jdubbs

As I see it, there are three plausible options: The D2C Hogwarts doesn't include a Great Hall (which would admittedly be odd) and instead it's being released as a standalone set. Or... The D2C Hogwarts' version of the Great Hall connects to/merges with the $80 standalone Great Hall to form an even larger hall (which is not entirely unprecedented... a compatible smaller Hoth set was released concurrently with the UCS Assault on Hoth set). Or... The standalone Great Hall is identical to/scaled down from the version in the D2C Hogwarts set, as a way of making the most iconic portion of the D2C set accessible at a lower price point. Personally I think option 3 is the least appealing (for collectors and LEGO alike), given that many buyers with the money to buy both would then ignore the standalone Great Hall, and those who aspire to buy the D2C set would have less reason to save up for it. The other HP sets listed for the fall seem to be extensions of Hogwarts or the grounds (Ford Anglia... with Whomping Willow?, Aragog, etc.) so my money is on option 1 or 2. And while the D2C Hogwarts could theoretically be microscale like the Avengers Helicarrier, it seems pretty unlikely given the high price of the D2C listing that forms the basis for all this speculation... LEGO wouldn't sell nearly as many units if that $500 doesn't get you a Hogwarts that is compatible with this/next year's HP sets and minifigs... especially if there is truth to the HP CMF line being released at the same time. And $500 should still get you a pretty kick-megablocks Hogwarts without needing to resort to microscale. Along those lines, it's also possible that the D2C Hogwarts doesn't exist at all, because despite whatever Brickset has listed or that Brick Show video says, no one has come forward to confirm or even hint that these rumors are true.... contrast that with the UCS Falcon that had multiple people in the know making all sorts of wink-wink noises for almost a year leading up to its release. All that is really known here is that there is a large D2C set based on some kind of licensed IP coming later in the year for around $500.

For me, the issue was mostly about the roofline... that jagged stepped approach just doesn't look right. I live in San Francisco so I am surrounded by Victorians every day, but none really look like this... it feels like a dated technique that was necessary a decade ago but that could be improved upon with more modern pieces/building techniques. Or maybe this style of roofline exists in Europe somewhere... it's just not one I've seen before, so it seems weird to me.

At least one or two of the Rogue One sets are retiring now (which seems to be early, given most sets last ~2 years), according to the LEGO designer who created them. I believe Krennick's Shuttle was one of them, but I can't recall if the AT-ST was also on the list... but it seems a likely candidate given the (sucky) First Order AT-ST that was just released.

Interesting that the Kira minifig is positioned first, ahead of Han, in both sets that they appear in. Looks like the far-right fig in the Falcon may be a droid of some kind. Without really knowing who they are, I like the variety of figures that come in these sets. It seemed like a lot of the TLJ sets relied too heavily on duplicates of the same army builders, at the expense of named characters (like Leia, DJ, and Luke). I wonder if this means LEGO is planning fewer Solo sets and wants to get the principal named characters released in the first wave or so. Though I don't see Woody Harrelson's character in any of these... perhaps in another set, if there are any more in this wave? (I hope so?)

I like how the box art is a derivative/cousin of the TLJ sets... that should allow them to coexist on shelves compatibly for the ~2 years between Eps VIII and IX. Having seen the design of the "new" Falcon a week or two ago, I'm a bit disappointed that LEGO's interpretation recycles the existing System-scale Falcon build yet again, with only minor adjustments. The nose isn't long enough and doesn't start far enough back on the ship... consequently it looks tacked on and not like an organic extension of the saucer section, which is what worked so well in the yellow/gold key art that leaked a week or so ago. This will require a fair amount of MODding to correct.

My take on his comment was either: 1) he had a brain fart and forgot about Cafe Corner, or 2) he is actually teasing a Cafe Corner re-release... though I think it's unlikely LEGO would go so far as to add an interior, given the Taj Mahal build was identical to the original release, other than a few color swaps. But, many have said a Cafe Corner re-release is impossible without reworking it, since the door/window sizes are different now. So in theory they'd have to tinker with it more than Taj Mahal no matter what. It's also possible he's teasing 2019's modular, but I think this is the least likely scenario since it's so far off, and since the subject of the modulars is liable to change this early in development (as happened with the Diner, original slated to be a car dealership).

Given the dimensions and the supposed $25 price point (which would typically translate to around 200-250 pieces for licensed IP sets), I think that's exactly what it means. It seems highly unlikely there would be enough bricks to build both a suitcase and the creatures inside unless it were all very, very small.... at best you'd end up with the little microbuilds that come in the Advent calendars?

I wouldn't say "definitely". It's just as likely that they release a standalone Great Hall set that is smaller in scale than the version included in the D2C (esp. if the D2C version is really ~$500, putting it out of reach of many if not most buyers) or it could function as an add-on that combines with/comexpands the size of the Great Hall in the D2C. LEGO did something similar with the Star Wars UCS Assault on Hoth and a smaller Hoth set released concurrently.

First of all, this looks amazing. I'm really looking forward to seeing a fully-rendered pyramid, and then realized in real bricks, if you're able to. The only (unsolicited) suggestion I might offer is to mix in more textured bricks on the large, flat vertical surfaces... mostly to suggest weathering and decay you would typically see in an ancient structure. In renderings, the seams between bricks become exaggerated, giving the appearance of detail and variation which likely won't carry over to real-life bricks, where all those seams will flatten out into shiny, smooth walls. Sprinkling in some clusters of 1x2 profile, palisade, and/or masonry bricks might help give these surfaces a worn stone appearance.

