Spyderlord

New sets are available in France as well, that's no news, but what is, is that I've seen even 3 of the Microfighters sold at Toysrus today. The retail price of these is 9€99 (apologies for not the best quality photo, poor lighting & phone camera...), AT-AP is sold for 79€99, Grivious Wheelbike for 29€99 and the BPs for 15€99...

You are welcome, I'm glad to help. Although you did make them a little too small now Is it due to the upload constraints or...? As for the topic, I's also like to second the request for minifigs comparisons, I am curious to see how the new Utapau trooper will compare to the 212st one in Umbaran MHC set . But, great work with the topic overall!

You have a very nice online tool for resizing your pics at this address: http://www.picresize.com/ I believe it's even recommended in the topic about deeplinking pictures, but don't take my word for it...

Pure awesome! If I dare bricklinking that damn mammoth one day I'd be sure to mount it in a similar fashion (chasing that perfect TIE-Fighter from last year). If you are courageous to do a precision painting to imitate at least the back of ISD as suggested, you'd probably be my new geek king, and I mean that as a greatest of compliments

No they are not taking our old blasters because they can't take our blasters to continue in such a glorious literalism. But what they can do and are doing is imposing the new blasters to all army builders and minifig collectors for there is not a single old style blaster in the new BPs. I do not have issues with the fact that it's TLG prerogative to experiment with commercial strategies (partly because I am neither an army builder nor minifig collector), but I do about treating people who voice objective complaints as a bunch of whiners who do not realize "that it is a kids' toy". Which brings me back to your second point which is simply inaccurate. Lego SW adult sales share globally (from the statement of their own rep) amounted to around 35-40% (and in 2010 in UK it went to more than 50%). That's not what I'd call "a lot more kids". But anyway, blasters it is, we'll survive this experiment, I doubt it would be of long life once vacuum cleaners start having their say...

Don't you think you are oversimplifying it a bit? As the most "adult" line of Lego, I believe AFOLs have every right to complain about this overly kids-friendly turn of the tide in SW without being treated with such condescending attitude?

I really like this set, and given my known opinion on this wave, that's saying something My only objection really is accuracy - I think the winglets are too spaced apart compared to the actual thing, but that's perhaps only in rocket-firing position. I hope that spacing can be reduced, I don't like seeing that many technic pieces laterally. The Neimodian is my third favorite figure of the wave, after DS gunner and the Airborne trooper.

Well, you wished for a 60-70£ set, assuming you can afford two such sets a year (which if you work is not pushing it), in two years you'd have one of the most amazing Lego creations ever made, that I wouldn't change for 10 sets of 60-70£...

Well, you already have many of these features in the Death Star set, yes it is a little expensive, but it's such a rewarding set that it completely justifies 2,3 years Lego diet in order to get it! Yes, because it's not common knowledge that TLG sometimes purposefully omits certain key-characters from a set, just to make you buy an auxiliary less popular one...

Oh, I believe we might very well see the Invisible Hand as a large summer set. Separatists have been wildly under-represented so far, and Palpy in chains is a subtle indicator IMO.

The blasters are atrocious, no doubt there, and they follow the trend which I discussed at some length some 20+ pages ago, namely the "puerilization" of the SW line which is making me very upset, so I'd refrain from getting into another rant on that. Briefly, I was always an adept of "vote with your wallet" approach to show TLG what they can and can't get away with. The problem there is, they are getting sneaky. For instance, the best example is 75036: an archetype of a set that they "can't get away with". An 8-year old design, horrible-looking vehicle, which contrary to Microfighters, doesn't not even have very nice parts you could use for your MOC. If there was justice in this world, they wouldn't have sold 100 boxes of these worldwide and would take such a tremendous loss on it that it would serve them a lesson. Instead, I'd bet an arm and a leg it would be the best-selling set of a line. Why? Well, they put the best figure of the line in it, simple as that. Well, IMO second best, after the DS Gunner, but a close second - that Airborne trooper is simply fantastic. So what to do: be ethical and uphold your principles and give up on one of the figures you really like? Or give in and allow them to make completely undeserved money on it? I have even considered bricklinking the figure, but in fine, TLG wins either way, not to mention that for such a cheap set, it's not economically viable solution. So, at the end, given how appalled I am by that Octuppara, I'd uphold my principles and look with longing at the nice HD pics of the trooper (if ever they are made available...) Similar situation with 75034 (but still light years away from the above) : best minifig in the line-up, and worst minifig in the line-up (yo and behold the grey lighsabers-wielding Chinese plastic toys ) But that one I'm taking, I like the canon, I need gunners for my DS, and the cheap plastic Lego-wannabes will go on ebay. The only thing I can hope is that at least enthusiasts on this forum will understand what's the only language the suits in TLG understand and vote with their wallet on sets like Octuppara droid, 72-nd Jedi Interceptor, n-th iteration of V-Wing, etc. and that regardless on how much they like particular aspects of the set. Perhaps then, when their sales excel column start differing strongly from the predicted-sales excel column, they'll start paying closer attention to what transpires here and perhaps making quality and original sets like several years ago and thus give a new shine to our favorite line. But as long as you keep supporting their current commercial logic they'll have no incentive to.

Hothbricks have some new pictures of the new wave, first published by the Dutch Intertoys. Here is a direct link to their flickr gallery: http://www.flickr.co...tos/hothbricks/ Now folks, for those of you suggesting few pages ago that I wanted some silly ads for the new wave - THIS is an official presentation of the line-up, marketing ABC. Good job TLG, outsourcing that to a renowned marketing agency Intertoys... As a next step, and ofc due to the pending The Lego Movie release and resultant engagement of all available in-house resources, I half expect to see part of brick production outsourced to Krafts food Inc. Ain't I full of understanding... But that said, wow, I really like the new Vulture droid and the BP canon Excellent job on the gunship as well, though I'll probably pass on it. Edit: Sorry, credits to CM4S, I didn't realize that his link was to Intertoys. But, I'll leave the link to Hothbricks for the ease of browsing in flickr.

