jdubbs

You're being a bit reductive here. His point is that the original Star Wars movie actually did the heavy-lifting to introduce the audience to the concept of the Force, Jedi, etc. whereas TPM just assumed you already knew who the Jedi were, that they could use the Force, what the Force is, etc... The same way that Luke, an outsider, was being introduced to these concepts, the audience was too. These are pretty essential to understanding and appreciating all the movies, whereas midichlorians, where R2/3PO came from, etc. are not at all essential to your understanding or appreciation of any of the movies. There are also things in the OT that heighten the audience's anticipation of the PT, and things in the PT that spoil the audience's enjoyment of the OT... two reasons to watch the OT first. For those of us that saw the OT first, hearing Obi-Wan casually drop this mention of "the clone wars" and how Luke's father fought in them, without any real explanation, totally piqued the audience's interest... people wanted to know what he was talking about, and see that story unfold. Conversely, key OT plot points like Luke's relationship to Vader, his relationship to Leia, and even Yoda's identity are all needlessly spoiled if you watch the PT first. There are realistically only a handful of other choices that make sense as a build of this size. Maybe another Endor set... Geonosis... Yavin perhaps, though that setting is lacking in action sequences... as much as I would love it, it boils down to lots of people standing around a table/screen talking. The Jedi Temple has the same problem... it's 12 guys sitting in chairs. Not saying these won't ever happen, but I can definitely see why a location like the Cantina was chosen first.

It's starting to feel like you created this thread just to complain about the price.

Technically, no. But might as well be.

I believe both Hasbro's and LEGO's Star Wars/Marvel licenses were renewed in the last year.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

I don't mind repeats either, when the previous build was seriously lacking and the new one represents a substantial upgrade. I have a hard time seeing how Grevious' ship fits this description, though... it just seems to be different for the sake of being different, and pretty overpriced. I can't tell any difference in the Jedi Interceptor. The AT-AT is a case where I totally get why they did it — it's the 40th Anniversary after all — and with the exception of the neck, the build is the best ever. But I also can't help but wish they had done a Rogue One AT-ACT or a Fallen Order AT-AT instead, as these would have given us more unique figs and a new variation on the walker. And the price inflation (nearly 50% in 5-6 years) is absurd. There's more they need to make, absolutely. But time? This is what concerns me. As the number of sets each year contracts (as it did from 2019 to 2020, and appears to again from 2020 to 2021), and we get further from the non-OT movies and shows, the less likely anything other than the same "core" sets is going to get made. LEGO will never stop making the same snow/land speeders, X-Wings, TIEs, walkers, Jedi starfighters, etc. that get recycled every few years. When we get to a point where there are only 10-12 proper system sets each year (which may well happen in 2021) most everything else will get pushed out of the margins, and just won't get made.

The current wave underwhelmed me (at least if you set aside the store exclusives like Razor Crest, Bespin Duel, and even the Galaxy's Edge thing). Small sets, scale was all over the place (a few builds grossly over-sized, another grossly under-sized), very few legitimately new figs, a lot of rehashes, massive price inflation, capping off a year with fewer sets overall than we've seen in previous years. The store exclusives and D2Cs made up for that to some extent, but 2020 as a whole was still a letdown for me. I saved a lot of money though! But the thing is, for everyone who is dissatisfied with any given set or wave, there is someone who is happy to have it. If you're a big-time CW/prequel fan, or you don't already have an AT-AT, this was a good wave. The same will no doubt be true next year.... some people will be happy with certain things that others are unhappy with.

Betrayal at Cloud City had 2812 pieces. The Cantina has 3187. That's a difference of ±350 pieces, not 1000. Cloud City was $350 (US), the same that this set is reported to be. Though that could still change, as has happened with a few recent sets just prior to launch.

Yes.

A month or two ago a few lists started circulating among the "leakers" and Instagrammers. The lists included 1H 2021 prices and generic descriptions ("Hero Vehicle", etc.). Sets were generally not identified by movie/show/era/etc., with one or two exceptions. The two versions of the list that crossed my plate were similar but disagreed on some things. I can't speak for all those other guys and what more they have (or haven't) learned since then, and I'm not at liberty to say what more I personally know about those sets, except that I am (so far) underwhelmed.

You’d need to check target.com to see if the bespin set is available once your card arrives. I was under the impression it had sold out there already, but it has been popping up again for a few minutes at a time on LEGO.com once or twice a day, so anything is possible. The Cantina is a D2C which means it should only be available on LEGO.com and in LEGO stores for the first 3 months of its availability. After that it should be available online at most major retailers like amazon, target, etc. Unless something changes, it should be available for LEGO VIP members in the middle of this month, and then for all LEGO customers at the beginning of next month. You can sign up to be a VIP for free in lego’s website. I don’t know of or expect any preorder to be available, but that would likely be announced when the set is officially revealed.

