Fives

I'd say the 2012 Anakin's Jedi Interceptor, although the upcoming remake of the yellow one looks even better. The Jedi Interceptors are some of my favourite ships, and as sets they offer so much swooshability in a nice, compact one-man starfighter. I also like Palpatine's Arrest, solely because I love that scene. And judging from what we've seen so far, the new Cantina may be up there on my list as well.

Hello everybody! With the release of Ep 7 slowly approaching, along with the numerous plans Disney has for the Star Wars franchise, I have a strong feeling that LEGO Star Wars is in for a complete overhaul. Not only are we in for a new trilogy of films, an animated series, AND stand-alone spin-offs, but it was also recently announced that, as of 2015, Marvel will be publishing all Star Wars comic books (http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/marvel-to-publish-star-wars-comics-in-2015-20140103). So with all of this new material in store for the Star Wars universe, and LEGO having deals through Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm, there is a likelihood that we could end up seeing sets based on the upcoming ST, Rebels, spin-off films, and comic book series, all in the works for roughly the next 5-7 years. Do people think that Disney's involvement will force LEGO to change how they develop sets, at what pace they develop them, and at what times they get released? And do you think that this overload of new material will cause a lull in PT/OT sets, and perhaps thats why LEGO has made an effort to update the majority of the sets and characters from the current 6 films to make up for the dry spell ahead?

I really doubt that LEGO would release their TABA sets so early before the movie; not because they choose to change it, but because I doubt New Line or WB would allow the sets be out on shelves and be giving hints to the story. PJ and Co. has been extremely careful to not allow serious spoilers leak, especially after the switch to three films. Sure, Bridge Direct had their little slip up with their Bolg and Tauriel action figures, but not that much of the story was given away, so it wash't too bad. However, the LEGO sets are obviously gonna be representing scenes from the film (even if we have another MEA situation, its more than just an out-of-place action figure), so I really don't think the studio would be happy if LEGO allowed their sets to get into the hands of the consumers so soon. I feel like half of what I just typed here was redundant somehow... Anyway, if LEGO plans to release the TABA sets to coincide with the film's release (which makes a whole lot of sense), then there could be a chance that we see some LOTR stuff in the time in-between. Then again, they may just not make anymore sets. Who knows... Another thing to consider is how the LEGO Movie sets have affected the regular pattern of releases for this year. We're in store for three or four bigger LEGO Movie sets this Feb., and I read somewhere that due to that release, the new Star Wars winter wave (which usually come out in Jan-Feb), will be pushed to a March-April release. This shift may also affect the release of the Star Wars summer wave, which could very well get pushed to Sept-Oct rather than the usual July-Aug. The LEGO Movie has kinda jumbled up a bunch of the release dates that many fans are so used to, and it may have affected how LEGO releases the upcoming Middle-Earth sets as well. All in all, this Middle-Earth license may be the most confusing and difficult in terms of scheduling for LEGO. They've done a pretty good job to remedy the changes as best they can with what time they've had, but overall my hopes of more LOTR are slowly waning. As much as I desperately want Gondor and many other sets, at this point it just doesn't look like a reality. Also, Darth Caedus, that LOTR CMF list is perfect. If the license allowed it, LEGO wouldn't have to worry about making army building sets, because people could just bulk up on these. But I believe that if this had been allowed in the license, LEGO would've jumped on it from the start.

With the advancements in trans-coloured minifig pieces (JEK-114 and the upcoming Electro), perhaps LEGO will take a stab at a Force ghost. If that doesn't happen, I'd like to see a Bespin Lando or Luke. It seems that our chances of getting an updated Bespin set are getting slimmer each day we get closer to Ep 7, so at least giving us an updated Lando would be a nice treat.

While an Africa theme would introduce a lot of new cool pieces (foliage in new colours, new animals, etc), I think that if they tried to do anything involving explorers and natives set in Africa, it'd be viewed as making toys based on slavery. It's too fine a line for LEGO to dance on, so they've just stayed away. If they could find a way to do it without it seeming insensitive, it would be really interesting.

Clever work. It's a shame LEGO won't likely release an official version of the sled. I'd like to see how they'd tackle the design without using illegal connections between pieces. Also, I wonder if you'll be able to ride the sled in The Hobbit Videogame.

The Simpsons House is also a February release. That's two D2C sets in one month. Is there a limit to the number of D2C sets LEGO can release in one year? Because if it's four, and the Sandcrawler counts as one, then there's only one moe empty spot for them to fill, unless I've missed something here.

Theres really only one more winter wave before Ep 7 is released. I predict that the 2015 winter wave will be heavily based on Rebels, and the rest of the year will be Ep 7, and I'm fine with that. Sure, updates of old OT and PT sets are nice and all, but for the past couple years LEGO has kinda been scraping at the bottom of the bucket for new ideas. They did do well with renewing all the old AOTC sets, but for the most part they were vehicles that we got back when CW started. Rebels and Ep 7 will give the LEGO SW theme so much new material. It will completely rejuvenate the theme, and I believe all for the better.

