I had a friend offer me the choice of either Zam or Anakin from the same set for £1, and like a fool I picked Anakin)

Following that line, though, how much demand was there for buildable F1 cars? Unikitty figures? The German national football team? Lego have made plenty of minifigure series for bizarre properties, and they clearly think there's some demand for Horizon on the market else we wouldn't be getting the videogame. Plus, I feel like a lot of people would at the very least want Sylens. Has Lance Reddick ever had a minifigure done before?

I'm mildly surprised that Horizon doesn't seem to have been floated as a possible CMF. IMO it's one of the most reasonable 'new' CMF licenses: Lego already hold the license but have done very little with it, especially in terms of bricks There are plenty of characters who have zero chance of ever appearing in sets, even if Lego make a physical follow-up to the Tallneck A lot of the figs would have parts that would have crossover appeal with sci-fi/fantasy fans Especially since Aloy has multiple costumes so you can easily stick a new variant of her in, and there are plenty of other major characters. Personally I'd rather see more focus on original CMFs and keep the licenses to full sets - but as licenses go, Horizon would be a strong one imo

Are there going to be any significant helmets left after those? Perhaps Zam Wesell's helmet and the triumphant return of sand purple

Objection: Dominic Monaghan is always the best thing to come out of anything that Dominic Monaghan is in At the moment I'm kinda coalescing on Mara as Emperor's Hand tracking down any Jedi survivors who emerge after the fall of the Empire, and coming upon a Jedi Master who had been working on experiments with the Force and time - thus catapulting her irreversibly some thirty years in the future. When she then does meet Luke (as a Force ghost ofc) she has to grapple with the idea that she could have been a good person, she could have been redeemed, she could have been happy, but all of that's been taken away from her and now she's a relic from an old time who has no place in the world. Possibly involving a Force dyad between her and Luke, as I think any Legends fan would agree that they had a special bond

This is an undeniable fact. There's a reason the first episode of LOST is still considered the gold standard for making a television pilot episode. You can add me to the list. I'm currently working on a brickfilm script that basically exists as a way to fit Mara Jade into the new canon. My favourite Star Wars is the Thrawn duology/Survivor's Quest, and for some reason The Crystal Star (why haven't we had a Waru fig yet, Lego? )

It doesn't help that at some point in the last few years they amped up the requirements for any sort of partnership. When I was an active creator c. 2011-2014, the minimum requirements to be eligible for monetisation were very small. So long as the videos themselves weren't copyrighted, you were pretty much good to go straight away - and sure, the money was tiny (I was small-fry; I think I earned about £3.75 of ad revenue my entire time on YouTube) but it helped, and you were able to capitalise if you had a video suddenly hit big. Nowadays, you have to have certain minimums of views and interaction over a month, so it's hard to get to that point unless you're making consistent content. Which is really hard to do if you aren't making money from it. I've barely put anything on YouTube since 2015 because now I'm a working adult I don't have so much spare time. I don't know if it reflects my bubble, but I have no idea who this 'high profile reviewer' everyone mentions is. I'm not sure I could name a non-brickfilm Lego channel if I tried (and most of the brickfilm ones I know are dead/inactive!)

I've dug out the "Duel of the Fates" script, but I can't actually find any source confirming it's real. Even the Wiki article just says 'before it was confirmed as real' but doesn't give any source for that. I dunno... it doesn't read to me as especially well-written, the dialogue in particular, and it feels more like the sort of thing you'd get if a fan of the books tried to marry their favourite Legends material with the sequels pre-TROS. Even the apparently-great Ben/Luke ghost scene is just all a bit meh to me.