Since I have the UCS Sandcrawler, the new smaller model is of little interest to me personally, unless it comes with exclusive minifigs that actually appeared in the movie... I think at least one or two of the droids in the UCS set were just made up by LEGO, which could easily be the case again here. Strange as it may sound, I think part of the decision-making process for reissuing sets like the Sandcrawler and Landspeeder comes down to color. If you look at the sets released for The Last Jedi, they're pretty monochrome... lots and lots of gray and black. Seeing them all lined up on store shelves, the lack of color variety is not very inspiring. I think the preponderance of gray in the OT and ST Star Wars films is partly why we keep getting Jedi Starfighters and other sets from the prequels/Clone Wars, which were more colorful all around.

My local TRU has the Heavy Scout Walker on promo as a free gift with any $30 LEGO purchase... which is the price of the Heavy Scout Walker itself. My guess is that set gets retired quickly, since it was nowhere to be seen in the movie and universally panned by LEGO reviewers.

Take a look at the first page of this thread. Sir von Lego is quoted saying HP and Jurassic Whatever sets are coming, and Robert8 adds that (according to AmazingBricks) an HP CMF series is coming. After which Sir von Lego says: Followed by some back-and-forth about how reliable AmazingBricks is, and pages and pages of wishing, hoping and praying. More recently:

Usually one of the smaller sets in each major wave is 20% off at launch... at least that has been the case on Amazon, TRU, Target etc. over the last 18 months. For TLJ it was the First Order Heavy Scout Whatever, and for Rogue One I think it was the AT-ST. Then the larger sets start to go on sale, and if you wait long enough, they will eventually all go on sale somewhere. The highest-priced set seems to always be the last to get a sale price... I still haven't found the Ultimate Batmobile from The LEGO Batman Movie, or Destiny's Bounty from The LEGO Ninjago Movie on sale anywhere yet, though I did eventually pick up the TLJ Star Destroyer and AT-AT for 20% off somewhere or other. In the US at least, Target and TRU should see some pretty deep sales over the next few weeks... I remember Target doing a 40%-off-all-LEGO right around Christmas, probably to clear space on shelves for the January waves.

The pod is quite prominent in front of the Cantina entrance, across from the Dewback that was included in the previous Cantina set: That set was $70 in 2014, for 615 pieces... a price per piece of 11.4¢. The new Cantina set is $40 for 378 pieces... a price per piece of 10.6¢. Seems like the pricing is on par with the previous set, if not better?

As it so happens, Brickset just had an analysis that covered this very topic: https://brickset.com/article/31370/a-decade-of-lego-in-graphs. The upshot: sets are indeed getting larger (and more expensive).

Supposedly not.

LEGO seems to be trying hard to make these catch on... I wonder how many seasonal collectors will convert to Brickheadz collectors after they pick up these 6. At my local TRU and Target, the Brickheadz sections are always fully stocked, unlike most every other LEGO theme. Maybe it's not the case globally, but here it just seems like no one is buying them. Personally I think they have a lot going for them... they're cute and compact, have good display value, and the price point is great considering the number of pieces. But I have to question the selection of characters (esp. for convention exclusives) and the distribution strategy of having all these quasi- and partial-exclusives. I wonder if LEGO ever considered including a proper minifig with each Brickhead... imagine how much better they would sell if you could, say, get a Kylo Ren minifig with your Kylo Ren Brickhead...or an CMF Bumblebee repaint with this new Valentine's Bee Brickhead... Even if that meant they cost a buck or two more, the focus of LEGO sets (and LEGO collecting in general) has shifted so much toward minifigs that it seems like they should have been included here too.

It was a simple request, politely made. And yes, I see now that it was posted here back in November, though I guess I missed it then.

Tidy: please put plot spoilers in spoiler text.

It shouldn't be that difficult to modify this new Cantina to work as a partial mirror of the 2014 version, even with the bar shape being slightly different. It looks like the booth no longer slides out, which was nice for display/visibility but by no means necessary. Wuher and another sand trooper are nice to have, but honestly I have no use for another Han or Greedo. Really wishing they had included Walrusman/Evazan, but I guess that's too much to expect at this price point. Can only hope they make it into a battle pack down the line. I doubt I would spring for more than one of these... it would be cheaper to pick up the necessary pieces to scale it out via Pick a Brick or Bricklink or whatever, since duplicates of the minifigs wouldn't be usable for the most part.

376 pieces at US $39.99 works out to 10.6¢ per piece, which is on the low end for a Star Wars set.

There has been no confirmation of a Harry Potter CMF series, let alone when it might appear. The CMF series following the second Batman series is supposedly birthday-themed, due in the spring.

If it's a magnet would the minifig be removable/posable like a regular fig? Or more like a keychain minifig? I've never actually handled a LEGO magnet product so not sure what to expect... I would just like *some* way to acquire a few Vaders without buying a full set. I have spots in my collection for 4-5 more of them and don't really want to pay eBay prices to get them.

Since the license is through Warner Brothers, I doubt they would use anything other than the movie likenesses.

Don't recall saying anything about proof. I believe used the word "guess" which would be pretty close to the opposite of "proof". In any event, while it is true that LEGO has had similar products on the shelves at the same time, they've also retired products early seemingly to avoid this, e.g., the Rebels A-Wing/TIE set which retired after just six months, followed closely by the TRU A-Wing. Sad to see the Vader Pod giveaway was cancelled. Was hoping to pick up a few Vaders cheap. https://brickset.com/article/32590/star-wars-pod-promotion-cancelled