These are good. The Comedian is great! Its a shame there isn't a blue head you could use for Dr. Manhattan.

Does anyone else find the lack of activity in this thread to be a little strange?

To be honest, I kinda agree. I truly think that the golden statue completely takes away from the believability of the Middle-Earth PJ has created. It seems so far fetched and doesn't really feel like something Tolkien would have written. I love that PJ gave the dwarves a confrontation with Smaug, but as the final climatic scene unfolds, it feels less and less like Middle-Earth, and more like a fantasy version of Tomb Raider or something. So yeah, you're right to say that it would have been better if Thorin hadn't had that final scene before Smaug flies off. It would've been just as dramatically effective, and without some outrageous gold statue.

Clone O'Patra, I see what you mean by the gold statue kinda being dumb, but before Smaug was covered in gold, he'd already decided to go to Laketown. He stopped because he wanted to hear what Thorin had to say. He still was in control the whole time. When the statue was unveiled, he was, for a few seconds, dumbfounded by the shiny gold he loves so dearly. Then he gets all covered in it, and him just getting up and flying off was basically his way of saying to Thorin 'You idiot, I'm a motherf****ing dragon! You can't kill me!' Rather than just kill Thorin, Smaug left him there to think about how he failed, and how now the destruction of Laketown is on his shoulders. He doesn't just want to kill Thorin, he wants to ruin him; break his mind and his heart. Also, I think it would be very clever if Bilbo starts off TABA having the Arkenstone. It will start the film with an instant feeling of tension, because we know that Thorin will be going crazy searching for it, and Bilbo will be skulking in the background, keeping his little secret. It would be the best way to drive Thorin to the total point of irrationality that he is at when Thranduil and Bard try to bargain for the treasure.

Blakstone, you make a good point with POTC. That line was pretty good, and required a ton of new, intricate pieces (Jack's headpieces), but it only lasted one wave, because at the time there was only one movie to support the interest. However, they still released the Pearl later the same year, and that set included the much wanted Davy Jones figure. Sure, there were a lot of scenes that were never touched on, but they at least covered the most iconic ship and characters from the films. Now, the world of LOTR is far more vast that POTC, so comparing the two themes is kinda hard. That said, I feel like there is no reason LEGO couldn't release one final set; a big, $300 Minas Tirith set, including Faramir, Eowyn, the Witch-King, Denethor, and the Hobbits in armour, along with a Fell Beast and a bunch of soldiers for both sides. That way LEGO will have covered the major secondary characters and villains form the films, and tied up the loose end that current is the state of this theme. I seriously believe that LEGO is more likely to say its goodbye to LOTR, but go out with a bang, and make a nice big exclusive geared towards the AFOLs and LOTR fans who so desperately want to see an official LEGO iteration of the White City. And Alcarin, they didn't make a 'kids' Mines of Moria. They made a LEGO Mines of Moria. Honestly, the way that they handled many of the scenes as sets makes a lot of sense. Each set keeps the essence of the scene, but also allows for playability, something that is essential to toys. If you're looking for display models, either MOC your dream LEGO Middle-Earth, or look at other avenues of collecting. It seems that your hopes for the theme were so high that there was no way for you to be disappointed. Sorry if I offended you in any way.

I doubt it. I find it strange that LEGO still continues to use the CW Yoda in their promo images, especially now that we have an amazing movie version. Just seems odd.

The likeliest reason for LEGO not continuing with this theme is simply sales. I think LEGO anticipated far stronger sales from this license, thinking that the popularity and large fan base would support all of the new molds and prints needed for the sets. But remember how quickly Weathertop and Gandalf Arrives were retired? The sales just weren't up to par with what they'd originally hoped, so they obviously decided to scale it down a bit. They also tried to widen the range when they decided to make the Corsair Ship. One of the main reasons that set was made was because 'kids like pirate ships'. Sure, it gave us the King and Soldiers of the Dead, but overall it was a very poor set choice. I think trying to widen the demographic of the theme ultimately backfired and caused sales to drop even more. From a business standpoint, it might make sense to stop LOTR, and just ride out The Hobbit through the third film's release, then call it quits, and it seems that the likelihood of that becoming a reality is far greater than what we hope. That being said, LEGO pays attention to these forums. They are aware of the little things that the fans want (they went out of their way to avoid a flesh neckline on the new Mirkwood Elves, so as to allow more use between flesh and yellow figs), and I'd like to think that they wouldn't just leave the fans high and dry like this. Part of me feels that LEGO will at least do one final big farewell set, if they don't do a full wave.