I will be annoyed if the future of Sequel-based sets hinges on a helmet. It's a range that holds less than zero interest for me, and I already can't afford all the sets each year that I am interested in. I'm worried I might get chased off the forum for this but if ranking the films (purely based on how much I enjoy them, I'm leaving technical aspects aside here): ANH TFA RotJ R1 TLJ RotS ESB TPM Solo AotC TRoS And for the TV series: Andor The Mandalorian Kenobi Boba Fett Ahsoka Clone Wars (Other than Andor and about 2/3 of the first two seasons of Mandalorian, I don't think any of the TV material is worth watching)

To be fair, we've had a few Imperial Shuttles over the years

I definitely think it's an issue with media discussion in general that people are willing to overlook minor flaws in things they enjoy and be harsh on those same flaws in things they don't enjoy. I've had people jumping down my throat in the past on other sites for saying that I think there are small issues with ESB - not that I don't enjoy it, or think it's great, but that there are some things which could be better. (And this goes for all films). With ESB specifically, I have a theory that while it's a very good film as a whole, the fact that the final act is one of the best in all of cinema, and had fifteen years to gestate before the Internet became widespread, has inflated its reputation a little bit; the film up to the reveal of Vader on Bespin is a lot more inconsistent than the film on the home stretch. I love it despite the flaws, mind. I think part of it is that a true masterpiece gets you subconsciously, and it's hard to say for sure what was so intoxicating about it. When a film doesn't quite hit you the same way the natural response is to look for reasons why. I've done the same with James Bond. I used to nitpick the tiniest details that I had no issue with in other films, but to be honest it was just that I was too young to appreciate the film

I'm assuming the Fondor was Luthen's ship. They could definitely have done an Aldhani playset - a TIE Fighter and some of the rebels. Something Imperial maybe, to get Meero and Partagaz? Honestly it's been a while since I watched it, I'm working my way through again now but only as far as Episode 3

See, this is judging TFA for its place in the series. I'm talking about it strictly on its own merits - for that, how it links to RotJ or TLJ isn't meaningful. I think that's a very reductive view of Finn's arc. Yes, his disillusionment happens early on, but if you actually look at what he does in the first two thirds of the film and why, he's always motivated by self-interest first. He doesn't rescue Poe because he believes in the cause, he rescues Poe because he wants to leave the First Order and Poe is a pilot. He's quick to go with Rey, but he's also happy to lie and pretend he's a Resistance fighter because that's what benefits him. Even on Takodana, he straight up goes over to talk to characters (one of whom is a certain Sidon Ithano) who can get him on a ship far away from the Order and the fight in general. It's not until he realises Rey is in danger that Finn actually does anything that's not out of self-interest. And even then he lies to the Resistance, potentially putting their best fighters in jeopardy, because it gets him closer to Rey. Later on he gets to pay off the start of his arc by confronting the people he ran away from, as an actualised Resistance fighter. I'd argue that what you're calling the end of her arc is actually the turning point. Rey's whole thing is about belonging. Helping the Resistance, and seeking out Luke so she can better understand her power and her place, is the fulfilment of her arc. It's also mirroring the start of her arc. At the beginning, she is a self-sufficient loner because that's what she thinks will serve her best. At the end, she's the representative of hope going to bring a self-sufficient loner out of exile. I think that's an unfair assessment. Star Wars has always had a three-protagonist structure. In ANH it's Luke, Han, Obi-Wan; in ESB and RotJ it's Luke, Leia, Han; in the prequels it's Obi-Wan, Anakin, Padmé. Finn is part of TFA's triad, and a main character (as opposed to someone like Han or Hux or Jessika Pava whose main narrative role is as support to more important arcs/utilitarian moments). Taking just TFA on its own, Finn is arguably the significant driver of the entire plotline. It's him that breaks Poe out, thus starting the narrative. It's him that saves Rey. It's him that pretends to be Resistance. It's him that comes up with the plan to destroy Starkiller Base from the inside. The fact that he's not given solid material in TRoS and to a latter extent TLJ is those respective films' failings, not TFA's. I don't disagree on this at all. TLJ has some excellent moments, and some of the bits the Internet has clowned on aren't actually bad if you give them the benefit of the doubt, but it's still a much more sloppy narrative. Now I know he's on the Dark Side! Who would hurt innocent Lego bricks like that? Really, we need a good six or seven Andor sets. There's so much we didn't get from Season 1, and I'm sure Season 2 is going to have just as much cool stuff. A second set will increase our chances of getting Dedra Meero or Mon Mothma, both of whom are needed figs. Unless you've only seen Star Wars and similar, this can't be true! However one wants to rank the Star Wars films, none of them are even close to the worst movies. If you're comparing it to the best of the Star Wars franchise it'll come lacking, but compare it to something like Maradonia or Birdemic and you'll quickly see that in the grand scheme of things TLJ is very accomplished

