TeufelHund

Looks like Toys R US in Australia might be closing down too. My kids both have their birthdays in late January (that's what happens when date night is the same time every year, I guess) – I went to find what they wanted at Toys R Us and the shelves were still bare weeks after Xmas. Ducked into the local Toyworld and they had already restocked with all the latest and greatest. Guess where my money went? The loyalty system here in Australia at Toys R US is terrible (it works out to a $5 return for every $1000 spent!), no click and collect option ordering online, no free shipping until recently (although you need to spend $130 to qualify), some products sold above RRP and Lego exclusives often available in too limited quantities to meet demand. I'm not really going to miss them.

These days I only collect Star Wars sets really because TLG just aren't producing interesting homebrand themes I care about any more. When I came out of my Dark Ages there was stuff like Castle, Pirates, Alien Conquest, Pharaoh's Quest etc available which appealed to me and were fun to collect, but nowdays they're not producing that stuff any more - everything has to be related to media (apart from City, it seems, which never really interested me much). So instead of sets that rely on kids' imagination to fill in the gaps, instead play is limited to kids imitating what they see in TV/Movies. Also, once you've collected SW stuff for a while the release of so many remakes of older sets has limited appeal because chances are you already have an earlier version of that ship. If you're not into the Sequel Trilogy/Spinoffs you're not going to be spending too much on SW after a while.

New DK books incoming: http://www.rebelscum.com/story/front/DK_Adding_Two_New_LEGO_Star_Wars_Titles_In_2018_178475.asp The Ideas book should be interesting.

I'll be picking up the battlepack if only for the Officer and another Death Star Trooper Helmet, but would need to see the film before splashing out on anything else. I noticed a number of the minifigs have silvery stains on them which makes me assume that Mimban (spelling?) has a particularly unusual environment.

I like the Imperial battlepack (interesting early stormie variants + officer/death squad commander) despite the stud shooters but the speeders look a bit blocky. I have the 2012 Tie so this one doesn't do much for me but the figures look interesting (Captain Phasma's mummy?). Not really interested in the MF but looks like a lot of the interesting/unique figs will be found there including Lando and maybe Zuckuss as a middle finger to those hoping for him to be in a cheap set.

Just got back - my thoughts (spoilers): * No decent action scenes at all. At least TFA had some good set pieces. There is maybe one action scene in this film I could see myself rewatching a couple of times but not repeatedly. The last 30 minutes of films like RotJ, AotC and RO were bonkers balls to the walls stuff. None of that to be found here. * Luke Skywalker is cooler in this film than in all of the OT. The master-student relationship with Rey is way better than the Luke-Yoda one. * Some lame jokes (particularly the very first one), but the humour is generally ok. Porgs managed to be both utterly adorable and funny. * Somehow the resistance have managed to develop bombers that can drop bombs in Zero-G (did anyone think that through?) * We finally, finally find out where Blue Milk comes from! * One thing that really sold the film to me was the death of Snoke - totally unexpected and well done (of course given Maul came back from the same fate who can say if this is really the end...) * Film would have been much better if Rey and Kylo had joined forces - much more interesting set up for Episode IX. * Still no idea of Snoke's backstory. Generic evil overlord 101. * Rey's parents were apparently space druggies who sold her for their next hit - no one special (could be a lie though) * Leia is still alive - not sure how that's going to work out for the next episode. * Luke setup to go all Obi Wan and sacrifice himself to let the others escape - but wait - it was just a projection - Luke lives and made the bad guys look like fools! Then he promptly dies anyway. What was the point of that? For me ideal endgame would be Kylo/Rey united with Luke to fight/redeem them in the next episode. * Why do the FO land snowtroopers on the final planet when there's no evidence it's cold at all - weird callback to Hoth? * Yoda turns up and is actually not too annoying. * Phasma finally gets into the action but then promptly dies anyway. I think action wise there are a lot better SW films out there but this is at least interesting because of it's non-binary exploration of the force I guess. Better than the prequels maybe slightly better than TFA if only because it's more original. Some Lego thoughts: First Order Heavy Scout Walker nowhere to be seen – not even in the background. True Bargain Bin Material. No sight of the Walker pilots. Did Lego make these up? You don't need more than 2 Executioner Stormies – no need to army build these. TLG need to produce Snoke Bodyguard Minifigs ASAP! Speaking of Snoke – it's a good thing he's a standard minifig that comes apart at the hips...

I was reading elsewhere that the ATST is only partially built? Would be a bit strange to release a vehicle set where the vehicle is not complete. I already have Phasma from the Force Awakens set so not sure if this is something I'll buy but I guess I'll wait and see till after I've seen the film.