The fact that there is no set number raises a flag, because it would be very easy to debunk (or confirm) if they included it.

The pattern of the waves next year looks to be very similar to this year. The April 2021 wave does not appear to include system sets, and there are fewer system sets listed for Jan 2021 than there were this year (and no BPs). But this year there were a ton of what I loosely call “bonus” sets that weren’t shown to retailers and weren’t in the catalog, though their numbers were listed in computers as eventual sets, pretty much from the start. (All or most of these ended up as store exclusives.) There were also sets that appeared out of order (The Child, Brickheadz) and sets that were cancelled. Next year looks like it has fewer of the “bonus” sets and fewer of the mainline retail sets. So fewer sets all-around. But still, anything could happen. Maybe this supposed TIE is 75289 as I said earlier, held until late this year or early next year since there are already so many TIEs on shelves... though that seems like wishful thinking. I haven’t read the post saying this is coming so I don’t know what the purported specifics are, beyond “$70 TIE”. Was there a release time listed? Or a set number?

Actually, you raise a good point. There is one set it could possibly, maaaaaaybe be: 75289. It was a skipped number this year, but there is nothing to say it couldn't still come in 2020, or even 2021. I was thinking of the 2021 Jan/Apr waves, which do not appear to include it. That said, I would still expect a TIE Outlander to be $80 (or more), given the Sith TIE was that much, and the set would need more parts than the last regular TIE to accommodate the folding wings, landing gear, etc.

Missing In Action.

It seems like a no-brainer to me too, and I would have expected it to be in the January wave. But from what I've seen, it's MIA. I would love to be wrong about this. If not, best hope is that it will show up as a store exclusive, or maybe the wave that comes out a year from now (at which point Mando season 3 would be airing, so...?)

Nein. Nein. Nein.

D@mmit! I didn't think anyone would see through that so easily!

Dissen be smellin piddy stinkowiff to me, mesa thinkin.

If you're waiting for LEGO to design something specifically and solely for your needs/wants/tastes, you're going to be waiting a long time... an eternity. I gave up expectations like that a lonnnnng time ago. And if you think sitting by the sidelines will somehow hurt LEGO's bottom line, well, look no further than LEGO's just-released financial report. Their business is definitely not hurting, no matter how much you (or I, or any other AFOL) may be dissatisfied by one particular wave or set or whatever. It may not be your cup of tea, but judging by the reaction of others on this forum, this set will sell well enough. I happen to agree with you (I think) that the overall direction of LEGO's handling of the SW license needs a major rethink... but unlike you I think this particular set is an example of how LEGO is capable of knocking it out of the park.

No offense, but you're kinda coming across as the guy who finds a cloud in every silver lining. You're entitled to your opinion of course, but it seems like a rather negative reading of what appears to be a pretty generous (and reasonably comprehensive) selection of figs. There are a few more that would be great to have, sure... but they'll inevitably show up in a $30-40 Cantina add-on a few years down the line, and so on. It is not realistic to expect LEGO to release a set like this without the core characters who appeared in the scene. I get that you don't want another Luke, Ben, etc. (really none of us does) but acquiring duplicates (triplicates, quadruplicates...) is a fact of life, once you've been collecting for more than a few years. It's like saying "I already have three Darth Vaders. Why did LEGO have to pack another one in this new Darth Vader's TIE Fighter?" Agree to disagree on this. There are MOCs, yes. But I don't recall any that were anywhere near as nicely detailed as this set.

Don't let it go to your head... I had to search on "MBS" and wade through a page or two of results to come up with your name. Yes, a LEGO designer said it was a goof, but things change... part of the reason I said it was premature to say it would never appear again.

Garindan-like characters were also featured a few times in The Mandalorian. So a small chance he will show up in a future Mando set. Might be overstating it a wee bit there.

Funny, I was just thinking of a certain cold-weather enthusiast who ripped me a new one after I questioned his assertion that the MBS label would never be used again... And yet, here we are.

Before anyone goes too far down the "the-price-is-too-high" rabbit hole, wait for the official announcement. While it has been listed as €/$350 for a few months now, there have been some last-minute price switcheroos lately, so it could end up being less — or more. I've heard even press release drafts sent to LAN members have ended up being incorrect. But comparing pricing of Star Wars to Harry Potter isn't really fair... LEGO clearly pays more for the Star Wars license than it does for HP, so you have to expect our prices to be higher too. (And please, don't blame Disney... it was George's Lucasfilm that negotiated the initial license 20 years ago, and at least one of the subsequent renewals).