jdubbs

I seriously doubt they had "all three sets ready to produce". I think at best they had working models of each set that had made it to a relatively polished state. But things like QA/safety testing, finalization of new molds, minifig design, creation of instructions, packaging design, and slotting the set into production probably would not have begun yet... which collectively could easily push the set's release to May 2021 or beyond. Even at that point the buildable Yoda would either still be available or would have only just been retired. They also say in the announcement: "We will be revealing more information next year onwards, so stick around! " which seems a pretty clear indication the set won't be out in 2020.

I doubt the gunship will enter production for a year or more. Even if it were already fully designed (which is unlikely) it wouldn't release until 2021 at earliest.

I wouldn't read too much into that. This was written by someone in marketing, and they're probably just trying to set expectations that this won't be coming out in, say, May or September. They would absolutely have done work on all three designs to ensure feasibility before letting us choose one. UCS sets take as long as several years to get to market, so even assuming they've prototyped the winning design, it would still be 2021 before it reached shelves. I believe it mentioned that the gunship received over half the votes. Which is pretty impressive in a three-way contest.

I know they said that, but it's a safe bet they had working versions of all three options well underway already. They would not have offered people the choice of these sets without knowing what they would cost, how they would build them, what new parts they would need, etc. I would also not be surprised (at all) if we get all three sets eventually, and they just used the poll to determine prioritization/order.

Was going to say — though it might be a bit cynical — that the Medical Frigate MOC-makers are probably breathing a sigh of relief. :) I like your MOC a lot, by the way! It hits the right balance of displayability and affordability. Hope it sells well for you.

https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/4632a0cd-a22c-4c21-a18b-b4294a189dc2

Well you got your wish. (Gunship won) https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/4632a0cd-a22c-4c21-a18b-b4294a189dc2

That's it as far as anyone knows.

I don't think anyone can declare US pricing to be definitive at this point. I initially thought it was $80 as well (based in part on what Target listed it at) but then it turns out that Walmart lists this set a full $20 cheaper. And US pricing often does not line up with EU pricing (which is itself all over the map (pun intended!)). But given where it fits in the wave, the box size, and EU pricing, I do agree that $80 is entirely possible. Let's also bear in mind that LEGO has been slowly moving their pricing model to factor in 20% discounts at major retailers. This is a shift from how it used to be, when discounts were rarely seen on LEGO products, except on clearance. Several waves over the last year or so have been marked down 10-20% immediately upon release (though admittedly the current wave has yet to see discounts anywhere in the US). So, if the price is prohibitively high for you, wait a few weeks... it will come down. And yeah, there is a bright spot to this wave. Or even two!

I’ll let someone else disclose that. Yes, they did, though only those invited to a private viewing room saw the Star Wars stuff. They’re under NDA not to disclose. It won’t stop all of them of course, which is how the info eventually will leak, as in: ^^^ that guy broke an NDA to do so. Or whomever gave him the set info did. But they can, and they have. It may not have an identical build or internal structure, but it matches the external appearance well enough to cannibalize sales for LEGO, at least in those markets where knockoffs are readily available. I’ve heard this argument before and it’s a pretty specious one. Not knowing what is coming does not prevent anyone from saving. In fact, not knowing what’s coming is exactly why you should save. You save for the pipe that might burst in your basement, the job you might get laid off from, the accident your car might get into, and yes, the really cool LEGO set that might someday be released. These sets are on shelves for years, in most cases. Plenty of time to save up for them even if you don’t start until the day they are released. (And no, nobody needs these things day 1.)

Over the last year or two LEGO has been pushing the set reveals closer to release dates to thwart overseas knock-off brands, who have demonstrated several times that they can actually beat LEGO to market with LEGO's own designs. It's possible LEGO will put those sets on display at NY TF, but even that doesn't guarantee that the rest of the world will see them, since Toy Fair is closed to the general public. Bear in mind those April/May sets were already shown to retailers in private some 6 months ago... so there's not that much reason to show them at Toy Fair again, except maybe for smaller stores who weren't allowed to see them last time around. LEGO is might just post the pics on their website or issue a press release instead. When they leak. :) (Not for a while. There's a reason this happened to leak.)