Good find nrg! Thanks for the link! Minifigs are indeed wonderful, save for the Imperial Guard who reminds me somewhat of that game "find the intruder". It is just impossible that it looks so much like cheap Chinese plastic in the midst of such gorgeous minifig line-up Worst of all, I'll be paying for them, for the irony of the fate is that it shares a box with a flawless masterpiece that is the Death Star gunner. Good Lord, do that minifigure rock! As for the rest, Airborne trooper and that Neimodian fellow stand out IMO, I am not at all sold on Wookies, in fact, I prefered the old ones. I am very much looking forward to the set reviews now!

I'd refrain from "I told you so" comments before the official TLG confirmation, but everything on brickset forums pointed very strongly towards the Sandcrawler being the May release. Considering the price point, my money is on Ewok Village-type playset with plenty of minifigs, somehow, that's the only way I can imagine it. It just doesn't lend itself too much to a display Well, as I said before, I am not a big fan of the vehicle, but I do sincerely hope for those of you enthused by this news, that it will have a nice interior and resemble more to Marshall Banana's model than to 10144

And there is a video posted on Hothbricks about the Kashyyyk trooper set, with demonstration of the new blasters (in French): http://www.hothbrick...ters-en-action/ The boy who purchased the set said that they shoot almost a meter in distance.

Wow, great news for us unemployed! Thanks a lot for sharing that, hopefully they'll have some positions for engineers with only experience in project management, kind of tough finding a job with no engineering hands-on experience Honestly, at this point I'd be ready to go anywhere...

ISD was released more than 10 years ago, it doesn't make for a good comparison example of new TLG pricing startegy. In the last 3,4 years, TLG was marketing 2 types of UCS (large sense), one that is between 200-250 mark (X-Wing, B-Wing, R2-D2, Ewok Village, Imperial Shuttle, Republic Dropship with AT-OT) with the brick count of around 1000-2000 (slightly more for some) and flagship products that are closer to 400 mark (Death Star and SSD) with brick count range of 3000-4000. That's what I referred to speaking of "levels", it's just how I perceive their marketing strategy, by no means an "official" or fan-made distinction . Oh man, if only they released that set with well-marked baseplates... (talk about the pedestal for your Imperial Shuttle ). But, I think we can keep dreaming, that platform and a dish would make for a huge set already without complementing it with an AT-AT (in a size that we'd like).

The approximate price difference between "Level 1" and "Level 2" UCS' is ~150-200€ or $. At least was for the last 3,4 years. It was Dengar, Bossk was also there in Slave I, and it's always nice to have exclusive figs. The question about 100$ is "am I getting a good bang for my buck" if you prefer, and Executor delivers on that one (bigtime, I'd add despite some apparent flaws like flat bottom). So if they make an AT-AT or MF or huge Cloud City playset that are slightly over 400+ mark, it would take some saving for, but many fans would eventually buy it. Mind you, Death Star is still 419.99€ in Europe. It's a 2008 set and people still buy it!

Well, I am quite happy with Executor such as it is, also with Imperial Shuttle (two purchases still on a must-buy list, unemployment period struck at the bad moment, but I never complain about the price for such jewels generally, I take more issue with the pricing of Duel on Geonosis-kind of sets ). Minifigs definitely add to the charm of the sets, though I do agree that that bridge structure on Executor is completely unnecessary. Oh, how I feel your pain, but it appears we are a minority here. When I asked the same question a Jawas-loving brigade jumped me over But I see a sense in a continuation of RoTJ line they've been (rather successfully financially-speaking apparently) throwing at us... So, I guess we should be patient and hope that TLG would eventually hear our (far) cry for an UCS AT-AT.

No, my bad, the use of a word "ad" to designate the general absence of any marketing on SW line was unfortunate. Ofc I didn't mean the kids' animations, what I meant is just an official presentation of the line, backed with HD pics, descriptions (yep, I actually read those silly things ) The kind of attention The Lego (bloody) Movie is grabbing all over the net lately

Completely agree, that set was a disaster. No wonder it got recalled in no-time. They just need to stick to the approved recipe aka. 10178 minus the motor part and everything will be fine... (until we finally get a full 4k+ UCS of AT-AT in the following years that is)

For Slave 1, your hopes will probably come true. But judging by the brickset forum, you are in for the Sandcrawler UCS in May and an AT-AT but System scale in the summer wave...

That I am completely ok with, even March, but do the job properly, advertize the sets before sending them to retail, release HD pics, stir the hype. Anonymous leaks of the box arts is hardly what I call a proper presentation...

Yes, agree . I do mind when they rehash endlessly (Jedi Starfighter in trillion colors, Jedi Interceptor, Hoth base in million sizes/shapes/names etc) but 6-7 years cycle is completely natural thing to do, if for nothing else than for the advancement of technology. Compare a SW set from 1999 and one from the last two years: laughable, right? For UCS I would perhaps allow a longer 10-year cycle to abide by the (former) acronym, but under no circumstances should MF be allowed to reach such ridiculous prices on the after-market.

Wow, I considered myself a SW fan, yet I never noticed the Falcon in PT until I just googled it. It must be the most ridiculous cameo ever, they could have at least thrown a full close-up for a moment if they wanted to warm OT fans' hearts, not throw some random flying object landing at Senate building in a corner of one frame... Oh btw @Faefrost, you meant a new playset, coz minifig scale Falcon is acually the UCS... I would hope for a complete redesign UCS with newer pieces (cockpit!), without necessarily changing the color scheme, I like it in light grey very much...