I for one am glad they did. Pretty Playland is my secret weapon for accumulating cypress trees, so it'd be a tragedy if it had never come out!

I would highly disagree that anything in those scenes is a more cinematic single shot than the peaks of TFA. (To be clear, I think TLJ actually has it beat purely on visuals, but suffers from timeline issues in a way that TFA doesn't) We can differ on this but I feel like these are different elements. We don't need to know any more about the Resistance/First Order as factions in order for the film on its own to hold up - they're very clearly based around stock archetypes, and we get enough flesh on the bones to give the narrative colour. Sure, for the world of Star Wars as a whole it's interesting to know how the First Order arose, why the Resistance is separate from the Republic, etc., but these are ancillary questions not essential to TFA. I didn't personally find Maz' CG distracting - and if we're going down that path, then the entire prequel trilogy can be written off as the CGI has aged appallingly there. The principal characters in TFA do all have arcs with a resolution. Finn goes from being a cog in the Imperial machine to a wannabe runaway to someone willing to put their life on the line for those they love and vice-versa (the fact that the latter two beats are retrodden in TLJ isn't the fault of TFA). Rey learns how to be a part of something larger than herself. Kylo Ren develops further down the path to the Dark Side, capped off by killing Han, but deepens his insecurities in the process. These arcs don't have capstones but they do have clear starts and ends, which is what you want from the first part of a trilogy. Poe doesn't really have an arc but he's also a secondary character in TFA; it's not until TLJ that he really becomes a primary character on the same level as the others. But I digress - this isn't really about the bricks any more!!

Timeline issues (and to be clear, I'm talking about internally within the film, not the larger Star Wars timeline) are a continuity issue. That's part of the production process. Maybe 'technical' gave a too-specific impression, but to be clear by technical I'm referring to the entire production process, from draft screenplay to picture lock. ESB is a very good film, and probably more impactful than TFA, but it's not a perfect film. In my eyes, actually, that's held back Star Wars ever since. There's a sense that everything has to measure up to ESB and hope to match its quality - but we can and should be hoping for films that are better than it, because it's absolutely possible to be better. TFA in my opinion managed this as a technical piece, but failed to resonate in quite the same way, and was let down by its sequels moreso than ESB was. Some of the locations are more visually striking, sure, but the way they're shot is not as good as TFA. There isn't a single shot in AOTC or ROTS, and probably not more than three or four in the first four films put together, that are as visually stunning as certain shots of Rey in front of the downed Star Destroyer, and the moment where Rey and Finn arrive as Han is walking to meet Kylo and we get a beautiful tableau with the shaft of sunlight breaking the darkness is incredibly cinematic. And I wonder if that contributes to how the films' reputations are seen. Take Lego for example - with enough bricks, anyone can build a MOC of Utapau or the Jedi Temple or Felucia and it's immediately recognisable. ROTS has striking locations, as you say. TFA's locations aren't necessarily as visually striking, but the way they are shot demonstrates a mastery of the craft. But it's hard to replicate. Building the interior of Starkiller Base without replicating the cinematography makes it look far more drab

Is it? The prequels are famously not technically brilliant, TROS is a mess, ESB suffers from issues with timeline, etc. If you're judging the films on their technical merits alone, it's basically a toss-up between TFA and ANH, the latter of which is not as visually striking perhaps as a result of its age