And then there was the smaller scale version in the Cloud City set too. There was definitely some overlap among them, when you consider stock still in retail stores/sites.

That, and the people saying “absolutely no CW” were just making (uneducated) guesses.

Yes and no. There are certainly tiers of info you would know depending on where you’re getting your info, but very few (if any) of the people posting publicly actually know someone “inside LEGO”. They get their info second or third hand, from retail catalogs, store computers, foreign retail websites and marketplaces, etc.

Also makes it difficult to differentiate Clone Wars sets from regular prequel trilogy sets, in a few cases. I’d again caution everyone to lower expectations. There is a lot of really fanciful wishlisting going on that is only going to lead to heartbreak... :(

With a few exceptions, minifigs are no longer shown with most Star Wars sets at ToyFair (they sub in generic white placeholders), either because they're not ready/subject to change or because they don't want that info leaking. Even the figs that make it into the retail catalog shots are subject to change. The figures pictured for the Anakin/Obi-Wan duel, for instance, were not the same that shipped with the set. (Obi had Comm. Gordon hair, no burned torso prints, etc.)

Best case scenario is that they show the April/May sets, but even that's not a sure thing. With a few exceptions, they do not typically show forthcoming Star Wars sets more than a month or so before release, and the "summer" wave is at least 6 months away. Figs aren't even finalized for it yet.

It is part of the “summer” wave, which in the last three years has come out between August 1 and October 1. (“Summer” typically refers to June 21 - September 21, at least in the US.)

Yeah, that's not actually what I was saying (don't sweat it; there has been a lot of confusion about this). I was saying that set #75286 (Grievous Starship) was not $140, which someone had listed as the price for that set number. (I think the poster thought 75286 was the largest set in the wave, which is incorrect... 75288 is actually the big one). I said that people would go ballistic if 75286 were priced that high, considering the previous version of that set cost $50. US pricing is a guessing game at this point. All we can do is extrapolate prices from EU/CAD pricing (which often varies quite a bit) and the preliminary prices showing up in Target/Walmart/etc. computers (which do not agree with each other at all right now.) Grievous Starship consistently appears to be the second most expensive set in the wave (also has the second largest box, second highest set number, etc.), though 75284 is very close to it in EU pricing, box size, etc. 75288 (the big one) is over $100. I would guess around $140-150. Bear in mind that most any set that is a reissue/remake is going to be 10% more than the previous version (parts count being equal) and another 10% more if the parts count goes up significantly, which happens a lot when you redo an older set. This is just a fact of life these days... see the most recent X-Wing, Falcon, etc.

There were a few set lists floating around over the last month that included these set numbers, but those lists were BS. Those four set numbers could show up as retail store exclusives, or (very slim chance) a fourth wave toward the end of this year, or pushed back to 2021, or just got skipped. A few set numbers get skipped most every year.

This has all been reported several times now, but I guess it bears repeating: 75280, 75281, 75283, 75284, 75286, and 75288 are the only (known) sets coming after the four April/May sets (which are 2 helmets, buildable D-0, one other not-yet-public set). 75286 is Greivous' ship. 80, 81 and 83 are small (as in: snowspeeder small). 84 is comparable in size to 86. 88 is the anchor (>$100) set. That's it for the third wave this year, though there is always the chance of a retail store exclusive or two. Or three. Or none. (Sorry. there is also the Advent and two D2C sets, of course.)

Those are not the correct set numbers for the “summer” wave. Several are skipped and the biggest set is 75288 There are 6 total.

It may only be $60. See above.

Landino's numbers came from Target, fwiw. Walmart's are more consistent with CAD pricing. And more in line with what I would have hoped for in the US (see "head-scratching" in my previous post). So one of Walmart or Target is wrong. Hopefully Walmart has the right info.

Yeah, I know. I'm just saying that Landino had said $79.99, not $69.99 as you quoted in your previous post.