Cantina set looks decent to me - would have preferred a couple of random cantina aliens rather than Han/Greedo again but it looks decent and the Pod/Droid thing looks cute. I have the 2014 version but will probably get this.

A Cantina battlepack at some point seems like a no-brainer, especially seeing as TLG have recently started to experiment with packs other than the usual clone/storm/rebel/resistance trooper variants.

I have the 2014 version but happy to get a smaller one for Wuher, Han's new hair and some extra Sandtoopers which seem to be the same as that in the 2014 set (although I still think the ones from the 2012 Droid Escape are the best sandtrooper figures ever).

Ughhh...horrible. I pray for some decent UCS style sets next year because these are the worst way I can think of to celebrate an anniversary - it's like expecting a three course meal and getting a bag of peanuts.

Can't see much of interest to me in the leaks without seeing the film. I guess the FO Battlepack might be of interest although I already have the other figs apart from than the Executioner Stormies. Battle of Crait I'd like to see what it's all about although with the FO Walkers it's looking depressingly like a sandy reprise of the Battle of Hoth. Might have to get Kylo's Tie Silencer after all as I was really hoping for the Tie Pilot with the red stripes to be in a cheaper set...

You are usually assigned a generalship the moment you join the Rebellion - hence General Solo, General Calrissian etc If Jar Jar had joined the Rebellion he would have gone straight to Admiral/Field Marshall as he was already a general in the Gungan army.

Next year is the 40th Anniversary of Lego Castle - it would be nice if Lego threw us a bone if not an entirely new series of sets. I'd be happy with a nice fat UCS set myself... My five year old loves Nexo Knights - so it certainly does appeal to some kids out there.

Will definitely get the BP as none of the other sets with Jawas/Sandpeople have appealed to me. Would rather have had a second Tusken though than the droid. Disappointing the FO pilot doesn't have the red stripes on his helmet - I was on the edge about getting Kylo's Tie Fighter so that might just push me over.

At least there was actually an explosion on board and Hera didn't do it remotely with radio waves...

I didn't mind those episodes and I usually find most Mandalore stuff a bit dull and fan servicey. The action was top notch including the chase sequence in Episode 1 and the battles on the Star Destroyer in Episode 2. Sure it was entirely predictable and the Empire looked as useless as ever, but I think sometimes we forget that this is a kid's series.

I'd love a UCS Moss Eisley set rather than another Cantina...but it looks like just the Cantina is more likely based on the figures in the leak.

I live in Australia but travel to Germany every few years to visit in-laws and have been able to both earn and redeem VIP points in German Lego shops with the VIP account I established from Australia.

I picked up the First Order Star Destroyer today and I'm about half way through. The build is quite a technic fest so far - fun but occasionally confusing (in a good way). I just finished the interior (and the DSS) and the rest of the build will be the panelling. The interior looks great - can't wait to move my FO hordes in.

I really like Rebels (for the most part). There have been some clunky, filler episodes (hello space whales) but the overarching storyline has been pretty good. I still think the first series was the tightest, but there have been some very good episodes in series 2 & 3. Sadly, it doesn't seem to have gotten the marketing attention of other SW-related projects but that's more an issue with Disney having oversaturated so much that they can't give everything the attention it deserves. Sad there haven't been more Lego sets produced based on the theme though.

I don't really care much for the MF (I'm more into collecting Bad Guy stuff) but have to admit this model is beyond awesome. Saying that $1,300 AUD is far too much to waste on a toy (my wife never lets me forget I spent <half of that on the Death Star). Also it still has stickers for some reason. I think at that price point they should be abolished. Will probably pick up a First Order Star Destroyer on the weekend though as my Father's Day present for myself. ;-)

I think Just2Good or Sir Von Lego mentioned that there would be one set from each of the Pirates, Castle, Space & Town themes. The leaked catalog had outlines of the sets of various sizes but no images.

I just saw the leaked page in the 2018 retailer catalogue. There are no images but there are box outlines and the sets range from quite large down to quite small (including a large red rectangular bucket), so sadly it doesn't look like they're going to be UCS style sets. As well as the bucket there should be one set each from the Town, Space, Castle and Pirates themes, but as to which is getting a small set and which a larger one, there's no new info yet.

I'd be in for a Boba film and even Jabba could be interesting (although not sure how "action" orientated such a film might be). Please, please don't make a Yoda film though, He's the main reason I don't like ESB so much. All that bad grammar and the way he trolls/lectures every other character is grating. The thought of an entire movie devoted to him fills me with dread.