I think you've got this spot on. I actually rewatched TFA last night (and now it's cemented itself as imo the technically best Star Wars film and by second favourite behind ANH) but the Takodana sequence stood out to me as feeling sloppy, for a couple of reasons: How Maz got Luke's lightsaber is never explained I don't get how the Resistance even knew to turn up there to save the day There was literally no purpose to having one tiny shot of Poe in his cockpit, only to then abandon the starfighters for the rest of the scene The entire ground battle felt iffy. A big part of that is the random stormtrooper with the nunchuks or whatever. Phasma taking this spot would actually completely fix one of the biggest issues with the entire film I didn't realise Phasma was a late addition, but now I'm wondering exactly how late. Not only is she not in this scene where she has every reason to belong, but her role in the opening sequence is very minor and could easily have been achieved through reshoots after the fact for just a few inserts. (I suspect this is what happens; there's a thread of Kylo Ren honing in on Finn as a traitor, which is unlikely at best - why would he care about a random stormtrooper? - and redundant if you have Phasma doing that exact plotline) If they'd done your idea it would probably have been better for merchandising, too. Phasma looks unique but doesn't ever really do anything. The stormtrooper with the nunchuks does cool stuff, but looks identical to every other stormtrooper. Give the cool-looking trooper the cool scene and you have a toy that kids will love

So, I think you're going a little far in the other direction this way. Just as it's true that these characters might be more popular than they were twenty years ago, it's true that they're still broadly obscure. I'm firmly in the demographic you say would recognise Zatanna pretty easily, and I've never actively avoided superhero media - I've never even heard of any of the things you say she appeared in, let alone the character. Am I an outlier here? Probably. But I'd be wary of saying any superhero character outside of maybe a dozen across all franchises has universal recognisability with millennials and below. I think as well that it's part of human nature to assume that our experiences are broadly representative - that is to say, most people have at least passing familiarity with the characters we know, and most people don't know the characters we don't know But again, Lola existing or not fifty years ago is irrelevant to whether she is a major character now (or at least, a few years ago). Petunia Pig is also significantly more prevalent now than she was in the past, but their prevalence in a given time period doesn't matter since the CMFs weren't made in the 70s or the 80s

There's nothing wrong with white space, but having an excess of white space and also having elements overlapping is a poor choice. No, that is all immaterial. It doesn't matter whether it's a designer being sloppy by choice or a client's inane restrictions - the outcome is a cheap, flawed box design. This is all off-topic anyway, really, and entirely beside the point.

A white box can be better, sure. I just think they've done a sloppy job. About a fifth of the box is just plain white space, and yet they've got dark text overlapping a photo of a dark model - it's a design own goal I'd expect the bare minimum, really. I'm not asking them to produce a piece of legacy-defining modern art for every box, but they've made avoidable errors on basic concepts which take literally two seconds in your image software of choice to fix.

I'm not wading into the mire of "are Lego right here" but surely the competitor product in the image isn't the actual box they were selling it in? How could any designer look at a box with so much white space and yet the text unreadable on top of the image, and think "yeah this looks ok" I will say that there's got to be more to this than just the Dutch company using Lego-compatible blocks. It's not like Lego have spent the last twenty-five years in a permanent state of legal wrangles with every other manufacturer, and right now they're not going after Megablocks or Cobi or whatever else is out there. (I know they have in the past, but that doesn't appear to be their present philosophy)

Who were minor characters 50 years ago is entirely irrelevant though. Even during my childhood, Lola was on equal standing with the rest of the Looney Tunes crew save for the Big 2, and as I understand it there's been a whole new cartoon since then which has frontlined more female characters. Kids nowadays don't necessarily care about which cartoon animal was around in the 60s and which is a newer creation

This is definitely true. Back when I was in primary school, if you followed the lore of our playground Star Wars games the two coolest Jedi were Quinlan Vos and Tam Wattaduwa. One of them was basically a name and a picture in some reference book, the other entirely made up - we just used the sandbox of the world's framework for them to exist in In fact, it's been a while since my childhood but I don't remember ever recreating scenes from my favourite books and films like-for-like. It was always using the source material as a springboard for my own original ideas