I just took a look at the new pictures of The Simpsons House set. It's a huge, 2000+ piece exclusive! being released at the beginning of a new license that has no previous popularity to go off of. It's mad me wonder about the future of exclusives within this theme. If LEGO is willing to take the risk of making a big exclusive as the intro to a new theme, perhaps they'll feel the same for the farewell of The Hobbit. Perhaps our chances of seeing a huge Smaug set aren't completely dashed after all. I mean, it's a theory, based simply on observation and fools' hope, but it's still a nice idea.

Wow! LEGO really pulled out all the stops on this set! Bravo, TLG! I've never been a huge fan of The Simpsons, but this set is deliciously tempting. It's just so full and complete. While some of the figs are kinda weird (ok, they're all kinda strange), the full house more than makes up for it. It's not in LEGO's nature to introduce a new theme with a huge exclusive set. I mean, it's lovely to see, but it's kinda strange given they're history. I'm likely not gonna dish out the cash for this set, but holy bricks it's amazing! I'm glad to see LEGO finally has released a well designed, fully enclosed house. It's just magnificent.

So I was at my local LEGO store yesterday, and it delighted me to see a kid, maybe 8 or 9 years old, buying Wizard Battle and MEA. While it means little in the grand scheme of things, it gives me hope that these sets are popular with younger kids. I always kinda fear that LEGO tries to hard to please the AFOLS with these sets, but what I saw kinda debunked that thought. It's a shame that the poly bags aren't available from LEGO stores. They'd sell like hot cakes. I would've easily bought 10 Laketown guards.

From the way seems to be going, we'll likely see leg printing on the next Threepio we get. Also, I'm really excited to see the new Rebels sets. They seem to be retaining the MacQuarrie feel with ethe show, so while they aren't OT sets, they'll likely appeal to the majority of OT fans. I'm also interested to see how the make the Inqusitors' (that new villain in the show) lightsaber. It's a cool design, and may require a special mold. Overall, that fig will be awesome. Also, do people think, since the show has a more animated look, that perhaps we may get altered Stormie prints? Perhaps even a completely new helmet, much like what they've done with the Snowies and Ep 3 clones? Sure, a new mold might look strange, but it would be cool if the helmet could turn around like most current helmets these days. Also, I'm a little disappointed with the Star Destroyer fig line up. It was a perfect chance for an updated Vader with new seperatable mask/helmet/breathing collar combination. Overall, the summer feels like more of a service to the fans of the OT, as a last big revamp of some beloved scenes, before LEGO dives head first into Ep 7 and the upcoming stand alone films. They've obviously focused more on the sets than making exclusive figs, which is nice.

I believe that the crack is moulded into the helmet, almost like having the illusion of a crack without actually making a pre-broken piece. The one thing I'm happiest about with this theme is how Chris Miller and Phil Lord are forcing TLG to resurrect some of their older, extremely beloved characters, such as Johnny Thunder and Benny, and even the references to Blacktron and Fabuland. I'm really hoping that this is the first in a franchise of LEGO Movies that will bring a whole new spark of creativity that seems to be lacking in recent years.

It looks better if you mod two sets so that two doors of one set become one door. It makes for a larger, more menacing and movie-accurate set. I'll post a pic later, if I get a chance.

Another Snowspeeder? We just got one in 2012! Theres no way that this one will be worth buying, unless it has some amazing new fig (and thats not likely).

Summer or Winter? Even with only 3 LOTR sets, LEGO could give us what we are missing. If these three sets focussed on the Battle of Pelennor/Siege of Minas Tirith/Attack at Osgiliath, we'll get the figs we need to complete the collection. However, if its three sets total, all focussed on TABA, then we have our evidence that LEGO lost faith in this theme long ago.

These new sets look great. It's nice to see a resurgence of OT sets before they jump into the ST for the upcoming few years. The AT-AT looks pretty similar to the 2011 incarnation, but I suspect there'll be enough of a difference to make it an improvement. It seems that the Snowtrooper is getting a serious overhaul, which, while really cool, will make all the current Snowtrrooers look lame next to their updated comrades. The Star Destroyer looks similar to the 2007 version from the outside, but from what I can tell the inside looks significantly better and more detailed. I have a feeling that overall, the mainframe and sturdiness of the ship will be extremely better. It seems like the fig selection for those two sets is a little lackluster. Hopefully we're getting an updated Tarkin. The Cantina looks awesome! They've done a good job of revamping the old 2004 set, which for its day was a really great set. While the building itself is a little lame, the landspeeder and Dewback more than make up for it it my books. Also, the figure selection looks awesome. Greedo for sure, along with one or two Bith. What I really want is Ponda Baba. He's just a must for any Star Wars collection, and it's about time we got him.

The return of Johnny Thunder is amazing! I'm really excited to see what part he plays in the film.