Brickadeer

The cockpit is a great improvement, both its new size and shape. Adding a seat and a R2-unit changes the perceived size, which I think is an improvement as well. Adding more colour is an improvement as well, and so are the changes of the parts connecting the engines with the middle part. All in all, this version is a great improvement compared to the first one. I like it more than 10134, and I would like so see it made out of real Lego. The new cockpit looks very "Y-wingish". My current impression is that the engines are still a bit too long when compared to the cockpit, but that impression may be generated by the perspective.

Can anyone estimate based on previous experience when we may expect pictures of the final versions of the sets?

Personally, I do not necessarily dislike the Ewoks. I dislike the kind of humour that was introduced with certain combat scenes in which Ewoks were involved.

Stunningly beautiful. Simply awesome.

Thanks. I would have liked to see happening something unexpected, like, dunno, Jar Jar's head exploding or so.

No, it's still about the pictures from the catalogue that leaked to the public 2 or 3 weeks ago. If Lego should introduce a new plastic pauldron, that'd mean that the upper part of the figure would become even longer. So I do not believe that the pauldron-issue can be isolated from the helmet-issue, but maybe I'm wrong :) On the picture, a new mold different from the 7655-helmets can be seen. Although it is a prelim-picture, the question is whether this mold will be changed. If it should turn out that the final versions of both helmet and pauldron look different from the prelim picture, and if it should turn out that the designers actually made it to catch the coolness-factor from the TCW phase 1.5 armors, and if it should turn out that the Commando Droids actually aren't that big as they appear to be on the prelim picture, I am a happy man.

I don't really understand your point. The upper shoulder parts of the ARC Troopers look like this (upper sketch: as seen in TCW, lower sketch: Lego version. Sorry for my poor painting skills): Uploaded with ImageShack.us I think that the upper sketch catches the shape of the pauldron pretty well: So the pauldron forms a \/, while the minifig forms a /\.

That's not a bad idea. Now that I think about it, Wicket could be easily replaced by Jar Jar (e. g. Wicket on the speeder bike).

Actually, I don't care about the material of which pauldron and kama are made. I care about the design. As you can see, the shape of armor and pauldron approximates the shape of a "\/". The pauldron of the minifig, however, is designed in quite the opposite way: looking from the top of the helm down to the armor, helmet and pauldron form a "/\". To me, it looks awkward. Yes, I mean the mold. As you can see, the helmet is designed around the function to turn the head (and the helmet, of course) of the minifigure by 360 degrees. However, they didn't make the "breathing tubes" as horizontal (to the shoulders) as they are in TCW. The consequence of these two facts is that there is a gap between the breathing tubes and the shoulders. My impression is that this results in the upper part of the figure simply looking too long. The whole face part seems to be located at a higher point compared to the phase I helmet (e. g. compared to the ARF trooper standing right besides the ARC trooper). Whatever the reasons may be, I think that this trooper is not as well done as the phase I trooper or the current Stormtrooper.

Not necessarily. Lucas could have him edited away in ep 3 as a contribution to the blue ray edition of Star Wars.

No, it's not Colt. Colt is this one: Colt I do not understand why so many people like the ARC Trooper. The helmet is wrongly designed; the armor, which looks pretty cool in TCW series, looks rediculous, and the Kama doesn't fit to the whole. This ARC Trooper reminds me pretty much of a person wearing a traditional Peruvian garb combined with a phase 1.5 helmet and dual blasters. The phase I trooper and the ARF Trooper were well designed, however, the ARC is worlds apart from being of the same quality. The imagination of Rex and Cody looking pretty much the same (well, in different colours, of course) makes me shudder. Compared to the design of this minifig, adding Vader's "No, no!" to the blue ray edition of RotJ appears to be an ingenious idea that stroke the mind of a pure genius. As Douglas Adams might have put it: "Some minifigs look ugly. Some minifigs look very ugly. And some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort." For me, this set is the biggest disappointment that I can think of. Well, at least with regard to the ARC Trooper and the Commando Droids.

Thanks for the link, I found it quite interesting. Star Wars is beginning to remind me of a cinematic Jocelyn Wildenstein.

I didn't like the episode very much. Sneaking into a prison simply isn't reasonable, even measured by TCW standards (not to mention the "invincible cyborg" issue or the question how the Quarren made it to arm the Mon Calamari and the clones unnoticed at the end of the episode). The arc illustrates very well that the war is tight (no clone reinforcements) and that the dark side successfully uses opportunities to bind republic forces by making sinister conspiracies. It illustrates as well that the dark side adopts so to say a "short run" strategy: it exploits a potential opportunity to bind republic forces. In the long run, however, they created a crisis, an emergency situation that allowed the rise of Admiral Ackbar and (probably more unfamous) Prince Whatever-his-name-was as important leaders of the rebel forces.

If I understand this correctly, the f-value of the camera varies between 2.8 and 4.9 (x1.0 - x5.0). I think I used the lowest f-value 2.8. When I use a higher f-value the details of the torso printing start to become unsharp.

Thanks guys. @Dino: I've been aware of the sharpness-issue, but supposed that to be normal. I'll try to figure out how to follow your advice! @harakiri: Compared to mine, this seems to be an excellent picture!

Personally, I like the combination. I do not like, however, the design of the ARC-Trooper and the Commando Droids. Is there anyone who can make an educated guess about the odds that the design of the ARC Trooper and the Commando Droids will be changed?

Thanks :) Is it possible for you to make and post a picture of a minifig so I can get an idea of what is possible?

Can anyone tell me if the thin yellow line on the right side of the helmet is a misprint or really belongs there? Thanks. Uploaded with ImageShack.us

The following picture was made with a samsung digimax s700. Of course, it is no professional picture, but I think that for a beginner it seems to have a sufficient resolution: Uploaded with ImageShack.us The camera is available for EUR 129,90. What do you think?

It seems he takes the normal fees for Amazon Marketplace sellers. I wasn't aware of the fact that for toys the fees for UK and Europe are the same.

I don't like it. The bulky style reminds me of the Viper mk2. My current favorite X-Wing builds are marshal banana's and Eleven-Thirty-Eight's..

Amazon.co.uk Marketplace: LEGO Star Wars Set #30005 Imperial Speeder Bike - 0.95 GBP LEGO Star Wars: Clone Walker 30006 (Bagged) - 0.95 GBP LEGO Star Wars: Mini AT-ST 30054 - 0.01 GBP I'd order them myself, but the costs for s&h to Germany of Amazon Marketplace are totally unreasonable.

A lot of action, and a decent preview at the end. I like it, and I can't wait to see next 20 episodes.

@Skrytsson: 2 and 6 are just sweet, while 10 is my favourite. I love the expressions displayed by the clones, especially by the pilot :)

Thanks for your replies. A friend of mine will got to Legoland on Saturday. I was hoping that it might be a good chance/opportunity to make a good deal; however, now that I think about it, it would not make much sense for these shops to offer discounts for successfull lines.